Scotland's New Year's celebrations, called Hogmanay, are world famous. Every year thousands of tourists flock to Scotland's major cities, especially Edinburgh, to celebrate alongside the locals. The Scots consider the celebrations so important that they get a two or four day public holiday for it.
There are concerts with classical music and popular acts (this year The Pet Shop Boys are playing in Edinburgh). There are Ceilidh dances, traditional Scottish group dances that everyone can join. The Seven hills fireworks display has fireworks set off in coordination from Edinburgh Castle and six other surrounding hills. Of course, all this is accompanied with a lot of cheerful drinking!
There are also many customs celebrated all around Scotland. One, which starts right after midnight on New Year's Eve, is called first footing. Groups of friends go round to relatives, friend's and neighbors houses. The first person to cross the threshold carries a gift, usually whisky or a calender to symbolize luck. Traditionally, a tall dark handsome man (a typical Scot) was considered very lucky. A blonde or red headed man was thought to resemble an enemy Norseman and so was discouraged!
PHOTO: AP
One Hogmanay tradition that is observed the world over is singing Auld Lang Syne to welcome in the New Year. People cross arms and link hands in big circles while singing together. Often older people in Scotland will spend the whole evening singing traditional folk songs.
Whichever way people choose to welcome the New Year in Scotland, you can be sure that they all have a very good time, and probably enjoy it all with a wee drop of whiskey! (Catherine Thomas,staff writer)
蘇格蘭的新年慶典「Hogmanay」舉世聞名。每年都有成千上萬的旅客湧入蘇格蘭的主要城市,尤其是愛丁堡,與當地人民一起慶祝。蘇格蘭人相當重視這個慶典,所以可享有二或四天的假期。
古典音樂會與流行音樂演唱會(今年寵物店男孩將至愛丁堡表演)應有盡有。人人皆可參加傳統的蘇格蘭群舞「Ceilidh」舞。七丘煙火表演將由愛丁堡古堡與其他六座山丘同步發射。當然,所有活動都可讓人開懷暢飲!
蘇格蘭各處都有眾多的慶典習俗。其中除夕午夜過後展開的就是「first footing」。大家呼朋引伴輪流拜訪親朋好友與鄰居的家。第一位進門的人要攜帶禮物,通常為威士忌或月曆,象徵好運臨門。傳統上,人們認為高大、棕髮又帥氣的男子(典型蘇格蘭男子)會帶來好運。金髮或紅髮男子則貌似宿敵中世紀的斯堪地那維亞人,會觸楣頭!
Hogmanay其中一項世人矚目的傳統就是吟唱《懷念的往昔》來迎接新年。人們排成大圓圈,雙手交叉牽著手一起唱歌。蘇格蘭年長者往往一整晚都吟唱著傳統民謠。
無論蘇格蘭人選擇哪一種方式慶祝新年,可以確定的是,他們都玩得不亦樂乎,而且大概都一邊淺酌威士忌一邊慶祝! (翻譯:賴美君)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
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