Celebrations NEW YEAR’S EVE

I want to ask some questions from you..... HOW DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY CELEBRATE NEW YEAR’S EVE? 1) What do you eat on New Year’s Eve? Is there any special food? 2) Who do you have dinner with? Do you stay at home? Do you go to a friend’s / relative’s house? Do you go to a hotel? 3) Do your parents let you go out with your friends? Do you go out with your parents? 4) Do you eat the 12 grapes or do you “substitute” them? 5) What time do you go to bed on New Year’s Eve? 6) Do you watch a lot of TV on New Year’s Eve? 7) Do you have any special family tradition that night?

New Year's Day wasn't always on January 1st. People used to celebrate it in March. January and February were not in the early Roman calendar. December was the tenth and final month. How do we know this for sure? "Decem" means ten in Latin. January and February became part of the calendar around 700 BC. This brought the number of months up to twelve. Julius Caesar named January 1st as the first day of the year around 46 BC. It took many years before his people accepted this day. By the 1500s, many European countries called January 1st New Year's Day. Today this is the official start of the year in many nations. Millions of people celebrate New Year's Eve on December 31st. Some cultures and nations still celebrate New Year's on other days.

While many people in the United States observe New Year's Day on January 1st by throwing parties late into the night on the eve of December 31st, people in China celebrate this holiday for several days between January 17th and February 19th, at the time of the new moon. The Chinese called this time of feasting and celebrations Yuan Tan. Lanterns illuminate the streets as the Chinese use thousands of lanterns "to light the way" for the New Year. The Chinese believe that evil spirits roam the earth at the New Year, so they let off firecrackers to scare off the spirits and seal their windows and doors with paper to keep the evil demons out. January 17th and February 19th In Scotland, the New Year is called Hogmanay. In the villages of Scotland, barrels of tar are set afire and then rolled down the streets. This ritual symbolizes that the old year is burned up and the new one is allowed to enter. New Year's Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil in Greece. Children leave their shoes by the fireside on New Year's Day with the hope that Saint Basil, who was famous for his kindness, will come and fill their shoes with gifts. The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when Jews recall the things they have done wrong in the past, and then promise to do better in the future. Special services are held in the synagogues, children are given new clothes and New Year loaves are baked to remind people of harvest time.

Iran's New Year's Day, which is in March, celebrates not only the beginning of the new year according to the solar calendar, but also bahar, "the beginning of spring." On New Year's Day in Japan, everyone gets dressed in their new clothes and homes are decorated with pine branches and bamboo--symbols of long life. In European countries such as Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands, families start the New Year by first attending church services. Afterwards, they visit friends and relatives. In Italy, boys and girls receive gifts of money on New Year's Day.

Thanks for attentions..