Ringing in the New Year is one of the most fun occasions of the year: full of festive cheer, friends, family, special food and drinks, plus the odd, well-meant but barely kept resolution.
Only thing is, it's over too quickly and then you have to wait an entire year before you can do it all again. Or do you?
As long as you are willing to travel a little — or a lot — you can celebrate the beginning of a New Year all year round.
Start of the year 2008
If you are using GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), with Dubai at GMT +4, you can start with the Christmas Islands — they will be the first ones to celebrate the New Year on December 31 at 10am.
New Zealand is next with their celebrations taking place at 11am while Australia celebrates around 1pm. Travel westwards through Asia to Dubai where we will be celebrating at 8pm GMT.
Stop off briefly in Russia, where, on New Year's Eve, Grandfather Frost — a distant cousin of Santa Claus — brings presents.
Travel onwards quickly to the Americas and eventually back to the Pacific, to Samoa, which are the last to pop their refreshment corks at around 11am on January 1, at a time when the rest of the world is already sleeping it off.
If you have managed to keep up with the rapid trip around the world and want more, stay put at home for the Islamic New Year on January 10.
Although this celebration is a quiet and reflective one, 2008 is still a special year as it welcomes two Islamic New Years — with another one starting on December 29!
Year of the Rat
For one of the most auspiciously celebrated New Years, head to China for the Chinese Year of the Rat, which will be ushered in on February 7.
Red is considered a lucky colour and is reflected in everything, from the red letters filled with money and given to children, to decorations and red prayer strips which are put outside entrances to ward off evil spirits.
The festivities are loud, full of music with fireworks intended to scare off the old year's evils and welcome the new year.
Three in a row
In March, travel to Bali for Nyepi. Celebrations start on March 5 and continue for three days. Effigies of monsters are burnt and homes are cleaned.
On March 8, silence engulfs the land as nobody steps outside. No driving or leisure activities are entertained on this day as it is kept aside for meditation and introspection.
You can get loud again for the next two celebrations: the Iranian New Year on March 21, which coincides with the first day of spring, something always worth celebrating.
People await the sound of the village cannon and then start their celebrations with a special table set up with seven items — all beginning with the letter “s'', which is believed to bring good luck.
The day after, March 22, is the Indian New Year or Holi, a festival celebrated with colour and exuberance across the country.
Just make sure you wear old clothes as you will be covered in pink and red colour by the end of the day.
Around April 13/14, the Hindu New Year begins, although the celebrations and dates vary slightly from state to state in India.
The end of winter and arrival of spring is celebrated with the lighting of lamps and colourful flower decorations everywhere.
From April 20 to 23, Thailand and the other Buddhist Theravadin countries put on their party shoes — make it waterproof flip-flops — as water plays an important role in these celebrations.
The festivities start with Buddha statues being washed with scented water and then everybody hitting the streets and splashing water on each other.
After a summer's respite, there is another New Year — this time for the Mayan people and in July.
Entrances to homes are painted blue and kitchen appliances such as pottery and mats are destroyed and replaced for the start of the new year.
Sundown on September 29 sees Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, which lasts until October 1.
Prayers are offered near naturally flowing waters and symbolic food — such as apples and honey for a “sweet New Year'' and round bread symbolising the cycle of the year — is eaten.
Light up with joy
Diwali, or the (Hindu) festival of lights, falls on October 28. People try to complete their ongoing work, companies pay off all their debts and new account books are worshipped, as it is a time for new beginnings.
People decorate their homes with lights and flowers and it's considered a very happy occasion all around.
True face
Another New Year which you are probably already celebrating without knowing is the Celtic New Year that has survived as Halloween.
Bonfires are lit with the aim to scare off evil spirits but unlike going out for trick-or-treating, it was believed to be safer indoors, as fairies were thought to be roaming around on New Year's Eve.
November gives you another brief rest before December welcomes another Islamic New Year and the cycle of “Happy New Year'' starts again.
— Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey is a UAE-based freelance writer
