Let’s be honest – it’s been a weird year and I think we’re all very ready to say sayonara to 2020 in our rearview mirror! New Year’s Eve is a time to reflect on the past 365 days and make big plans, changes, or hopes for the year to come.
This holiday season has also left me feeling very nostalgic in the absence of time with family and loved ones in a house full of laughter, tradition, and food. As a kid, I remember a handful of special occasions where my mom allowed us to celebrate the ball drop at the stroke of a New York midnight. Lucky for her, that was at 11pm in the great Midwest and it was a lesson on time zones for the unknowing kids. We didn’t care – we drank sparkling cider from plastic flutes with our pinkies out in celebration of the New Year, confetti littering the floor, noise-makers filling the air. I always imagined every other house in the neighborhood was celebrating as boisterously as us at the exact same moment in time and it filled my heart with joy and excitement.
It never dawned on me as a kid that other cultures celebrated the New Year differently from Americans with their ball drop and champagne and midnight kisses, but then again, my limited Midwestern world view kept me rather sheltered culturally from things like Hanukkah and Dia de los Muertos, and Atheism too. It wasn’t until I went away to college and took sociology, anthropology, and religion courses that I learned about a vast array of other societies and cultures around us, both inside and outside of the United States. It was then that I realized I could make new traditions or rituals for my own future children, to help them learn about other cultures’ celebratory practices.
Now that I have an 8 year old, JT is at an age where it’s fun to incorporate him into learning new things together. This year, we are setting aside three new ways to celebrate the New Year based on cultural practices outside of the US – eat a traditional “lucky” food, participate in a traditional ritual for luck, and participate in a traditional ritual for prosperity.
There are many varieties of “lucky” food depending on what country you’re from but some of the most traditional foods to consume on New Year’s Eve are round or ring-shaped foods such as pastries or lentils, and green foods such as kale or brussels sprouts. The round shape of food symbolizes coins or wealth or coming full circle, while green foods also symbolize money. This year, JT and I will be celebrating the New Year like Spaniards and eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each of the months.
Many countries celebrate the New Year by participating in a ritual or tradition to keep evil or bad luck out of their home, ranging from hanging an onion bulb on the door to keeping the windows open. We will be celebrating as they do in Ireland by bashing bread on the walls to chase out bad luck. I know that JT is going to lose his mind when I let him know he gets to bang baked goods against the walls of our home, all in the name of a lucky New Year.
Finally, what I assume will be JT’s favorite way to celebrate the New Year (because he’s a typical Captain Underpants loving 8 year old boy…) will be like they do in Latin America by allowing your underwear color to determine what you wish for in the New Year – red undies symbolize love, tighty whiteys are for peace, and green underpants promise wealth.
I hope that getting a little peek into what we’ll be up to with our New Year’s Eve festivities this year has inspired you to try something new with your family! Do you do anything special to ring in the New Year? Let me know in the comments. A couple other ways to celebrate are partaking in the food of the day. Not surprisingly, December 31 is National Champagne Day and January 1 is National Bloody Mary Day. Cheers!
For more New Year’s Day Traditions from Around the World, check out my latest post on the Zulily blog.
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