Witamy, Adrian!!!
That's about the only Polish I know...
My ancestors are from Czestochowa.
Blackeyed Peas are a southern thing.
We get Finnan Haddie up here...no thanks, gonna skip that.
Corned beef and cabbage. I want Galumpki now, darn it...
The Dutch eat Donuts.
The Asians eat rice.
I read something about not breaking spaghetti when you eat it on New Years for the luck...I dunno.
The Banshee is supposed to proclaim doom to whomever hears it. Like a member of your family dying.
The shee (sidhe in the correct spelling) is from the old name of the nature spirits/faeries/old Gods in Celtic mythology.
In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in Irish: caoineadh, [ˈki¢°nʲə] or [ˈki¢°nʲu¢°], "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at their funeral. These women singers are sometimes referred to as "keeners" and the best keeners would be in much demand. Legend has it that, for five great Gaelic families: the O'Gradys, the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, and the Kavanaghs, the lament would be sung by a fairy woman; having foresight, she would sing the lament when a family member died, even if the person had died far away and news of their death had not yet come, so that the wailing of the banshee was the first warning the household had of the death.
I don't remember hearing anything about the Sidhe appearing on New Years, though...hmmm.
No sweeping, or cleaning of any sort on New Year's because it sweeps away all the luck. That's a Wiccan thing too.
The shooting is to keep evil spirits away...
This is a neat link:
http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/new-year-traditions.htm