When my carpooler dropped me off this evening I pre wished him "Happy New Year" since we would only see each other after the New Year. He told me:"no, you shouldn't say that, you should say bonnes fêtes (happy holidays). You only wish someone Happy New Year after the 31 December."
I felt so upset as I was feeling like a foul again. Since last week I had ended most of my emails with "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009". Nobody at work was telling me that it was not appropriate to do it this way, they might be laughing at me at my back?
This probably only applies to certain French but hubby confirmed that people don't say Happy New Year before the New Year. However, you can say Merry Christmas before Christmas. So, for everyone who have visited this blog, come back in January and I will wish you all Happy New Year 2009!
Happy New Year BE.
ReplyDeleteHah...don't worry about the strange French custom. It is a gesture of good will and I am sure many will take it as such.. :-)
regards...casper
Happy New Year 2009 to you too!
ReplyDeleteOne of my colleagues said the Happy New Year was for "next year", which is 2009 when I greeted her. I was just thinking that she was being fuzzy and didn't care about it.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to everyone here!
ReplyDeleteHi there! I wished my (French) dad-in-law to-be happy new year when we were heading back to Singapore on the 27th. He replied the same!
ReplyDeleteGuess he's being sweet n wise :)
Wait till I share my load of cultural differences with you haha... We're of the same combination: malaysian woman + french man!
Happy New Year!!
Sherine,
ReplyDeleteI'm eager to hear your stories about the cultural differences!
Happy New Year!