By the way, Santa Claus does not always travel on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. For example, in Hawaii, Santa (called Kanakaloka there) arrives on a Christmas boat, and in California - on a surfboard. And what? Santa can afford it! 🙂 In Louisiana, Santa is called Papa Noel (in the French manner, since Louisiana is closely connected with the French, they were the first settlers here).
Santa's house at the North Pole receives about 120 thousand letters a year from more than 20 countries. Interestingly, the letters reach the recipient even without stamps, because they are for Santa! And I remember how in my childhood the Russian Post sent me back a postcard that I sent to Veliky Ustyug, because... there was no stamp on it. This is such a mercantile Russian post.
In one of her letters to Santa, a girl asked for an iPod. After which she asked which sheet she was on - “black” or “white”, that is, what Santa thinks, whether she behaved well or badly. And at the end she clarified: “Santa, how many cookies do you want to eat for Christmas?”... Cookie corruption is obvious! 🙂
Volunteers answer the letters; they never promise anything to the children, and are signed by Santa's elves and helpers.
So how does Santa give gifts? On the night of 31 to 1, he goes down through the chimney of the fireplace and leaves his gifts in shoes or socks that the children previously hung on him.
How many days do Americans rest for the New Year?
My husband took 3 days off this year—December 31, January 1 and 2. I'd say that's standard for Texas. But someone works all these days. For example, grocery stores are open 24 hours a day. Last year we went to Houston on January 2nd. On the 1st they rested. There were tons of people. They collect the main tribute during the holidays, I think. 🙂 Also, all clothing stores are open seven days a week. The US postmen probably didn't work until January 1st. Well, garbage from the streets was already collected from us on the 2nd.
Happy New Year, friends! Let all your plans come true!
Don't forget to stop by the supermarket because they celebrate New Year in the USA with champagne! 😉
Oksana Bryant was with you, bye-bye!
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For Russians, the main holiday is the New Year. This is undeniable. Adults and children are waiting for him. For Americans, Christmas is considered the main holiday. Americans also celebrate the New Year, but with less excitement. However, they attend concerts, watch parades, shop at fairs, and admire colorful fireworks displays.
The history of New Year's celebrations by Americans
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582. In the colonies of England, from which the States were then formed, they began to live according to this calendar 30 years earlier. Americans adopted the New Year on January 1 from the Europeans. Traditionally, people walked and had fun there on New Year's holiday.
American New Year's traditions
Residents of the United States imagine the New Year in the form of a baby in a diaper. In their opinion, the New Year develops, matures and ages over the course of 365 days. By the end of December he turns into an old man, He has to transfer his position to the newborn baby. This happens every year.
On the eve of the New Year, the residents of America radically change their destiny, deciding from the first days of the new year to live in a new way. Some people start fighting their own bad habits, including smoking, excess weight. They want to play sports, make peace with relatives, or collect some objects.
The New Year is a kind of temporary launching pad for them.
In the last week before the New Year, Santa Claus walks the streets. He allows children to take pictures with him. And on New Year's Eve he comes to them and leaves gifts. He usually puts them on the fireplace or hides them in a stocking.
Christmas decoration
Americans know no bounds when it comes to decorating their homes and streets. They buy everything: crackers, tinsel, all the pyrotechnics, balloons and sparklers in stores. Their houses sparkle with shiny tinsel and rain. There is a crackle and sparkle from pyrotechnics on the street. There are so many people in the capital that it is difficult to move around.
Video - How houses in the USA are decorated for New Year and Christmas
New Year celebration
Residents of the United States most often celebrate the New Year in family circle, among relatives and friends. Young Americans love to attend mass celebrations, where several thousand spectators gather. They are seduced by joyful screams, car horns, bursts of firecrackers, and volleys of fireworks.
New Year's attributes
In 1907, a purely American tradition. Today it is known in many countries. Since then, every year on the last day of December, a minute before the New Year, a large ball is thrown from a height of 23 meters in Times Square. Its flight to the ground lasts a full minute. The last 10 seconds of his fall are unanimously counted down by the spectators who have gathered in the square.
