Local celebrations for the holidays

Most cultures around the globe mark the holidays at the end of the year with all-out festivities. In Indonesia, Muslims and Christians are celebrating their year-end festivities at almost the same time this year.

While Christmas is always on Dec. 25, Idul Fitri is, of course, based on the Islamic calendar, Hejira, which is lunar- based and so is a shorter year. This means that the upcoming Idul Fitri is, by the Gregorian calendar this year, on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28. Islamically it is the first two days of the month following Ramadhan, which is Shawwal 1, H1421, but it is not the start of a new Islamic year.

Indonesians celebrate Idul Fitri, locally known as Lebaran, by buying new clothes, giving food, money and clothing to the poor, giving the house a good "spring clean" and serving the best food they can to guests when they come calling.

Christmas for Indonesians is a case of getting together with family, going to church, giving food, money and clothing to the poor, enjoying a big family meal and, in some cases, exchanging gifts.

For Idul Fitri, it is a time of joyful gatherings with friends and relatives that follows the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadhan, which is first celebrated by performing the Idul Fitri morning prayer.

Traditionally, people ask for forgiveness from one another for any misdeeds or slights that they might have committed over the year.

It is a heartfelt time of cleansing oneself of guilt in order to start over with a clear conscience.

In the West, Christmas is the big event of the year. Among the numerous traditions associated with it, the most anticipated part of the holiday almost the same everywhere is the multitudes of gifts exchanged with family members and favorite friends.

New Year's Eve is the next anticipated major event with hyped party celebrations counting down the last hours of the year booked well in advance.

Lavish balls, boat cruises or popular concerts set the scene for partyers to toast with a seemingly never-ending supply of champagne and blowing of party favors at the midnight hour.

To see the New Year in, women don dazzling gowns and men usually wear tuxedos to the big event.

Jakarta has seen much the same over the past few years with many star-rated hotels offering package deals to couples wishing to enjoy a memorable New Year's Eve out.

Increasingly popular are celebrations organized by cities, where anyone can attend a fireworks display downtown.

Those who prefer a peaceful celebration in North America stay home to watch live broadcasts on TV of public events celebrating New Year's held either in their city or the dramatic countdown at Times Square, New York.

The next day is even quieter as most stay home on the couch to nurse a hangover, and spend the day watching college football on TV.

Those who are in better shape visit friends and relatives, and have a special dinner of traditional turkey or ham as their first dinner of the year.

In Japan, there is a flurry of activity leading to the last day of the year. Housewives are furiously cleaning their homes in the last week of December, while families and individuals settle debts, run last-minute errands and stockpile fine food for the coming holidays.

Visitors drop by giving year-end gifts to the family. Japanese tradition dictates that a gift is given to those who have shown kindness or help over the year.

The family gathers together about 15 minutes before midnight to eat a simple traditional meal of soba (Japanese wheat noodles) in quiet anticipation before heading to the temple.

The first minutes of the year are quietly spent in prayer at the temple, followed by sipping sake made by the temple's monks and reflecting with family on their hopes for the year ahead.

The next morning all New Year's greeting cards which have been posted beforehand are delivered. The Japanese Post Office keeps all cards, regardless of the date posted, so that they are delivered together exactly on January 1.

Visits with relatives and friends to other temples in the next few days round out the celebrations. It is popular to draw a small scroll containing one of seven fortunes for the year from a wooden box at the temple. Those who draw fortunes which are not so favorable usually tie the tiny pieces of paper on a tree near the temple for good luck.

Individuals and families away from home may form their own year-end rituals, which differ to their culture or environment.

For families abroad, it can be an important time to establish traditions, whether new or old, to promote good times and lasting memories.

Joanna and her family have fallen into a tradition of their own since they moved to their house in Cinere, South Jakarta.

"From the first year of spending Idul Fitri here, we have received people from the local kampong who come to give salam (greetings) and we started giving their children small amounts of money. Then, after coffee and cake as a family, we go to my husband's eldest brother's home to greet the rest of the family."

Joanna said she buys new outfits to celebrate the end of the fasting month, for the servants and for her four children.

As for New Year's, they annually celebrate it with a large dinner and an assortment of activities over at her sister-in- law's house.

"Everybody's got to bring a dish, such as starter, main dish, dessert, etc., which has been decided beforehand. We stay up until midnight watching VCDs, movies and playing games with the kids, and at midnight everyone shouts 'Happy New Year' and it's like a group hug. Then it's back to the eating and at about 2 a.m. people start going home, or they just crash on the living room floor."

Daniel, a lawyer from Ireland, said he had spent every New Year's Eve of his nine years here at a different place outside Jakarta, but always ended up in a bar or restaurant with a group of friends.

"At home, we would toast the New Year, but here it depends on who the company is. If I'm with other Britons, we normally have a toast for auld lang syne's sake," he said.

Sandra from Australia spends her New Year's here meditating with members of a local meditation group. Personal New Year's resolutions are made and shared among the group afterward, she said.

Another Australian, Joan, said she prefers to spend the big evening at home.

"Last year, we went to the Hilton, which was elbow-to-elbow people, and that reminded me of why I don't go out on New Year's here."

She said New Year's was more enjoyable in her native Sydney, where residents and tourists gather at the harbor to watch fireworks at midnight.

"One year, which had been particularly bad, I followed a custom practiced at Chinese New Year's and swept the floor to symbolically sweep out the bad luck."

One single Canadian woman said the holidays here seemed to pass by with no special significance. She was not alone in this observation.

"I don't think I've done anything here on New Year's. New Year's Eve is just like a regular Saturday night; just drinking," said 28-year-old Bob, who after two years in Jakarta laments the loss of viewing American college football.

Oscar, a British journalist who has spent several years here, said he also felt that New Year's in Jakarta was just another night, but marks the occasion by phoning his family in the UK.

"New Year's is meant to be spent with family and friends, but one thing here is it doesn't seem as important as in the West."

"However, New Year's is more understandable and acceptable to locals, instead of St. Valentine's Day, for example. But still it has been rather commercialized."