Celebrating New Year Becomes a Pop-Culture Celebrity - Essay Example

number Celebrating New Year becomes pop-cultural celebrity Introduction New Year’s Eve is a day that people celebrate the end of the year gone by and welcomes a new year (Mercer (34). There are mixed feeling amongst the people all over the word. Most people will experience a state of nostalgia by reflecting on the incidences and events that happened in the lives all through the past twelve months. In addition, most people will start to think about some of the resolutions they will put in place to ensure that their new year is better than the past one. There are varied ways that people usher in a new year. Moreover, there are some countries that do not celebrate their new year as others; it depended with the calendar that is in use in a particular nation. New Year has now become a worldwide celebration with so much anticipation and expectations put in line to mark the day (Mercer, 26). People all around the world start counting down the New Year day before the clock ticks midnight. They will count all through the last sixty seconds and cheer when the New Year begins. People will tend to hug, jump and wish their friends a “Happy and prosperous New Year and sing along various songs designed for such a day. New Year is a historical celebration that has become a pop cultural celebration in almost all nations in the world that comprises of so many memories and resolutions taking place on this material day (Mercer, 44). This paper discusses how New Year has become a pop cultural celebration in the world through wide the influence from internet and social media. Body Celebrations of the New Year has not started recently, the first celebration is dated back to 2000 B.C in Mesopotamia (Mercer, 48). It was marked on mid-March and was celebrated during the time of the vernal equinox. Various ancient cultures also tied a varied of other dates to the seasons. The Egyptian, Persians and Phoenicians made history by celebrating the New Year eve with the fall equinox and on the other hand the Greeks decided to celebrate it during the winter solstice. As stated before, calendars used by various countries determine when the New Year celebrations take place. In the early Roman calendar, New Year was on March date one. Their calendar had just ten months with March being the first month. The calendar was not as the same with what is used today since some month like September and December were the seventh and tenth months respectively. It was during the first celebrations of New Year in Rome that the month of January joined the calendar. The month was not in existence until 700 B.C during the rule of Numa Pontilius, who was the second King. He added the two months, January and February into the calendar. IT was then that the New Year was moved to January from March since it was the beginning of the civil year. According to (Wilson (2012), the Roman calendar went through some improvements by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C. He insisted that the New Year celebrations could only take place on the 1st of January. In middle ages, there came up a group of people who regarded the celebrations that took place on New Year’s Eve as unchristian. It was abolished, and December 25th became the New Year day. However, this was later abolished, and January first became the formal New Year in 1582 according to the Gregorian calendar. From then, this became the day that the whole world acknowledges as New Year. There are many reasons that make New Year pop culture well known all over the world. All the media channels send many messages discussing the year that is about to end and the year that is expected to come (Lovelace et. al 76). Most people will commence their celebrations on the 31st of December to the midnight of 1st January. Celebrating this day is one of the oldest and existing customs that take place globally. There is a lot of joy and happiness within the atmosphere with people having many plans on how to commemorate the day. Some people opt to go to churches, attend open-air events such as Time Square in the United States, Brandenburg gate in Berlin, Marina Bay in Singapore, Central London in England, and Sydney Habour in Australia among other places (Lovelace et. al 78-100). Other people opt to go for parties in entertainment joints, go out for dinner or stay at home and enjoy laughs with family and friends. In many countries, the celebrations to mark the New Year Eve include watching fireworks and engaging in songs and dances to usher in the New Year. According to Brunner (2012), in the English-speaking countries, the most favorite song of the day is usually auld Lang Syne, an old Scottish song produced by Robert Burns in 1796. Brunner (2012) writes that the Babylonians were the first people to identify the practice of making resolutions once a year is over. They made so many promises in the name of pleasing their gods in order to earn favor and begin the year on the right foot. Most of them vowed to return the equipments they had borrowed and pay off their debts. Generally, on this day, people all over the world will tend to make promises associated with success and good deeds to ensure that life is smooth, and they live harmoniously together. Many families will take this eve to visit the people who are not well off and offer some assistance. Others opt to spend time and make peace with people who they have wronged. Different countries have their own practices, ways and locations of marking this important day. In the United States, people go to the New York City’s Time Square to participate and watch as the giant ball drops. This tradition has been in existence since the early 1900s. In Brazil, the celebrations include wearing white clothes on the material day and jumping over the seven ocean waves and throwing flowers into the sea. In countries like Chile, people mark the day by taking a spoonful of lentils and putting money in their shoes at midnight as a belief that this will result to prosperity for the coming year. Some, who tend to be daring, spend the night at the graveyards to mark the New Year with their deceased family and friends. In China, fireworks rule the night and the people are expected to be in red clothes and give their kids some money to celebrate the day. In Germany, people spend the night trying to figure out how their future might be like. They burn lead and throw it in cold water and later try to interpret the shape. The Dutch spend the entire New Year Eve in carbide shooting and go for swimming in the North Seas freezing waters. The Russians spend the day and night making wishes and writing them on pieces of papers. Later, they burn them, put the ashes in champagne glasses, and drink it down. According to (Wilson (2012), the Spanish speaking countries mark the day by eating a total of twelve grapes at midnight for they believe that it comes with good luck for the coming twelve months. One of the common practice of activity that people will engage in all over the world as earlier stated is making resolutions and observing the traditions. Resolutions are made in order to improve the life of a person. According to socialization, there are practices that people will have to participate in order to become contended that they have marked the end of the year. Resolutions made concern bad habits, diets, performance, business, relationships and targets among other issues that are meant to bring about success and personal wellness. Most families will ensure that they are together, and friends will make sure that they use social media to send messages to their global friends. According to (Wilson (2012), people tend to mark the day with toasting in a way of acknowledging the blessings they enjoyed in the past year and hope for future luck and success in life. Lovelace et. al claim that through social media, the whole world becomes a small global village since people are able to watch all the events that take place worldwide (89). The television channels will air the most famous events in the world, and people are able to feel their presence with those who manage to attend. One such event is at the New York City’s Square where people all over the world take part in the event watching the giant ball drop and people cheering. Due to the high population of people who wish to attend the event, it is aired live on various channels and updates on social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter keeping the people on the knowhow (123). In addition, people are able to search over the internet on how other people mark the New Year eve and practice it in their own homes. Through social media, it becomes possible to make the New Year a pop cultural celebration. Conclusion The Celebrations that take place during the New Year eve continue to evolve season by season. The world becomes a community and engages in various traditional practices that have been there since history. IT is evident that New Year existed a long time ago when the calendar still had ten months. After January and February had been introduced, the New Year day became 1st January permanently. Many restrictions accompany the New Year celebrations depending on the location that people are in on the material day. Different countries, as discussed earlier, have their own ways of marking New Year’s eve, and one may feel odd if they dot participate in the fun associated with the celebrations. Through the internet and social media, too many messages are passed with so many wishes made. In addition, people are able to follow up what is happening all over the world. This is my essay, and my hope is that you have learned more about the New Year and know how it became a pop-cultural celebration. Work Cited Brunner, Borgna. "New Years Traditions." Infoplease. Infoplease, 3 Sept. 2007. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. . Lovelace, Marline, Marline Lovelace, Diana Hamilton, and Catherine Spencer. New Year Fireworks. Chatswood, N.S.W: Harlequin Mills & Boon, 2013. Print. Mercer, Abbie. Happy New Year. New York: PowerKids Press, 2008. Print. 34-145. Wilson, Jerry. "Happy New Years Day 2013 - The History, Traditions, and Customs of New Year and New Years Eve." Happy New Years Day 2013 - The History, Traditions, and Customs of New Year and New Years Eve. 10 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. . Read More