New Year’s Eve in Brazil

By Gabriela Rodli

New Years Eve in my house starts right in the morning of December 31. The entire house awakes to a special feeling in the air. It is as if everything, every object, every particle knew the old was passing away and the new was coming. In fact, in Brazil, New Years is very important because not only does an actual new year begin, but the school year also starts on February, Summer picks up during January, some people get a raise at their jobs after January first. To Brazilians, a new year can be taken literally as a brand new start.

During the day, usually hot and sunny, friends and family gather together. There is food being prepared throughout the day. Fireworks pop up here and there and Champagne runs loose around the house as people talk about the old year's happenings. I will say that December 31 is a day where we say goodbye to the old year by recounting the struggles, the victories, even sharing tears. There is a song that we sing that says "Good-bye old year! Happy New Year! May all come true on the year about to be born. May you have lots of money in your pocket and health in abundance."

If I think about it long enough, I may cry even as I write about it. I remember being a little girl, standing in the kitchen. My dad walked by singing that song, but I felt so sad because all that had happened in the old year was now a part of memory. At that time I did not realize the hope that people had as they sang that song. Whatever failures happened during the old year were now over. A new year meant a whole new start.

As evening approaches the traditions begin. Music is everywhere and people talk loud because the excitement really picks up. Everyone dresses in white to bring luck for the New Year. The fireworks become more frequent and the feast for midnight starts to come out. Usually, we have an entire pork at the center of the table, with a big apple in its mouth. You can find special rice dishes and wonderful deserts too. We also have lots of fruits, plums, grapes, watermelons, cherries, and lots of Champagne. Glasses are set out and you must get a hold of yours, put twelve grapes inside and make sure you have it in your hands at midnight!

At the count of 3,2,1 you eat the twelve grapes in your glass, making a wish for each month of the year. You also must make the count, especially as you shout one, on your right foot for good luck! Then, as quick as possible, you do what I did this one particular year. And believe me, I did have the courage! As soon as we were done with those primary traditions, we hurried outside, each one of us with an empty suitcase in our hands, and we ran around the block with them because that meant we would travel a lot on that New Year!

As for the fireworks, it is almost deafening. It goes on for hours after midnight. Parties usually go on over night anyway. On January first the party merely continues as if nothing had happened, except, it is all brand new! Even the air smells new. There is more gathering for lunch and after that, everyone is well tired.

That is the New Year's Eve in my house.

Gabriela Rodli has lived in Missoula for nearly 10 years. She is married to a Montanan and has two little girls.

Tajaboon in Senegal

By Ndoumbe Ndoye

My country’s name is Senegal. It is located at the farthest corner of West Africa facing the Atlantic Ocean. Since we have two dominant religions, we have two end of year celebration. The celebrartion of the end of the Muslim year is more traditional than the Christian one.

Today, I am going to tell you about TAJABOON, the traditional celebration of the end of the Muslim year in Senegal. It has two sides: a spiritual side and festive one. Indeed, we do lots of prayers but at night, around 7pm, we eat a huge meal made out of couscous and meat or chicken.

After diner, we use the diner bowl and turn it around on a heap of sand on which we hit the bowl repetitively to formulate some prayers for the New Year. Each person has his turn and after that, young people dress in women and women dress in men, and then, begins the celebration. Before going any further, I would like to mention that Tajaboon is very similar to Halloween. The first time I attended Haloween celebration, I was under the impression that it is a kind of an American version of Tajaboon.

On Tajaboon night, Everybody tries to be as funny as they can. They use a lot of make up or paint their faces. In place of powder, they use ash to look like Abdou Jambar. Abdou is a common Wolof name but Jambar means a warrior. Abdou Jambar is the Wolof name for Azrael, the angel of death.

Each group goes from house to house to sing the famous Tajaboon song. The song says that Abdou Jambar is two angels, one in Heaven and one on Earth. They display the role of the one on Earth and ask you if you did your prayers well, if yes, you go to heaven, if no you go to hell. That is the meaning of the song. After, they are given millet, rice, sugar or biscuits or couscous. The song is animated with dances, hand clapping, drums and many sorts of music instruments including bowl beating.

