New Year is a time for fresh starts, hopes,
dreams and saying goodbye to the old year. At this time of festive
camaraderie and reflection, online travel adviser Cheapflights offers its Top 10 favorite New Year traditions
from across the globe. BOSTON (Reuters) - New Year is a time for fresh starts,
hopes, dreams and saying goodbye to the old year:
1. Germany & Finland
How about a spot of fortune telling to ring in the New Year?
Molybdomancy is an ancient technique of divination that involves
interpreting the shapes made by dropping molten lead into cold water. On New Year's Eve in Germany and Finland, family and friends come
together for a spot of lead pouring - Bleigießen in German and
uudenvuodentina in Finnish - and make predictions for the coming year.
It isn't an exact science and there are no firm rules on what the
shapes actually represent. A bubbly surface can mean money is coming
your way; a broken shape misfortune. Ships refer to traveling; a ball
means luck; a monkey says beware of false friends; and a hedgehog means
someone is jealous of you. But don't get too worried if you receive a
bad fortune - the predictions are just for fun.
2. Mexico
In Mexico, families celebrate New Year's (Vispera de Año Nuevo)
with a mix of religion, tradition, superstition and special festive
foods.
Families decorate their homes in colors that represent wishes for
the upcoming year: red for love, yellow for work and green for money.
For even more wishes, Mexicans eat a grape (preferably seedless) with
each of the 12 clock chimes at the stroke of midnight, while making a
wish with each grape. To start the year with a clean slate, another tradition involves
writing a list of all the bad and unhappy events that happened over the
year, then before midnight the list is thrown into a fire and the
negative feelings of the past year are gone. In keeping with the country's Catholic traditions, Mexican sweet
bread (Rosca de Reyes) is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the
dough. When the bread is served, whoever gets the slice with the coin or
charm is said to be blessed with good luck for the New Year.
3. Wales
Calennig, the Welsh name for New Year, means New Year celebration
or gift and since ancient times the tradition in Wales has been to give
gifts and money to friends, family and neighbors. Today, it is customary
to give bread and cheese on New Year's morning, with children receiving
skewered apples covered with raisins and fruit. In some parts of Wales,
people must visit all their relatives by midday to collect their
Calennig. That's a lot of bread and cheese!
4. Japan
The Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) is marked with a range of
cultural and religious traditions from eating special family meals and
making temple visits to sending postcards. Since 1873 Oshogatsu has been
celebrated on January 1, but traditionally it followed the Chinese
lunar calendar. misoka (New Year's Eve) welcomes Toshigami, the New
Year's god, and across the country people celebrate with concerts,
countdowns and fireworks as well as more traditional activities. It is customary to send handwritten New Year's Day postcards
(nengajo) to friends and family and the post office guarantees any cards
sent in time will arrive on January 1. Food plays a big part in New Year's celebrations. People eat a
special selection of dishes called osechi-ryori, including of boiled
seaweed (konbu), fish cakes (kamaboko), mashed sweet potato with
chestnut (kurikinton), simmered burdock root (kinpira gob), and
sweetened black soybeans (kuromame).
Around 11 pm, people gather at home for one last time in the old
year and eat a bowl of noodles-long noodles are associated with crossing
over from one year to the next.
On the stroke of midnight, Buddhist Temples across the country ring
their bells exactly 108 times. One of the most breathtaking
celebrations takes place at the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo where thousands
of people gather to release silver helium balloons carrying New Year's
wishes into the midnight sky.
After the clocks strike 12, many families visit a shrine or temple for Hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year). On New Year's Day, the Japanese give money to children in a
tradition known as otoshidama. Money is handed in small decorated
envelopes called pochibukuro. The amount of money given depends on the
age of the child, but it is not uncommon for kids to get more than
¥10,000 (US$120).
5. Philippines
In the Philippines, New Year's Eve (Bisperas ng Bagong Taon) is a
public holiday and people usually celebrate in the company of family and
close friends. Traditionally, most households host or attend a Media
Noche (dinner party). Most Filipinos follow a set of traditions that includes wearing
clothes with dots (in the belief that circles attract money and fortune)
and bright colors to show enthusiasm for the coming year. Throwing coins at the stroke of midnight is said to increase wealth
as does serving circular shaped fruits and shaking of coins inside a
metal can while walking around the house. Things really get loud as people make noises by blowing on
cardboard or plastic horns (Toronto) banging pots and pans, playing
music, or lighting fireworks to scare away bad spirits.
