• typical words for American: hamburger, Mc Donald, Coca-cola, Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers
• go from home after 18 years
• people in big cities haven’t driving licence – they have caps (yellow taxies)
• everybody hurries everywhere
• there are places where is savanna and desert where people live alone and places where is big cities and where live a lot of people
• people in America live in 2 extremes:
- in large detached house with garden on wonderful street in the suburb (= na předměstí) – everybody know everybody
- in big block of flats or skyscrapers in city
• today is more typical than Americans are fat
• during working day they eat:
- breakfast – big breakfast, all family together
- lunch – adult eat with colleagues in work or in restaurant and children in school, it isn’t really lunch, it is only snake
- diner – together all family again, it is main food of all day
January
New Year's Day
• on 1st January, 1. day in Gregorian calendar
• making New Year's resolutions (no smoking)
in Czech republic:
• people go to church
• people sleep (have drunk alcohol)
• people say: “What we do or how we feel on New Year’s Day, we do it and feel it all year.”
February
Saint Valentine’s Day
• on 14th February
• legend: Emperor Claudius II. abolished marriage because soldiers aren’t good soldiers if they have wives or children. But priest Valentine still spliced couples and he was taken prison and executed. St. Valentine have become patron faithful and staunch (= oddané) love.
• people fallen in love can express their feelings to each other
• people sending Valentine’s cards, gifts and flowers
• it’s commercial feast
in Czech republic:
• people started to celebrate it (more and more popular)
April
April Fool’s Day
• on 1st April
• people make jokes from the other people (friends, enemies, neighbours, family)
• TV stations and radio stations make jokes too
• (exist people who doesn’t understand jokes or jokes needn’t be funny, f.e. head of company said the man: “You are sacking.” like joke, but the man had bad month and then he listened it, he committed suicide.)
in Czech republic:
• I read: in 15th century people started to give crazy tasks f.e. bring me fly’s fat, light in back and so on
• it celebrate a little bit
• I don’t celebrate it
Easter
• it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus
• adult hide eggs (chocolate, hen’s, quail’s eggs) and children find eggs on garden or in flat and eat it
• king or queen England must give special coin to people who are orphans, widows and so on
• parades
in Czech republic:
• boys have stock whips, water and some sprays and they go from house to house and hit girls with stock whips, pour water on them, girls usually become painted eggs and give to boys sweets, chocolates and this eggs
July
Independence Day
• on 4th July
• American people celebrate separate of mother country Great Britain
• history: America wasn’t America, it was only 13 colonies under control of Great Britain, high taxation + Americans can’t to be in Congress → in 1773 it was Boston Tea Party – Americans redress to Indian clothes and throw all tea from ship from Great Britain → George III. (king of England) was so angry and it started fights → on 4th July, in 1776 was signed The Americans Declaration of Independence, it was prepared by Thomas Jefferson and it was signed by 56 people → French soldiers help Americans and in 1783 – piece treaty
• small mistake:
- only for white men
- no for women
- no for slaves
- no for poor people
• they celebrate it: they have a lunch/diner, parades, big balloons (above parades, between street), fireworks
October
Halloween
• on 31st October
• from Hallowe’en – old Celtic word for Hallows evening
History
• Celtic News Year was on the 31 October, Celts (ancestors of Irish, Scottish and Welsh) believed ghosts and witches are free, they walk and mingle with living
• townspeople baked food all that day for them, in the evening dressed – resemble dead soul
• but Christianity – 31October isn’t last day in year → celebration for children
• in 1840s Irish people have gone to USA and it started to celebrate in USA too
Symbols
• witches flying on broom, cats, ghosts, goblins, skeletons, spiders
Costumes
• children dress costumes like witch, ghosts, skeleton, but supermen, batman too
Day
• adult go to work and children go to school and at the evening children dress to costumes and adult (parents) stay at home
• children come from door to door and say: “trick or treat “ – it means give me something or I will make dirty your house (ketchup, eggs) and adult give them sweets
• people play game bobbing – prepare basket with water and apples, get hands behind back and try to take by mouth apples from water
Pumpkin
• take knife and cut top of pumpkin
• put over what is inside and seeds too
• cut out eyes, mouth, nose
• put top on pumpkin
• now it isn’t pumpkin but jack-o’-lantern
• can put inside candle or sweets
in Czech republic:
• we celebrate All Souls' Day, we go to burial-place, set fire to candles and remember for dead people from family, burial-places are wonderful in this days, but I don’t go to burial-place since my grandfather has
November
Thanksgiving
• on the fourth Thursday of November
• history: Puritans (Pilgrim fathers) went from Great Britain to America, because of their religion, started new life, but they didn’t have a food and a lot of people died during winter, native inhabitants (Indians) taught them grow plants, hunting and gave them food
• they have diner with all family, parades, watch American football
• dinner: turkey, pumpkins, squashes and cranberries
December
Christmas
• on 24th December
• has never been holiday (a lot of people spend the day shopping)
• children they hang up Christmas stockings at the end of their beds (larger gifts are under the Christmas tree)
• they make cakes for Father Christmas to eat when he comes
• Christmas tree – decorated with fairy lights and bright coloured ornaments (sweets and fruit or sparklers = prskavka are not hung on the tree)
• rooms and houses are decorated too (sprig of mistletoe = větvička jmelí is hung in a central position or over the door – for kiss)
• on 25th December – Christmas Day
• morning – children unwrap = vybalují presents
• at midday is lunch – it consist of roast turkey with chestnut stuffing = kaštanová nádivka and roast potatoes and Christmas pudding (special rich pudding made with lots of dried = sušený fruit, eggs, suet = lůj and very little flour)
• sing carols on the radio, TV and churches (people sing at home too)
• at teatime they eat a huge fruit cake, which is encrusted = pokrytý with marzipan and decorated with white icing = poleva
• on 26th December – Boxing Day
• from custom in earlier times of giving postmen, milkmen, dustmen = popeláři, newspaper boys small sums of money
• children have pantomime – traditional Christmas-time funny
• adult go visiting parties in the evening
in Czech republic:
• we have holiday on 24th December because it is main day of all Christmas in Czech republic, all day we are at home with our family, we prepare for diner and we decorate Christmas tree
• at the evening we have a diner: fish and salad from potatoes
• after diner we unwrap presents
• on 25th December we are with my grandparents in Štramberk
• on 26th December I am with my the second grandparents and with my father and his family in Ženklava
New Year’s Eve
• the most important holiday is Christmas
• people stay up till midnight (some people gather = shromáždit se in Trafalgar Square and celebrate the coming of the New Year with singing and dancing)
• Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year’s Eve which is more celebrate than Christmas (guests arrival or only families alone eat haggis – cereals + entrails = vnitřnosti of sheep in sheep’s stomach
• at midnight people cross arms, link hands for a traditional song, „Auld Lang Syne“
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat