The party I was waiting for...

...Number zurgaa!  The big hoop-de-doo, my school's Shine Jil (New Year) party on Sunday night:

 Foreign Language Department

 Me with my school's director and Jagga.

 Jagga snagged my camera and snapped this gem.

 Jagga won "Most Creative" teacher!  Congrats!

 Bimba and Ulzii in their matching shirts.  Hello bromance!

 Let's dance!

 Hey, look!  I found twins!

 Lottery...Which I didn't win.  :(

 Eat the cucumber game.  Naughty!

 No idea what we were laughing about.

 Waiting to start a game...

 Bahahahahahaha!

Having a dance-off to determine the winner of the apple-eating contest.

All in all, it was a super fun evening, more fun than last year's for sure.  We had the room all to ourselves (last year we had to share with another company) so we got to play games and do the awards/lottery just for ourselves.  And as this was my last Shine Jil with them, they let me pick the last dance song of the evening (a toughie between remixed JLo and remixed Gangnam Style, but I chose a remixed Moves Like Jagger). I got a little misty-eyed as I flitted from table to table, knowing this was our last Shine Jil together, but I have a feeling I'll be bringing a little of them with me to wherever I'm celebrating next year.

I rang in the actual new year with my sitemates at Merrie's apartment.  We held the third Chopped Challenge (I came in third, dang it!), played a few games, then popped champagne at midnight and chatted into the wee hours.  It was very low-key, exactly the kind of NYE we all needed after two solid weeks of parties with our schools and various organizations we work with.  Next up, a few weeks of "rest" before the next party season kicks in: Tsagaan Sar!  Stay tuned.  ;)