4. Throwing Furniture Out Of the Window in South Africa
ormsdirect.co.za
In the notoriously rough hood of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, the local residents have adopted an exceptionally dangerous New Year’s Eve custom. They welcome the New Year by flinging everything, from old microwaves to entire beds, through the windows of often very tall buildings, thus causing big trouble for the police. The residents start piling items many days ahead of New Year’s Eve, so that they can have enough “material” on hand when the day comes. Ever since 2011 when furniture-tossing was made illegal, the police have been patrolling in armored vehicles in order to prevent accidents. Several years ago, a small refrigerator struck a pedestrian on the head, almost killing him. So far, there are no official statistics on how many people have been hurt during this tradition, which is reported to have started in the 1990s, just after the end of South Africa’s white minority apartheid rule.
3. Trying to Hear the Animals Speak in Romania
equinewellnessmagazine.com
What most people know about Romania is that it is a Central European country, a former ancient Roman province, which is bordered by Ukraine and Hungary. Besides, the country is commonly associated to Count Dracula and vampires in general. What most people don’t know, but should, is that Romanians actually believe animals can speak human language! In connection to this belief, there is a New Year’s Eve custom which is particularly popular with the farmers. They strain every nerve in their bodies to catch any animal speech coming from the stables or the cattle sheds. If they hear the animals speaking human language, it’s considered bad luck in the coming year. In fact, if you even by accident catch animals talking, you will die. But if they don’t hear anything, it’s good luck.
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