The strangest customs for New Year's Eve in other countries

Eating a grape for each of the twelve chimes on New Year's Eve or wearing red underwear can be very normal for us in our country, but also They are considered one of the rarest customs for the end of the year for the majority of the inhabitants of other countries.

But what about other parts of the world? Yes, peculiar traditions abound as well. Do you want to know some of them?

The strangest customs for New Year's Eve in other countries

Because for everyone, no matter how different we are, the last night of the year has some special meaning.

1. Joya no kane (Japan)

Among the rarest customs for New Year's Eve, we have the existence of a Japanese ancestral tradition, Joya no kane, capable of congregating thousands of people inside their Buddhist temples around a large and solitary bell that will emit 108 chimes on the last night of the year to welcome a new era.

It starts from the belief that all people are born with the ability to sin in 108 different ways. Well, during the time that these chimes last, all the assistants perform an act of contrition by which they repent of the mistakes they made, and each bell will take a sin. At the end, a new year begins, and each person does it as if they started from scratch, without sins, guilt or remorse.

2. Basil bread with surprise (Greece)

How could it be different in Mediterranean countries, where gastronomy has a considerable weight in our culture, it is not surprising that one of the rarest customs for the end of the year celebrated around the world includes food.

In Greece, a basil bread is prepared in the dough of which a coin is hidden before being baked. When distributed, the lucky person who receives the piece that contains it will have the good luck and abundance throughout the year.

3. Burning the old man (Peru, Ecuador ...)

One of the most curious traditions, among other things by its own name, is that of "Quemar el viejo", where Colombians, Peruvians and Ecuadorians share one of the strangest customs for New Year's Eve that we can find around the world.

The tradition brings together family and friends to compose a doll the size of a person that is put on old clothes and stuffed with straw. "The old man", which is what he is called, symbolizes the year ending, and is burned at midnight to leave behind the misfortunes that occurred during that time.

4. Chair jump (Denmark)

Danes are notorious for slamming plates against the doors of their loved ones' houses, leaving a pile of broken crockery that the bigger it is, the more appreciated by his friends and family those people are. But also to this curious tradition is added one of the rarest customs for the end of the year that we can find. The jump from the chair.

In this way, we can imagine all the members of the same family, standing on the dining room chairs, listening to the end of the year chimes and jumping to the floor all at the same time. Actually the idea would be something like entering the new year on the right foot, and if it is accompanied by the people you care about, much better.

5. Kisses at midnight (USA)

Nobody beats romantics, and it is that during the last night of the year, Americans receive the new year with a kiss.

The famous congregation of a large crowd in Times Square waiting for the end of the year chimes is very common and mediatic, although there are not few who go unaccompanied with the intention of capture a stranger's kiss in the first seconds of the new year.

6. Lentils for dinner (Italy)

We return to the Mediterranean diet due to another tradition of culinary origin, where although it is not one of the rarest customs for New Year's Eve with the that we can count in Europe, it is one of the most consistent, because eating a vegetable stew at night is not something suitable for all stomachs.

Yet despite everything, the tradition of dining on a lentil stew to say goodbye to the year that ends is very common in Italy, where the value of abundance and luck is given to this humble vegetable.

7. Hogmanay and First-jogging (Scotland)

The wonderful Highlands have always been home to traditions so ancient (and at the same time enchanting) that it is easy to lose sight of their origin. Celtic, Norman... in any case, the Scots make their customs something worth seeing, lived and told.

Edinburgh is full of party on the last night of the year, where there is no lack of visual shows and horseback riding through its streets, and you can see representations of magical creatures that recall Celtic mythology. There is also whiskey, the delicious short-bread and the traditional bagpipes.

But there is also another tradition that extends throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, and that is the First-jogging, where it is usual to wait for the visit of a family member or loved one making the first visit of the year. It is considered that that person will be the bearer of good luck for 365 days to the members of that household.

8. 7 waves, 7 wishes (Brazil)

A tradition of Caribbean origin very widespread in Brazil It is another of the rarest New Year's Eve customs that we can discover around the world, and due to This is easy to find during that night the beaches of the country crowded with people on its breakwater.

Legend has it that Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea, abundance and fertility, will help to jump over the coming difficulties to Anyone who during the night of the end of the year jumps 7 waves while making 7 wishes.

And you? Which of these traditions would you like to include for your New Years Eve?