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Customs and Traditions, Housing

Customs and Traditions, Housing

1) OUR COUNTRY – traditions and events that are celebrated and commemorated in our country.
· All fool’s day – celebrated on the 1st of April, on this day you play a trick on people and make fun  of them
· St Valentine´s Day – celebrated on the 14th of February, it´s called after Christian martyr who secretly pronounced young lovers husband and wife. It´s the day when lovers celebrate their love and their relationship, they give gifts to each other, like flowers, candy…
· The Teachers Day – Comenius was born on this day, he´s said to be the teacher of the nations. All his life he worked with children, he tried to turn learning into fun and build a sort of school that doesn´t make children afraid.
· The 1th of May – international workers festival – the day when we don´t have to work
· The 8th of May – public holiday which commemorates the end of WWII in Europe and the liberation of Czech Republic
· Easter – important church festival, Christians remember Christ´s death and his resurrection. There are many traditions, like coloring the eggs and plaiting willow canes for Easter Monday. Early in the morning the boys come caroling, they are visiting houses or girls and they whip them with the cane, so the girls will be healthy. After whipping girls give them colored eggs or chocolate eggs.
· Mother´s Day – a day when children honor their mothers, they give them gifts
· The 5th of July – the public holiday which commemorates the arrival of St Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius. They were brothers who came from Byzantine Empire to spread Christianity in Great Moravia, they invented Slavonic alphabet and they used Slavonic language at church services
· The 6th of July – a public holiday which commemorates the death of John Huss.  He was well-known thinker and preacher and professor at Prague University. He wanted to reform the Church, but he came into conflict with the Roman Church. He was condemned to death and he was burned to death in 1415. After his death he was declared as a martyr.
· The 28th of September – a public holiday which commemorates the death of Czech patron St Wenceslas (He was murdered by Boleslav)
· The 28th of October – A day when Czechoslovakia came into existence as an independent state (1918)
· All saints day – on this day we commemorate our dead ones, we decorate their graves, we lay wreaths and burn candles
· The students day – the commemoration of an anti-Nazi demonstration of students in 28th of October in 1939, Jan Opletal was killed during this demonstration, and two days after all Czech Universities were closed by Nazis
· Christmas – important church festival, the idea of giving gifts came from 3 wise men, who brought gifs to holy child. In our country it´s family affair, our houses must be cleaned from top to bottom, we decorate our Christmas tree and children are looking forward to gifts, they believe that little Jesus will bring them. The whole day we shouldn´t eat, in order to see golden pig, but in the evening there is festive dinner with fish soup, fried carp and potato salad. Then we sing carols and unwrap our gifts.
· New Year´s Eve – People stay up till midnight and they drink a toast to the New Year, then they light fireworks
 
2) GREAT BRITAIN
· The Trooping of the Colour – celebration of Queens official birthday – celebrated in June, because of the good weather
· Halloween – it has its origins in Celtic tradition – Celts believed that souls of dead come back to their homes. On this day children light pumpkin lanterns (jack-o´-lantern), they were costumes and masks like ghosts, witches and goblins. They go to houses of friends and relatives and say “trick or treat” and are given some candies.
· Guy Fawkes Day – it commemorates the day when British parliament was saved from destruction (year 1605). Christian Guy Fawkes wanted to kill protestant king James I., but his plan was discovered and he was condemned to death. On this day we can see fireworks and burning fires.
· Remembrance day – 11th of November. It is a ceremony in Whitehall in London with 2-minute silence that commemorates those who were killed in both WW.
· Christmas – on 24th of December they have festive dinner, it consists of roast turkey with vegetable and Christmas pudding (inside is hidden ring or coin). Before children go to the bed, they hung up a large stocking at the end of the bed, and they believe, that during the night Father Christmas will come on the sledge pulled by reindeers and he will go down through the chimney and give the presents in their stockings.
· Boxing Day – the day after Christmas Day (26. 12.), it´s called after custom giving postmen, milkmen and dustmen little money that they are collecting into their boxes.
· New Year´s Eve – it´s the same as in Czech Republic, but Scottish people celebrate it even more than Christmas. They have many guest, they eat traditional dinner and sing traditional song, dance Scottish dances…In Trafalgar square they even jump into fountain.
 
3) USA
· Martin Luther King Day – the commemoration of birthday of the man who fought for civil rights of black people in America (the civil rights movement)
· Presidents Day – the commemoration of all past presidents of the USA (originally George Washington and Abraham Lincoln Day, but Lincoln wasn´t popular in the south)
· Easter – children of different color of their skin are invited to the White House and they participate a competition called egg rolling
· Memorial Day – something like Remembrance Day in UK, American  honor the dead ones from WW
· Independence Day – it commemorates the day when Declaration of independence was accepted (in 4th of July in 1776) = the day when USA came into being as an independent state
· Veterans Day – they honor veterans of all wars in which the USA has been involved
· Thanksgiving – it commemorates the first harvest of Pilgrim Fathers, on this day the Americans have the biggest feast of the year
· Christmas – the same as in the UK, but children believe in Santa Claus
 
Housing in Britain
3 main types of houses:
· terraced house – cheapest, joined together in long rows, identical
· a semidetached house – 2 houses joined together – 2 families, most popular type
· a detached house – more expensive, it stands by itself, usually with the garden, in suburbs
o bungalow – always 1 floor, built in warmer climate
· Block of flats – typical for our country, not so usual for Britain
Zones.sk – Najväčší študentský portál
https://www.zones.sk/studentske-prace/anglictina/5720-customs-and-traditions-housing/