More more people count down the last seconds of the ball falling sitting in front of my TV. When the ball reaches the ground, the New Year begins. This happens exactly at midnight. The tradition has managed to gain popularity among Americans. Many residents of the capital and its guests come to the square on a fabulous night. They want to watch the ball descend, counting down the last moments of the past year.
Other states and localities
Residents of other cities enjoyed watching the New Year's ball descend. Only they replaced it with their own items. In Georgia, instead of a ball, a big peach falls. In North Carolina, a brass acorn flies from above and weighs 900 pounds. In Strasbourg, a ping-pong ball flies from a height.
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New Year and Christmas are the main ones winter holidays, which we celebrate from year to year at our “native” table. What if you change traditions and celebrate the New Year overseas, for example, in the United States? By celebrating the New Year in America, you will give yourself not only a few extra hours of the old year, but also a lot of unforgettable impressions. Don't miss your chance to take part in what you previously could only see on TV news channels.
New Year in New York. For Americans, New Year is a noisy and friendly holiday. All the gifts have already been given for Christmas, the turkey and other table delights have been eaten, and now there is nothing stopping you from just having fun while waiting among the noisy crowd for the cherished moment of changing the date. The central New Year's "party" takes place in New York in Times Square. This is where the most important clock is located, according to which the New Year begins for most Americans. And even if they live in a different time zone, New Year's Eve in Times Square is a fixture on TV news. Tradition folk festivals with the inevitable descent of a huge luminous ball (the apple is the symbol of New York) has been strictly observed since 1907, when the editors of The New York Times decided to magnificently celebrate the move to the new headquarters.
New Year's festivities in the center begin long before the New Year. Already at 18.00, the entrances to the square (from 42 to 47 streets between Broadway and 7 Avenue) are closed to cars and become pedestrian. The police will direct you to the spectator sections, but be aware that the later you arrive, the further away you will be from the action!
As the New Year gets closer, giant video screens begin showing videos counting down to the New Year every hour. At nine-thirty, the organizing teams, dressed in bright red uniforms, begin wishing everyone a Happy New Year and handing out thousands of fun items to everyone, including American flags, colorful firecrackers, disposable cameras, colorful balloons and bags of confetti.
At 10 p.m., the live broadcast of the celebration in Times Square begins. You can be seen anywhere in the world through broadcasts transmitted through broadcasting corporations around the world. If you haven't been here before, then this is the video you could have seen all the past years from home. Now it's your turn to take part! Non-stop music fills Times Square and people dance and sing until next year comes!
1 minute before the New Year, all eyes are focused on the famous New Year's ball. A special guest will press a button that will release the ball down onto the stage, which is located on Broadway between 45th and 46th streets. The luminous ball descends from a height of 23 meters in 60 seconds. The ball is a sphere almost 2 meters in diameter, weighing almost 500 kg. It is covered with 504 crystal triangles, 696 multi-colored light bulbs, 96 strobe lights and 90 rotating mirror pyramids.
At midnight, in honor of the New Year, the light bulbs on New Year's ball turn off, and the numbers for the coming year light up over Times Square. The sky above the square is illuminated by a 2-minute fireworks display, colorful fountains sparkle in the night sky, accompanied by a variety of special effects. Confetti flies from the roofs of buildings around Times Square, illuminating the crowd with colorful colors.
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New Year's Eve in Las Vegas- this is chic with a slight taste of the forbidden. The phenomenal growth in popularity of Las Vegas in recent years associated with the city's abandonment of the city's boring image as a family entertainment city in favor of a much more lucrative reputation - "Sin City".
However, tourists will not have to do anything illegal. In Las Vegas, gambling, noisy revelry and colorful burning of fortunes acquired in any way are allowed and encouraged in every possible way.
