New Year's Eve 2012 is here and people around the world are celebrating in their own ways as they ring in 2013. Different countries have their own unique New Year's Eve traditions. Cheapflights.com created their list of the Top 10 New Year's Traditions which includes Germany and Finland, Ecuador, Greece, Italy and Chile among others.
Here are some of Cheapflights.com's Top New Year's traditions.
Germany & Finland
Germany and Finland celebrate with a unique way of fortune telling. They use the ancient technique of Molybdomancy which involves dropping molten lead into cold water and then they interpret the shapes that are made. Families come together for this lead pouring event called Bleigießen in German and uudenvuodentina in Finnish and they interpret what will come in the new year. The lead can form a variety of shapes which hold their own meanings. A bubbly surface may mean money is in your future while a broken shape can mean misfortune. A ships means you'll do some traveling, a ball means luck, a monkey is a warning of false friends, and a hedgehog means someone is jealous of you. However this practice is just done for fun, so don't take the bad predictions too seriously.
Ecuador
Ecuador has a very unique and pretty funny tradition. One of them includes men dressing up as women to represent the "widow" of the year that passed, but this isn't the only way they celebrate. The main event takes place at midnight when families gather to light fireworks and to burn paper- mâché effigies of politicians, public figures and celebrities, called Monigotes. These paper- mâché forms can be done by professionals or amateurs and can range in size. They are usually filled with sawdust and newspaper which is easy to burn, but some are filled with firecrackers to give the even and extra boom. This tradition is done as a way to get rid of negative feelings, spirits and bad events from the past year.
Greece
Greece not only celebrates the new year on January 1, but it is also their version of Christmas. On Jan 1, Greeks celebrate the name day of of Aghios Vassilis (St. Basil), who is the Greek Santa Claus.
On New Year's Eve morning, children go around to each house and sing carols to wish their neighbors well and announce Aghios Vassilis' arrival. During the evening, families gather for a large meal of roast lamb or pork and they have an extra place set for Aghios Vassilis.
Instead of hanging a wreath, those in Greece hang an onion next to their pomegranate that was hung on the front door on Christmas. The onion is a symbol of rebirth and growth. At midnight, families turn off all the lights in the house and go outside. A family member is given the pomegranate and smashes it against the door when the clock strikes midnight.
Greek families also eat a cake called Vassilopita for Aghios Vassilis. Each cake contains a coin or medallion and the one that gets it is rewarded with good fortune for the next year.
Italy
What Italy known for? It's food of course and an Italian New Year's is full of it. Those in Italy start off with a traditional dish called "cotechino e lenticchie," which is a pork sausage that contains the hoof of the pig. This dish is a symbol for abundance. Italians also eat lots of lentils as they're thought to bring good luck and prosperity for the next year. They also represent the money that you'll earn during the year, so it's no wonder people eat a lot of them.
For those looking for a year full of love or for good fertility, Italians wear red underwear on New Year's Eve and throw them out on New Year's day.
Chile
Those in Chile are looking for luck and good wishes for the New Year. Like Italy, they also have food traditions, so they eat lentils as well. However they have a more specific traditions of eating 12 grapes representing each month of the year. Eating these and drinking a glass of champagne with a gold ring inside means you'll be lucky and wealthy throughout the year.
Chileans also put a luca, or a $1000 peso bill in their shoe before midnight so that it will multiply over the year. Families, friends and neighbors also give each other sprigs of wheat that are wrapped in ribbon at midnight for good luck.
Much like how Italians wear red underwear for love in the New Year, Chileans wear yellow underwear. If they wear them inside out, they'll have a well-stocked closet. Some even wheel their luggage around the block to ensure that they'll travel in the next year.
To see the whole list of Cheapflights.com's Top !0 New Year's Traditions, Click Here.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
