MY COMPUTER IS WORKING AGAIN!!! YAAAAAYY!!! :)
... where was I?
Ah. New Year's Eve. I was in Toronto. My roommate had a Raclette Grill and didn't even know what it was, so we had some people over and did that, and then my boss gave me little figurines from Austria that you can use for Bleigießen, so we introduced the Canadians (and some of the Germans, for that matter) to the tradition! So, good food, Kaela mixed a couple of bright blue drinks, and James managed to set a potato chip on fire (and I mean "on fire": there was smoke and an actual flame) We had a great time... even though we found out that, in Canada, you don't really have fireworks for New Year's... so no colorful lights and no noise. Oh, well. We had a really good time (at least I did) :) And three of my friends stayed over because they don't live in Toronto, so I ended up sleeping on the couch (Sara had the other couch) and the boys took my room.
Pictures:

From left to right: Sara (the top of her head, anyway), Kaela, James, and Matthias - enjoying their Raclette... or rather, trying to make food :) Notice the special guest, the bright blue drink in the lower half of the picture!

James and the burning potato chip.

James and Olivia, two Canadians, experience their first Bleigießen!

Bleigießen - close up!! They are little lucky figurines (a horseshoe, a bell, a pig etc.), and THEN you melt them and pour them into water - and they predict what the next year will have in store for you!! ... for those of you who are not familiar with the tradition.

:)