New Year Traditions Around the World

The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!
~Edward Payson Powell

Oshogatsu (Japan)
The New Year is an important holiday in Japan - it is the time of renewal. Bonenki (Forget-the-year) parties take place throughout December to say good-bye to problems of the preceding year. Hard feelings are put aside and grievances are forgiven. It is a time to prepare for a new beginning. New Years day in Japan is a joyous day, and is spent with family. Most homes and businesses are decorated with kadomatsu and there is a traditional feast.



Learn more about Japanese New Year traditions here, and here.

幸せ新しい年

Hogmanay (Scotland)
"Auld Lang Syne," the popular New Year's song, originated in Scotland. It was transcribed and refined by Scotland's most famous poet, Robert Burns. In Scotland the traditional New Year celebration is Hogmanay. The Scots traditionally clean the house and settle debts on the last day of the year. The fireplaces in homes particularly are cleaned.

A main Hogmanay tradition is "First Footing." Immediately after midnight, neighbors visit each other to wish happy new year. Symbolic gifts are exchanged - coal to ensure warmth, shortbread to ensure food security. It is considered particularly good luck if the initial first foot in to your house is a tall, handsome man.

Learn more about Hogmanay here.

Nochevieja (Spain)
People stay home until midnight on New Year's Eve, and when the clock strikes twelve, it is traditional to eat 12 grapes - one on each stroke.




Ano Viejo (Ecuador)
Ecuador celebrates New Year's by burning an effigy that represents the bad from the previous year and is wished forgotten so it does not recur in the new year. The effigies are displayed before being burned at midnight. Current events are often the inspiration for the effigies.



Another Ecuadoran tradition that is common in most of South America is wearing underwear of a certain color. Red underwear is worn to attract love in the coming year. Wearing yellow underwear on New Year's Eve is supposed to bring wealth and good luck.

Learn more about Ecuadoran New Year.

feliz año nuevo

Bisperas ng Bagong Taon (Philippines)
On New Year's Eve in the Philippines, before the clock strikes 12 the doors are opened to allow good luck to enter (also open windows, cupboards, drawers, etc.).  Everyone makes as much noise as they can  banging pots and pans, revving engines in cars and trucks, fireworks and fire crackers, whistles - all the noise scares away evil spirits. At exactly midnight, children jump as high as they can.



Filipinos dress in polka dots on New Year's Day, polka dots symbolize prosperity. Pockets are filled with coins to be jingled to attract wealth.  The house is cleaned on the last day of the year. On New Year's day, do as little work as possible and do not spend money. There is also the traditional search for 12 round fruits.

New Year Celebration in the Philippines

masaya bagong taon

Verizon (correctly) Decides that Fee to Pay A Bill is a BAD Idea

So the unwanting soul
sees what's hidden,
and the ever-wanting soul
sees only what it wants.
~Lao Tzu

Before I even had a chance to blog about how stupid Verizon was being to want to charge people to pay bills, they reversed the very poor decision. The so-called "convenience fee" - $2 for one time phone or online payments is false at best, and greedy at worst. One should never charge people who are trying to give one money.

24 hours after announcing the new fee, Verizon reversed the decision. Good. It is nice to know that large corporations will still listen to consumers once in awhile. I'm not entirely sure that the decision was based solely on the reaction of Verizon customers - apparently the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) said they were planning to look into the action of Verizon.

So, good job Verizon, I guess.

There have been other companies that have made poor decisions that had to be walked back this year:

• Bank of America and the infamous Debit Card Fee (I blogged about it here) 
• Netflix and the Qwikster fiasco
• Hewlett-Packard, though I don't think anyone really knows what they have decided to do

 Note: I am a Verizon customer, and I was going to start mailing checks even though I rarely make one time payments. It's just that irritating fees, based on sheer greed tend to piss me off.

Pinterest The Online Pinboard - Organize and Share with Pinned Pics!

Pinterest has emerged as one of top sites pinpointing social networking and media trends in 2011.
~Rachel King

Pinerest is a the new social network that is primarily images. You create boards, and pin images of things that are interesting to you. You can easily organize images you find on the web (or take yourself). Humor, fashion, architecture, food, shoes -any category that is interesting to Pinterest members - are filled with images and brief comments. If you like something you see, you can repin or like the image. Check it out here.