Every day is a holiday in Las Vegas. What can the City of Sin offer on New Year's Eve? The main event is a colorful fireworks and light show that amazes with its scale. Restaurants on the upper floors and roofs of skyscrapers - best place observations. This year, observation decks on the roofs of 10 Las Vegas Strip hotel-casinos will become the base for placing cars for the New Year's fireworks display.
One of the best hotels is Hotel Rio. On the 53rd floor there is a wonderful restaurant Voodoo with access to the roof, and on the 54th - nightclub, where go-go girls dance on the roof all night. This is one of the most beautiful views of Las Vegas. The complete feeling of flying over Las Vegas! The only thing higher is the Stratosphere, a hotel-casino, where you can book a table in a revolving restaurant, and after the fireworks go to a nightclub in the same Stratosphere, open from 21.00 until the morning.
The main street festivities take place on Fremont Street, in the city center, but you need to arrive there in advance and come to terms with the idea of spending the entire New Year's Eve on the street - there is such a crowd of people walking there. In a word, not for everyone.
Due to the fact that many celebrities traditionally perform in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve, New Year's tour programs provide the opportunity to choose a restaurant for a festive banquet.
And of course, all the traditional pleasures of Las Vegas have not been canceled. Excursions to the Grand Canyon, concerts and shows. Entertainment in Las Vegas is for every taste and budget, and besides, there is an abundance of the “freebies” that we love so much. You can move between hotels on foot, or you can take a monorail (for free!). Either they push a coupon into your hands for a free lunch at a Chinese buffet, or they hand out free alcohol while you are sitting in front of a slot machine, staring feverishly at the flickering numbers and pictures; They either offer to try driving “super-duper” sports cars for free, or they invite you to various free shows.
Walking along the evening Strip (Las Vegas Strip Boulevard) to the Bellagio Hotel you will see the famous dancing fountains. In front of the facade of the luxury hotel there is a pond with an underwater hydraulic system. After 17.00, the fountains “dance” every 15 minutes to classical music, attracting spectators from all over the city.
Of course, you can and should go to the USA not only to celebrate the New Year; this country provides many options and combinations of travel.
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Despite the fact that the New Year is officially celebrated in the United States on January 1, New Year's festivities begin on December 31. Traditionally, everyone says goodbye to the outgoing year until midnight, and then welcomes the new one. Americans prefer to celebrate this holiday noisily, while not staying at home, going to theaters, nightclubs and restaurants. At exactly midnight, after the ringing of bells, fireworks soar into the sky, champagne corks, the howl of sirens and car horns announce the beginning of the New Year. Everyone kisses, hugs, wishes each other happiness.
In some American cities, parades are held on New Year's Day. The most fun and popular of them is New Year's parade, which takes place in New York's Time Square. Thousands of Big Apple residents gather here, joined by millions of Americans watching the spectacular show on television.
WITH New Year's holiday connected and so famous among Americans festivals like the Tournament of Roses and the Mime Parade, the traditions of holding them began in the mid-19th century.
The mime parade, which was first organized in Philadelphia by Irish immigrants, is staged as a ten-hour performance. The parade is attended by actors, clowns, musicians, dancers... They all walk through the city streets, led by the King of Pantomime, dressed in colorful outfits, accompanied by music, usually the sounds of pipes and flutes.
The Tournament of Roses, which was first held in Pasadena (California), immediately received universal recognition due to its beauty and originality. The tournament ends with a football match called the Pink Ball, which is also shown on national television. Typically, this event is watched by thousands of tourists and millions of television viewers.
One more thing must be mentioned New Year's attribute New Year's celebrations in the United States, namely about the elder, which symbolizes the past year, and baby, representing the new year. Here you can see an analogy with the ancient Roman god Janus, after whom the month of January was named. The legend says that Janus was two-faced: one face turned to the past, the other to the future. Many Americans experience similar feelings on New Year's Eve, critically assessing the successes of the past year and making plans for the coming year. In the United States, it is customary to write down “New Year’s resolutions” that contain optimistic plans for the coming year. For example, quit smoking or go on a diet, or get up earlier, or spend less money on clothes...
