2015年新年將至，不管是哪個國家的人們，都對新的一年充滿美好的希冀。在這除舊迎新的日子里，世界各國的人們都以其別出心裁、各具特色的方式迎接新年的到來……

By Ben Lim

李殊 選 祝平 注

How do you celebrate New Year’s? If I had to take a guess, you probably celebrate New Year’s surrounded by family and friends, enjoying drinks of your choice (probably wine and champagne) and watching the ball drop¹. If you’re particularly lucky, perhaps you share a kiss with that special someone when the clock hits 12:00am.Have you ever imagined how New Year’s would look in another country? Listed below are five of the top ten “Unique New Year Traditions from Around the World.”

1. Breaking Dishes on Neighbor’s Door——Denmark

丹麥：鄰居家門口摔盤子

A strange and weird² Danish New Year tradition, depending on how you look at it, is throwing dishes at neighbor’s door. Strangely, this makes them happy instead of annoying them. The family with the tallest tower of broken plates, glasses, cups and other crockery is considered to be the luckiest person because it symbolizes their large amount of loyal friends.³

2. Talking to Spirits——Mexico

墨西哥：和亡靈對話

Talking to spirits is a part of Mexican belief. Mexicans strongly believe that they can communicate with the souls of their dead loved ones. New Year’s Eve is considered the best time to communicate with dead spirits to convey⁴ a message or ask for guidance. And this is not done at home on an individual basis but is a legal Mexican practice.⁵ Taos Inn, in New Mexico for example, offers 15 minutes session of spiritualism and meditation for $15^.6 Not a bad price for some helpful guidance!

3. Wearing Polka Dots⁷——Philippines

菲律賓：身穿帶有圓點圖案的服裝

Imagine streets full of people wearing polka dots and dining room tables full of round shaped food and fruits on one single day of the year. This all actually happens in the Philippines on New Year’s Eve every year. Philippines believe that this will bring them prosperity by associating the round dots to coins and wealth.⁸

4. Burning Scarecrow Dummy——Ecuador

厄瓜多爾：燒稻草人

Ecuador has a unique custom of crafting⁹ scarecrows and then burning them at midnight. They adorn¹⁰ them and fill the scarecrows with newspapers and pieces of wood. As midnight approaches, everyone gathers outside their home and each family burns their own scarecrow. The tradition says that this destroys all the bad things that took place in the past 12 months. The scarecrow also scares away bad luck, which in turn, fills their new year with luck and happiness.

5. Mistletoe¹¹ Leaves Are Placed Under Pillow to Find Husband——Ireland

愛爾蘭：枕頭下面放槲寄生葉子來尋求真愛

The single women of Ireland wait desperately¹² for New Year’s Eve because it is the night that can bring them the love of their lives. They place mistletoe leaves under their pillow hoping to catch their future husband. It is also believed in the Irish culture that this act will help them get rid of bad luck.

The world is a large and very different place. Yes, people of all nations may celebrate New Year’s much differently around the world, with different traditions, but there are a lot of general themes to be seen. We all want to start a new, fresh year with renewed enthusiasm and hope no matter what happened during the past year. We all want to be happier, find love, renew friendships,increase our wealth and also hope for a little extra luck in the coming new year.

Vocabulary：

1. ball drop: 除夕夜降水晶球活動。作為迎接新年的傳統儀式，五光十色的水晶球會于零點時分在紐約時代廣場準時降落。

2. weird: 怪異的，不可思議的。

3. 門口堆放的破盤子、玻璃、杯子和其他瓷具碎片最高的人家被認為是最幸運的，因為這象征著他們的好友數量眾多。crockery: 陶器，瓷具；symbolize: 象征。

4. convey: 傳達，表達。

5. 這種行為一般不能自己在家進行，但在墨西哥，這是合法的。practice: 慣例。

6. spiritualism: 降靈術，通過召喚死去的靈魂來解惑或預言未來；meditation: 冥想，沉思。

7. Polka Dots: 圓點圖案。

8. 菲律賓人認為，這些能讓人聯想起錢幣和財富的圓點會為他們帶來繁榮。

9. craft: 精巧地制作。

10. adorn: 裝飾。

11. mistletoe: 槲寄生，常青植物，常用作圣誕節(jié)裝飾物，代表著希望和豐饒。

12. desperately: 非常，很。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：祝興媛）