It is apparently still in an invite only stage. It doesn't take long after requesting the invite to get access.

Note: A personal favorite Pinterest board.

Something else I learned: I have already picked up several new recipes, and DIY ideas from browsing different Pinterest categories.

Charles Edward Ives: American Composer

Optimistic, idealistic, fiercely democratic, he unified the voice of the American people with the forms and traditions of European classical music.
~The Charles Ives Society

I heard a Charles Ives piece for the first time today - Sonata No. 4 Children's day at the Camp Meeting. It was played beautifully by Dawn Wohn, violinist, and Ellen Hwango, pianist. The piece was very lively, discordant in places, and certainly elaborate.



Ives was born in Danbury Connecticut in 1874, the son of a bandmaster. He had music lessons from an early age but after graduating from college pursued a career in insurance. He was quite successful in insurance, but continued composing music until 1925. His collection is prolific, comprised of 114 songs, 4 symphonies, and much more (including the sonata I heard today).

His music was largely ignored in his lifetime (he died in 1954). His experimenting with compositions was not compatible with the musical standards of the time.  His major orchestral works were extremely complex, required unexpected combinations of instruments often in large numbers. Ives wanted to be popularly accepted, but had no intention of compromising his music (that is one of the reasons he chose a career in insurance).

His music gained some notice in the 1940s when Lou Harrison edited and promoted Ives' Symphony No. 3. The piece won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1947. Ives, unimpressed by the honor,  gave the prize money to Harrison.

Note: I did not particularly care for the piece, it was discordant to my ear - this is no comment on the artists performing the work, they did a fantastic job. Also playing a Mozart piece immediately following only served to highlight how much classical music varies, and why Mozart is loved by all, and I never heard of Charles Ives until today.*

Something else I learned:  Ives is now currently regarded as an American Original, a composer working in a uniquely American style.

*I am not a music critic! The comments in the note are purely my opinion.

Aluminum is the Third Most Abundant Element in the Earth's Crust

Name: Aluminum
Type: Metal
Density @ 293 K: 2.702 g/cm³
Symbol: Al
Atomic weight: 26.98154
Atomic volume: 9.98 cm³/mol  

Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust (after oxygen and silicon). It is never exists as a sole element, but is always bonded with another element, making extraction necessary. This was not easily or efficiently possible until the 1880s when 2 processes were invented to extract aluminum from aluminum oxide and from bauxite.

The first of these aluminum extraction methods is the Hall Herout Method which involves dissolving aluminum oxide. This was discovered in 1885. The Bayer Method, discovered in 1889 extracts aluminum from bauxite. With these 2 discoveries, aluminum became cheap and readily available.It is now widely used as foil which we frequently use in the kitchen and as soda containers.




There are other uses for aluminum:

• It is used in jet fuel
• Electrical wiring is sometimes made from aluminum or a combination of aluminum and copper
• Baseball bats are often made out of aluminum
• Parts for cars, planes, boats, and bicycles are made from aluminum
• Street lights are made from aluminum

Aluminum absorbs heat very quickly. Aluminum foil heats up very fast in the oven, but because it is so thin, it quickly loses the heat. That is why it can be handled even when immediately removed from the oven.

Note: Most of the world refers to aluminum as aluminium.

Something else I learned: The Hall Heroult Method of aluminum extraction was discovered simultaneously, yet separately by a scientist in France and a scientist in the US.

Boxing Day: Origins, Traditions, and Explanations

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel

"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather

"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing
~Traditionally a Christmas song

The Feast of Stephen (St. Stephen's Day) is on December 26. The first clue that can be found to boxing day is in this song. The song was officially published in 1853, but music originates some 300 years earlier, in Finland.

King Wenceslas was the Duke of Bohemia in the 10th century. He was, based on the lyrics of this song, a good guy. St. Stephen's Day, the 26th of December, Boxing day, originated as a day of charity - a day when the English have traditionally given charity to the less fortunate.

Our good king, Wenceslas is not the origin of Boxing Day, he is just a good song. There are a couple of theories as to the origins of Boxing Day.

