The world’s New Year’s traditions can make your 2012 the start of new rituals at home in New York
Here's how they ring in the new year in Korea, Spain, Japan, Burma, Australia and elsewhere
BY Andrea Hilbert
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
December 29 2011
There are plenty of New Year’s traditions other than wearing funny hats and drinking fizzy beverages.
When it comes to marking the transition from one year to the next, party hats and streamers at midnight can be a little underwhelming. Start a New Year’s tradition — inspiration from around the world
Here are some ideas inspired by New Year’s practices from around the world that New Yorkers could adopt to welcome in 2012. It just might be the start of a new annual tradition.
Korea: Ancestral memorial rites are held, then children wish their elders a happy new year by performing one deep traditional bow. Show your respect for the senior members of your family by asking them to tell you the stories of their lives. StoryCorps, an oral history project, gives young people a chance to interview a friend or relative about their most important memories. Each conversation is recorded on a CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at theLibrary of Congress. Download a free do-it-yourself instruction guide from StoryCorps’ website — storycorps.org — to learn how to start your own family archive at home.
Spain and Portugal: As the clock strikes midnight, revelers eat 12 grapes (one with each toll) to bring good luck for each month of the new year. That seems easy enough, but why not try to find 12 different types of grapes to pass from 2011 to 2012. You do wine tastings. Why not grape tastings?
Japan: When the New Year begins, Japanese people like to laugh, as this is believed to make old worries disappear and ensure the coming year is a happy one. So check out the New Year’s Eve shows at the Caroline’s on Broadway (1626 Broadway, 212-757-4100, carolines.com), New York Comedy Club (241 E. 24th St., 212-696-5233, newyorkcomedyclub.com), the Gotham Comedy Club (208 W. 23rd St., 212-367-9000, gothamcomedyclub.com) or the National Comedy Theatre (347 W. 36th St., 212-629-5202, www.manhattancomedy.com). Or try Laughter Yoga, a series of yogic exercises undertaken with the purpose of inducing laughter. There’s a free session Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. (1430 Broadway, Suite 1107, www.yogalaff.com).
Burma: During the traditional Thingyan festival marking the Burmese New Year, people splash water on one another in order to start the New Year with a purified soul. A visit to a hydrotherapy spa could be just the trick to perk up a New Yorker’s outlook. At the Water Lounge at the Great Jones Spa (29 Great Jones St., 212-505-3185), water cures include the River Rock sauna, the Chakra-light steam, a thermal hot tub and a cold plunge. Body by Brooklyn’s Euro-style “wet lounge” offers treatment cycles which are designed to help you relax, energize, recover from a hangover or detox and lose weight (275 Park Ave., 718-923-9400).
Austria: The pig symbolizes good luck and the New Year celebration often includes feasting on suckling pig and decorating the table with miniature pigs made of marzipan, maple sugar, fudge, cookie dough or chocolate. Take advantage of New York’s fascination with large-format, sometimes whole-of-animal feasts. At Momofuku SsamBar (207 Second Ave., www.momofuku.com), a group of six to ten will enjoy the bo ssam which includes a whole slow cooked pork shoulder, a dozen oysters and all the trimmings. Or try Nuela (43 W.24th St., 212-929-1200 , www.nuelany.com) or the Breslin (16 W. 29th St., 212-679-1939 , thebreslin.com) which offer a whole roast suckling pig, or Daisy May’s BBQ (623 Eleventh Ave., 212-977-1500 , www.daisymaysbbq.com), whose “whole pig” option feeds up to 12.
China: The Chinese clean their houses to rid them of last year’s bad luck before the celebrations begin. Make the last days of the year your annual closet declutter days, and strengthen your community by giving away gently worn clothes. Goodwill Industries International has various donation locations throughout Manhattan (locator.goodwill.org) which support its job training, placement and other services for people who face employment challenges. Or call 800-728-7825 to find the nearest drop-off location for the Salvation Army, which uses proceeds from the sale of donated items to help fund its Adult Rehabilitation Centers (www.use.salvationarmy.org).
Australia: Dec. 31 falls in the summer, and many Aussies celebrate the holidays with a chilled seafood lunch and a visit to the beach. f you can’t get away to a warm, watery place, why not join the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in its annual New Year’s Day swim? Or just watch and enjoy a day at the beach. Get to the boardwalk at Stillwell Ave. before 1 p.m., which is when the gang runs into the Atlantic. And we mean runs. Veterans suggest bringing several layers of warm clothes, old sneakers for the dip and don’t forget towels. The Parks Department will give you a place to change, but the rest is up to you.
Our advice: Bring a friend with a camera.
Cambodia: During the New Year festival, children show respect to their parents and grandparents by washing their feet and get blessings in return. If you arrange some culinary instruction for your brood, they can play host at your New Year’s lunch. Taste Buds provides a wide variety of hands-on cooking activities for kids and families. Their Kids Kitchen in Chelsea was designed and built just for juniors, but they’ll also come to you, bringing all ingredients and supplies for a culinary adventure at home. (109 W. 27th St., 212-242-2248 , www.tastebudscook.com) Or check out the kids cooking classes offered at the NY Kids Club locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn ( 347-706-4700 , www.nykidsclub.com)
Iran: Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, marks the first day of spring. A few weeks earlier, people put grains of wheat or barley in a little dish to grow, so that by the New Year they have produced shoots, symbolizing rebirth. MillionTreesNYC is a collaboration of public and private partners which aims to plant and care for one million new trees across the city over the next decade. You can get involved by planting a tree on your own property (check the schedule for Community Tree Giveaways, where you can pick up a free tree), attending a volunteer planting event in a city park, or adopting a tree in your street, block or neighborhood. MillionTreesNYC will give you all the training and tools you need. (www.milliontreesnyc.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed as far as they are constructive and polite.