Traditions: What are the strangest New Year customs?

EDIT: Polar Bear Plunges! In Pittsburgh and many other cold northern cities in the U.S. near rivers or other bodies of water, human "polar bears" strip down and jump into the water on New Year's Day, usually to raise money for charity. (Photo that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 12-28-08) These are probably more "interesting" than "strange," but our urban-legendary friends at Snopes have a bunch of national customs and superstitions: http://www.snopes.com/holidays/n.... Here are some of my favorites: Making lots of noise at midnight to scare off evil spirits. This is the same reason bells are rung at weddings. Opening every door and window to let all of last year's bad luck out. Something to think about in your cold, snow-filled January house. Not doing laundry because you'll "make" someone die, e.g. by washing them out of your life. Trying to get a tall, dark-haired man bringing a gift to be your "first-footer," or first person entering your house after midnight. He's the luckiest omen. A female blonde or redhead first-footer like me is the worst.

Well, this year I'll be helping to babysit a new grandson.  A totally new experience!

For the last several years I have usually been sick on New Years. Never anything serious, just a bad cold or a cough. Not sure why this is, maybe my antibodies take a Christmas vacation. Right now nursing laryngitis. Go figure.

How about not partying?  My family and I just lay low (i.e. we eat candy, watch movies, play games, and enjoy a late night together).  Finally, before we go to bed we watch the ball drop in NY, give each other kisses, and wish each other happy new years. Edit:  How could I forget?  We also get crab every year for dinner.  I don't know how this tradition started, but it is one we all enjoy :D.

Jumping into the fountain in Trafalgar square on one of the coldest nights of the year.

