世界上最稀奇古怪新年传统.docVIP

世界上最稀奇古怪新年传统Quick question: What will your wardrobe be on New Year’s Eve? Nice dress? Black tie? How about your, ahem, underwear? If you lived in parts of South America, it wouldn’t even be a question. In Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, it’s considered lucky to wear special underwear on New Year?s Eve. In cities like Sao Paulo and La Paz, market vendors start displaying brightly colored underpants a few days before the holiday. The most popular colors are red and yellow: red is supposed to bring love in the coming year, and yellow is supposed to bring money. No matter what we wear, though, New Year signifies a new beginning. Flipping open a fresh calendar, with its 12 as-yet-unmarked months, is perhaps one of the most universally hopeful acts we humans perform: finally, a chance to shrug off[抖去,摆脱] a year’s worth of worries, conflicts, and mistakes; finally, a chance to start over. It’s no wonder we all welcome the holiday with such enthusiasm[热情]. In lots of places, the event is celebrated with fireworks and parades[游行], carousing[狂欢畅饮] and toasts. Some cultures, though, have more unusual ways of ushering[迎接,引进] in the New Year. No matter how odd they may seem to us, though, these customs share an optimism[乐观主义] thats hard not to appreciate. Out with the old, in with the new! Spain At midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s customary[惯例的] in Spain to quickly eat 12 grapes ? one at each stroke of the clock. Each grape supposedly signifies good luck for one month of the coming year. In Madrid, Barcelona, and other Spanish cities, people gather in the main squares to gobble[狼吞虎咽] their grapes together and pass around bottles of cava. Finland Its a longtime Finnish tradition to predict the coming year by casting[浇铸] molten tin into a container of water, and then interpreting the shape the metal takes after hardening. A heart or ring shape means a wedding in the New Year; a ship forecasts travel; and a pig shape signifies plenty of food. Pan