New Year for Foreigners

The traditional Thai New Year, namely Songkran Festival (Sanskrit transliteration), is also called Songkran Festival, and the time is from April 13 to June 16 on the Gregorian calendar every year. During the festival, people travel with huge Buddha statues in cars, followed by floats, where the "Gan Song Goddess" with makeup stands. People sprinkle water mixed with spices on Buddha statues and "Gan Song Goddess" to pray for a happy New Year and good weather. On the first day of the new year, Thais will put a basin of clear water on the windowsill and doorway, and every family will go to the riverside in the suburbs to take a New Year bath. In order to celebrate the New Year, Thais held a large-scale "Elephant Race Conference", including tug-of-war among elephants, elephants jumping up to pick up things, elephants crossing people, elephant football matches, and ancient elephant array performances.

Japan

Japanese people pay special attention to the New Year, and every year 65438+February 29th-65438+1October 3rd is a national holiday. The Japanese call 65438+February 3 1 "Great Dark Day", that is, New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve, the Japanese call it "New Year's Eve". At night, they pray for the gods to send away the troubled old year and usher in a beautiful new year. This is the so-called "first day". On New Year's morning, families sit around and tell each other about their dreams on New Year's Eve to test good luck or bad luck. The Japanese call the first day of New Year's Day "Zhengri" and 1-3 "Sanhe Day". On "Zhengri" day, breakfast is very rich, with sugar, buckwheat noodles and Tu Su wine. After that, they went vegetarian for three days in a row to show their piety and pray for good luck in the coming year. At present, most urban people in Japan have given up the habit of being vegetarian in the New Year, and instead have a hollow noodle in the "evening" to wish them a long and healthy life in the new year.

India

In India, every year from June 10 to1October 3 1, the New Year is ***5 days, and the fourth day is New Year's Day. On the first day of the new year, no one is allowed to be angry with others, let alone lose his temper. In some parts of India, on the morning of New Year's Day, every household kept crying, and everyone's face was covered with tears. They greet the New Year with tears, because time flies and life is short, which is a lament for life. In some areas, people welcome the New Year by fasting for one day and one night, from the early morning of New Year's Day to midnight. Because of this weird custom, New Year's Day in India is called "Crying New Year's Day" and "Fasting New Year's Day". Indian youth like to meet and fight with their bare hands during the New Year, whether they are familiar with it or not.

Britain, England

In Britain, New Year's Day on the Gregorian calendar is not as grand as Christmas, but on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, people will carry out various celebrations according to local customs to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. On New Year's Eve, English people often go out to visit with cakes and wine. They went straight to their relatives and friends' houses without knocking. According to British custom, the first person to set foot in the house after New Year's Eve indicates good luck in the new year. If the first guest is a man with dark hair, or a happy, happy and rich person, the host will be very lucky all the year round. If the first guest is a woman with light yellow hair, or a sad, poor and unfortunate person, then the host will be unlucky and will encounter difficulties and disasters in the new year. People who visit relatives and friends' homes on New Year's Eve should first stir the fire in the fireplace and wish the host "open the door" before speaking.

Germany

In the week of German New Year, every household should put a fir tree and a horizontal tree, and the leaves are covered with silk flower, which means that a hundred flowers blossom and spring is full. Just before midnight New Year's Eve, the Germans climbed into the chair. As soon as the bell rang, they jumped up from their chairs and threw a heavy object behind the back of the chair to show that they had abandoned the disaster and entered the new year. In rural Germany, there is a custom to celebrate the New Year-"Tree Climbing Competition". Boys climb along bare trees, and the first place is called "New Year Hero" to show their promotion step by step.

Iran

Iran has an Islamic calendar, and the seasons and months are not fixed. In Iran, celebrating the New Year means celebrating the arrival of spring, usually in the late March of the solar calendar. It takes a week to celebrate the New Year. People flocked to the street to light a "bonfire"-"night fire", and then the whole family jumped off the night fire in turn, indicating that they would burn "bad luck", usher in the light, drive away evil spirits and eliminate diseases, and be happy forever. We should eat "seven dishes" on New Year's Eve, and the name of each dish should start with the letter "S" to show good luck. From grade one to grade three, people visit relatives and friends and wish each other a happy New Year. On the last day of the new year, the whole family went out for an outing to ward off evil spirits.

France

The French celebrate the New Year with wine, and binge drinking began on New Year's Eve until 65438+1October 3. The French believe that the weather on New Year's Day indicates a new year. On the morning of New Year's Day, they went to the streets to see the wind direction for divination: the south wind blows, which indicates that the weather will be good and the year will be safe and hot; When the west wind blows, there is a bumper harvest year for fishing and milking; If the east wind blows, the fruit will be rich; When the north wind blows, it is a poor harvest year.

United States of America

Americans like to get together on the last day of each year and wait for the New Year bell to ring. There are two special highlights in the celebration of New Year's Day: one is the costume parade, and the other is the rose competition. The masquerade parade was held in Philadelphia. Men wore colorful costumes, drummed and trumpeted, and marched along the street. The girls danced beautifully. The number of participants in the whole parade often reaches tens of thousands, and the celebration lasts about 10 hour. The Rose Contest was held in Pasadena, California. The elaborate floats, loaded with California roses and thousands of other flowers, slowly drove along the main street, with cheering crowds along the way. The highlight is the award ceremony. At this time, people sang and danced, cheering and congratulating the winner. These two activities will be broadcast on TV for the people of the whole country to enjoy, and together with the reserved program of the festival-American football (rugby), they will form the main entertainment content for Americans to celebrate New Year's Day.