Christmas and New Year’s have been two of the most longed for events of last year, not only because you receive gifts or get to be with family but also because we get to put behind the terrible occurrences of last year and start fresh. Many people may already know this, but depending on your religion and location in the world, you celebrate both Christmas or New Years’ in different ways.
Although most of us celebrate Christmas, not everyone does. The Jewish, instead, celebrate Hanukkah. This is not a surprise since Christmas began through the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the son of God for Christianity. Obviously, since Judaism is a different religion, they celebrate their own holiday.
New Year on the other hand is something that is pretty much universal and celebrated pretty much by everyone all around the world. There are different traditions and timelines by which people celebrate them, but it is an event that is hugely celebrated and important around the world.
One specific tradition that is important to me and my family is one that is celebrated all across Spain, my home country, where we eat 12 grapes in the final 12 seconds of the year to then go into the next year. Basically, you eat 1 grape every second or so until you finish all twelve. Another thing that might be different is when people celebrate it since cultures might have different calendars and celebrate this holiday during one part of the year while others celebrate the complete opposite time of the year.
Traditions are one of the most important things when it comes to culture since they are something special and unique to certain groups of people or countries and being able to celebrate the same holiday with millions of people but still have some twists and turn to make it special is something we must cherish and continue to do.
