Lovatts Publications - Christine Lovatt's Monthly Hello Column

Set-jetting

"In many places set-jetting has just happened without any marketing strategy..."

Set-jetting is the growing trend of visiting places just to see locations used in film and TV productions, eg New Zealand, which is known as Middle Earth after the Lord of the Rings trilogy

Christine's Hello Column

JANUARY 2007

Hello!

I hope you all had a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Thanks to all our readers everywhere who sent us Christmas cards or emailed Christmas greetings, it makes us feel that we have a whole big family out there.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve by watching our local football team the Mariners play against Melbourne, (and unfortunately get beaten) followed by spectacular fireworks.

People in almost every country in the world celebrate the first day of the new year with special customs and traditions to bring good luck. People in Japan swallow a long noodle without breaking it while Austrians try to touch a pig. Dutch people eat something in the shape of a circle while Spanish people eat 12 grapes--one for each month of the year. In the early morning, Spanish people gather to eat hot chocolate and fried pastry. In Venezuela, people wear yellow underwear to bring good luck..

Sydney is one of the world's first major cities to see the dawn of the new year, and hundreds of thousands of revellers watched fireworks burst over Sydney Harbour for New Year's Eve. In Japan, thousands climbed Mount Fuji to catch the first glimpse of the sun in 2007.

I often wonder why we make all those resolutions only to break them almost immediately. Well, how can you keep to your new diet at a New Year’s Day lunch party? It’s not easy – I speak from experience.

Whatever you did to celebrate the beginning of 2007 – even if it was by having an early night – I hope the year turns out well for you.

Happy puzzling!