# New year!



## Learning

Hello! Do you eat the twelve grapes the 31th December at 00:00 hours?
It's a custom here in Spain.
Saludoss


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## Artrella

Learning said:
			
		

> Hello! Do you eat the twelve grapes the 31th December at 00:00 hours?
> It's a custom here in Spain.
> Saludoss





Not here in Argentina!!!


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## Jessuki

I think Italian people eat lentils    is that right?

Do you become nervous when eating the 12 grapes? XD

Saludos!


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## DesertCat

I'm not famaliar with the grape eating.  What is the significance?

I eat black-eyed peas on New Years day for good luck.  Usually with rice and Italian style turkey sausage (though ham is more traditional).  I know a lot of people in the US do the black-eyed peas but I've also met people who never heard of this tradation. It may be a regional thing.


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## vachecow

My parents always used to only drink champagne on New Year's eve......but I've never heard of the grapes


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## Alfry

Jessuki said:
			
		

> I think Italian people eat lentils  is that right?
> 
> Do you become nervous when eating the 12 grapes? XD
> 
> Saludos!


Yes we eat lentils and wear red underwear on New Years day for good luck.


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## Artrella

alfry said:
			
		

> Yes we eat lentils and wear red underwear on New Years day for good luck.





We have to wear *pink* underwear!!!


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## Silvia

DesertCat said:
			
		

> Usually with rice and Italian style turkey sausage.


 Italian style turkey sausage?! We don't have any turkey sausage in Italy!  Like we don't have any fettuccini Alfredo either! Or other American food


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## Sybil

I am not sure if there are any traditional dishes served on Dec 31st in Poland (yet drinking champagne at midnight is a must, of course), but I do recall being told to behave on New Year's Eve to ensure good luck and fortune in the upcoming year. Actually, some people would say that what happens to you on New Year's Eve is bound to happen in the new year. But I guess it's not really a custom. Is it? It's more of a superstition...


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## Silvia

alfry said:
			
		

> Yes we eat lentils and wear red underwear on New Years day for good luck.


 Eating lentils is said to be auspicious for money.

Should I dare say our saying? 

Quel che fai a capodanno, lo fai tutto l'anno!
What you do on New Year's Day, you'll do it all year long 

That's why you should be with the person you love and...


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## Sybil

Oh, Silvia... Your Italian saying sounds just like the Polish New Year's Day saying I was trying to recall. Ha! How interesting!


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## lsp

What about throwing things out the window?


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## Sybil

lsp, 

Hm... who are you asking about tossing things out the window?


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## lsp

The Italians! Did you see _Cinema Paradiso_? In some parts - I don't know where or if it's done anymore - stuff comes flying out the windows on NYs Eve.


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## DesertCat

silviap said:
			
		

> Italian style turkey sausage?! We don't have any turkey sausage in Italy!  Like we don't have any fettuccini Alfredo either! Or other American food



I'm sorry Silvia.  

Typically, Italian sausage is made with pork in the US.  Whether or not it is even remotely Italian I couldn't say but somehow I doubt it.  However, my boyfriend doesn't eat red meat so we have to substitue Italian style sausage from turkey made with the same spices that would be used in the pork version.  

You would probably faint if you could see what passes for Italian food in some of the Italian restaurants here.


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## Sybil

lsp, 

Ah, il film di Tornatore? Oh, but I saw it so many years ago, gosh... I vaguely remember the plot. When did you see it last?


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## Sybil

"You would probably faint if you could see what passes for Italian food in some of the Italian restaurants here."

DesertCat, 
A-hem, if I may... I think that along with obscene language and sexual references, this kind of topic should be off limits


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## vachecow

My grandmother also loved to bang pots and pans at midnight....a practice which I am sure that the neighbors loved


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## Alfry

silviap said:
			
		

> Quel che fai a capodanno, lo fai tutto l'anno!
> What you do on New Year's Day, you'll do it all year long
> 
> That's why you should be with the person you love and...


hihihihihihihi
... and tear his/her red underwear up .... 

sorry


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## Artrella

alfry said:
			
		

> hihihihihihihi
> ... and tear his/her red underwear up ....
> 
> sorry




*Epa Alfry!!! *  Would it work with *pink* underwear??? Well, we'll have to try and see if it works.....    


http://forum.wordreference.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=480&stc=1



Art


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## niña

I ate the twelve grapes in time with each chime without missing anyone and without delay and without suffocating  I made a wish.. and greeted all my familiars for the new year...and then the "brindis" with "cava"


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## Sharon

I live in the Midwest, and here it is a tradition to eat sauerkraut on New Year's day for good luck. This year, one of the local grocery stores had a sale on corned beef and cabbage, and they advertised it by saying that it was good luck to eat it on New Year's day. I have never heard that before, so I don't know if it is a valid tradition or not. Maybe someone got their holidays confused, because we normally eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's day - for luck.



