People celebrate New Year in many different ways. If you happen to live somewhere in South America, wearing something in particular is typical.

In La Paz, Sao Paulo, and other places, residents put on underpants with bright color to welcome the New Year. Locals wear yellow colored underwear if they seek for more money and red colored underwear if they wish for love.

New Year indicates a new start. Whatever practices people choose to welcome it, everything boils down to having the opportunity to start over. It is a chance to dismiss an old year of mistakes, conflicts and worries.

This is why we all embrace the holiday with such positivity. In America and other parts of the world, the celebration is done with parades and fireworks and there are plenty of toasts and carousing.

There are particular cultures that have a unique way of celebrating the New Year.

In a lot of countries, there are certain beliefs that particular actions must be performed on a New Year's Eve. At midnight, they perform traditional practices that bring good fortune. For instance, in the Philippines, people wear polka dots and eat round fruits. In Spain, consuming a handful of grapes when the clock strikes at 12 is a tradition.

Other countries look at New Year as the time of eliminating bad spirits from the previous year. They prepare the coming year for good spirits to come uncorrupted and unsullied.

For example, Scotland celebrates the Hogmanay festival wherein people parade while swinging huge fireballs above their heads while they march along the streets.

People in Panama burn the images of famous politicians and celebrities on bonfires. They call the activity "muñeco."

The Danes drive away bad spirits in a less fiery manner. People jump off the chairs at midnight which is related to the term "leap year."

Regardless of how old customs or traditions are, they share one meaning - forget the old, face the new!