In each group, they determine who will be the singers, the instrument players, the dancers and the person who holds the sacs for provisions. Whenever they receive gifts, they formulate wishes such as: May God preserves you so you do it next year. The celebration goes until the end of the night.

Ndoumbe Ndoye is an Education and English Literature major at the University of Montana.

Chinese New Year

By Shengai Li

It has been almost eight years since the last time I spent New Year’s Eve with my parents in China. The Chinese New Year celebration is always one of my best memories --- it strongly ties me with my parents and the background culture of my home country.

Chinese Lunar New Year is also called Spring Festival, which means the beginning of spring. The actual date of Spring Festival in the solar calendar varies each year, usually falling between Jan 21st and Feb 19th, corresponding to the lunar calendar. Spring Festival is the most important holiday in China. Not only because it is time we welcome the coming of a new year, but because this is also a family reunion time. The New Year’s Eve celebration is a specific family affair. We usually would not go visit any friends during that day. I grew up in south China, but my parents are from north China. As I remember, my parents were still celebrating the New Year’s Eve following traditions of North China.

It all starts in the early morning of lunar December 30th. My sister and I were asked to get up very early in the morning, no later than 5 AM. At that time, my parents had already had the breakfast ready for the family. It is always the same each year --- a pot with at least tofu, bean noodles, meat and Nappa cabbage in it. In another separate plate, there would be a whole fish dish. Whether we liked it or not, we would have to take at least one bite of each item, because each item has its own meaning based on their similar pronunciation to those auspicious Chinese characters --- Tofu means happiness, bean noodle means longevity, while fish means abundance (excess money) from the old year.

Shengai Li (far right) with her parents and her sister, Shengming, on Chinese
New Year’s Eve, 1995.

After breakfast, our family would be busy decorating the whole house with red paper cutouts and Spring Couplets. Red paper cutouts could be some pictures or some auspicious Chinese characters. We usually glue the pictures on the windows and those characters on the walls or doors. My father took the duty to hang the Spring Couplets on each side of our front door. My sister and I would be watching and suggesting him to hang it a little bit lower or higher on one side. Spring Couplets are traditionally written with black ink on vertical scrolls of red paper. They stay up on the front door for at least two months. What are written on the Spring Couplets are different poetic phrases that express the best wishes and fortune for the family in the coming year.

Another fun part during that day was --- children get to wear new clothes. Usually, my mother would have already prepared the new clothes for us weeks before the New Year and they were just hidden somewhere so we wouldn’t find them until the day before the New Year. All the New Year clothes would be red color. In China, red color is very special for the New Year since it means vibrancy, life and good luck.

Have you ever had a meal that lasts for several hours? That is what we have for the big year-dinner in China. In my family, we usually don’t eat at noontime because Nian-Ye-Fan, the big year-dinner, would be starting in the early afternoon. This feast would last until evening time. There would be several cold dishes and more than 10 main dishes on the table for you to choose and eat. Again, you would find tofu, bean noodles, fishes and a lot of other delicious food. One typical dessert we eat on New Year’s Eve is called “Nian Gao”, a kind of sweet sticky cake that is made of stick rice flour. It symbolizes that life will be improved each year --- children are growing taller and adults are getting more stipends and promotions. My sister and I even didn’t have to worry if we happen to drop and break any bowls or teapots on that day. Our parents wouldn’t blame us --- in stead, they would say, “age-age safe”!

Each New Year’ Eve, there is a fantastic TV Show specifically designed for the New Year that starts at 8:00 pm and lasts until 1:00 am in the morning of first day of New Year. The whole family would watch this show. I liked to watch my favorite singers while my parents enjoyed more comedic talk shows.

