Professors From Around the World Recall Their Favorite New Year’s Traditions

Every New Year’s, it seems to be the same old thing: the countdown, the champagne and the fireworks for the eve and the collards, the black-eyed peas and the cornbread for the day. Oh, and the resolutions. Don’t forget the resolutions.

But change your location and you can slip the same, tired routines. As most things “tradition,” New Year’s prompts different behaviors, different dishes and different rituals everywhere you go. These four faculty members look back on their international cultural backgrounds and tell us a little bit about the New Year’s traditions they remember most.

Ana Oprisan, Romania

Ana Oprisan, Physics
Romania

New Year’s Eve/Day traditions are some of the finest winter attractions in Romania.

New Year’s Eve: “It starts in the morning of the New Year’s Eve when groups of children equipped with bells go from house to house performing Plugusorul (the little plow), which is a list of best wishes chanted by the door or window of the host’s house. On the New Year’s Eve evening, groups of adults, dressed in traditional clothes, perform Plugul (the big plow). The main messages transmitted are healthy wishes for the hosts and rich crops for the year to come.

The most colorful New Year’s Eve traditions are the mask-dances, magical ceremonials of death and rebirth, with a variety of zoomorphic designs representing goats, horses or bears, and fictional characters like the devil.”

New Year’s Day: “On New Year’s Day, another tradition is Sorcova (small tree branch or beautifully decorated sticks with vibrant artificial flowers of different colors). Groups of children go from house to house with sorcova chanting verses wishing the host to be ‘strong as stones, quick as arrows, strong as iron and steel.’ In return, children receive fruit, candy, pastries or coins.”

Note: Meglena “Maggie” Miltcheva in the Department of German and Russian Studies remembers a similar tradition back home in Bulgaria, where the branches were called survachka, which children used to lightly beat the backs of their relatives, thus chasing away the evil spirits and wishing them fortunate events for the year to come. “You can see why we Bulgarians often elicit stares and raised eyebrows when we talk about things we did in the old country!” she says.

Predicting the Weather for the New Year: “This tradition, which is observed at New Year’s midnight, has farmers unpeeling an onion, petal by petal, with each petal associated with one month of the following year. They put salt over the onion petals and, on New Year Day, they check the level of liquid left in each of them by the melted salt. On the basis of that evaluation, weather for the respective months of the coming year is predicted.”

Food: “One of my favorite things on New Year’s Eve is the cooking of traditional dishes. Among the traditional dishes we cook: Ciorbă de perişoare (meatball soup), tochitură (meat stew seasoned with spices), sarmale (sauerkraut cabbage rolls), racitura (Romanian jellied pig’s feet) and cozonac (traditional holiday sweet bread filled with walnuts or cream cheese).”

Marinella Griffith, Italy

Marinella Griffith, French, Francophone, and Italian Studies
Italy

Of course, everyone does fireworks to “burn” the old year in hope that the new one will be a better one.

New Year’s Eve: “Women wear red lingerie and men wear red underwear for good fortune with love and with life in general.”

At Midnight: “We throw out of the window old stuff that we don’t want anymore (dishes, glasses, etc.). I know it sounds crazy and dangerous, but people know better than walking around.”

New Year’s Day: “We have to eat lentils for good fortune with money, we also eat Cotechino (stuffed pork feet). It sounds disgusting but it is actually very good.”

Andrew Sobiesuo, Ghana

Andrew Sobiesuo, International Education
Ghana

Ghana has become so westernized that the same “traditions” we observe in the U.S. prevail in almost every corner of the country.

Looking Back: “Growing up in Nandom (Ghana), I most cherished the dinners organized by children of same age groups. We would contribute resources to prepare food and buy pito (local drink) for the event. The dinner would last into the early hours and we will then dress up in new clothes in the morning and walk to the downtown area to enjoy drumming and dancing. It was an occasion to see and be seen. As you can see, this is nothing novel.”

Raisa Gomer, U.S.S.R./Ukraine

Raisa Gomer, German and Russian Studies
U.S.S.R./Ukraine

I came from U.S.S.R., so, all of the republics including Ukraine celebrated in the same way. In Ukraine these days, however, they are back to the old traditions.

In Russia: During the Soviet period, the New Year was celebrated in place of Christmas, and the holiday still trumps Christmas in Russia. Because Christmas is held in Russia on January 7, December 31/January 1 – known as the “New New Year” – commences the Christmas celebrations and is marked by fireworks and concerts. A New Year’s Tree replaces the Western Christmas tree, and Russians welcome the New Year by saying, S Novim Godom, or Happy Upcoming New Year!

In Ukraine: Celebrated on January 13, Malanka is the New Year’s Eve on the Julian calendar. It is known as the “Old New Year.” On this night in Ukraine, carolers go from house to house playing pranks, telling fortunes and acting out skits. It marks the last of the Christmas celebrations.