RING IN THE NEW YEAR!
Different traditions around the world have the same hope: and happiness prosperity ahead
Toodle-oo, 2017! With high hopes for peace and prosperity, good luck and love, people around the world are getting ready to ring in the new year. This is how they’ll be celebrating in 24 countries (and one U.S. territory — here’s to a better year ahead, Puerto Rico), Melissa Hank writes.
Argentina: Pile your plate high with beans on New Year’s Eve, and you’ll have good luck. Some people also carry suitcases around their homes in the hopes of travelling more in the year ahead.
Austria: Whoever finds the charm hidden in a suckling pig will have good luck — though it’s too bad the luck for the pig itself seems to have run out. In the dessert course, peppermint ice cream will presumably stretch your wallet in the new year as much as your waistband.
Bahamas: Legend has it that the Junkanoo festival started in the late 18th century, when slaves were allowed to leave plantations to celebrate Christmas together. It happens on both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, running from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. It’s a loud and lively affair, with dancers, elaborate costumes and musicians beating goatskin drums and blowing cow whistles.
Belgium: Children write letters to their parents on New Year’s Day, using paper decorated with cherubs, angels and coloured roses. And who says only humans celebrate the turn of the calendar? Farmers bid their livestock a Happy New Year to bring about good health and well-being.
Bolivia: Get your dental plan in order, because coins are baked into sweets in Bolivia — if you find one, you’ll be prosperous in the new year. Leaving three stones outside your door will bring health, prosperity and love. Or, you can be more discreet in your intentions: Wearing yellow undies will supposedly bring money, while red undies will bring love.
Brazil: You’ll be bidding 2017 goodbye come hell or high water. And when that high water comes, you can celebrate according to tradition on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach. Jumping through seven waves will bring good luck and if you’re wearing white while doing it, it’ll also bring peace. Get extra credit by throwing a bouquet into the ocean as an offering to the goddess of the seas.
China: Festivities honouring the Gregorian New Year happen in big cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai, but the Chinese Lunar New Year — or Spring Festival — happens in late January or early February. To set the stage, many people literally wash away bad luck with a cleaning spree. They also buy gifts for loved ones, give kids money in red paper envelopes and paint their front doors red to bring happiness and good luck.
Denmark: Friends don’t let friends keep chipped dishes. Instead, friends let friends throw them around willy nilly. People hang on to their chipped dishes and glasses all year just to smash them against their buddies’ front doors on New Year’s Eve. Those with the most shards come morning can brag about having the most friends.
Ecuador: Ecuadoreans are not messing around. Using newspaper and wood, they build life-size effigies of their enemies and burn them in the streets at midnight. To be fair, though, the dummies represent all the misfortunes of the past year — not just their nemeses’ rank vileness.
England: Luck may be a lady tonight but on New Year’s Day, it takes the form of a boy. Brits believe that the first guest to walk through your front door should be a lad who’s tall and dark-haired, and he should bring bread (to make sure you’re well fed), salt (to herald wealth) and coal (to keep you warm).
Estonia: Loosen your belt buckle, because things are about to get gluttonous. Traditionally, Estonians eat multiple meals on New Year’s Eve — seven, nine or 12 meals are believed to be the luckiest, and you’ll gain the strength of that many men in the coming year. Let not your gut be daunted, though. You can leave some food on the plate for ancestral spirits.
Finland: Your fortune for the next 365 days is told via molybdomancy — the act of melting tin and quickly throwing it into a bucket of cold water. An expert analyzes the resulting blob of metal.
France: A special nighttime feast called Le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre is loaded with traditional dishes like pancakes, foie gras and Champagne. The meal is thought to bring prosperity and good luck.
Germany: Now here’s a tradition Homer Simpson would approve of. On New Year’s Eve, Germans kick back with jam-filled doughnuts and marzipan goodies shaped like pigs. They also flip on the TV to watch the British cabaret play Dinner for One, which is broadcast in black and white each year.
Greece: Hang an onion on your door on New Year’s Eve as a sign of rebirth. In the morning, parents tap their kids on the head with it to wake them up. Greeks also smash a pomegranate on their doorsteps before setting foot in their homes — the more seeds you see, the more luck and prosperity you’ll have.
Ireland: Are you a single lady? Would you like someone to put a ring on it? According to tradition, you’ll land a mate if you pop some mistletoe under your pillow the night of Dec. 31.
Japan: People literally ring in the new year, as the bells in Buddhist temples chime 108 times on New Year’s Eve (known as Omisoka). In Buddhism, there are 108 human desires that lead to suffering — the bells are believed to banish negative emotions and thoughts.
Peru: Which spud’s for you? On New Year’s Eve, three potatoes are stowed under a chair or couch — one unpeeled, one peeled and one half-peeled. Without looking, you pick a potato at midnight to tell your financial fortune: The peeled potato means money will be scarce, the half-peeled potato indicates a typical year, and the unpeeled potato means you’ll be able to afford much more than three potatoes next year. Puerto Rico: People scrub down their homes, cars and streets in preparation for Jan. 1. Some also toss buckets of water from a window, which chases away evil spirits and demons (and, presumably, anyone who happens to be walking below).
Romania: Some people foretell the weather for the upcoming year by methodically peeling, salting and reading the skins of 12 onions — the liquid left by melted salt is the key determiner.
Russia: The fictional character Ded Moroz (translated as Grandfather Frost) brings presents to children on New Year’s Eve. He’s accompanied by Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), his granddaughter and helper.
Scotland: The three-day celebration Hogmanay starts on Dec. 30, and finds torch-wielding revellers, pipers and drummers marching through Edinburgh. The next two nights bring gatherings called cèilidhean, filled with singing, traditional dancing and storytelling.
Spain: Each time the clock strikes at midnight, people eat one grape — an exercise that’s thought to bring prosperity.
Switzerland: Unlike the Puerto Ricans and Chinese with their neatnik traditions, the Swiss take a more laissez-faire approach. They drop a dollop of whipped cream on the floor to bring abundance. The longer it lingers there, the better.
Vietnam: New year, new clothes. People don a traditional outfit called ao dai to to celebrate Tet, the Lunar New Year, in late January or early February, signifying a fresh start. Three days (or more) of festivities call for eating, drinking, socializing and paying respect to ancestors and elders.