Traditionally, an American spends on New Year's gifts from 50 to 800 $. Americans present each other with cigars, wines, perfumes, scarves, sweaters, and trinkets. Gifts are usually given with a receipt. A receipt is needed so that, if necessary, you can return the gift back to the store. In the first days of January, there are large queues of people handing over goods in stores. That's why lately among Americans the popularity of the so-called gift certificate(gift certificate). This is a plastic card with a face value of 50 dollars or more. A person who has received such a certificate comes to the store at any time convenient for him and chooses what he likes.
Giving birth, getting divorced, falling in love, getting married, raising children and studying, buying houses, ships, yachts and dresses, making a career and traveling, electing a president and going to protest rallies... - all this must be done in the USA. Or this: I like to do this in the USA. But the New Year should be celebrated in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia... In general, somewhere in the post-Soviet space. But not in the USA, with all my love for this country.
And not even in New York, where the luxurious Christmas tree near the Rockefeller Center beckons with lights, where, supposedly, it’s so fun to wait for the crystal one in Times Square and in general there are a lot of parties - don’t believe it! And if the devil brought you to our glorious country on the night of December 31, then urgently look for a Russian-speaking area - only there you will have at least some feeling of a holiday.
It is a well-known fact that the United States celebrates on a grand scale Christmas. By December 25th, everything that even slightly resembles a gift is swept off store shelves (this is the time to sell the slowest-selling goods). Christmas trees are sold all around at absolutely astronomical prices - in New York this year the price starts at $130, I have not yet seen anything cheaper. It’s impossible to get through shopping centers, but in general people are relaxed and happy - a holiday is just around the corner...
Manhattan receives three times as many people as usual during the holidays. And only in Russian-speaking communities there is peace and quiet. In New York, “our people” are in no hurry to even buy a Christmas tree. Why? It's too late on the evening of December 25th at the same Wallmart it will be available for just a dollar or take it for free. Because that’s it - the holiday is over, which means the tree is no longer needed. Moreover, on December 26th they are already starting to be thrown out!
On Christmas night, when American families gather around the table, when children go to bed, anticipating how they will open gifts in the morning, when Santa Claus has long been stocked with cookies, as well as gifts for Rudolph the reindeer, when socks are hung on the window in the absence of a fireplace... “Russians” just go to bed. The exception is those who are married to Americans or work in American companies. If the family lives in the Brighton Beach area, and works there, in general, everything is based on the principle “We don’t go to that America!”, then Christmas night passes for them like any other.
The maximum that “our people” can do on the eve of the holidays is to go to the City to see how Macy's decorated the windows, and browse sales, which, by the way, are not yet sales - the most interesting thing will begin after the holidays, when the goods there's a lot more, but it's already on the nose new season And new holiday- Valentine's Day.
And now Christmas has passed. Children are on vacation, adults also often relax. Everyone is relaxed and in no hurry. But not in the Russian-speaking community, which is just beginning to come to life and prepare for the most important holiday of the year. When Americans have already finished celebrating, we begin to rush to buy gifts, Christmas trees and green peas in jars.
Some people, of course, don’t stand at the stove for hours, but go to a restaurant. By the way, it’s too late to book a table - everything has been reserved and paid for a long time ago. There may still be tickets left for expensive parties for Russian-speaking millionaires, which take place, for example, in Miami.
Four years ago I came across one of these - minimum price The ticket price was 500 dollars, the maximum was 5000. The guests were fed Russian cuisine, for example, the same “Olivier”, however, with crayfish necks, as in the original recipe. Timati, Yuri Antonov, Teona Kontridze and other stars performed on stage. The party was hosted by Ksenia Sobchak and her husband Maxim Vitorgan. Well, everything was almost like ours. I was a little embarrassed by the New Year's palm trees hung with garlands - what a spectacle, and also the complete absence of snow and fireworks.