When it gets darker in the evening, my sister and I became more and more excited because it was the time for us to play with fireworks outside! Sometimes, my father helped us light the fireworks. It was always a beautiful memory since there are so many patterns and colors from the fireworks that I couldn’t help making a wish and praying it would come true in the coming year. Fireworks are just what you see when evening comes; what you hear at that night will force you to plug your ears --- the sound from firecrackers would be so loud and just around everywhere, especially when it gets to midnight. Lighting firecrackers is a tradition since ancient time in China because it has been believed that the loud sound from firecrackers would drive away any bad spirits and bring good luck in the coming year. Each year, my father would buy more than 20 bunches of firecrackers. They are launched at certain different times. When it reaches midnight, you would be surrounded by the deafening sound from the firecrackers everywhere, and the whole sky would be full of beautiful fireworks.

While we were playing with the fireworks outside, my mother was busy making dumplings inside the house. Dumpling is a kind unique food that is typical for the New Year in north China. We believe that the gold nugget-shaped dumpling will bring us wealth. Dumpling is my favorite food in the New Year. Not only is it so delicious, but it is also fun to eat them, especially when I happened to be the one who picked up the only dumpling that had a coin inside of the filling --- this means that I would have double good luck in the coming year! But wait, we were not supposed to have the dumplings until right after the clock hits 12. At that time, my father just finished launching the firecrackers and when he came back inside the house, plates of vaporous hot dumplings had just been placed on the table. Before we started to have the dumplings as the first meal at the first night in the New Year, my sister and I would bow to my parents and give them New Year greetings. Then we would each receive a red pocket with cashes inside from our parents. That money is called “Ya Sui Qian”, meaning to remove any bad luck and keep you safe in a whole new year.

After the whole long day, we finally got to go to bed. We know we would have lots to do when we wake up, like paying New Year’s visit to our relatives (especially the elders), watching “lion dance” on the streets and going to the temple gatherings and attending the Lantern Festival on lunar January 15th… As we both know, the first night of New Year is just the start of New Year celebration…

Today, I have my own family and I become a mother myself. Tracing back to what I was feeling for each New Year celebration in my life, it’s like New Year celebration was food and fun when I was little; it was wishes and new goals as I grew up; and now New Year celebration makes me learn how much I appreciate life and how I feel lucky and satisfied to be with my happy family.

Shengai Li is currently a research assistant working at The Center for Environmental
Health Science at The University of Montana.

Losar in Bhutan

By Tshewang Wangchuk

While various parts of Bhutan celebrate New Years slightly differently and at different times, the main New Year's celebration across Bhutan is the Losar (New Year). It usually falls in February or early March, corresponding to the Lunar Calendar.

Celebrations range from 3-15 days. During the first day family members gather for eating, drinking and merry-making. It is a time for everyone to stop work, relax and have a good time. Family members come together dressed in their finest clothes and jewelry. After the first day people go out visiting family members and friends who live nearby, and will feast at their houses. It is also a time for family offerings and for putting up prayer flags for goodwill, peace and prosperity.

All throughout menfolk will be engaged in sports such as archery and lawn darts where teams will compete. Women will dance and sing at these matches. Children are adorned in new clothes.

While various meat dishes are prepared, Ema-Datshi (chili and cheese - recipe below) is the ubiquitous Bhutanese specialty.

Tshewang Wangchuk is a doctoral student in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana.

Recipe for Ema-Datshi

Ingredients:
250 g of chilies (green and of medium hotness)
1 onion chopped lengthwise
2 tomatoes
250 g Danish Feta cheese
5 cloves of garlic, finely crushed
3 leaves of cilantro
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Directons:
Cut chilis lengthwise (one chili in four pieces). Put these chilis and chopped onions in a pot of water (approx. 400 ml). Add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Then boil on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add tomato and garlic and boil for another 2 minutes. Add cheese and let it remain for 2-3 minutes. Finally, add cilantro and turn off the heat. Stir. Keep it closed for 2 minutes. And then you are ready to enjoy Ema Datshi.

Serves 3. As always, serve with a generous portion of red rice or polished white rice, along with other dishes.

