Bringing in the new year is steeped in tradition, and these traditions can be traced to countries all over the world.
In the United States, one can learn about and enjoy an array of these flavorful traditions thanks to the immigrants who have made this country their home.
Here are just a few:
Jump to It
In Brazil, they wear white and head for the beach jumping seven waves while making seven wishes for the year to come.
Grapes and Bubbly
The Spanish opt for popping grapes to the sound of the last twelve clock stroke of the year - inviting in the new year, many times with a glass of cava in hand.
This Kiss
Kiss someone you love! Actually, English and German cultures believe that the new year has everything to do with the first person with whom you connect at midnight. This person might be your destiny!
Manifest Future Travel
If travel is what you have your sights on for the new year, then follow the Colombian tradition of taking a stroll around the block while carrying empty luggage.
For a Long Life and the Strength to Live it
The Japanese eat a dish of long noodles for a long life. The dish is “toshikoshi soba” and the noodles, which are made of buckwheat, represent resilience.
Choose Your Undergarments with Care
Yellow, red, or white - good fortune, love, or peace - that’s what the color of the undergarments you choose to wear on New Year’s Eve is meant to manifest. One can thank many Latin American countries for this one.
Doorsteps and Windows
Smashing fruit at your doorstep is a Greek tradition meant to bring in prosperity; and salting that same doorstep is the Greek way of hoping for peace. For a little extra help bringing in the new year, they decorate their front doors with hanging onions.
Opening windows and doors to let out the old and bring in the new is another popular tradition - somewhat based on superstition - practiced by many cultures.
In the end, the world offers a compilation of rich, sometimes superstitious, always hopeful end-of-year traditions. Learning about them, observing them, and experiencing them can be fun, engaging, and educational.
At Visa Business Plans we are proud to represent and help individuals from around the globe who want to make the United States their home. Together we can provide the best the world has to offer.
Visa Business Plans is led by Marco Scanu, a certified coach from the University of Miami with a globally-based practice coaching Fortune 1000 company executives, entrepreneurs, as well as professionals in 4 different continents. Mr. Scanu advises clients on turnaround strategies and crisis management.
Mr. Scanu received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Cum Laude) from the University of Florida and an MBA in Management from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Mr. Scanu was also a Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University under the prestigious H. Humphrey Fellowship (Fulbright program) with a focus on Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and high-growth enterprises.
At present, Mr. Scanu is the managing partner and CEO at Visa Business Plans, a Miami-based boutique consulting firm providing attorneys and investors with business planning services in the areas of U.S. and Canadian immigration, SBA loans, and others.
