1995 – On a school trip in Moscow, I stand in a gaggle of British school girls in Red Square at midnight, as our teachers try to fend off young Russian men proffering plastic cups of champagne. At midnight, revellers hurl firecrackers into the crowd, which we find thrilling, although in retrospect I marvel that nobody lost an eye.

1999 – Back home after my first term at university, I go to a warehouse party on the outskirts of Leeds with some friends from high school. I am the only person there not on drugs, and it is freezing cold and damp. I give up trying to pretend to have a good time at around one minute after midnight, and slump in a mouldy armchair. When we eventually leave, I locate my coat, and discover that somebody has vomited on it. It’s so cold I wear it anyway.

2000 – In California with my friend S, we drive up to Calaveras Big Trees State Park and spend the night in a cabin there with some of her college friends. We play Truth or Dare and watch the ball drop at midnight, even though with the time difference it actually dropped three hours earlier. 

 2001 – My friend L and I, bored at home over the Christmas holidays, decide to go back to university early, to get some work done on our dissertations. Her Dad gives us a lift to campus. Once there, we realise there are no buses or taxis running, and we are at least three miles from the nearest open bar. We are completely stranded, possibly the only two people on the whole darkened and deserted campus. At midnight we open my bedroom window and wave sparklers forlornly in the air. We are asleep by 12.30.

2002 – After a few desperate months in London, living in a hostel and trying to eat on less than £2 a day, I escape home to Yorkshire for Christmas and New Year. Simple things, like not having to share a bedroom with strangers, fill me with joy. Dad and I, neither of us party animals, go to bed at about 11.30 on New Year’s Eve. I fall asleep to the sound of fireworks echoing down the valley.

2003 – In Southampton, studying for my Master’s degree, I am invited to the New Year’s Eve party of my boss at the bookshop where I work part time. We play Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit and I flirt with a boy who I will end up dating for a couple of months. At midnight we spill out into the street and bang pots with wooden spoons.

2004 – The evening before, J and I had got together, and stayed up all night talking in that way that you do. Consequently, on New Year’s Eve, I can barely stay awake. My roommate L and I go out to dinner, and the plan is to go on to a party after, but I can’t face it. She goes to the party,  I go home to bed. Fireworks wake me up, briefly, at midnight.

2005 – Back from Christmas at J’s parents, we can’t face socialising, so we use the fact that we just got cats (cats who might be afraid of loud noises) as an excuse to stay in and watch the New Year begin on the sofa. Big Ben bongs. The cats are unmoved.

2006 – In Austria on a skiing holiday, with exhausted and trembly legs, we lie in bed watching Austrian New Year’s revelries, which involve a startling amount of lederhosen and accordions. It’s all in German, so we’re not really sure what’s going on, but everybody seems to be enjoying themselves. At midnight they all dance around the television studio in a massive conga-line. We massage Deep Heat into our thighs, and switch off the TV.

2007 – Well, we’ll see I guess. Happy New Year to all!