New Year's Day in Japan

By Emi Tateyama

In my country, Japan, the New Year's Day is the most important holiday, like Christmas in the U.S. Before we welcome a new year, each family cleans up everywhere inside and outside of the house. We believe that dirtiness causes troubles and bad luck, and in doing so, we drive away those bad lucks and be ready to welcome happy New Year. Usually, people spend the night before New Year with family. We watch TV, such as comedy and song programs, and just are relaxed. We eat dinner and around 11:00 pm, we eat Soba (buckwheat noodles) with making a wish that we live long life like a soba noodle. It is a Japanese old superstition that we follow even now.

When New Year is coming, people go to a shrine and make a wish to live the year with lots of happiness. On January 1st, we eat Osechi, which is a traditional feast, and Mochi (rice cakes). Osechi includes shrimp, Japanese sweet omlet, beans with chestnut, kelp...and those Japanese cuisines in a box-shaped container. Mothers get busy in the morning of January 1st. Children play kite flying, Hagoita (like badminton using wooden rackets) and card games. Adults give children money which is called "otosidama," which means New Year's gift/money. It is like a Christmas gift in the U.S. and parents and relatives pass money to young kids, not to me. This is how I observe New Year's Day in my country.

The New Year in Japan

By Akiko Hata

The new year is my best event a year because there is a lot of delicious food and a lot of comedy shows, and my family gets together to celebrate for all three days. Some people hate the new year because they gain weight because of nice food or it is time to hang out with only family. When I came to the U.S, I was very shocked because people do not celebrate the new year like Japanese do. As a result, I felt that I would spend a bad time in the year because I did not celebrate the new year.

In Japan, each place has their styles to celebrate a new year. Now I want to talk about my hometown, Nara which is next to Osaka. Before a new year and on a new year, I spend time with my family and my grandparents of father’s side. On January 2 and 3, I spend time with my family, my cousins and my grandparents of my mother’s side. For four days, I have to eat the same meal, but I never have been sick of it.

Before the new year, it is very busy. People clean their houses, cars, bikes to be ready for the new year. My mother becomes so nervous before the new year because she has a lot of things to do, and my father always tells her that she should keep our house clean all year. Then, she will not become so nervous before a new year. However, she never has done it. It happens in every husbands and wives.

Three days before the new year, my family makes over one hundred Mochi which is made of sticky rice. Mochi is very important for Japanese New Year because we decorate and cook it. My family makes a lot of meals for the new year. Because of tradition and religion, my family does not eat any meat for three days, so we eat only vegetables, fish and mochi. The main dish is called “Osechi” which has a lot of small appetizers in a box of three stages. Every meal has a meaning, for example, we eat a huge bream which means “happy” in Japanese. We also eat Konbu which is a kind of seaweed, and it means “Joy” in Japanese. Before 12 am of the new year, every Japanese eats noodle which is made of buckwheat because noodle is long, so people believe their lives will be longer.

On the new year, my grandfather makes a special mochi soup. In our family’s tradition, women can not use fire, so my grandfather takes care about it. We always start to eat food at nine in the morning while we are watching comedy shows. Comedy shows are very important for people who live in center of Osaka. People really like comedy, so on a new year, every channels have comedy shows. Before we eat food, we have to exchange greetings and drink sake even though people are not old enough to be able to drink.

After eating food, it is the most exciting time. My grandparents give me and my siblings money. Children can get money from their parents, grandparents and relatives. In my family, until we are twenty years old, we can get money. As a result, before I was twenty years old, I always cheated my age to my relative, and then I thought that I could get money after twenty years old. However, my relatives never remember my name, but they remembered my age every time. They are smarter than me, so I always thought how I could get a lot of money. A way I could get money is that whenever my relatives came to my house, I gave a lot of sake and I waited until they really got drunk. After they got drunk, I asked them to get money, and then they gave me money. Even though I got a lot of money, I never had used it because my parents always take it from me to save in the bank.

In afternoon, my family goes to the Shinto shrine. In the shrine, there are a lot of food stores, so we always buy a lot of food even though we are very full. My family is very religious, so they pay homage at the shrine. I am not religious at all, but I am forced to go there by my family because this is our tradition. However, I never pay money to pray at the shrine.

