There are all sorts of superstitions involved with the first day of the year. the most famous, of course, is to make noise to drive away the evil spirits, that is why we have fireworks. In the Philippines, we had quite a few – set 12 round fruits on the table to represent good luck for each month of the new year, jump at the stroke of midnight so that we would grow taller (which I did every year even when I was way past the growing stage), wear polka dots and carry coins in our pockets so that we’d have lots of money that year, etc. Then we were supposed to be careful of what we did that day because it would set the tone for our entire year. Apparently that is a belief that is not just limited to the Philippines, though. Here is a list of other beliefs.
I’ve also had this personal belief in getting a haircut before the new year, something about cutting off your previous year’s bad luck. But this year I wasn’t able to get a haircut, so I decided to style it differently instead, and curled it for the first time since I had it cut, which was in November in Thailand. I’ve been told that curly hair suits me, but I don’t wear it often because it’s a hassle to transform my straight strands with the use of my hair straightening iron. I would probably get a digital perm when my hair is longer.
I also had a hard time deciding on what to wear. Do I wear red, the color of good luck? Or something new, so that I’d get a lot more new clothes in the upcoming year? I had just pulled on the $5 grey wool sweater that I’d bought the previous night when Tatsie and Cate saw me and shook their heads. So I changed into a slightly new pink ruffled dress that I had bought and worn only once in Thailand. Then I remembered that I did have something new – those purple flat sandals that I had bought in Malaysia. So I put those on too, even if I wasn’t sure they matched my dress. Red came in the form of my underwear and my bag. Haha.
We didn’t have 12 round fruits, but Ervyn bought four red apples and put them in a shallow bowl. One red round fruit for each of us would have to do, I suppose.
Will I have good luck in the coming year because of all that? I don’t know. But I do wish I’ll have a happy new year and that you will, too. 🙂
