Article: Ringing in around the world - From eggs to pilaf to gifts, new year's traditions take many forms.(Arts and Lifestyle)

Celebrating the new year in the United States is pretty typical - you drink champagne, watch the ball drop over New York's Times Square and hope for a hangover-free Jan. 1.

But what's typical for Americans may seem unusual in other lands. How do other countries welcome the new year?

"The new year is a time of renewal and most cultures celebrate in some way," said Richard Landes, head of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University.

But ways of celebrating the new year have changed dramatically since pagans started whooping it up every March thousands of years ago. (They thought the coming of spring and the planting season was a good ...

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