|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It’s been a long standing tradition in America to bring in the new year with parties that include lots of drinking and food. Another tradition is to watch the great ball in Times Square drop at midnight. Then we all sing Auld Lang Syne.
Have you ever wondered how other countries bring in the new year? Let’s take a look at a few:
SPAIN
When midnight rolls around, Spaniards will eat one grape for each time the clock chimes in hopes of guaranteeing good luck for the following year.
Failure to complete the task supposedly puts you at risk for bad fortune, so the Spanish do their best to improve odds. Staying true to the superstition, you want Aledo grapes, grown in Alicante in a way that makes their skin particularly fine and easy to eat.
GERMANY
Sticking with the lucky food theme, Germans will gift marzipan pigs to friends and family as a way of wishing them good luck. It’s a bit like giving someone a four-leaf clover, and you might even find some of the confectionery Glücksschwein with a lucky clover incorporated in the design.
We don’t know how lucky they really are, but they certainly are cute!
Sadly, due to terror threats, Germany has cancelled their traditional celebration.
DENMARK
Broken glass isn’t normally a welcome sight, but in Denmark, it’s celebrated. Every New Year’s Eve, Danes will travel to their friends’ homes and throw their old, chipped dishes at the front door.
As strange as it seems, a stoop covered in plate fragments suggests that the homeowners are quite popular among their friends.
Another popular New Year’s tradition in Denmark is jumping off furniture. It’s quite a literal interpretation of jumping into the new year.
JAPAN
Buddhist temples play a key role in ringing in the new year. Just before midnight, temples across Japan will ring their bells 108 times to represent 108 human sins. Each ring of the bell is seen as a way to rid Japan of the bad experiences, deeds, and luck from the previous year.
The most popular bell-ringing event takes place in Tokyo, where the “Watched Night” bell is rung 107 times on December 31, and once past midnight.
BRAZIL
In Brazil, New Year’s partygoers often don new, colorful underwear in hopes of good fortune. Each color is said to attract a different type of luck for the year ahead. Green underwear symbolizes good health, while yellow represents financial prosperity. White underwear is for peace, red is said to attract passion, and pink underwear is thought to bring romance. Purple underwear symbolizes intellectual and spiritual inspiration.
I hope this brief peek at how other countries bring in the new year has been interesting. Maybe one day you might be in one of these countries and experience their tradition for yourself.
Happy New Year!
Everything else is just history
