New Year’s Traditions Around the Globe

As the Christmas holiday winds down, people all over the world are preparing to send out the old and ring in the new. Many New Year's traditions involve food and Dave in Illinois says his mother "absolutely, positively must have black-eyed peas on the table on New Year's Day for luck. It must be working; she's been successful and lived a long, happy life." Like many others, Deborah in NJ adds collard greens and cornbread to the peas, the greens said to represent folding money. I've heard various versions of why cornbread is on the menu, from the golden color meaning wishes for prosperity, to the southern staple being a reminder of humility.

Dennis shares from Florida - "Every year, on New Year's Eve, I like to participate in an event known as "Straight Key Night, or SKN. It is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League and is an on-the-air amateur radio activity. "Hams," as we're known as (my call letter: K1YPP), get on the ham radio frequencies and use old fashioned Morse code keys to communicate-no keyboards or electronic keys. Truly, bringing in a new year with old technology." What a concept. To those of us who tap on a computer keyboard all day, that would be like penning a letter using ink well and quill.

Military wife Erin, a Vermont transplant now in Virginia, spends time making gingerbread houses with her kids before the Christmas holiday. Each of her four children creates their own gingerbread structure, designed in a style that suits their personality. On New Year's Day, they smash and eat them.

Steve lives in the U.S. but works with a website headquartered in Bogota, Columbia. "I was introduced to some of their traditions that I found heart-warming. One tradition is to eat twelve grapes at midnight, each with a wish of good luck for the next twelve months ahead. You can also find Columbians carrying a suitcase on the street and hugging people at midnight to wish them good travels in the year ahead."

An American expat living in Rio, Tricia will be celebrating her third New Year's Eve there. "The Cariocas (natives of Rio de Janeiro) typically dress in white, a color that represents peace. We like to have a meal at home, which includes lentils to bring good fortune. Then we go to the beach and watch the fireworks at the turn of the New Year. Another tradition is to jump seven waves after midnight, which is supposed to bring good luck in the coming year. I ate lentils and jumped waves, and 2011 was definitely more prosperous than 2010, so it's a tradition I'll be sticking to!"

Hailing from Chicago, Andrew shares the holiday traditions of his multicultural background. The internet entrepreneur says the Chinese eat long noodles on New Year's as it represents long life in the coming year and beyond. "We also wear everything new as a way to welcome the new year and ensure good luck, and never cut or wash our hair on that day as it's thought to wash away all your luck (fortune is believed to be in one's hair). Firecrackers are also set off to scare away evil spirits." His father's side of the family is Jewish and they eat "sweet foods that are believed to welcome a sweet New Year. Also, since Rosh HaShanah translates to "head of the New Year," we often will eat the head of a fish."

How will you be welcoming 2012? I've already bought my black-eyed peas and will be serving them with rice and cornbread, but if you've a hankering for collard greens, you'd best pull up a chair at someone else's table.

More from Marie Anne:

An Irish Christmas - Christmas With an Irish Kick
Nana Was a Snitch
Gaijin Reflects on Japanese Baseball