Hello everyone and welcome to a special New Year video to end 2020 and begin 2021!
This has been a crazy year to say the least, and I'm on vacation right now but with nowhere to go
because California, where I live, is under lots of restrictions due to high Covid numbers, so
right now I am bringing you a video about American culture. How do Americans celebrate the New Year?
First, I'll talk about what we do on this holiday and then why this holiday is important in our
culture, and finally I'll talk a little bit about how the New Year in the United States is different
from how New Year's is celebrated in some other countries. And please be sure to stay until the
end of the video because I have a question for you before we get started, I'd like to remind
you to please subscribe if you have not done so already. This really helps me to grow my channel,
and if you enjoyed this video, please give it a like. So let's get started, how do Americans
celebrate the New Year? First, it's important to note the timing of the New Year holiday because
it comes just six days after Christmas. Most Americans are on vacation during that time, and
kids are also out of school. Kids have a two-week break during this time of the year that's called
Winter Break, so often for families who have time off during that week they will either travel,
that's a really busy travel time, or they will stay home and just relax as a family,
take down their Christmas decorations, and maybe catch up on things around the house.
Now in some countries, the Christmas celebration extends into January and finishes on a day
that's called Epiphany, but for most Americans who celebrate Christmas, Christmas Day, December 25th,
is the last day of Christmas celebrations, so that's what happens before the New Year holiday.
Now let's see what Americans do on the actual New Year's holiday. So as you probably know, New
Year's is separated into two parts, there's New Year's Eve, which is the night of December 31st,
and then there's New Year's Day, which is January 1st. Probably New Year's Eve is the more important
of those two parts, so to celebrate New Year's Eve we ring in the New Year. To “ring in the New
Year” means to mark the moment that the New Year begins, which is at 12 o'clock midnight
on New Year's Eve night, and we do this in usually one of three ways. One common way to celebrate
is to go to an outdoor gathering like at a park or at a famous landmark like maybe
a bridge or the most famous one is Times Square in New York, and everybody will put on their winter
coats and have a big outdoor party, and this party will of course consist of a big fireworks show.
Now in the city where I live, we have two fireworks shows at the waterfront in Sacramento.
One fireworks show starts at 9pm, which is more for kids and families, and then there's a bigger
show at midnight. The Times Square celebration in New York that's so famous includes performances by
famous musicians and singers and just a big group of thousands and thousands of people celebrating
together. The second way that Americans celebrate is to have an indoor party with friends and
family, and this kind of party would include music and dancing and drinks and finger foods
and of course champagne, which is the drink that we like to use to ring in or to celebrate the
moment that the New Year begins. Champagne is a sparkling wine that we like to use to toast or to
celebrate for special occasions. And the last way that Americans celebrate is to have a quiet
celebration at home. Fireworks shows from all over the world are broadcast on TV, so people
who stay home for New Year's will watch these fireworks shows and of course the Times Square
celebration from New York, which includes famous broadcasters that narrate the entire evening,
and they will toast the New Year with champagne and wish their family members a happy New Year.
No matter where or how you celebrate, you must do two things at midnight. The first one is to
count down from 10 10 seconds before the New Year begins, so we do it like this: 10 9 8 7,
etc. and at that moment we give our family or friends hugs kisses, we say happy New Year,
and we clink our champagne glasses together. New Year's Day is a federal holiday, which means that
there's no school and no government services like no mail, and government offices are closed, and
people are given a paid day off of work. However, you will notice that there are some people who
work on New Year's Day especially if they're in the service industries like if they work in
restaurants or grocery stores because a lot of those services will stay open on New Year's Day.
Because New Year's Eve is such a big party, a lot of people will take New Year's Day to rest, there
are big New Year's parades and football games on TV, so a lot of people enjoy staying home and
watching those on TV with their family. Now when we want to think about what New Years means to us,
we often think about resolutions. Resolutions are decisions that we make or promises that we
make to ourselves about the way that we want to do something different in the next year. Resolutions
usually focus on health, so a lot of people make resolutions about exercising more or losing weight
or eating more healthy food or trying to get more sleep or quitting a bad habit like quitting
smoking, and for these reasons you'll notice that gyms are usually very crowded after the New Year,
but as for other cultures, in the United States the New Year is considered a time
for renewal and starting over and leaving the past behind. Before I finish, I want to talk about
some cultural differences and how New Year’s is celebrated in some countries. A special New Year's
meal is served or traditional food is cooked on New Year's, but we don't really do that in the
United States. We don't have specific food that we like to eat on New Year's, and we often don't
have a big family meal, also we don't exchange gifts or give kids anything special on New Year's.
In some cultures there are a lot of superstitions surrounding the New Year but the U.S. is not
a very superstitious culture, and we don't really have superstitions about the New Year.
For example, in Brazil the people like to have white underwear as a way of celebrating the new
and also they like to eat lentils, which are a sign of prosperity or good luck.
We do often think about the phrase “Out with the old, in with the new” but again without any kind
of like symbols or superstitions. Also, I know that in some countries especially in Asia the New
Year is considered maybe the most important day of the year, and it's a huge celebration that can
even last several days, but in the U.S., the New Year is really not that important of a holiday.
Usually Christmas, Thanksgiving, and maybe the Fourth of July are more important holidays.
At the beginning of this video, I told you that I had a question for you,
so my question is, What are your New Year's resolutions this year?
I will share mine with you in the comments below so that you can see how to answer this question.
I wish you all the best for the next year, thank you for being here, take care, and Happy New Year!