{"id":4328,"date":"2020-12-21T05:34:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T10:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.helpteaching.com\/blog\/?p=4328"},"modified":"2024-09-17T05:35:42","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T09:35:42","slug":"new-year-customs-from-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.helpteaching.com\/blog\/new-year-customs-from-around-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"New Year Customs from Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"New<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every year, people around the world mark the passage of time with New Year\u2019s celebrations.  December 31 and January 1 find many more people than usual (even kids!) staying up well past their bedtimes. Learn more about this annual celebration here!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Around the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Different cultures have different ways of celebrating the transition from the old year to the new.  It\u2019s worth noting that some cultures which use a different calendar in addition to the Western civil one (also called the Gregorian calendar), may still mark the transition from one year to the next on January 1, but the cultural celebrations happen as the new year begins on their traditional calendar (for example, Chinese New Year and Islamic New Year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the heck is Hogmanay?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hogmanay is what the New Year celebration is called in Scotland.  The word\u2019s exact origin is unknown, but it may have come from the French word hoginane<\/em> meaning \u201cgala day\u201d.  The name might also have come from the Anglo-Saxon haleg monath<\/em> meaning \u201choly month\u201d.  Some claim it came from the Scandinavian hoggo-nott<\/em> meaning \u201cyule\u201d.  A traditional part of Hogmanay is \u201cfirst footing\u201d.  That\u2019s when someone visits friends or family immediately after midnight to become the first person to go into their house in the new year.  First footers traditionally bring a lump of coal to ensure the house remains warm in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No sour grapes allowed, but lentils are okay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the clock strikes midnight in Spain, people reach for grapes.  Tradition has it that you should eat one grape each time the clock chimes.  In Romania, people dress up as dancing bears at the New Year to chase away evil spirits.  In Brazil, eating a bowlful of lentils at New Year is a guarantee of good fortune for the year ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ring the bells<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples and individuals all over Japan ring bells 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen.  In Seoul, South Korea, the large bell in the Bosingak pavilion (originally constructed in 1396!) is rung just once a year at midnight on December 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smashing stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Denmark, people smash a plate on a friend’s doorstep to bring good luck over the next twelve months.  No one knows the origin of this strange tradition.  In Johannesburg, people like to begin the year without any unwanted items, so at the new year they chuck out old furniture by dropping it out of a window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of dropping things\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Times Square in New York City, the countdown to midnight finishes with a giant ball drop, when a glowing ball is lowered down a big flagpole to the cheers of a million people crammed into the streets below.  The ball is twelve feet in diameter, and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds.  It\u2019s covered with more than 2,600 Waterford Crystal triangles.  The ball has been lowered every year since 1907, except for 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was cancelled due to World War Two.   There are many ways to watch the ball drop live<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is first (and last) to celebrate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Republic of Kiribati is the first nation to ring in the new year.  This Pacific atoll nation straddles the 180th meridian.  Even though its easternmost islands lie west <\/em>of the Hawaiian Islands, an odd eastward thrust of the International Date Line gives Kiribati this privilege.  Kiribati is the only nation on earth which is situated in all four hemispheres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The uninhabited Baker Island and nearby Howland Island, both U.S. possessions in the Pacific, are the last to say goodbye to the old year.  American Samoa is the last inhabited <\/em>place on the globe to welcome the new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fireworks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although restrictions on large crowds due to the pandemic may limit fireworks displays, many are still planned and can be enjoyed from afar.  Sadly, the most famous fireworks display, held annually in Sydney, Australia will be toned down for New Year\u2019s Eve 2020 due to pandemic restrictions.  In a normal year, the Sydney celebration would attract more than a million spectators to the city\u2019s harbor, and one billion viewers on television and internet streaming<\/a>.  Due to its time zone, Sydney is one of the first major cities in the world to enter the new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most major cities have fireworks displays each year including Dubai, Singapore, Niagara Falls, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro, where fireworks are launched at the city’s famous Copacabana beach.  Again, fireworks displays in many of the world\u2019s great cities this year have been cancelled or curtailed due to the pandemic, but some will be streamed online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual celebrations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kids can zoom into the New Year with the many virtual \u201cNoon\u201d Year\u2019s Eve celebrations offered by children\u2019s museums and other non-profit groups.  Here are a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n