The champagne is on ice, the fireworks are exploding overhead and the
guests are getting down to some funky sounds -- but isn't your New
Year's Eve party a bit, well, last year?
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SEE THE NEW YEAR IN WITH STYLE
Every year around a 1000 New Year
revellers brave freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the
Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim.
Similar sub-zero New Year soaks are found across the chillier corners of the northern hemisphere from Sweden to Siberia.
(CNN) -- The champagne is on ice, the fireworks are
exploding overhead and the guests are getting down to some funky sounds
-- but isn't your New Year's Eve party a bit, well, last year?
New Year cheer: 10 ways to ring in 2013
Photos: Santa sightings around the world
A look back at 2012's big news
The top city to visit in 2013 is...
COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
December 17, 2012 -- Updated 1539 GMT (2339 HKT)
Every year around a 1000 New Year
revellers brave freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the
Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim. Similar sub-zero New Year soaks are found across the chillier corners of the northern hemisphere from Sweden to Siberia.
HIDE CAPTION
Sub-zero swim
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Bizarre New Year traditions include swimming in subzero seas
- Many Germans celebrate by watching a television repeat of a 50-year-old British comedy
- Other activities include chomping grapes, racing pigs and hurling objects out of windows
Not everyone spends the
last night of December carousing like the dawn will bring a Mayan
apocalypse, yet they still manage to have a great evening.
So perhaps to see in
2013, it's time to pour away the Moët & Chandon, defuse the
skyrockets, eject the ABBA mixtape and take inspiration from some of the
planet's more unusual New Year celebrations by adding these to your
shopping list:
Frozen water
New Year cheer: 10 ways to ring in 2013
Photos: Santa sightings around the world
Most parties lay on a few
ice cubes for the cocktails, but if you really want your guests to
chill, how about a frozen lake, river or sea. For some reason, glaciated
bodies of water have a magnetic lure for new year revelers undeterred
by hypothermia, frostbite or common sense. Sub-zero soaks are
commonplace from Scotland to Siberia as swimmers, often fortified by a
shot of booze, shiver themselves bluer than the cast of Avatar.
Why you should: An invigorating icy swim will wash away last year's cobwebs.
Why you shouldn't: It could also wash away frozen parts of your body.
Why you shouldn't: It could also wash away frozen parts of your body.
Underwear
After exposing your
extremities to such a chilly experience it might be wise to have some
thermals to hand, but sensible unmentionables aren't on our list.
Instead, like partygoers in Italy and some South American countries you
should be thinking about a more dazzling set of drawers. In Italy, Spain
and South and Central America, color-coded underpants take on special
meaning at New Year with red or yellow auguring luck or romance.
Why you should: It's a chance to liven up your lingerie.
Why you shouldn't: With all this talk about pants and love you'll need another icy dip.
Why you shouldn't: With all this talk about pants and love you'll need another icy dip.
German sense of humor
If you're fed up with
unfunny jokes told by drunken party guests, it's time to tap into
Germany's love of deadpan absurdism. Almost every New Year's Eve for the
past half a century, German television has broadcast "Dinner for One," a
comic English play in which a sozzled butler imitates party guests to
humor his elderly employer. The annual repeat of the show's catchphrase:
"The same procedure as last year," adds to the hilarity and has helped
it earn fans in several neighboring countries.
Why you should: The show's saucy punchline is well worth it
Why you shouldn't: The joke takes about 50 years to work properly
Why you shouldn't: The joke takes about 50 years to work properly
Broken television set
When endless reruns of
"Dinner for One" result in frustration being taken out on your TV, you
might be tempted to throw it out of the window in line with a now
extinct Italian New Year tradition of defenestrating unwanted goods. A
similar habit in South Africa has seen fridges and other household
objects ejected from up high, sometimes resulting in injury and arrest.
Why you should: You shouldn't.
Why you shouldn't: It's illegal, not to mention dangerous.
Why you shouldn't: It's illegal, not to mention dangerous.
Grapes
There's nothing too
unusual about serving grapes at a party -- unless you follow the
traditions of Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica where 12 grapes are consumed
on New Year's Eve, each a symbol of the months that lie ahead. In Spain
the grapes must be eaten in time with the 12 chimes of midnight, which
can turn the traditional New Year's kiss into a messy business.
Why you should: Grapes are a tasty source of anti-oxidants and vitamins.
Why you shouldn't: Inhaling grapes = Heimlich Maneuver.
Why you shouldn't: Inhaling grapes = Heimlich Maneuver.
Molten lead
Back to Germany for
another unusual ritual in which a spoonful of lead is melted over a
candle then dropped into a bucket of water. The shapes formed by the
cooling metal are then divined for signs of what lies in the year ahead.
Certain formations have specific meanings: An egg signifies a growing
family, a clover means luck and a hat shape means good news. No one
takes it seriously.
Why you should: It's fun.
Why you shouldn't: It's nonsense.
Why you shouldn't: It's nonsense.
Pigs
In the Swiss ski resort
of Klosters, the first day of January is celebrated with a piglet race
in which 10 tiny porkers sprint through the snow for the enviable prize
of being spared from the sausage factory. The winner is usually adopted
as a town mascot for the year.
Why you should: Piglets! So cute!
Why you shouldn't: The losers get eaten.
Why you shouldn't: The losers get eaten.
A look back at 2012's big news
The top city to visit in 2013 is...
Chairs
Chairs at a party aren't
exactly a radical innovation, but in Denmark they are typically used as
a launching pad for people who believe that by leaping into the New
Year they will banish malevolent spirits.
Why you should: You can claim your new year exercise regime has started early.
Why you shouldn't: You'll need the icy water again to bathe those twisted ankles.
Why you shouldn't: You'll need the icy water again to bathe those twisted ankles.
Dead birds
Sailors love a good
party, but are notoriously superstitious souls, believing that it is
unlucky to begin a voyage on December 31. Maritime lore also suggests
that feathers plucked from a wren slain on New Year's Day can protect
seafarers from dying in a shipwreck.
Why you should: You polished off those piglets, so a wren isn't going to hurt your conscience.
Why you shouldn't: Nothing kills a party like a dead bird.
Why you shouldn't: Nothing kills a party like a dead bird.
Bed
Britain has a certain
reputation when it comes to New Year's Eve, particularly in Scotland
where Hogmanay celebrations -- climaxing in a rendition of the
traditional Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" -- can border on the
bacchanalian. So it is perhaps a surprise to discover that, according to
a survey conducted last year, over a third of Britons prefer to be
tucked up in bed on the stroke of midnight.
Why you should: You'll avoid the most overrated party of the year.
Why you shouldn't: Champagne corks, fireworks and ABBA will keep you awake anyway.
Why you shouldn't: Champagne corks, fireworks and ABBA will keep you awake anyway.
CNN DISTRACTIONS
We loved helping you waste time this year. So, here are the best distractions of 2012. Read: Lots of cats. WATCH
Whether you're looking for culture or just a reason to party, you'll
want to make sure these European destinations are on your radar in 2013.
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Top U.S. travel destinations for 2013COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
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