In my family, there are some interesting traditions. Before I stated that on a new year, women can not use fire. I think that this is discrimination. However, my grandmother loves this tradition because my grandfather does not help her to clean their house, but on the new year he has to work a lot. On the other hand, my grandmother does not need to do anything. Also, if my family’s members die before the year, we cannot celebrate a new year and we can not go to the shrine all the year because we should not be happy. The reason we can not go to the shrine is that in Jyodo Buddhism, the shrine should be sacred and clean. Bodies are thought it is not clean, so we can not go there.

I really like the new year because of nice food and comedy shows. Also, now it is hard for my family to get together, so it is the only time for every one to spend time together. I did not celebrate the new year for two years, so I really miss it. Also, I feel that I forget my tradition.

Akiko Hata is a Junior in Social Work at the University of Montana.

The New Year in Pakistan

By Sidra & Tayyba Baig

Pakistan, the Indus Valley civilization, came into being on 14th August 1947. Pakistan is the land of different cultures and we celebrate New Year at different times, at different places of Pakistan according to our cultural belief.

One celebration is according to Islamic Calendar on 1st of Moharram that is celebrated in all of Pakistan at the same time with the same pomp. We celebrate Moharram without religious ways. The second celebration is according to the International calendar that is on 1st of January. Preparations for New Year start very early, where women and children buy new clothes. Women cook different dishes. There is an exchange of gifts. Moreover, we give charity to poor people. We start our new year by saying prayer in the morning at the mosque. For the rest of the day, either we attend guests or we go to someone’s house.

The rural areas of Pakistan also celebrate New Year in the harvest time of different crops called “Mela Chiraghan”. This time always gives hope to the rural people. At the same time, there is another event celebrated called “Bassant”. We fly kites on Bassant the whole night and day. In Pakistan, New Year is the time of the new promises and resolutions.

Sidra Baig is a UM doctoral student in Counseling Education. Her sister Tayyba Baig is a doctoral student in Biochemistry.

Pahela Baishakh: Bengali New Year Festival

By Ayesha Sharmin

April 14th is the first day of the Bangla year which is also known as Pahela Baishakh. In Bangladesh, this day is a national holiday. This marks the beginning of Baishakh, the first month of Bengali calendar.

Celebrations of Pahela Baishakh started from Emperor Akbar’s reign (sixteenth century). The main event of the day was to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities,
Parade for Pahela Baishakh

traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones.

After the independence of Bangladesh this has grown to be a countrywide mass celebration. In the big metropolitans like Dhaka and Chittagong this day is marked by mass crowd flocking to hundreds of open air concerts and cultural programs, mask rallies etc.

We start the celebration from very early in the morning (before sun rises). The home is thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned; people bathe early in the morning and dress in fine clothes. We spend much of the morning joining the colorful morning procession and the concerts organized under the banyan tree at Ramna (Dhaka). After the concert we visit the Baishakhi fair. The fair emphasized on the culture and handicrafts of rural Bangladesh.

One of the main attractions of the fair is the colorful glass bangles. We eat traditional new-year food, which are seasoned rice, fried fish, very hot curries and sweets made from milk. Rest of the day we spend by visiting relatives, friends, and neighbors. Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. This is one rural festival that has become enormously big in the cities, especially in Dhaka.

Many old festivals connected with New Year's Day have disappeared, while new festivals have been added. With the abolition of the zamindari system, the punya connected with the closing of land revenue accounts has disappeared. Kite flying in Dhaka and bull racing in Munshiganj used to be very colorful events. Other popular village games and sports were horse races, bullfights, cockfights, flying pigeons, and boat racing. Some festivals, however, continue to be observed; for example, bali (wrestling) in Chittagong and gambhira in Rajshahi are still popular events. If we are visiting those areas during the festival, we usually join those events.

Pahela Baishakh gives us new life as the sun gives life to the nature.

Ayesha Sharmin is a doctoral student in Chemistry at UM.