Happy New Year!
The first day of the year is both a holiday and a holy day. It is also a
time to look back and a time to look ahead. It is a time to make a new
beginning. So, many people make New Year’s resolutions. They promise
themselves to do better in the new year than they did in the old year.
Because New Year’s Day is a Christian holy day, many people begin the
day by going
The giant figures for the floats in the New Year’s Day Rose Parade
are made of chicken wire that is covered with papier-mache. They are
then decorated with hundreds of roses.
to church. But it is also a day to visit friends and relatives and to
exchange gifts.
In the United States, parades and college football games are the big
events of the day. Millions of people across the country watch both on
television. In Pasadena, California, there is the Tournament of Roses.
Festivities begin with a parade of colorful floats and marching bands.
After the parade comes the Rose Bowl football game.
There are also parades and football games at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas,
Texas, at the
Each Rose parade has a theme. The theme of this parade was “Thanks to
Communications.\” This float shows how aliens might try to communicate
with people on earth.
Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, and at the Orange Bowl in Miami,
Florida.
People near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, flock to see something quite
different—the Mummers’ Parade. A mummer is a person who wears a mask,
a fancy costume, or a disguise for fun. Every year, thousands of people
in strange costumes take part in the parade. Of course, there are prizes
for the best costumes.
In Russia, children who live in the city of Moscow may visit the Kremlin
Palace of Congresses. There they will see a huge fir tree called the New
Year Tree. The tree is decorated with countless colored lights. The
children may also see a fairy-tale play and get gifts from Grandfather
Frost and his helper the Snow Maiden.
People in Sweden attend church services in the morning. Then comes a big
family dinner, much like the one at Christmas. They will enjoy tempting
foods and a hot spiced wine called glogg (gluhg).
In many parts of the world, people have special foods that are supposed
to bring good luck in the coming year. In Japan, it’s a kind of fish
called red snapper. This fish has a pink color. In Japan, pink is
considered lucky.
Families in Greece share a New Year’s cake called peta. A coin is
baked inside the cake. Whoever gets the coin is supposed to have good
luck for a whole year. In other countries in Europe, roast pig is often
served on New Year’s Day. Usually the pig has an apple or an orange in
its mouth. But in Hungary, it is a four-leaf clover—for good luck.
In the south of India, the food that brings good luck is boiled new
rice. And in the Southern and Southwestern United States, many people
enjoy black-eyed peas so as to have good luck throughout the year.
In many countries, gifts are exchanged on New Year’s Day instead of on
Christmas. Long ago, in England, husbands used to give their wives money
on New Year’s Day. The money was to buy pins for the whole year. At that
time, pins were made by hand and were expensive. After machines were
developed to make cheap pins, the custom disappeared. But we still use
the expression “pin money,” meaning a small amount of money for one’s
own use.
In Japan, houses are decorated with rice cakes and sprays of
sweet-smelling pine. The Japanese believe that they should begin the new
year without owing money to anyone.
New Year’s Day has been celebrated for more than five thousand
years—but not always on January 1 (see page 22). Even today, people in
many parts of the world begin their new year on other dates.
Jews celebrate their new year, Rosh Ha-Shanah, in September or October.
The Chinese new year begins in January or February. And for the people
who follow the Islamic religion, the new year starts on the first day of
their first month, called
New Year’s punch
This tasty punch is easy to make. The directions will make enough for
about twenty cupfuls.
2 quarts (1.9 liters) of ginger ale, chilled
6 scoops of raspberry or orange sherbet
1 unpeeled orange, cut in thin slices 10 ice cubes large punch bowl
punch cups bottle opener
Pour the ginger ale into the punch bowl. Add the sherbet. Break up each
scoopful so it will melt. Put in the ice cubes and stir. Add orange
slices for decoration. Pour the punch into cups and serve. Happy New
Year!
Muharram.