Any of the https://bearsvodkabalalaika.quora.com/10-Unchristian-Traditions-of-the-Russian-New-Year:1. New Year tree (decorated with anything you can find in the closet)The traditional Russian approach to decorating the New Year fir is the following. Go around your house looking for everything cherry to grapefruit sized, shining and hangable. You can ignore the last two requirements as long as you can make your find shine and hang. Then, obviously, hang it all onto the poor branches. To put a cherry on the cake, find as much tinsel as you can and let it hang downwards from the top. The New Year tree — a quintessence of the mystifying Russian s̶o̶l̶e soul. The fir itself can be either natural or artificial. The former means killing poor trees and massive-scale deforestation, while the latter means endorsing the plastics industry and hence increasing CO2 emissions. Either way, you are with the bad guys, environmentally speaking. Here's a lifehack: broaching the topic of which one is better is a sure way to start a holy war at the New Year's table, which can add some fun to this dull experience (see below).The fir tree is usually prepared several weeks in advance to the celebration, because New Year Spirit. Closer to the D day, its undies start being filled with presents, unpacking which (see below) will be the climax of the night and arguably one of the few positive experiences of the New Year festivities. As with everything else in Russia, the more the better. If the space under the tree looks like the deck of a container ship, you've hit the bull's eye. 2. Room-wide table (bending under the load of food)When it comes to organizing the festive table, the rule of thumb is: take the biggest room in your apartment, leave a leeway of 3 feet at each boundary, fill the rest with a table. Then fill the table with as much food as you can reasonably find in nearby groceries. Though the particulars may vary, several elements are essential: Mandarins (fruits, not people). The tradition is so powerful that a mere whiff of this citrus fruit invokes the desire to look for a fir tree. Red fish. The exact species put on the table tells a lot about the host's welfare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_salmon is for the poor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_salmon is for the rich, other varieties hovering in the middle. And, the pearl of any New Year table and the criterion by which the housewife will be rated afterwards — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_salad. This culinary miracle looks like puke of someone who ate too much https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortadella#Russia (that's an official Russian title — though there's currently no evidence of any doctors actually hurt during its production) and washed it down with a gallon of milk, hence the outcome. Despite the looks and the award-winning content of cholesterol, it is reportedly delicious (I never found the guts to taste it myself). The Salad. Yummy! (The pickles should be safe to eat, though.) The Table is the one and only place where guests communicate during the celebrations. Dancing? Playing scrabble? Going out to play snowballs? Forget it! Turn on the fucking TV (see below) already! Apart from the noise emitted by the box, silence is considered golden, although a bit of gossip about celebrities and distant friends never hurts. 3. The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy the Steam!Although both parts of the phrase sound like names of metal bands (the latter being probably with a tint of hardcore punk), it is actually the title of a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irony_of_Fate (in 1976, you would get arrested for uttering the word "romcom") that has somehow become an irony (forgive the pun) symbol of New Year. The inability to smile is a long-standing trait of the Russian people, romcom or not romcom. Why it has become so essential to the new-yearly festivities is a perplexing question, as it lacks any dynamism, and there's no https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Actually so you can watch it between the toasts. But I guess it has something to do with the very Russian storyline, which goes as follows.A soon-to-be-husband gets drunk with his friendson New Year's Eve and is luggaged (for want of a better word) to a flight from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. There he somehow gets to an apartment identical to his own and meets the love of his life (whom, as it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irony_of_Fate_2, he quite quickly dumps — although this sequel is not canonical).The sameness and monotony of apartments in particular and design in general was a sad irony (forgive the pun) of the Soviet reality, and drinking to the point of waking up in an unknown (yet strangely familiar) surrounding remains so until today. My hypothesis is that this is why the film rang the bell in many Soviet viewers, especially on the eve of the new year, which meant to bring something new but brought the same old song again and again.The tradition to watch the romcom on the 31st of December took such deep roots in the collective unconscious that the major channels still air it year in and year out. And you'll be surprised to know how many people find nothing better to spend 184 minutes of the last day of the year for. 4. God-awful TV shows (shot for 10 years in advance)As noted below, the TV is the sanctuary of New Year celebrations. If someone suddenly breaks the antenna, they will be anathematized and euthanized on spot. Without it, the whole flow of the evening will be broken. A few hours later those who will survive the loss will probably look at each other and find out that there are other things to do like, I don't know, talking to one another… But we'll never know, as this is literally the worst thing that can happen and it's frightening to even think about it.In the previous item we talked about the cinematic component of the New Year's TV program. But that's just where the fun starts (around 5 pm or so). Several hours before midnight, the channels switch to shows that are for some weird reason called "New Year's little lights". So what's so enticing about them that keeps everyone staring into the TV screen? The fact that they are utterly, unbearably horrible. So horrible that you can't keep your eyes of them like some medieval loiterer gawking at a mutilated human exhibit of a visitant freak show.One of the finest examples is a show called multlichnosti (multiki persons, the former word meaning "cartoons" in Russian), which shows 3D-rendered avatars of various celebrities showing performances that their creators somehow considered funny. But don't worry, if you're not into animation, there are plenty of other awful shows to make your evening. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of [that] Realm and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith; in [multiki] person. If Britain goes to war against Russia after watching this, I'll understand. Another advantage of the New Year's program is that it stays 95% unchanged every year. This means you don't have to stretch your mind to get used to new personalities or shows (mind you, your mind will be stretched anyways, and that's a polite word choice). It's also a plus for the creators, who can shoot the shows for several years in advance. Given the dynamism of Russian society and politics, that's a meager risk to take. 5. Congratulations from Mr. PresidentAnother example of the persistence of Russian customs is the tradition to air congratulations by the head of state a few minutes to midnight (on all TV channels; renegades are subject to license withdrawal, I gather). The first ever speech was written some 40 years ago for Brezhnev (okay, this one's made up) and stays unchanged ever since apart from minor tweaks to fit the circumstances. Generally, it goes as follows: Dear Friends! Today we are bidding farewell to the past year. It was a year of great achievements and tragic losses. We have worked hard to make this year a year to remember, to make or country strong and respected. Now that we closer to our goal than ever, some try to hold us back. They think that a powerful Russia is a hazard to their imperialistic ambitions. But they should know that Russia is and has always been a peaceful nation. That said, we will not let abuse our motherland. Neither will we tolerate the maltreatment of our people in whichever part of the world they are located. We will stand our ground to let everyone know that Russia is a power to be honored and reckoned with. Happy New Year, dear c̶o̶m̶r̶a̶d̶e̶s compatriots, and may the force be with you in the coming year! 2012 presidential congratulations (featuring a short-lived Putin double): behind the scenes. The congratulation is meant to raise the patriotic spirits in the viewer, and, alas, it succeeds for many. Uniting against an external (if imaginary) force was always a major driver for Russian national identity. But that's another different story… 6. Asking the Kremlin God for a wishAfter the president finishes his speech, you get to hear the equally solemn ringing of the Soviet-themed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremlin_Clock. After the chime ends, the clock starts ringing twelve times, during which time several things are to be done: Open a bottle of sparkling wine — ideally, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovetskoye_Shampanskoye (it's a torture for your taste buds, but they are likely to be already anesthetized by that point). Breaking the chandelier with the cork is a plus. Slosh the wine into all glasses. Spilling it over onto the tableclothis a plus. Make a wish before the final stroke. Now, those of the less imaginative type just utter their request inwardly. Others go further, replacing the last step with the following: Write your wish on a piece of paper. (Can be done in advance, though hardliners consider this ineffective.) Burn the paper. Pour the ash into the wine glass. … try to guess … Bottom the wine while thinking about your wish (and not thinking about the taste or consequences). "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycyclic_aromatic_hydrocarbon." With the last stroke of the clock, your wish is dispatched (if you were quick enough to do all of the above in the half minute provided) and put on the to-do list of your deity of choice. 7. FireworksThe chime of the Kremlin Clock and the subsequent R̶u̶s̶s̶i̶a̶n S̶o̶v̶i̶e̶t Russian national anthem mark the end of the official programme. The energy stagnated during the whole day of sitting, eating and watching finally finds a way out when people finally hit the streets. Or, rather, blow the streets, because for the next several hours they will turn into a proving ground for the latest and safest (see the snapshot below) developments of Chinese fireworks manufacturers. "Warning. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is NOT a drill." Happy New Year, fuckers! In a way, this is fun (unless you are in the damage range). To the booming of the fireworks and the infusion of alcohol, the glorious Russian nation meets the new dawn, the new day, and the new year. 8. Eating up food remains"The way you meet the New Year is the way you pass it," goes a popular Russian saying. Russia meets the first of January in a nationwide morning after, which probably adds up to the overall cheerfulness of the national character. But hangover or no hangover, there's still food on the table, and Russians are not someone to take the existence of unfinished food lightly.The common approach is to invite less intimate friends and try feeding them with the remains on the table. (Note: they will likely try to feed you with their stale food, so it's a good idea to take some pancreatin before the meetup.) Still there. Even yummier. If you still can't finish it in the first day of the new year, don't worry (as long as you have even less intimate friends to invite), because now you will have 9. Ten more days of d̶r̶i̶n̶k̶i̶n̶g celebrationThe story goes like this. Some ten years ago Russia had a couple of holidays around New Year and a couple around http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/orthodox-christmas-day (January 7ᵗʰ). However, people thought they'd be clever enough taking days off and sick leaves in the middle so they can extend the frenzy. Well, the government turned out smarter when it took a bunch of holidays from the rest of the year and put it exactly in this period. Thus it killed two birds with one stone, making its people work more and making them think they are being endowed with its generosity at the same time.Interestingly, this brings about one undeniable perk: Most people either stay at home drinking or leave for vacations to warmer locations, and Moscow disengages itself, just for these ten days, from its year-round traffically jammed hustle and bustle and becomes an sea of serenity, opening its momentarily uncluttered beauty to those willing to seek it. 1960s, baby! As already mentioned, Orthodox Christmas happens somewhere during this period, but it is usually considered as a nice-to-be addition to New Year. (Note: this is not true for everyone, as being religious is becoming increasingly trendy in Russia, laus Deo.)And just when you thought it's finally over and you can start cleaning up the mess, comes the 10. Old New YearRemember when I said that the New Year tree is a quintessence of the Russian soul? It isn't. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year is. Imagine living by the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar and then switching to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar one. Suddenly, New Year starts thirteen days earlier. What do you do? Right, party twice!Admittedly, by that time most people are already exhausted from the incessant carouse, so Old New Year is regarded as the last gasp (or gulp?) of the drinking race before going cold turkey for as long as the next two weeks. But that's a gasp to be taken the Russian way — to the top. Or, rather, to the bottom. Gotta. Be. Strong.

In Spain we eat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Grapes, and this is not a tradition of a few but of an overwhelming majority. That's peculiar enough, but also they (ideally) have to be perfectly coordinated with the chimes of the clock in Madrid's "Puerta del Sol", that are transmitted live by virtually all TV and Radio networks. Also, the "Puerta del Sol" Plaza itself is packed with people that eat the grapes on the spot. Families and groups of friends gather to "eat the grapes" together, it is an important event. There has surely been an important dinner before "the grapes" that is over by midnight - but there will be trays with plenty of "turrón" and other christmas sweets available. There might also be a long party, but most commonly younger people will be getting ready to leave for parties somewhere else: Dinner and grapes are usually a family thing. Immediately after the grapes are eaten Champagne bottles are opened (well, in Spain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cava_(Spanish_wine) is the rule, not Champagne), and kisses, hugs and good wishes are exchanged. Telephone networks are usually saturated for the following minutes, as it is customary to greet your close relatives and friends as soon as possible after "the grapes". They are part of the Spanish language. When something takes very, very long (it is very, very delayed, there is a looong wait) it is common to say "aquí nos van a dar las uvas" (~"we are going to eat the grapes here"). There is an special grape harvest in mid-December to cater for the demand of New-Year's Eve grapes.