1. Breaking Dishes on Neighbor’s Door——Denmark

丹麦：邻居家门口摔盘子

A strange and weird2 Danish New Year tradition, depending on how you look at it, is throwing dishes at neighbor’s door. Strangely, this makes them happy instead of annoying them. The family with the tallest tower of broken plates, glasses, cups and other crockery is considered to be the luckiest person because it symbolizes¹ their large amount of loyal² friends.3

2. Talking to Spirits——Mexico

墨西哥：和亡灵对话

Talking to spirits is a part of Mexican belief. Mexicans strongly believe that they can communicate with the souls of their dead loved ones. New Year’s Eve is considered the best time to communicate with dead spirits to convey4 a message or ask for guidance. And this is not done at home on an individual basis but is a legal Mexican practice.5 Taos Inn³, in New Mexico for example, offers 15 minutes session⁴ of spiritualism and meditation⁵ for $15.6 Not a bad price for some helpful guidance!

3. Wearing Polka Dots7——Philippines

菲律宾：身穿带有圆点图案的服装

Imagine streets full of people wearing polka dots and dining room tables full of round shaped food and fruits on one single day of the year. This all actually happens in the Philippines on New Year’s Eve every year. Philippines believe that this will bring them prosperity⁶ by associating the round dots to coins and wealth.

4. Burning Scarecrow Dummy——Ecuador

厄瓜多尔：烧稻草人

Ecuador has a unique custom of crafting9 scarecrows and then burning them at midnight. They adorn10 them and fill the scarecrows with newspapers and pieces of wood. As midnight approaches, everyone gathers outside their home and each family burns their own scarecrow. The tradition says that this destroys all the bad things that took place in the past 12 months. The scarecrow also scares away bad luck, which in turn, fills their new year with luck and happiness.

5. Mistletoe11 Leaves Are Placed Under Pillow to Find Husband——Ireland

爱尔兰：枕头下面放槲寄生叶子来寻求真爱

The single women of Ireland wait desperately12 for New Year’s Eve because it is the night that can bring them the love of their lives. They place mistletoe leaves under their pillow hoping to catch their future husband. It is also believed in the Irish culture that this act will help them get rid of bad luck.

The world is a large and very different place. Yes, people of all nations may celebrate New Year’s much differently around the world, with different traditions, but there are a lot of general themes to be seen. We all want to start a new, fresh year with renewed⁸ enthusiasm⁹ and hope no matter what happened during the past year. We all want to be happier, find love, renew⁷ friendships,increase our wealth and also hope for a little extra luck in the coming new year.