PragueBuzz!

Do you know what New Year represents and how it is celebrated in different cultures around the world?

Italians from some villages discard old sofas, chairs, clothes to rid of old items before the New Year. Viennese tries to touch pigs for luck. Greekthrow pomegranates wrapped in silver foil on the threshold to spread seeds of good luck for an abundant year.

Americans spend the night with their love ones and kiss them at midnight hoping that the relationship will go on strong. South Americans dine on cornbread, cabbage and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day as peas symbolize good luck. Ecuadorians make dummies, stuffed with straw, to represent the events of the past year and burned them at midnight, ridding of the past. People from Rio de Janeiro gather on the beaches on December 31st to honor Yemanja, the fortune god Yoruban ‘Mother of the Sea’

Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese stuff money in red decorative envelops to give to youngsters after exchanging wishes for prosperity and good-luck. Vietnamese and Chinese decorate their houses with bright colors especially red. Vietnamese do not clean their house for the first three day of the New Year fearing they will get rid of stuffs and fortune inside their houses. Red watermelons, watermelon seeds and rice cakes are typical New Year food for the Vietnamese.

[Source]