New Years Traditions Around The World

By Rachel Matthews | December 31st, 2012 at 6:21 pm

It’s December 31st; the last day of 2012 and known to most of us as New Years Eve.  New Years Eve and New Years Day are as filled with traditions and superstitions as they are with parties and food.

image via StuartMoreton on flickr

Perhaps the most well known New Years tradition is the midnight kiss, you’re supposed to kiss the person you love at midnight to ensure you get to keep kissing them for the rest of the year.  From Midnight kisses and champagne toasts to  collard greens and cornbread – there are many ways that people sweep away the old and ring in the New.
From colored underwear to broken dishes, let’s talk New Years Traditions around the world.

1.  In Denmark, friends smash dishes on eachother’s doorsteps.  The person with the most dishes on their doorstep is thought to have the best and most loyal friends.

image via MaretH on flickr

2. Some Women in South America choose their underwear color by what they want the most luck with in the New Year! Red underwear is for luck in love and yellow is for luck in money.

3. Many people in Ecuador burn photos and scarecrows in an effort to banish bad memories from the past year.

4. In the Philippines, they wear polka dots because the round dots resemble coins and wealth.

5. The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest, whom they believe should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Anyone arriving empty-handed or unwanted will not be allowed to be the first to enter.
6. In Wales  at the first stroke of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Once the clock strikes 12, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.
7. In Puerto Rico people throw buckets of water out the windows of their homes to symbolize “cleaning out” the old year; they will often clean or redecorate their homes to symbolize new beginnings.

 http://www.babble.com/babble-voices/southern-hospitality-rachel-matthews/2012/12/31/new-years-traditions-around-the-world/