In some parts of the world, fireworks are not needed to celebrate the New Year with a bang. LEILANI CHAVEZ takes a look at how different cultures welcome the year ahead.
Japan: No Cooking!
It’s an old Japanese belief that cooking on the first three days of the New Year brings bad luck. But what’s New Year without a feast? The solution: Japanese wives prepare Osechi-ryōri (food boxes) the day before. The bento-like box is filled with traditional Japanese food such as daidai (bitter orange), datemaki (sweet rolled omelet), and kamakobo (broiled fish cake).
Each type of food in an Osechi has meaning, such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness, and long life.
Greece: Pie Cutting in the Dark
In Greece, families and relatives switch off the lights at midnight, then celebrate the New Year by cutting the vasilopita or Saint Basil’s pie. The head of the household first etches a cross on top of the pie before a piece is sliced for every member. This pie contains one coin slipped into the dough before baking—whoever gets it will be lucky for the whole year.
Russia: Wishing Clock Tower
A New Year celebration in Moscow, Russia, won’t be complete without the midnight chimes from the Spasskaya Tower in the Red Square. It is customary to make a wish with each chime as the wishes are expected to come true for the whole year. This clock has played other melodies as well, from “God Save the Tsar!” to the anthem of the Bolshevik Revolution.
France: Of Wine and Weather
The French watch out for the weather on New Year’s Day as it is said to predict the year to come: wind blowing east means fields will yield fruits, wind blowing west means a plentiful fish and livestock, wind blowing south means good weather all throughout the year, and wind blowing north means crop failure. This doesn’t mean they don’t celebrate though; the French drink leisurely until January 3, emptying the wine bottles from last year with a belief that they can’t get a beautiful year unless these are emptied.
Canada: Icy Dips…Brrr!
The New Year is greeted by a big splash on English Bay in Vancouver, Canada, through the annual Polar Bear Plunge. If you think only a few people dare to take the plunge, think again—the event normally registers 1,000 to 2,000 participants every year who willingly jump into the bay’s freezing water.
