viernes, 19 de diciembre de 2008

New Year celebrations













2009 IS COMING!
All around the world, people of different countries and cultures celebrate the New Year coming. It is one of the oldest festivals. People welcome New Year with their family and friends. It is a time to think about the past and make new resolutions for next year.In Europe, America the New Year is celebrated on the first day of January but not all New Year celebrations take place on the same day or in the same way! Sometimes this is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. China and Israel keep a lunar calendar. It is based on the movement of the moon around the Earth. Some countries celebrate in the spring when new crops begin to grow or in autumn when the crops are harvested. Adults and children have many different ways of welcoming the New Year. Wouldn't it be fun to travel around the world and celebrate the New Year all year long?

While we wait until we have enough money for the journey, we can know about New Year in other countries reading about it.


In Scotland it is called "Hogmanay". There is a big party in the street on 31st December. One of the most important traditions is "the first footing", after midnight people visit their relatives and friends to wish each other Happy New Year. They think it is lucky if the first person they visit is tall and dark. They take with them a piece of coal or some shortbread to eat,it is a very old tradition when they heated their homes with coal or they had little to eat.


In Holland, people think that something of the shape of a ring is lucky because it shows the complete circle of the year. For this reason they eat doughnuts on New Year's Day to bring them luck, on this day they put their Christmas trees in the street and burn them.

In the USA , food is important in New Year celebrations, they think that certain food bring them luck. Depending on the region they live they eat pork which represents prosperity, rice or cabbage which represents paper money.


In Venezuela, people think that it is lucky to wear yellow underwear. If they want to travel next year, they a suitcase and have a walk around the house. At midnight they eat twelve grapes for good luck. Another tradition is to write their wishes in a letter and burn it.




Now you can add some of these traditions to your

New Year Celebration


I wish you all HAPPY NEW YEAR!

1 comentario:

Michael Toora dijo...

Está muy bien este artículo, Carmen, se lee muy bien, feliz año nuevo a ti también.