Holydais
5. Holidays and notable days
There are many holidays all
over the world. Some of them are the same as in the
Christmas
- one of the most popular holidays all over the world
- we celebrate it differently than the Americans or the
British. But some customes are same.
- send Christmas
cards with our best wishes to each other (the same custome as in
- people sing carols.
Some of the best known are Silent Night,
Jingle Bells.
How
fo the British celebrate Christmas?
Christmas Day is the most
important festival. It´s on the 25th December. Most families
decorate their houses and flats with holly and mistletoe and they usually have
a Christmas tree in the corner of
the front room. On the front door, there is a wreath of green holly with its red berried and red bow with the
letters MERRY CHRISTMAS.
The most important tradition is the giving the presents.
Children leave a socking at the end of
their beds or they hang the socking on the fireplace on the Christmas Eve, 24th
December, hoping that Santa Claus will come down the chimney during the night
and bring them small presents, fruit and nuts. The British open their presents on Decembre 25th – it´s Christmas
Day – the most important day od the season.
For lunch, the British have roast turkey and roast potatoes, Christmas pudding, mince pies
(pastry filled with a mixure of fruit and nuts), nuts, fruit and sweet.
The next day is called Boxing Day (26th December), also a public holiday. It´s
still the custom to give a present of
money to the tradesmen. People usually go to a pantomime (children
Christmas movie). Boxing day is also the time to visit friends and relatives.
Christmas
in the
The Americans are famous for the wild and crazy Christmas lights decorating the lawns, trees and
landscaping of their houses.
The Americans buy a Christmas tree. But in some areas (especially
in
The most important day is 25th December, as in
How
do we celebrate Christmas in the
Christmas is also the most popular family holiday.The
Czechs dcorate their homes and put mistletoe
above tables. We buy Christmas tree and hang various decorations on it.
Some people prefere an artificial tree. The most important day of the season is
Christmas Eve – December 24. We have
a traditional Christmas dinner.
the Christmas
Eve Dinner
- fish soup, topped with fried
bread cubes
- the main dish is a
carp. The carp is dipped in four, egg and breadcrumb, and than fried
- a side dish - potatoe
salad.
- some people bake or buy a fancy bread, on the Christmas Day we feed our pets with it
All evening we should have
Christmas cookies on the table. We
start to bake it several weeks before the Christmas.
We have different tradition for opening the presents.
Children leave the dinning room after the dinner and wait for the bell to
ringing that Little or Infant Jesus
has come and he has brought presents. Children go with their relatives to
Christmas tree, they sing carols and some families say a prayer.
We have many traditional customs in the
Easter
- the most important holiday of the Christian church
- celebrates the
resurrection of Jesus who was criuified
- stablished in the second century.
- is celebrated on
the Sunday which follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. We
celebrate Easter on Sunday, because it´s the day of the week when Jesus stood
up from the dead.
- generally people give eggs each other ® egg is a symbol of
fertility
Easter
in
In
Easter Monday
is the day of the rest. People enjoy walking, travelling to the seaeide or
watching one of the many sporting events.
Easter
in the
There are many traditions and customs connected with
Easter and with coming of the spring.
- girls and women paint
eggs a few days before Easter Monday
- men and boys make their own traditional whips, it´s
made of birch
- during the morning on Easter Monday, men and boys give
girls and women an Easter beating.
If they came late, girls and women wold give them a shower – they pour them
with water. But if men and boys come on time, they will receive painted eggs.
Nowdays they sometimes receive chocolate eggs. In fact, older waits – the adults
receive a little of alcohol.
- we bake a lot of food, such as sweet holiday bread “mazanec”, cross buns or Easter young
ram.
- holiday rich in food, because 40 days before,
especially the faithfuls don´t eat much – they observe the time of lant
In folk culture, the easter
egg was a magical symbol of life and spring. The favourite colour for eggs was
red – the colour of blood and life.
Other holidays in Great
Britain
31st Decembre – New Year´Eve ® British celebrate it in the
same way as the Czechs. Londoners usually go at midnight to the Taalgar square.
1st January – New Year´s Day
6th January – Twelfth night
14th Fabruary – St. Valentine´s Day
holidays connected with Easter
such as Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day), Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good
Friday depend on the date of Easter Sunday
1st April – April fool´s Day
second Sunday in May – Mother´s Day or Mothering Sunday
last Monday in May – Bank holidays ® it´s a public holiday, when
bak¨nks, post offices and shops are closed
third Sunday in June – Father´s Day
24th June – Midsummer day
31st October – Halloween
5th November –
Bonfire night commemorates Guy Fawek´s attempt to blow up the Parliament in
1605. Sice that day the Bristsh traditionally have celebrated Guy Fawek´s night by burning a dummy,
made of straw and old clothes on a bonfire.
Sunday nearest to 11th
November – Remembrance Sunday. The
British are quite for two minutes. A two-minute silence is observed at 11a.m.
Other holidays in the USA
The Americans celebrate some same holiday as the British
do. But there are some typically American holidays. Martin luther King´s Day,
President´s Day. Memorial Day, Labour Day, columbus day, Veteran´s Day,
Mother´s and Father´s Day.
