Otázka: Holidays and Celebrations
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): GabrielaM3
English:
Guy Fawkes Night – 5th November. On this day people makes bonfires and burn a figure of Guy Fawkes. There are also lots of fireworks. On November 5th 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to kill the King of England and blow up the Houses of Parliament. But the King´s men caught and executed him in the Tower of London. A week before Guy Fawkes Night, children make a “guy” out of old clothes and newspapers. Then they carry it through the street and ask for “a penny for the guy”. They use the money to buy fireworks.
Halloween – 31st October. This day go back to Celtic times when people celebrated the end of summer and festival of the dead. Halloween is very popular with children. They make jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins and in the evening they go from house to house and ask “Trick or treat?”. If you give them a “treat” (sweets or money), they are good spirits and go away. If you do not give them a treat, they become bad spirits and play a trick on you. Young people often have Halloween parties where they dress up as witches, ghosts or monsters.
Christmas Day – 25th December. Christmas time starts early. In the weeks before Christmas, people decorate their houses, put up their Christmas trees and send out Christmas cards. When they get cards, they hang them on the wall or put them on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. On Christmas Eve Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, comes down the chimney and leaves presents for the children in front of the fireplace or in their stockings. The real holiday is Christmas Day when the children get up and find their presents. Later that day people have Christmas dinner. Traditionally they eat turkey with cranberry sauce. In Britain they have Christmas pudding as dessert.
Boxing Day – 26th December
New Years Day – 1st January
St. Patrick´s Day – 17th March
Summer public holiday – 25th August
American:
Valentine’s Day – 14th February. On Valentine’s Day people send cards, little presents or flowers to their friends and sweethearts. They often do not write names on the card, so the person does not know who send it. The cards usually have rhymes or short poems in them.
Independent Day – On this day, Americans celebrate their country’s birthday. Before 1776 the American colonies belonged to Britain. Whit the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 the colonies became a free and independent nation: the United States of America. Every year Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with public fireworks. A lot of people have parties or picnics where they eat traditional American food: hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and corn on the cob.
Thanksgiving Day – the fourth Thursday in November. On this day, people remember the English Pilgrims and their first harvest in America. The Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in the autumn of 1620. After a hard winter, they learned from the Indians how to plant and grow food. In the autumn of 1621 they celebrated their first harvest with a big dinner. Today, this day is still special for Americans. They have a traditional dinner with turkey.
Halloween – 31st October. This day go back to Celtic times when people celebrated the end of summer and festival of the dead. Halloween is very popular with children. They make jack-o-lanterns from pumpkins and in the evening they go from house to house and ask “Trick or treat?”. If you give them a “treat” (sweets or money), they are good spirits and go away. If you do not give them a treat, they become bad spirits and play a trick on you. Young people often have Halloween parties where they dress up as witches, ghosts or monsters.
Christmas Day – 25th December. Christmas time starts early. In the weeks before Christmas, people decorate their houses, put up their Christmas trees and send out Christmas cards. When they get cards, they hang them on the wall or put them on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. On Christmas Eve Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, comes down the chimney and leaves presents for the children in front of the fireplace or in their stockings. The real holiday is Christmas Day when the children get up and find their presents. Later that day people have Christmas dinner. Traditionally they eat turkey with cranberry sauce. In Britain they have Christmas pudding as dessert.
New Year’s Eve – 31st December – Parties are popular on New Year’s Eve, but there are no fireworks. At midnight church bells ring and in big cities people go to traditional gathering points (for example, Trafalgar Square in London and Times Square in New York). There they join hands and sing “Auld Lang Syne” (old times), an old Scottish song.
Czech:
Christmas – 24th December. Christmas is a Christian holiday and it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Czech people celebrate Christmas on 24th December on Christmas Eve. People make wreaths and give there candles. There are 4 candles because it is for 4 weeks before Christmas. This is so-called Advent. Typical symbols for Christmas are mistletoe, Christmas tree, presents, Jesus Child, bells, Christmas dinner, sweets, candles, carp, potato salad, and carols. People go to the church and everyone is nice to each other. People first decorate Xmas tree. They have Christmas dinner in the evening. The dinner consists of soup of carp, carp, schnitzel, sausages and potato salad. Someone gives under the plate carp’s scale for luck or gives shells with a candle to the water or cut up apples.
Easter – 9th April 2012. Easter is the most important Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On Easter Monday morning men and boys go home for their friends and whip women and girls by handmade willow rod. Willow rods are adorned with colorful ribbons. According to tradition, the men uttered carols.
New Year’s Eve – 31st December
Witches Night – 30th April
St. Nicholas Night – 6th December
Differences between CR and English-speaking counties:
The Christmas we celebrate 24th December and we have carp, sausages, schnitzel and potato salad for dinner. The English-speaking countries celebrate the Christmas at 25th December and they have turkey with cranberry sauce for dinner.
On New Year’s Eve we make a bonfires and fireworks. In English-speaking countries people go to traditional gathering points and they sing old songs.
