Праздники и традиции в России и англо-язычных странах (english)

Holidays and tradition in Russia and English-speaking countriesEverynation and every country has its own customs and traditions. But there are alsointernational holidays which are celebrated in all countries world-wide. Theyare Christmas, New Year, Easter and St. Valentine s day. Christmas comes butonce a year. Christmas is a traditional family reunion day. On this day, manypeople attend a church service, open

their presents and eat a Christmas dinner.In Britain, Christmas is the most important public holiday of the year. Itcombines the custom of giving gifts with the tradition of spending this daywith the family. Every year a huge Christmas tree, the gift of the Norwegianpeople, graces Trafalgar square. In Russia

Christmas is celebrated on the 7thof January. On this day people celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ. New Yearis a public holiday but it is not marked with any particular custom in Britainand America, yet it has a joyful celebration in Russia. People stay awake untilafter midnight on December 31st to watch the Old Year out and theNew Year in. Many parties are given on this night.

Theatres, night clubs andstreets are crowded. Easter is one of the most important Christian holiday. Itis traditionally associated with Easter eggs and with the coming of spring, andmost churches are specially decorated with flowers for the service held onEaster Day. There is a popular belief that wearing three new things on Easterwill bring good luck. St. Valentine s day is not the official holiday in mostcountries.

February 14 is the day of lovers. Boys and girls, sweethearts andlovers, husbands and wives, friends and neighbours, and even the office staffexchange greetings of affection. Valentine s day is a whirl of hearts, candyand good wishes in the form of bright, lacy, colorful cards, with lovingemblems and amorous doggerel, saying Be my Valentine .Thereare also some special holidays which are usually celebrated in a particularcountry.

Let s start with the traditional British holiday Pancake day. Butpeople don t only eat pancakes on this day, they run with them. In many townsin England pancake races are held every year. These races are run byhousewives. Themost American holiday is Thanksgiving day. It was first celebrated in earlycolonial times by

Pilgrim Fathers after their first good harvest. Thanksgivingis a day when the family eats a large traditional dinner, usually with turkeyand pumpkin pie.InRussia we celebrate Women s day on the 8th of March. On this day menare supposed to do everything about the house and cook all the meals.Everycountry has its own traditions, customs and superstitions. Someone once said Don t be superstitious, it will bring you bad luck.

I think it is veryimportant to follow special traditions, because they untie people. In Britaintraditions play more important part in the life of the people than in someother countries. English are proud of their traditions and carefully keep themup. There is a big difference of people between America and Britain. AnEnglishman in America is respected, Americans love his accent and his country.

An American in England is thought to be a little strange because of hisbehavior and his language. To the English their private lives are important,their holidays are important, their garden are important, their animals areimportant. For American the work is the most important thing in life. And inEngland you can hear the most extraordinary excuse not to go to work, forexample My dog s got a cold . In Britain pets can send Christmas orbirthday cards to their friends.

There are special animal hotels at theairports. In English houses the fire-place has always been the centre ofinterest in a room. For many months of the year people like to sit round thefire and watch the dancing flames. Fire places are decorated with woodworks,there is a painting or a mirror over it. Above the fire there is usually ashelf with a clock and some photos.

The English are a nation of stay-at-homes.There is no place like home. The Englishman is never tired to say Myhouse is my castle . The Americans are different. I think they are moreopen, they speak their minds, so if they don t like something, they actuallytell it directly. Not like the British, who might think one thing and sayanother.

Americans start conversations with people in the street, in thesubway they are more enthusiastic. American customs underline independence andfreedom of the nation. Russia is the country of the dramatic beauty. To mymind, the main traits of the real Russia character character are hospitality, open heart , golden hands , wise Russian fairytalesreflect their wisdom. The Russians are a very talented nation.

Russia gave theworld beautiful names of Pushkin and Lermontov, Chaikovsky and Repin, thousandsof names of world famous poets, writers, composers, scientists. Everycountry is also know for its food. England is noted for its pudding, bacon,marmalade, porridge and five-o clock-tea. America is the country of Coca-Cola,hamburgers and chewing gum. Traditional Russian cooking is world-famous forsuch dishes as okroshka,

shi, pelmeni and kvass.