![\"Thank](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/BCS-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Thank you, NCAA!<\/p><\/div>\n
Last year I wrote about a Scottish New Year’s tradition – Hogmanay<\/strong> – that I assumed no one still living celebrated.\u00a0 So it has been startling to see\u00a0more than 200 people from around the world have Googled the event and were directed to our blog site.\u00a0\u00a0Heck, I don’t pretend to be the Emily Post<\/strong> of Hogmanay but apparently there is not a lot\u00a0of resource material on how to celebrate\u00a0New Year’s\u00a0like a true Scot.\u00a0 \u00a0 So it got me to thinking that maybe this year I should shine the light on other obscure new year celebrations from around the world.\u00a0 After all, in the U.S. the NCAA has taken care of our celebration by kindly scheduling the two semi-final BCS bowl games<\/strong> on New Year’s Eve.\u00a0 Personally, I’m not a fan of going out on New Year’s – or staying up until midnight for that matter.\u00a0\u00a0I’m thrilled that on Thursday night I will\u00a0don my formal sweat pants,\u00a0 start a fire, open\u00a0a bottle of wine, order a pizza and watch football.\u00a0 But in case you’re interested in doing something a little more exotic, we here at “A Bird’s Eye View”\u00a0offer up the following suggestions from around the world.<\/p>\n Jump in to 2016<\/strong>:\u00a0 In Denmark,\u00a0 people celebrate December 31 by climbing up on chairs and\u00a0at the stroke of midnight,\u00a0they leap off of them to signal their “jump” into the new year.\u00a0 I don’t know about you but I’ve been at many a NYE party where climbing on the furniture was\u00a0de rigueur<\/em> but that was 30 years and 30 martinis ago.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>At this age I have visions of my friends struggling to even get up on a chair, much less jumping off one.\u00a0 Heck, they have had broken hips and torn ACL’s taking their dogs for a walk.\u00a0 Perhaps\u00a0all of the climbing and jumping should be left to\u00a0young Danes with strong bone structure.<\/p>\n Talk to the Animals<\/strong>:\u00a0 In both Belgium and Romania, farmers start the new year by talking to their animals.\u00a0 What separates the sophisticated Belgians (who really should be focusing on their chocolate) and the crazy Romanians is that in Romania they believe that if the animal communicates back then it portends bad luck for the year.\u00a0 I don’t want to seem critical here but\u00a0I think that if you perceive that your cow is talking back to you<\/em>, bad luck is not your biggest problem.<\/p>\n A flea marketer’s delight<\/p><\/div>\n Re-decorate<\/strong>:\u00a0 In South Africa, it is a new year’s tradition to throw old furniture out the window on January 1.\u00a0 When I first saw this photo it reminded me of our old neighborhood on “bulk trash day”.\u00a0 It’s amazing what people throw out – and how little of it is still on the street after the midnight raid of Ebay enthusiasts.\u00a0 In any event, for those of you who wish to re-decorate but are getting some resistance from your spouse, you can just throw everything into the street on Friday and claim that you are channeling your inner South African.<\/p>\n Eat, Drink, and Eat Again:<\/strong>\u00a0 In France, the beginning of a new year is marked by eating a stack of pancakes.\u00a0 Not those leaden “All You Can Eat” type down at the Waffle House, but light, fluffy cakes that\u00a0melt in your mouth.\u00a0\u00a0I eat a stack every Sunday at our local caf\u00e9 so I guess I will be right on trend this week.\u00a0 In Estonia, they celebrate January 1 by eating as much as they can\u00a0 – they refer to it as “Eating in Abundance Day”.\u00a0 Quality is of no concern, they are driven by the\u00a0sheer quantity of food they can consume in a day.\u00a0 Given that as the criteria, I think I’ve been celebrating Estonian New Year’s for the past month.<\/p>\n They could fight for the WWF<\/p><\/div>\n Duke it Out<\/strong>: Finally, my favorite tradition\u00a0– the Peruvian fist fight.\u00a0 Every December in a small village they celebrate the Takanakuy Festival, whereby residents engage in fist fights to settle their differences.\u00a0 Brilliant!!\u00a0 Seriously, how many of us have wanted to haul off and slug somebody when they’re being annoying?\u00a0 Just this morning in the grocery store there was a woman who trailed me around the store speaking on her cell phone in a loud voice about her lawsuit against her employer, her daughter’s no good boyfriend, and on and on.\u00a0 Despite several dirty looks from those around her\u00a0(mostly\u00a0me) she persisted.\u00a0 Now if I lived in Takanakuy, I could have\u00a0simply given her a good jab to the left jaw and no one would have blinked an eye.\u00a0 It’s probably just as well we don’t celebrate this tradition, it being an election year and all.\u00a0 Things are dicey enough.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hope this has gotten your creative juices flowing on how to celebrate New Year’s.\u00a0 Whether you choose to watch football, gorge, jump off a chair or talk to your dog,\u00a0my brother and I wish you and yours a very HAPPY year ahead<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Last year I wrote about a Scottish New Year’s tradition – Hogmanay – that I assumed no one still living celebrated.\u00a0 So it has been startling to see\u00a0more than 200 people from around the world … read more![\"A](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/So.-African-furniture-disposal-150x150.jpg\")
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