How will you celebrate New Yearˈs Eve? By having a party with your classmates? Going to the karaoke for a singing competition? Many people around the world celebrate the day. Letˈs have a look at what people in other countries do.
In the United States, thousands of people jam into Times Square in New York to welcome in the new year at midnight. The change from New Yearˈs Eve and New Yearˈs Day is very exciting. People count down(倒计时) the seconds to welcome the new day as the New Year ball slowly gets down and lights up the area.
In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, everyone eats 12 grapes. They eat one grape for each toll(钟声) to bring good luck for the next 12 months of the new year.
In Scotland, fireworks are set off in front of the Edinburgh Castle. Immediately after midnight, people sing Auld Lang Syne. The words are in Scottish and mean “days gone by”. The famous Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote the song.
In Brazil, most people wear white clothes on New Yearˈs Eve to bring good luck for the new year, If they live near a beach, after midnight, people go there, light candles in the sand, throw flowers in the sea and make a wish. They say that the goddess who protects the sea will make their wishes come true.
Did you know?
The date January 1 was picked by the Roman leader Julius Caesar(凯撒大帝) as the change of the year when he established his own calendar in 46 BC. The month of January was named after the Roman god, Janus. He is pictured with two heads. One head looks forward and the other back. They represent a break between the old and new.