Auld Lang Syne has become the traditional song among English-speaking peoples for bidding farewell to the old year and hailing the new. This song presents the theme of passing time through a context of remembered friendship. The song very cunningly combines a note of present conviviality with a poignant sense of the loss of earlier companionship brought by time and distance. Such a note is just right for New Year's Eve, when the mind hovers between retrospect and anticipation and we think equally of days gone for ever and days to come.

Auld Lang Syne Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne. Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? And here's a hand, my trusty friend And gie's a hand o' thine We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne

Happy New Year

Chinese New Year The Chinese New Year "Yuan Tan" takes place between January 21 and February 20. For many, it is a time for feasting, celebrating, and visiting relatives and friends. The celebrations are based on bringing luck, health, happiness, and wealth till the next year. They clean their houses to rid them of lasts year's bad luck before the celebrations begin. There are street parades with dancing dragons that are associated with longevity and wealth.

Chinese New Year Chinese people decorate their houses with plastic firecrackers, which are intended to frighten away evil spirits and bad luck. They go to the markets to buy plants such as the Kumquat tree, which is considered to be the luckiest. The peach blossom and the tangerine are also considered to be lucky. Lucky money is given out to the unmarried as well as the children of the family in red envelopes with the family name and good-luck message written on them in gold. If the feast of New Year falls on the year of any particular animal the Chinese try not to eat that animals meat.

Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah is a holy time for people to be introspective. Synagogues hold s pecial services and an instrument called a Shofar is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruit is eaten to remind people of harvest time. The Jewish New Year is in September.

South African New Year In South Africa they ring in the New Year with church bells ringing and gunshots being fired. For those in the Cape Province New Year's Day and Second New Year's Day are full of a carnival atmosphere as there are carnivals where people dress in colorful costumes and dance in streets to the sound of drums.

German New Year Celebration begins with fireworks and toasting to friends and family. People would drop molten lead into cold water and try to tell the future from the shape it made. A heart or ring shape meant a wedding, a ship a journey, and a pig plenty of food in the year ahead. People also would leave a bit of every food eaten on New Year's Eve on their plate until after Midnight as a way of ensuring a well-stocked larder.

Brazilian New Year In Brazil the lentil is believed to signify wealth, so on the first day of the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice. Fireworks light up the sky as people in Brazil celebrate the New Year. Portuguese New Year The Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. This is done to ensure twelve happy months in the coming year.

Japanese New Year Oshogatsu is an important time for family celebrations, when all the shops, factories and offices are closed. The Japanese celebrate the New Year on January 1, but they also keep their beliefs from Shinto their religion. To keep out evil spirits, they hang a rope of straw across the front of their houses, which stands for happiness and good luck. When the New Year begins, the Japanese people begin to laugh, which supposedly brings them good luck in the year.

U.S.A. New Year In the US they believe that black-eyed beans are lucky. They also watch the championship football games in stadiums or on their televisions. They also in New York's Time Square they watch for the moment when a giant brightly colored electric apple is lowered to the ground at which time they start saying Happy New Year.

The tradition of making New Year resolutions date back to the early Babylonians. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. New Year Traditions

The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers, which celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California. Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival.

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. It has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man. New Year Traditions

Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.

New Year Traditions Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the New Year by consuming black-eyed peas or other legumes, which are considered lucky. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.

The tradition of using a baby to signify the New Year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the New Year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus. New Year Traditions