Local celebrations for the holidays

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."