New Year Traditions Around the World

What objects bring you luck in the coming new year and what you should do with them?

Maxim Trevelyan
Writer, Squib

With December coming, there is a slew of holidays lined up for celebration. However, out of all of them, New Year's Eve seems most universal as each country does something to celebrate its passing on December 31st (or a bit later). This article will present you with strangest, but not less endearing New Year traditions around the world.

First, I will focus on food. In Spain, it is traditional to eat twelve grapes at midnight, one for each strike of the clock. Some say you can just hold them in your mouth, while others agree that quickly eating and swallowing is the way to go. Another food that is quite a New Year staple is pork. In Hungary, a dinner of pork roast (also known as kocsonya), on New Year's Eve is said to bring a very successful year for the person eating, as pork fat symbolizes wealth and prosperity. Bolivians bake a coin (or coins) into their pastries and cakes for New Year's and it is said that a person who gets the coin with their slice will enjoy prosperity in the coming year.

What objects bring you luck in the coming new year and what you should do with them? If you ask around in Ecuador, you should take your empty suitcase for a stroll around your immediate area if you want to go on a vacation. To celebrate the New Year as a time of change, in South Africa and Italy, people throw old furniture out of their windows. Careful if you are outside during those times! On the matter of breaking things, Denmark's tradition to some might be a bit of a weird one. They take a plate and smash it against their friends' door. The more shattered pieces someone finds on their doorstep around or after midnight, more luck they are supposed to have in the coming year.

I hope you found this article informative, and most of all, fun. It is wonderful to see how many ceremonies exist in the world surrounding New Year's and no matter how odd we view each others' traditions, they share optimism that is hard not to appreciate.

Sources
http://list25.com/25-strangest-new-year ... the-world/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galle ... the-world/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38341760
http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/02/7-weird-w ... d-6335579/