Whoo-hoo! We did it! It's another new year and we are here to celebrate it! 2011, you were good to me and I appreciate all the wonderful things that you brought me, but I have a new best friend and her name is 2012. Tonight we will drink a toast, watch fireworks and steal a kiss from our loved ones, like most people in the US.
I thought it would be fun to see what other traditions and customs are celebrated on New Year's Eve around the world. Here's a few of the ones I found.
In Spain - When the clock strikes midnight they eat 12 grapes one with every toll of the clock, to bring good luck for the next 12 months of the New Year.
In Hungary - they burn effigies or a scapegoat known as "Jack Straw" which represented the evils and misfortunes of the past year on New Year's Eve. Jack Straw is carried around the village before being burnt.
In China - For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness.
In Denmark - it is a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken dishes at New Years. Old dishes are saved year around to throw them at the homes where their friends live on New Years Eve. Many broken dishes were a symbol that you have many friends.
In Wales - At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.
From this website.
