Bonne Annee..........

Another year has come and gone.  Bring it on 2019!!!!

You can read more New Years facts and trivia blog posts here and here. 

In Argentina at exactly 12:00, everyone takes one step forward with their right foot so they can get the year started off "on the right foot."

They also eat beans, a lot of beans with the belief of a prosperous new year.

In Chile at midnight, they eat one spoonful of lentils so the year will be filled with money.

They also grab brooms and sweep out their homes to rid the house of bad energy.

They are especially fond
of  burning Spongebob in
Ecuador.

Ecuadorians make a doll thing of sorts that usually resembles politicians, pop stars, and/or other famous people and burn them in the streets at midnight.  This burns away the old year for a fresh new year to begin.

When the clock strikes midnight, they eat 12 grapes before 12:01 which is said to be harder than it sounds to do.

In England, they believe the first person to come through your door will bring you good luck in the new year but it should be a young handsome man carrying salt, coal, money, and bread but beware of any person with red hair.  They refer to this as "first-footer."

They eat a lot of bread and drink an excessive amount of beer.

The French eat escargot, oysters, and foie gras, which is liver from a duck or a goose (besides eating anything from an animal being gross and unnecessary, the French take it one step further.  They literally force-feed the ducks and geese with a feeding tube shoved down their throat to fatten up their livers.  What a bunch of saccades!).
Side note, never tell a French person Happy New Year until it is actually the new year.  They are sensitive about that.

In the Netherlands, they eat big oily balls of dough (gross) called oliebollen.  I guess basically it is like a donut hole which sounds better than big oily balls of dough!


They burn their Christmas trees and have bonfires to celebrate.

In the Philippines, they open all the windows, doors, and cabinets and turn off all the lights and just after midnight, they race around shutting them all back.  This is to ward off evil spirits in the new year.  Not sure how that works but okay, whatever. 

They also eat foods that are round again for a prosperous new year. 

Russians write down a wish on a piece of paper and at midnight set the paper on fire and put it in a glass of champagne and drink it before 12:01.

They fancy eating sweets for the new year.

The Spaniards eat 12 grapes exactly when the clock strikes 12 and must have them all eaten before 12:01.
They celebrate with red undergarments and lots of lottery tickets.

We have gone with the black-eyed peas, cornbread, and greens over the last few years, and we have been lucky.  We were going to shake up the menu this year but decided to just add rice pilaf, vegan Italian sausage, and spiced up lentils.  Yum!