17th March – Saint Patric´s Day. People all around the world pay tribute to an
iland with a population of 5 million people. In the USA, the main streets of
major cities have parades ful of Irish music and dancing. People dress in green
and the shamrock, Ireland´s anational flower is the symbol of the day. For many
Irish – Americans St. Patric´s Day remains a religious holiday. Saint Patrick
was an Irish swineheard, then a bishop. St. Patrick´s Day has been celebrated
for nearly 1600 years.
22nd April – Earth day ® is started in the
USA more than 30 years ago. The First Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. Nowdays
it´s worldwide holiday to save the Earth.
Second Sunday in may – in 1914
Congress declared the second Sunday of May as Mother´s Day and president
Woodrow Wilson signed the bill, making Mother´s Day an official holiday. In the
USA, Mother´s Day is the biggest dining – out day of the year, and it is the
third most popular days for buying and sending greeting cards.
the last Monday in May – Memorail Day ® American comemorates
the long and bloody Civil War between the North and the South. Cities all
around the U.S. hold their own ceremonies to pay respect to the men and women
who died in wars or in the serivece of the country. It is also a day for
personal remembrance, so it is similar to our Dušičky.
4th July –
Independence Day ® the greatest
American national holiday
Fourth Thursday in novembre – Thanksgiving Day
31st
October – Halloween ® the townspeople
bake food all this day and when it gets dark, they dress up and try to
ressemble the souls of deads. Halloween doesn´t come from history of the USA.
The Celts, the ancestors of the present Irish, Scottish and Welsh people,
thought that on that night all the ghosts were free and they wakled and mingled
with the living. When millions of the Irish immigrated to the USA, especially
in 1840s, the tradition of celebrating Halloween came with them and has become
one of the most significant holiday in the USA. Now usually children wear
costumes and go out, door-to-door saying „trick-or-treating“, which in other
words means treat me or I`ll trick you. People usually treat children by giving
them some sweets or small change.
Thanksgiving day
It`s been
celebrated in America since 1621. In 1620, a boat filled with more than hundred
people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. The
settlers, called the Pilgrims or Pilgim
Fathers, had left their native country because they weren`t able to find
religious tolerance there. After their two-month voyage they
landed at what is now called Plymouth, Messachssetts, in icy Novembre.
During their first
winter, one half of them died but the survivors were able to found a permanent
colony. They met Indians who tought them how to plant corn and also how to hunt
animals. Next fall the crops of corn and beans were harvested. The Pilgrims
wanted to thank to the Indians, so they invited them to their colony. The
Indians brough deer to roast with the turkey and a lot of other food. Next year
a harvest wasn`t rich. There wasn`t a reason for a Thanksgiving but after it
Thanksgiving Days were celebrated irregualy.
The First National
Thanksgiving was celebrated on November 26, 1789. At the end of the Civil War,
Abrham Lincoln, asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November
as a day of thanksgiving. Since that, the Americans have celebrated it on the fourth Thusday of November.
Now Americans
prepare the thanksgiving dinner months ahead. It`s time for a reunion. The
thanksigiving menu consists of roast
turkey stuffed with herb-flavoured bread,
cranberry jelly, white mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. But it may also
contians ham, sweet potatoes or creamed corn.
There isn`t only
the Thanksigiving Day during fall. If you go out in this time you`ll see
pumpkins everywhere. People enjoy carving them. Friends organize Pumpkin Carving Potluck, where they
compare their carved pumpkins. The most scared is the best.
Another tradition
is Getting customes ready. People
wear special costumes and go f.e. to Halloween party. Very popular costumes are
on one hand ghosts, bats, devils and on the other hand fairies and butterflies.
All fall traditions
are popular and people enjoy them. After the last of them – it`s Thanksgiving-
they start to prepare for the Christmas, because Christmas decorations are seen
around town and fall is about to end. The witer`s coming.
Holiday – spending free time
- people can spend their free
time, their holidays in two ways
1) relaxing
holiday ® go to the seaside
and lie on the beach
2) active holiday
® biking, yachting,
climbing
® package tours:
a lot of travel agencies organize this type of holiday, which is preferwd by
people who want to have a rest and in the same time, thy want to learn
something new about some region or even a country.
The Americans don´t travel much
abroad. Only 10 % have a passport. If they can, they travel to Europe. They are
famous with their honey moon to the Niagara Falls. Americans like package
holidays.
The British travel around
England. There are many seaside resorts and southwest part of the country – Dartmoor
is one the most visited. The English usually go for walks, go to country side.
They are typical with their boating holidays. They spend their free days on the
boat on a cannel. They also travel
abroad.
The Czechs
- used to go to the cottages, their second home
in the countryside
- after the change of the government in 1989 this custom
was replaced by going abroad, because before people hadn´t been allowed to go
to the states which weren´t parts of the Soviet Union. In the time of the
Soviet Union we could go to Croatia, sometimes to Bulgaria or Romania.
- in early 90´s Czech people started to discover
countries of western Europe. We like generally Spain, Italy, Greece and
Croatia. In last several years we started to go further than in Europe. We
like travelling to exotic places like Egypt, Tunisia, Thailand and the USA as
well.
Although the foreign countries
are interesting for the Czechs, we still go
around our country. Czech mountains are suitable for walking tours. Unlike elsewhere the Czech countryside is
open to the public, it means that not many places are fenced off and you can
roam (potulovat) freely through the countryside. Our country is also rich
in castels and chateaux.
Vocabulary
holly cesmína
fancy bread vánočka
whip bič
birch bříza
cross buns jidáše
roam potulovat
fenced off oplocený