mid-week Connect ~ December 30, 2020 "See you next year"
Greetings and Happy Midweek,
This being the last Connect of the "year", as observed in Western cultures, I thought it’d be fun to explore how different cultures and communities finish out, observe and celebrate their New Year traditions…
As the end of the year approaches, the Jola people of southern Senegal (with whom I lived and worked for many years) have a special saying: “Bee bulai”, which literally translates “Until next year…”, but has a broader meaning which can refer to something specific (as in “Bee bulai, I will do such and such), or it can refer to something hoped for (as in “Bee bulai, hopefully we’ll be able to meet again”). It’s kind of like what is said at the end of any time together between two people, “Bee nikiyee” (literally “Until next time”) pointing to a relationship which has undetermined but hoped for continuity. I always loved using the phrase for its on-going community connection aspect.
Other cultures celebrate their New Year at different times. Having lived in predominantly Muslim cultures for decades, I have memories of observing both our western New Year (January 1st) and the Islamic New Year (which rotates on a lunar calendar, and will be in August in 2021). This past year, as the covid crisis really began to appear on a global scale and China wrestled with their early covid surges, the rest of the world watched as traditional Chinese New Year celebrations (usually sometime early in the year; scheduled for February 12, 2021) were officially canceled, preventing literally about a billion people returning to their ancestral homes and hopefully thus limiting the spread of the virus.
Check out the Global SKILLs Links below for more details on these and other New Year traditions.
One of my beloved father’s favorite parting expressions each year, as December 31st approached and for us kids as he said “Good-night” on New Year’s Eve, was “See you next year!” He always got a chuckle out of that...
How about for you - what is a traditional or favorite New Year’s memory or activity for you?
Take a minute and share about that with a friend or share it here...and
See you next year!
Betsy
Global SKILLs LINKs
Islamic New Year: https://www.almanac.com/content/when-does-islamic-new-year-begin
Chinese New Year: https://chinesenewyear.net/
Around the world, a few delicious samples from New Year’s feasts: https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/new-years-eve-traditions-around-world/
2020 - Celebrating Global SKILLs 10th Anniversary Connecting, Collaborating, Cultivating Community