Ciao everybody,
we are class 2A. It’s nice to be on the blog, it's our first time and we are going to post comments about the festivals we like best.
By the way, how did you celebrate the New Year? We enjoyed ourselves: some of us went to friends' house, and some stayed at home with their families. but everybody had a great time. We chatted, we laughed, listened to music and had delicious meals: we ate “vincisgrassi” (traditional food of the Ma
rche region), meat and then as a dessert “panettone” and nougat. At midnight we celebrated with “spumante”, Italian sparkling wine, and we had lentils, symbolizing money and good fortune for the coming year and cotechino (sort of sausage) and zampone (stuffed pig's trotter). And then we set off firecrakers and sporkles. We live in small towns, so there were not huge fireworks display, but in big cities, like in other parts of the world, you have fantastic displays and concerts, music and dancing. Milan, Rome, Naples usually put on very popular shows with pop and rock bands, and on New Year’s Eve we watched a show from Rimini on television. After midnight we played cards and “Tombola”, a game similar to “Bingo”.
It’s tradition to make resolutions and ours was to study harder and go into the third class. We are not so sure we can keep it!. There is another old custom that is still followed in some places , especially in the south of Italy: it is throwing your old things out of the window, it simbolizes you are ready to accept the new year. So watch out for falling objects if you’re walking around near mindnight! Oh, one more thing, don’t forget to wear your red underwear! They say it’ll bring you luck in the coming year.
FLASHBACK: NEW YEAR HISTORY
The New Year is one of the oldest festivals of the world, dating back to the pre historic era.
The earliest example of New Year is found in Mesopotamian culture. It was about 2000 BC, when the people of Babylon used to observe New Year celebrations on the day of the Spring Equinox that is during the middle of March. They used to celebrate for 11 days and to make resolutions. It was the Romans, who recognized March 1 as New Year Day in their calendar. At that time there were only ten calendar months beginning from March and this fact can still be seen in the names of some months: the months from September to December were placed as the seventh, eighth, ninth and the tenth months. In Latin, 'Septem' means, seven, 'Octo' means, eight, 'Novem' means, ninth and 'Decem' means ten.
In 153 BC the months of January and February were added by Numa Pontilius, the second Roman king. Thus the festival of New Year shifted to the month of January for the first time, although people carried on observing New Year on March 1 for quite a long time after that.The month of January was named to honor Janus, a Roman god with two faces - one looking back and the other looking forward, signifying the old and the new.
Julius Caesar was the first to set January 1st as the New Year. He introduced a new, solar-based calendar whereas the ancient Roman calendar was lunar-based and had become inaccurate over the years.
In medieval Europe the celebrations for the New Year were considered pagan and unchristian. In 567, the Roman Catholic church abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. After that, at different times and in different places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the New Year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1or March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII re-established January 1 as New Year's Day with calendar reform. Today the Gregorian calendar has become the international standard for civil use and January 1 is a religious feast. Some churches celebrate the feast of the circumcision of Christ, 8 days after his birth, the occasion on which the child was given his name. The catholic church has also given the name of the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God to this day. But midnight remains the high spot of January 1.
NEW YEAR IN OTHER CALENDARS
Not all cultures and religions celebrate New Year's Day on January 1st. The Islamic New Year begins on the first day of the first month of the Islamic calendar and is known as 1 Muharram. It is generally observed with reflection and prayers. Rosh Hashanah New Years Day on the Jewish calendar, begins a 10 day period known as the High holy Days - a time of penitence and prayer that ends with Yom Kippur. The 15-day Chinese New Year is celebrated on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice, occurring between January 20-February 20 - culminating with the Lantern Festival.
we are class 2A. It’s nice to be on the blog, it's our first time and we are going to post comments about the festivals we like best.
By the way, how did you celebrate the New Year? We enjoyed ourselves: some of us went to friends' house, and some stayed at home with their families. but everybody had a great time. We chatted, we laughed, listened to music and had delicious meals: we ate “vincisgrassi” (traditional food of the Ma
rche region), meat and then as a dessert “panettone” and nougat. At midnight we celebrated with “spumante”, Italian sparkling wine, and we had lentils, symbolizing money and good fortune for the coming year and cotechino (sort of sausage) and zampone (stuffed pig's trotter). And then we set off firecrakers and sporkles. We live in small towns, so there were not huge fireworks display, but in big cities, like in other parts of the world, you have fantastic displays and concerts, music and dancing. Milan, Rome, Naples usually put on very popular shows with pop and rock bands, and on New Year’s Eve we watched a show from Rimini on television. After midnight we played cards and “Tombola”, a game similar to “Bingo”.It’s tradition to make resolutions and ours was to study harder and go into the third class. We are not so sure we can keep it!. There is another old custom that is still followed in some places , especially in the south of Italy: it is throwing your old things out of the window, it simbolizes you are ready to accept the new year. So watch out for falling objects if you’re walking around near mindnight! Oh, one more thing, don’t forget to wear your red underwear! They say it’ll bring you luck in the coming year.
FLASHBACK: NEW YEAR HISTORY
The New Year is one of the oldest festivals of the world, dating back to the pre historic era.
The earliest example of New Year is found in Mesopotamian culture. It was about 2000 BC, when the people of Babylon used to observe New Year celebrations on the day of the Spring Equinox that is during the middle of March. They used to celebrate for 11 days and to make resolutions. It was the Romans, who recognized March 1 as New Year Day in their calendar. At that time there were only ten calendar months beginning from March and this fact can still be seen in the names of some months: the months from September to December were placed as the seventh, eighth, ninth and the tenth months. In Latin, 'Septem' means, seven, 'Octo' means, eight, 'Novem' means, ninth and 'Decem' means ten.
In 153 BC the months of January and February were added by Numa Pontilius, the second Roman king. Thus the festival of New Year shifted to the month of January for the first time, although people carried on observing New Year on March 1 for quite a long time after that.The month of January was named to honor Janus, a Roman god with two faces - one looking back and the other looking forward, signifying the old and the new.
Julius Caesar was the first to set January 1st as the New Year. He introduced a new, solar-based calendar whereas the ancient Roman calendar was lunar-based and had become inaccurate over the years.
In medieval Europe the celebrations for the New Year were considered pagan and unchristian. In 567, the Roman Catholic church abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. After that, at different times and in different places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the New Year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1or March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII re-established January 1 as New Year's Day with calendar reform. Today the Gregorian calendar has become the international standard for civil use and January 1 is a religious feast. Some churches celebrate the feast of the circumcision of Christ, 8 days after his birth, the occasion on which the child was given his name. The catholic church has also given the name of the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God to this day. But midnight remains the high spot of January 1.
NEW YEAR IN OTHER CALENDARS
Not all cultures and religions celebrate New Year's Day on January 1st. The Islamic New Year begins on the first day of the first month of the Islamic calendar and is known as 1 Muharram. It is generally observed with reflection and prayers. Rosh Hashanah New Years Day on the Jewish calendar, begins a 10 day period known as the High holy Days - a time of penitence and prayer that ends with Yom Kippur. The 15-day Chinese New Year is celebrated on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice, occurring between January 20-February 20 - culminating with the Lantern Festival.
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