6. Scotland
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and has
become one of the world's most recognized New Year's celebrations. The roots of Hogmanay date back to the celebration of the winter
solstice, incorporating elements of the Gaelic celebration of Samhain. There are many customs, local and national, linked with Hogmanay.
The most widespread is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts
immediately after midnight. First-footing involves being the first
person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor's home and giving
symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a
rich fruit cake) to bring luck to the householder. This goes on
throughout the early hours of the morning and into the next day, and can
last well into mid-January. But it's not just about ancient traditions in Scotland. On New
Year's Day a new custom has begun to take hold - the Loony Dook. Since
1987, the brave (and the mad) have taken the plunge into the icy cold
River Forth in Queensferry, Edinburgh for a refreshing start to the
year. A sure fire way to get rid of a hangover, the event attracts
thousands of Loonies, spectators and swimmers alike.
7. Ecuador
One of Ecuador's quirkiest traditions sees men putting on their
finest frocks and dressing up as women to represent the "widow" of the
year that has passed. However, the focus of the country's celebrations comes in a much more fiery form. At midnight, families and communities come together to light
fireworks and burn Monigotes - papier-mâché effigies - of politicians,
public figures and popular culture icons. The puppets range from small, simple, homemade offerings to giant, detailed, professionally made creations. The puppets are filled with sawdust or newspaper and, in some
cases, firecrackers. Burning the Monigotes represents getting rid of the
bad feelings, events and spirits of the past year.
8. Greece
While Christmas in Greece is a relatively solemn occasion, New
Year's Day is filled with celebrations and gift giving. January 1 is the
name day of Aghios Vassilis (St. Basil), the Greek Santa Claus, and
many customs are based upon his arrival. On the morning of New Year's Eve, children go door to door and ask
permission to sing kalanta (carols) to bring good wishes to their
neighbors, announce the coming of Aghios Vassilis and bless the house. Later in the evening, families gather for a meal of roast lamb or
pork and an extra place is set at the table for Aghios Vassilis. An onion is hung on the front door (alongside a pomegranate that
has been hanging since Christmas) as a symbol of rebirth and growth.
Around midnight the household lights are switched off and the
family goes outside. One lucky person is given the pomegranate and
smashes it against the door as the clock strikes midnight. As the New Year rolls over, Greek families all over the world cut
into a cake - the Vassilopita - bearing the name of Aghios Vassilis.
Each Vassilopita is baked with a coin or medallion hidden inside and
whoever gets it will be rewarded with good fortune in the New Year.
9. Italy
As you might expect, New Year's celebrations in Italy start with eating a whole heap of delicious foods. The evening begins with the traditional dish, "cotechino e
lenticchie." Cotechino is a savory pork sausage that contains "lo
zampone," the actual hoof of the pig, and is a symbol of abundance.
Lenticchie (lentils) are believed to bring good luck and prosperity in
the coming year to those who eat them on New Year's Eve and represent
the money that you will earn in the coming year. So the more you eat,
the more you! If you're looking for love, or a bit of help in the fertility
department, red underwear is the way to go on New Year's Eve. To
complete the ritual, these red delicates must be thrown out on January
1. Sadly, several of Italy's more wild New Year traditions are rarely seen today. In the past, people would throw old personal effects out their
windows (it doesn't hurt to be wary of open windows on New Year's just
in case) and smash plates, glasses, vases and other pottery against the
ground to drive away bad spirits.
10. Chile
The citizens of Chile have developed a range of traditions to bring
them luck and help make their wishes come true in the New Year. Several sure-fire ways of scoring yourself some good fortune
involve food and drink. Eating lentils and downing a dozen grapes - one
for each month of the year - on New Year's Eve will ensure prosperity in
the coming year as will drinking a glass of champagne with a gold ring
inside. Sticking a "luca" (1,000 Chilean peso bill) in your shoe before
midnight will see it multiply in the coming year and, if you're feeling
generous and want to spread the good will around, give your friends,
family and neighbors ribbon-wrapped sprigs of wheat at midnight. But it's not all about money.
Wear yellow undies for romance, wear them inside out for a
well-stocked closet and wheel your luggage around the block if you're
dreaming of travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment