“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.”

Marsha Petrie Sue (The CEO of YOU)

10 Ways Teachers Can Welcome the New Year

How do they celebrate the New Year in other places? Let’s take a look at how they commemorate the annual new beginning in some other countries:

Belgium

In Belgium, where there are three official languages (Dutch, German, and French), they use the Dutch name Sint Sylvester Vooranvond  to refer to New Year’s Eve. This translates to Saint Sylvester Eve.

On Sint Sylvester Vooranvond, réveillones, or New Year's Eve, parties are given. Like in the United States, midnight brings exchanges of good luck greetings, and drink toasts to absent relatives and friends.

New Year's Day is called Nieuwjaarsdag. It is traditional for children to have saved their own money to buy special decorated paper upon which they write holiday greetings to their parents and God-parents.   This paper is often decorated with golden cherubs and angels, colored roses, and ribbon tied garlands. On New Year's morning the children read aloud what they have written to their parents and God-parents.

Russia

Children in Russia are visited on New Year’s Eve by Grandfather Frost. While Grandfather Frost looks much like Santa Claus, he wears blue instead of red. He is also a bit of a superhero; Grandfather Frost can punish any evildoer by freezing them.  

For their New Year’s celebrations, it is customary to have large community trees located in the centers of the towns or cities. Whole communities gather together in a celebratory event to decorate the trees ahead of time. These trees are enjoyed by all, but on New Year’s Eve they are especially enjoyed by the children. On that evening one will find them dancing around the tree and telling rhymes to Grandfather Frost so that they may receive their presents.

Family plays a very big part in the typical Mexican New Year’s celebration. And Mexico, like Spain, recognizes the significance of the number 12 and follows the tradition of eating 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight. Each time the bell rings, they eat one grape and make a wish.

Superstition runs deep in Mexico and there are a couple of New Year’s superstitions that you may see being observed. One is that a person has a better chance of traveling during the upcoming year if he takes out his suitcase and walks around the block. As for those who hope to find love in the coming months, they should wear red somewhere on their person while welcoming in the New Year.

The French New year is called Jour des Étrennes and roughly translates to “Day of New Year’s Presents.” As in Mexico, family is an integral ingredient of this nation’s New Year’s celebrations. Families gather together and exchange presents on New Year’s Day in France much as we do here in the United States.

Spain

In Spain they pay special attention to the number twelve. The clock strikes twelve times to bring in the New Year and that new year will consist of twelve months. Thus, in recognition of the special place the number 12 holds with regard to new beginnings, it is a Spanish tradition to eat 12 grapes when the clock strikes midnight. The grapes are eaten one with every toll to bring good luck for 12 months for the New Year. People will stop whatever they are doing, even if they are in the theatre, to carry out this tradition.

In the southern United States we have our own New Year’s tradition: black eyed peas.  Dished up in various manners, black eyed peas are believed to bring luck throughout the new year. In some southern regions, it is customary to add a dime to the dish of peas. Whoever gets the serving with the dime in it gets an extra helping of good luck!  

Submitted by Lisa Ivey, Amarillo ISD

Ingredients:
1 pound dried black-eyed peas
1 pound Earl Campbell sausage, bite-sized slices
1/2 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions:
Rinse, prepare, soak, and cook peas in about 3 cups water, following directions on the package. When you drain them, keep about half of the liquid; you’ll need it later. Brown the sausage slices and chopped onions. Put the black-eyed peas in a 3-quart casserole with the sausage and onions. Add the liquid that you saved earlier, the brown sugar, salt, barbecue sauce, and ketchup. Bake at 300° for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

[Editor’s note: For extra good luck don’t forget to add a dime!]