			
				Silviap said:
			
		

> Quel che fai a capodanno, lo fai tutto l'anno!
> What you do on New Year's Day, you'll do it all year long





			
				Sybil said:
			
		

> Oh, Silvia... Your Italian saying sounds just like the Polish New Year's Day saying I was trying to recall. Ha! How interesting!


It is a superstition here that what you are doing _at the stroke of midnight_ is what you will be doing all year long.

I don't know if this is related to that, but a lot of people exchange kisses when the clock strikes twelve. Personally, I agree with Silviap and Alfry!!   

Sharon.


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## Sybil

Sharon, 

About the sauerkraut, my father-in-law (a Buckeye, by the way ;-) always eats corned beef and cabbage on New Year's Eve. I think it has to do with his grandparents who happened to be of German descent.


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## Silvia

lsp said:
			
		

> What about throwing things out the window?


 No way! I mean, turning the streets in a dump would be uncivil 

However, I guess it's still the custom in Naples...


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## Silvia

Sharon said:
			
		

> people exchange kisses when the clock strikes twelve.


 Well, we do that right after. When the clock strikes twelve, we uncork bottles of spumante.


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## Sev

In France, I don't think we eat stg special, but a tradition coming from the Celts is to exchange kisses under a mistletoe bunch hung to the ceiling (well i don't know if what i wrote is good english, many new words for me : mistletoe, bunch, ceiling ...correct me if ever !).

Mistletoe was known to bring protection to the house. (more info :about New Year, in French : http://www1.nordnet.fr/fdi/consult.php?letter_id=143&art_id=2)

But know, only people living in the countryside continue to do it because finding mistletoe in the middle of Paris or Toulouse might be hard.....and many people don't even know how mistletoe looks like  !!


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## lsp

Sev, your english is so close to perfect. You should only have changed one tiny word! 

FROM: and many people don't even know how mistletoe looks like 
TO:     and many people don't even know what mistletoe looks like

Americans stand under the mistletoe to kiss also.


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## Sybil

"Americans stand under the mistletoe to kiss also."

Just to clarify, we kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas Day, not on New Year's Eve... ;-)


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## lsp

we do it all holiday-season long!


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## badger

niña said:
			
		

> I ate the twelve grapes in time with each chime without missing anyone and without delay and without suffocating  I made a wish.. and greeted all my familiars for the new year...and then the "brindis" with "cava"



The twelve grapes of  Niña

Each taken with a chime.

Twelve tiny moons?

Our ancient mark of time.


Or our twelve past sorrows?

Dispatched with our tears.

To make room in our hearts.

That now, holds no fears.



The twelve grapes of  Niña.

Our World Reference child.

Our symbol of innocence.

Youth’s hope enshrined.


Twelve hopes for the future?

New friends not yet met.

A new Year awakening.

Resolves to be set.



The twelve grapes of  Niña

At twelve of the clock.

A milestone is reached,

with the next tock.


Then kiss’s and hug’s.

To each person near.

Good wishes and friendship.

As we greet the new year! 



_Happy new year everyone!

Badger._


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## Artrella

Simply  Great  Badg !!!   ​






Art


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## belén

Beautiful Badger!!

Thanks for this present


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## mhay

well, in our country.... we usually collect 12 pieces of different rounded fruits that are available in the market and we simply combine them all in a fruit tray and we let them stay until 12:00 - because we do believe that makes our live so bountiful for the coming year.... 

our families normally gather all together and attend the mass and after that -  it's a reunion  celebration , and we celebrate the coming year in our homes, having lots of filipino foods and watching different fireworks in the sky...  and also, we do entertain our visitors the next day...  

we really make it sure that the celebration is so DIFFERENT and FANTASTIC each year... 

happy holidays to everyone!!!


