Научно-практическая конференция "Особенности немецкого характера"

Research – English Culture.
Holidays.

In English culture, there are holidays such as New Year’s Day, Christmas, Ester and even a Pancakes day (that is what we call Maslenitsa in Russia). However, there are several differences in how are these holidays celebrated in England and Russia. That is what we are going to talk about in the following article.

New Year’s Day and Christmas.

Many countries, such as Great Britain, do not give much credit to New Year’s Day. They do celebrate Christmas on 25’s of December and threat it with a higher respect, as all the European countries do.

Christmas is a pretense for a family reunion but it can also be celebrated in a company of closest relatives. The preparation for such a bright day starts from November. People take this time to attentively chose presents and plan the menu for their guests.

Within the coming holiday, a Christmas tree must be set up. It will be there for long 12 days even after the celebration is finished. Not sooner will they take the tree away. The tree have to be decorated in a proper English style with the ginger cookies and other sweets on its branches.

When everything is set up; the menu is finished; the Christmas tree is all-shining the day of celebration comes. Before this big dinner is started people usually visit the church.

The center of the table belongs to turkey, sweet potato, chestnuts and a special Christmas pie. At Christmas evening you will hear children and adults singing some special kind of songs. That is Christmas Carrols – the tribute to religious origins of this holiday. Coming back home British people gift each other, freshen their family-memories with the help of old photos and do other heartwarming family activities. This also includes some old (and somewhat stupid) Christmas jokes:
-What did the cow say on Christmas morning?
-Mooey Christmas!

Santa Claus in Britain is called the other way – “Father Christmas”. They say he used to greet all the people at Christmas moving from house to house.

Russian people also treat Christmas as a holiday, which you spend with your family. Still the celebration is not that big and long as it is on the New Year’s Day. One day before Christmas people prepare the menu. Kootia is a traditional meal for Russia that represents Christmas and its religious origins. This meal is made from grain, dried fruits and honey. There is also a tradition in Russia, somewhat similar to Hallowing activities. Kids dress up in traditional national costumes or costumes of animals and walk from house to house greeting its people and asking for sweets.

The night before Christmas is a special night. It is a big religious holiday by itself. It is called “Sochelnik” in Russian, which is similar to Twelfth Night in Europe. From this time and until the 19 of January people might go to church to stay a special kind of liturgy, that lasts for almost all the night. The Christmas itself represents the birth of Jesus like in any other country that celebrates this holiday.

The meals for this evening’s menu can vary much. But the most people still like to have “holodets” on their dining tables. It is a traditional dish made of pork. Bakery is all there too. From bread to pies of any kind.

The birth of Jesus Crist is the brightest day for Russian Christian people. They believe that that day the history of humanity have changed dramatically. The world itself have been changed to become a better place.

The next big holiday after Christmas.

There is a holiday in Russia that dates back to times when this land was not even Christian. This holiday (as mentioned above) is called Maslenitsa. There is no fixed date for its celebration. It starts ether a week or three days before the Great Fast. This holiday was supposed to be the most joyful and bright week. People always have much fun during this week. They slide on their sledge, perform, sing, play snowballs and compete in various funny games. But the true spirit of this holiday consists in baking the pancakes. They are the symbol of sun.

With the last day of this lively week, the “effigy” is set up and then burned. This represents the winter’s end as well as the end of all troubles it brings. Every day of the celebration is called in an old folk manner. The other name of Maslenitsa is “The Cheese Week”, but it is not really used. As you can see, this holiday comes along with tons of fun, noise and cheerful mood. It brings spring to the lands of Russia.

Curiously enough, there is a similar holiday in England and Europe. It is the “Pancake Day. This one is not as huge and long as the Russian one but the idea is somewhat the same. It starts on the last Tuesday before the Great Fast.

On this holiday English people can participate in different kinds of competitions. But the one that stands out is obviously Soccer. Some people say that it used to be treated as a religious ritual. Therefore, the priesthood played soccer too.

The last but not least, English people bake lots of pancakes on this day, if you have’t noticed the name of the holiday.

Another holiday to compare. Ester.

The first difference between is the date. Catholic Ester begins one week before ours. English people pay much respect to these holidays. English children have two-week vacation. The last Sunday before Ester is called “Palm Sunday”. The last Friday is the “Good Friday”.

The English symbol of Ester is an Ester rabbit. It is associated with fertility. Another memorable thing about English Ester is the Morris Dance. Those who perform it should be dressed in Robin Good’s costumes. There is also a strange activity that can be described as a “hats parade”.
                The food that represents Ester is simple: colorful painted eggs and cross-shaped buns.

                Some of the traditions and things about Ester are shared between Russia and England. The differences start from the meals we traditionally eat on Ester. No Ester comes without a dessert made of cottage cheese, sugar and raisins. This dessert and the holiday itself have the same name in Russia.

The other thing that is essential for Russian Ester is “kulich”. This is a specially baked barrel-shaped white bread with a sweet topping.

The other tradition that identifies Russian Ester is a special greeting. On the day of Ester people do not simply say “Hello” to greet each other. They do say: “Christ is risen!”, and the other person replies: “Christ is risen indeed!”. In both countries Ester represents rebirth, renewal and purification.

Despite any differences in traditions and ways we celebrate all the holidays we just described, they have one crucial thing in common. The spirit they bring. They unite people, draw us closer to each other even if we are aside of religion.