The first: Historically in England during Advent, Anglican parishes had a box for churchgoers to put monetary donations in. The day after Christmas, the boxes were opened and the contents distributed to the poor. That is why it is called Boxing Day.

Another: The day after Christmas was the day that the aristocracy distributed presents (boxes) to servants and employees.  Since the gifts were in boxes, the day was called Boxing Day.

Boxing Day is a national holiday in England, Wales, Ireland, Canada, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong (there are other countries that celebrate the holiday but where it is not recognized as a national holiday). Whatever the origin of the holiday, Boxing Day now bears no resemblance to the initial charitable day it once was. It has become a day similar to the USA Thanksgiving - a day to laze about, eat plenty, and watch a sporting event on TV.

If you wonder about Good King Wenceslas - he was assassinated by his brother Boleslaw (rhymes with coleslaw I guess).

Note: We have a Boxing Day celebration in our family. (That British son thing, you recall.)  We get together, eat some good food, exchange gifts. There are no sporting events of note on 26 Dec. so no TV.

Something else I learned: Boxing Day has become something of a black Friday equivalent. Interesting evolution for a day that was once about charitable giving.

Christmas Traditions Around the World

Christmas... is not an external event at all, but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart.
~Freya Stark 

The way Christmas is celebrated in a few countries around the world. 

In Finland:
Finns believe that Father Christmas (Santa Claus) lives in the north part of Finland called Korvatunturi, north of the Arctic Circle (he probably does!)  There is a theme park called 'Christmas Land' in the north of Finland, near where they say that Father Christmas lives.


Finns celebrate 3 holy days of Christmas - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. During these clebration days they eat special holiday foods. They have Christmas trees and church services. They also visit graveyards and place lit candles on the graves of loved ones - this is reportedly quite pretty as Christmas in Finland is always white.

Sauna, of course, is a part of the Christmas tradition. People go there before the festive holiday dinner. After dinner: Presents!

Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!

In France:
Christmas Eve is the special time in the French celebration of Christmas. In cathedral squares, the story of Christ's birth is re-enacted in cathedral squares. Most French homes display crèches. After fasting all day there is a feast (le reveillon) held after midnight mass. The menu includes a yule log cake, poultry, ham, salads and wine.

Saints (santons) for Christmas crèches:


Children leave their shoes outside or on the hearth so that Father Christmas can fill them with gifts.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne année!

In Japan:
Despite the fact that very few Japanese people are Christian, most homes have Christmas trees decorated with origami ornaments. They enjoy gift giving so this is what they clebrate. Japanese Christians do not celebrate Christmas as a family day or a day of feasting. They spend the day helping others, especially those that are ill or in hosptials.

The use of lights during the holiday celebrations is very popular in Japan.

There is Hotei-osho, a Santa-like Buddhist monk that brings presents for children. He reportedly has eyes in the back of his head.

メリークリスマスと新年あけましておめでとうございます！

In Russia:
Russia observed Christmas in similar fashion to current Western tradition until the revolution in 1917. After that, Christmas and other religious celebrations were banned. In 1992, Christmas was again celebrated openly. The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, so Christmas is celebrated on January 7th.Christmas Eve is celebrated with all night Masses, and a fast is observed until the Mass is ended. Christmas Eve dinner is generally meatless, but the Christmas day feast includes many traditional foods.



During the holiday season priests visit individual homes with vessels of holy water. The water is sprinkled in each room in hope of happiness and good fortune for the coming year. Children also carol frequently in Russia on Christmas and are rewarded with sweets.

Светлого Рождества и счастливого нового года!

In Egypt:
Approximately 15% of Egypts poulation is Christian. They belong mostly to the Coptic Orthodox Church. During the Holy Nativity fast, which precedes Christmas by 40 days, they eat no meat procucts except fish. This time period is called Kiahk.

Christmas Bazaar in Egypt:

On Christmas Eve, Christian Egyptians go to church wearing new clothes. After the Mass, they eat a meal of bread, rice, and boiled meat. On January 7, Christmas day in Egypt, people visit friends and share cake and beverages.
عيد ميلاد سعيدوسنة جديدة سعيدة