加载中…[转载]元旦：万象更新的开端
(2013-01-02 10:57:44)
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分类： 留学美国 |
2012.12.31
A New Year tradition, the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, features floats created entirely of flowers, such as this entry, “Jewels of Nature.” © AP Images
美国节日
新的开端
在美国，元旦是万象更新的开端。人们会在一天憧憬美好的未来，为改善个人修为许下自己的心愿。
欢庆新年的活动实际上从12月31日夜间就开始了。人们会举行派对聚会、音乐会，燃放烟花等，参加各式各样的特别活动迎接新年的到来。在元旦这一天，美国许多城镇都举行游行和大学美式足球比赛。
在一些社区，新年出生的第一个婴儿会得到很多礼物。象征新年到来的画面往往是一个小宝宝的形象，兜着尿布，头戴花帽，身穿印有年份的彩带。与此形成对照的是，即将过去的一年，即“旧年”的象征是一个身穿长袍，长着长长白须的老人，携带着计时沙漏和镰刀，被称为“时间老人”。
历史和习俗
在西方文化中，元旦庆祝活动至少可以追溯到古罗马时代，这一天专门用来供奉象征着过渡和新开端的双面神杰纳斯（Janus）。杰纳斯一身两面，一面向前，另一面向后。一月（January）就以杰纳斯的名字命名。
今天在美国，人们往在1月的第一天回顾刚刚过去的一年。报纸和电视节目回顾过去一年发生的主要事件，历数这一年逝去的著名人物。
从世界各地来到美国的移民为美国带来了与元旦相关的许许多多的仪规和民间习俗。例如，在美国南方各州，元旦这天吃眉豆被视为可以交好运。这一传统源于亚洲和非洲。卷心菜和酸菜代表繁荣和长寿，这是东欧裔移民对新年晚宴的贡献。
各民族的移民相信，炮竹和枪炮发出的声响可以驱赶过去一年的妖魔鬼怪，保障新的一年除邪避恶。“开枪驱魔”是美国早期十分流行的活动，但到了18世纪中期，一些地方为减少噪声，避免危险，禁止这一习俗。但是在喧闹声中迎新年依然是新年庆祝活动的特征，人们往往燃放烟花，吹口哨和举行热闹的聚会等。
纽约市（New York City）时报广场（Times Square）的除夕夜倒计时活动名闻遐迩，成千上万的人在广场上观看一个多面水晶球在倒计时声中落地。这个传统可以追溯到1907年。
在迎新年的时候，人们还喜欢高唱《友谊地久天长》（Auld Lang Syne）。这是苏格兰诗人罗伯特·彭斯（Robert Burns）根据一首古老的民谣整理而成的歌曲。开香槟祝酒也是迎接新年的普遍习俗。还有一种习俗是在除夕（New Year's Eve）子夜钟声敲响的时候亲吻亲人。
在加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳市（Pasadena），自1890年以来每年举行新年玫瑰花车游行（Tournament of Roses
Parade ），用大量鲜花装饰一新的各种彩车争奇斗艳。玫瑰杯（Rose Bowl
）大学足球赛通常在游行后举行。在电视上观看游行和比赛历来是新年假期的重头戏。
来自欧洲、亚洲、非洲和拉丁美洲的移民带来了多样性的文化习俗，丰富了每年一度的新年庆祝活动，成为全美各地喜闻乐见的一道风景。
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/pamphlet/2012/12/20121231140521.html#ixzz2GmPNO2IW
New Year’s Day: A Time for Renewal
05 December 2011
Download this pamphlet at right.
U.S. Holidays
New Beginnings
New Year’s Day in the United States is a time for fresh beginnings: hope for a better future and resolutions to improve one’s behavior.
Observed January 1, New Year’s celebrations actually begin the night of December 31 with parties, concerts, fireworks and special events of all kinds. The day is marked in many American towns and cities with parades and U.S.-style football games.
In some communities the first baby to be born on New Year’s Day is honored with gifts and media coverage. The New Year itself is often symbolized by a baby wearing just a diaper, a festive hat and a sash imprinted with the year. In contrast, the concluding “old year” is depicted by illustrations of “Father Time,” an old, white-bearded man in a robe, carrying an hourglass and a scythe.
History and Customs
The celebration of New Year’s Day in Western cultures goes back at least to Roman times, when the day was dedicated to Janus, the two-faced god of transitions and beginnings — one face looks forward and the other backward. January is named for Janus.
In the United States today, the first of January remains a time to reflect on the year just completed. Newspapers and television shows review the main events of the previous year and memorialize famous people who died.
New Year’s Day abounds with rituals and superstitions brought to the United States by immigrants. For example, it is considered good luck to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day in southern states, a tradition with roots in Asia and Africa. Cabbage and sauerkraut, to represent prosperity and long life, are Eastern European contributions to New Year’s dinner.
Immigrants of various nationalities believed that loud noises — firecrackers or gunfire — drive away the bad spirits of the past year and ensure a new year free of evil. “Shooting away bad spirits” became so popular with early Americans that by the mid-1700s some localities banned it to minimize the noise and the danger. But noise to herald the New Year remains ingrained in New Year’s celebrations, in the form of fireworks, whistles and party noisemakers.
New York City famously counts down to the midnight hour in Times Square, where thousands gather to watch a faceted crystal ball drop at the appointed hour. The tradition dates from 1907.
People sing “Auld Lang Syne,” lyrics from Scottish poet Robert Burns set to an old folk tune, to usher in the New Year. It is a widespread custom to toast the New Year with champagne. Another custom is kissing a loved one at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Millions of flowers are used to fabricate parade floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade, staged annually since 1890 in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day. The Rose Bowl collegiate football game usually follows the parade. Viewing the parade and game on television is a long-established New Year pastime.
Customs adopted from the diverse immigrant cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America enhance annual New Year celebrations, which are enjoyed by all, across the United States.
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/pamphlet/2012/06/201206066895.html#ixzz2GmPOo1No
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