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## ling0127

Not here in the Philippines! What's the significance?






			
				Learning said:
			
		

> Hello! Do you eat the twelve grapes the 31th December at 00:00 hours?
> It's a custom here in Spain.
> Saludoss


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## mhay

badger said:
			
		

> The twelve grapes of Niña
> 
> Each taken with a chime.
> 
> Twelve tiny moons?
> 
> Our ancient mark of time.
> 
> 
> Or our twelve past sorrows?
> 
> Dispatched with our tears.
> 
> To make room in our hearts.
> 
> That now, holds no fears.
> 
> 
> 
> The twelve grapes of Niña.
> 
> Our World Reference child.
> 
> Our symbol of innocence.
> 
> Youth’s hope enshrined.
> 
> 
> Twelve hopes for the future?
> 
> New friends not yet met.
> 
> A new Year awakening.
> 
> Resolves to be set.
> 
> 
> 
> The twelve grapes of Niña
> 
> At twelve of the clock.
> 
> A milestone is reached,
> 
> with the next tock.
> 
> 
> Then kiss’s and hug’s.
> 
> To each person near.
> 
> Good wishes and friendship.
> 
> As we greet the new year!
> 
> 
> 
> _Happy new year everyone!_
> 
> _Badger._


 



====> i really like this one... how i wish, someone could make a poem for me... i will really appreciate that..... thank's a lo!!


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## vachecow

Sybil said:
			
		

> a Buckeye, by the way ;-)


Oh...my father also....kinda takes it to a whole new meaning, doesn't it?


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## norincute

not here in the philippines... and what does it mean?


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## vachecow

Do you mean the term Buckeye?   Oh....well my father is from Ohio, and he is a proud of his state as most are proud of their country.  He knows every famous person who came from Ohio (at least it seems like it)...AND, when the Buckeye football team loses, it is like the end of the world........what I said was kind of a joke


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## vachecow

I probably should have said what a Buckeye was  it is the state nut of Ohio (i think, maybe it is the State tree that bears Buckeye nuts)>>>>>people from Ohio are known as Buckeyes


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## Sybil

"AND, when the Buckeye football team loses, it is like the end of the world..." 

lol vachecow, I can relate! And if it loses to Michigan (its greatest rival), it is like the absolute end of the world...


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## belén

From google and it confirms what I had heard:

_What I am going to talk about , is a Spanish tradition to welcome the New Year. On the 31st of December, it doesn’t matter what part of Spain you may be in, but at five minutes to twelve you will be able to see that every single person around you is holding a plate or a cup with twelve grapes, yes, grapes and at very same moment that the clock starts striking the twelve chimes everybody will eat a grape with each of them; If you are able to eat all of them on time and finish when the bell finishes striking, the New Year will be one of good luck for you.

The origin of this tradition is quite old, and there are even Spanish people that do not know it. I was told a few years ago that this celebration is due to a great grape harvest that took place at the beginning of the current century, and the people of the time decided to give thanks for it with the start of the year and wishing the next year would be as good as that one.

_


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## Sharon

Sybil and Vachecow...Ah, yes, the Buckeye State. I know it well. I am a Buckeye, from the state of Ohio. The state tree is the buckeye tree which bears buckeye nuts. The OSU football team is known as "The Buckeyes," and those fans you were talking about are "Buckeye Nuts." (Losing to Michigan *is* the worst thing that can happen to a Buckeye Nut!!  ) (HELP! I am surrounded by football fans!  )

I don't know all the famous people, but I do know that our state flag is the only one that is not a rectangle, and the capital of our state is often referred to as "*Test Market, U.S.A.*" 

Sharon.


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## Sybil

Hey, Sharon!

Good to meet another Buckeye. (I have a soft spot for Buckeyes, e-hem...) 
Yes, when I mentioned my family in Ohio, I was definitely referring to "Buckeye Nuts" ;-)
Oh, and speaking of official symbols of Ohio, the state bird is the cardinal.


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## vachecow

I must confess.....I was born in WV (I'm a Mountaineer) so I don't feel as strongly, but, My father went to the Wisconsin game this year (the first one he has been to in over 10 yrs)..........it was almost as bad as when they lost to Michigan last year


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## Sybil

vachecow, 

Yes, we get used to the place we live in and with time we grow to love it. I feel for your dad


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