strangest new years traditions

Nearly 2,000 people braved the icy water last year in Saundersfoot, Wales, to raise money in a charity swim. The cold is also perfect for curing a New Years Eve hangover. Swims take place in the Firth of Forth in Scotland too.

In downtown Jo burg, locals throw old appliances out the window.

Hoping for a travel filled year, residents tote empty suitcases around the block.

The faithful wear a costume of the next years zodiac animal (in 2014 a horse) to the local temple, where bells chime a sacred 108 times.

Danes ring in the New Year by hurling old plates and glasses against the doors of friends and relatives houses. They also stand on chairs and then jump off them together at midnight. Leaping into January is supposed to banish bad spirits and bring good luck.

At midnight on New Years Eve, its customary in Spain to quickly eat 12 grapes (or uvas)one at each stroke of the clock. Each grape supposedly signifies good luck for one month of the coming year. In Madrid, Barcelona, and other Spanish cities, revelers congregate in the main squares to gobble their grapes together and pass around bottles of cava.

Its a longtime Finnish tradition to predict the coming year by casting molten tin into a container of water, and then interpreting the shape the metal takes after hardening. A heart or ring shape means a wedding in the New Year; a ship forecasts travel; and a pig shape signifies plenty of food.

Effigies of well known peoplecalled muecosare traditionally burned in New Years bonfires in Panama. The figures can include everyone from television characters like Ugly Betty to political figures like Fidel Castro (in 2007, Panamas first Olympic gold medalist, track star Irving Saladin, was burned as a mueco). The effigies represent the old year; immolating them is meant to drive off evil spirits for a fresh New Years start.

During the New Years Eve celebration of Hogmanay, first footing is practiced all over Scotland. The custom dictates that the first person to cross the threshold of a home in the New Year should carry a gift for luck (whiskey is the most common). The Scots also hold bonfire ceremonies, most notably in the small fishing village of Stonehaven, where townsmen parade while swinging giant fireballs on poles overhead (supposedly symbols of the sun, to purify the coming year).

Round shapes (representing coins) are thought to symbolize prosperity for the coming year in the Philippines; many Filipino families display heaps of round fruits on the dining table for New Years Eve. Other families are more particular; they eat exactly 12 fruits at midnight (grapes, which are also eaten at midnight in Spain, are easiest). Still others wear New Year polka dots for luck.