The last one is especially sad. In the same New York fireworks from private individuals is prohibited. But on the night of December 31, in Russian-speaking areas, of course, they happily forget about this and, as usual, shoot until the morning. Americans do not consider this day so important that it should also be celebrated with fireworks. Yes, sometimes and here and there.
Last year, for some reason, I decided that we would have fireworks on the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of the New Year. And at 11:30 at night I arrived at the bridge with three small children and my husband. A couple of thousand more people came there with us. We froze and began to wait for the colorful madness.
At 12:00 o'clock at night the crowd timidly whistled: Happy new year!
“Happy new year,” we responded sluggishly, deciding to save our main energy for the delight of fireworks. But we waited for the knight near the window in vain - he did not gallop up. That is, in general. Somewhere far on the horizon, either in Queens or on Red Square itself, fireworks were flashing. The moon and stars shone peacefully over our bridge. I understood everything, but continued to stare at the sky, afraid to look down at the children. My son, whom I had difficulty tearing away from the computer, and to whom I promised “ best view in the world,” I figured it all out on my own pretty quickly.
At that moment, when the fireworks stopped flashing even far on the horizon, he looked at me intently and said menacingly: “What is this?” How is that? Why did we come to this stupid bridge if the fireworks are not clear where? And who told us “Children, today you will see the BEST fireworks display of your life????”
I started laughing and could no longer answer. He was disappointed by the lack of fireworks, but I was disappointed by the complete absence of that very day that you wait for all day, on which you pin some stupid hopes, which should be the beginning of a new countdown... And the cars kept driving and driving along the Brooklyn Bridge and the traffic density was the most ordinary - life did not stand still for a second here between 11:30 and 12:30 on the night of December 31 to January 1.
No, there are a lot of parties in the USA this night. And in large cities - New York, LA, Miami, Chicago... you will be offered the most different options New Year celebrations. In the Big Apple this is, for example, night at Madame Tussauds. Or a party in The Empire Hotel, a ticket for which will cost a very decent amount. Or a party on a ship that sails down the Hudson with a royal four-course dinner and champagne that flows like water.
IN Los Angeles on this day you can take a photo with Santa on the beach, visit a light show - what would Hollywood be without special effects?
But this is not all that! There is no fuss I need on this day in the USA! The smell of tangerines is not invigorating and doesn’t remind me of anything, and I’m the only one who smells them in the whole house. “Olivier” is not a cult salad, and if I translate the plot of “Enjoy Your Bath” to my Americans, they will ridicule Lukashin for his infantilism. Why, when the chimes strike, no one will eat burnt paper with desire! Americans simply kiss each other, thus congratulating each other on the New Year.
All in all, New York at Christmas is amazing and even more - it's beautiful, magnificent, beautiful, just like at any other time of the year. But for the New Year we need to go somewhere to our people. At least for these two days, when “Olivier” is already crawling out of your ears, and at one in the morning you suddenly find yourself in stiletto heels and in a thin dress flying on a piece of cardboard somewhere into a tree and a snowdrift at the same time.
And no, I don’t have nostalgia, I don’t yearn for the country where I was born and raised, I don’t want to go back. I'm just so used to it. I like to start the New Year countdown with a bright night. I like that the whole country, with rare exceptions, starts with a bright night. And individual, albeit very lively parties, alas, do not calm me down. You leave it with sadness, realizing that tomorrow, the first of January, is an ordinary working day in the country, and that neither your American husband nor your American children will eat Olivier in the morning, wrapped in a blanket, that no one will knock on your door. at your door with a bottle of cold champagne, and won’t offer to continue celebrating...
PS By the way, the Chinese celebrate their New Year on the same scale as we do. And therefore they in the USA suffer from misunderstandings. Although in New York, in honor of their New Year, everyone is given one day off. And yet no. The scope is not the same. It's a pity.
Opinion I The most boring day of the year or why you shouldn’t celebrate New Year in the USA updated: August 20, 2019 by: Marina Sokolovskaya
