USA holidays
Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national day of observance by Congress in 1941 .
Thanksgiving Day is a four – day holiday for most Americans. This is a family holiday. Families come together from near and far. In some places special religious services are held in the morning. Then comes the traditional feast. Turkey with stuffing is the main dish. It is served with sweet potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Apple cider is the drink of the day.
Football is the most popular game on this day. Usually there are several football games to watch on TV. There is Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Stores, classrooms, and homes are decorated with turkeys, pilgrims, Indians, wreaths of dried flowers, and vegetables. Horns of plenty are also very popular.
CHRISTMAS
It’s time for hanging stockings,
It’s time for riding sleighs,
It’s time for jolly greeting,
Snow and holly overeating,
It’s Christmas! Merry Christmas!
It’s the best of holidays.
Christmas is a Christian holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Americans celebrate Christmas on December the 25th . It is usually a one – day official holiday, but it is proceeded and followed by festive parties. By this day people decorate fir - trees with toys and candies. Children wait for Santa Claus who comes to every house and brings them presents. Before going to bed, children leave their shoes to find in them what they want most of all the next morning.
Decorating the house with holly, ivy and mistletoe is a custom, which comes from England. Ivy means immortality. Holly is a bush with shiny red berries and glossy leaves with a characteristic shape and sharp pointy edges. Because it remains green throughout the year it was believed to hold a promise that the sun would return. Holly'’ berries symbolize Christ’s blood. Mistletoe is an interesting green parasitic plant which grows in globe – like formations high up in the branches of oak trees. Springs of it are tied together with ribbons and hung up in doorways. By custom anyone standing under the mistletoe gets to be kissed.
Christmas is a family holiday. Schools and colleges close between Christmas and New Year’s Day. People stay at home and spend the time with their families. Everybody tries to come home for Christmas. People send cards or Christmas greetings to family and friends away from home. All the members of the family exchange gifts. It is a merry holiday.
Some holidays in America have their own symbols. Here they are:
Presidents Day 6. Independence Day
Columbus Day 7. New Year’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day 8. Martin Luther King’s day
Easter 9. Christmas
Valentine’s Day 10. Halloween
And there are festival post cards for every holiday, which American people give the friends and relatives when they congratulate each other. Here are some postcards for some parties:
Such are the US holidays. A holiday has simply become, for most Americans, a day off from work. No matter what the holiday’s origin is, they all seem to be the same thing, though some (for example, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween) retain some individuality.
The list of literature:
“Holidays Go Round and Round”; Authors: Kathleen Carroll, Marina Novikova. St Petersburg, 1996, Triada Publishing.
“Английский для поступающих в ВУЗы”; Authors: Цветкова И. В., Клепальченко И. А., Мыльцева Н. А. Москва, ГЛОССА, 1995.
“95 устных тем по английскому языку”; Author: Занина Е. А. Москва, Айрис Рольф, 1997.
“Spotlight on the USA”; Author: Natalia Timanovskaya. Тула, Автограф, 1996.
“Living in the United States”. Intercultural exchange series. Copy right 1994.
“Happy English 2”; Authors: Татьяна Клементьева, Джилл Шэннон. Обнинск, Титул, 1996.
“English”. Еженедельное приложение к газете “ Первое сентября”, N 7, 9, 11, 17, 18, 20, 29, 32, 36, 42, 1994.