Teddy Bear Times Magazine Issue 268 Retour à l'édition précédente

January, wherever in the world we are, is always the start of a new year. A time to look back and reminisce about good times in the past and look ahead to what the coming year might bring. Many people celebrate by hosting or attending a party, with music, dancing and lots of fun. Thousands of people all over the world turn on the TV at midnight to watch the fireworks. From Sydney Harbour Bridge to Big Ben on the Thames in London, or New York City’s Times Square, so much planning (and money) goes in to making the displays more and more spectacular each year.
There are many New Year traditions that have been forgotten or are still carried out by a small number of people by comparison.
The Spanish eat twelve grapes on the strokes of midnight on December 31st, each one representing good luck for the twelve months ahead. In Denmark, bad spirits are banished by throwing old plates and glasses at the doors of family and friends; or they jump off chairs together at midnight as they ‘leap’ into the new year. The old Hogmanay celebration of ‘first footing’ still happens around Scotland, where the first person through the door after midnight should bring a good luck gift (traditionally this used to be a lump of coal). And in Greece it is customary to hang an onion on the front door on New Year’s Eve, a symbol of rebirth of the year.
How did you celebrate, I wonder? And when all the celebrations are done, show your bears some love on Valentine’s Day.
Till next time