Who knows a little English?

Traditional entertainment and sports activities in English-speaking countries: baseball, rugby, etc. Britain: April 23rd/July-Drama Festival-a large-scale cultural and entertainment activity in memory of Shakespeare.

Important festivals in English-speaking countries: Christmas-65438+February 25th, Valentine's Day-February14; Thanksgiving Day-165438+ starts on the fourth Thursday in October and lasts for four days.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day falls on the last Thursday of June 165438+ 10 every year. Thanksgiving is an ancient festival created by the American people, and it is also a festival for Americans to reunite with their families, so Americans always feel very cordial when they mention Thanksgiving.

The origin of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the beginning of American history. 1620, the famous "Mayflower" arrived in America with 102 Puritans who could not bear the persecution of English religion. In the winter at the turn of 1620 and 162 1, they encountered unimaginable difficulties and were hungry and cold. After winter passed, only 50 immigrants survived. At this time, the kind Indians brought necessities to the immigrants, and specially sent people to teach them how to hunt, fish and grow corn and pumpkins. With the help of Indians, the immigrants finally got a bumper harvest. On the day of celebrating the harvest, according to religious traditions and customs, immigrants set a day to thank God and decided to invite them to celebrate the festival together to thank the Indians for their sincere help.

On the first Thanksgiving, Indians and immigrants gathered together. They fired a salute at dawn, marched into a room used as a church, expressed their sincere thanks to God, then lit a bonfire and held a grand banquet. On the second and third days, wrestling, running, singing and dancing were held. The first Thanksgiving was a great success. Many of these celebrations have been circulated for more than 300 years and have been preserved to this day.

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

custom

On Thanksgiving Day, America is very busy. According to custom, people go to church to pray for gratitude. Dress parades, theatrical performances and sports competitions are held everywhere in urban and rural towns, and schools and shops are also on holiday as required. Children also imitate the Indians in those days, wearing strange costumes, painting faces or wearing masks to sing and play the trumpet in the street. Families living in other places will also go home for the holidays, and the whole family will sit around and munch on delicious turkeys.

At the same time, hospitable Americans can't forget to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home for a holiday on this day. Since18th century, the United States has had the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose a certain day of the year to do good deeds and thought Thanksgiving was the most suitable day. So as soon as Thanksgiving comes, they put on a basket of clean food and personally deliver it to the poor. It was widely known, and soon many people followed their example.

Shi Mei

For Americans, the most important meal of the year is Thanksgiving dinner. In the United States, a fast-paced and competitive country, the diet on weekdays is extremely simple. But on Thanksgiving night, every family has a big meal, and the richness of goods is staggering. From the president to the common people, turkey and pumpkin pie are essential foods on the holiday table. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is also called "Turkey Day".

Thanksgiving food is full of traditional characteristics. Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving. It used to be a wild bird living in North America, but later it was raised in large quantities to become delicious poultry, each of which can weigh 40 to 50 kilograms. Usually, the turkey is stuffed with various seasonings and mixed foods, and then the whole turkey is roasted, and the chicken skin is roasted to dark brown. The owner cuts it into thin slices with a knife and gives it to everyone. Then everyone poured marinade and sprinkled with salt, which was very delicious. In addition, traditional Thanksgiving food also includes sweet potato, corn, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, self-baked bread and various fruits and vegetables.

performing tour

After Thanksgiving dinner, some families often play some traditional games. On the first Thanksgiving, people had many recreational activities, such as dancing and competitions, some of which have been passed down to this day. There is a game called Cranberry Contest, in which a large bowl filled with cranberries is placed on the ground, and 4- 10 contestants sit together and each person gives out a needle and thread. At the beginning of the game, they threaded the needle first, then strung the cranberries one by one, and it took 3 minutes to arrive; Whoever pulls the longest rope will win the prize. As for the person who dresses the slowest, everyone jokingly gave him the worst prize.

There is also an old corn game. It is said that this is handed down to commemorate the issue of five corn to each immigrant in the case of food shortage. During the game. People hid five corn in the house, and everyone looked for it separately. Five people who found corn took part in the competition, while others watched. At the beginning of the competition, five people quickly peeled corn kernels in a bowl, and whoever peeled them first won the prize. Then people who didn't take part in the competition guessed around the bowl how many corn kernels were in it, and the prize for the closest guess was given to a careless popcorn.

People's favorite game is pumpkin race. Participants push pumpkins with small spoons. The rule is never to touch the pumpkin with your hands. The first person to reach the finish line wins the prize. The smaller the spoon used in the game, the more interesting the game is.

In addition to these activities, some families drive to the countryside for an outing or travel by plane during the festival, especially Plymouth Port, where immigrants settled in the past, is a place that tourists yearn for. There, you can see ships and Plymouth stones copied from may flower, and you can spend hours visiting immigrant villages. The immigrant village was built in imitation of that year. During the visit, there are also special personnel dressed as Christians to chat with tourists, giving people an immersive feeling.

For many years, the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving has been passed down from generation to generation. Whether on the rocky west coast or in beautiful Hawaii, people celebrate Thanksgiving in almost the same way. Thanksgiving Day is a traditional festival celebrated by Americans of all faiths and nationalities.

Christmas day

On February 25th, 65438+, the churches will hold worship ceremonies respectively. Catholicism and Orthodox Church hold Christmas prayers, while Protestantism holds Christmas services. In some churches, celebrations begin at midnight. In addition to the worship ceremony, there will be a Christmas play and the story of the birth of Jesus.

The origin of Christmas

According to the Bible, the holy book of Christians, God decided to let his only son Jesus Christ be born on the earth, find his mother, and then live on the earth, so that people can better understand God, learn to love God and love each other better. "Christmas" means "celebrating Christ", celebrating the moment when a young Jewish woman, Maria, gave birth to Jesus.

Maria is engaged to Joseph, the carpenter. However, before they moved in together, Joseph found out that Maria was pregnant. Joseph wants to break up with her quietly, because he is a decent man and doesn't want to tell her about it and embarrass her. While he was thinking about it, the angel of God appeared in his dream and said to him, "Stop whispering and marry Maria home. The child she conceived came from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a boy, and you will name him Jesus, because he will save people from sin. "

Although the exact birthday of Jesus is not clear, about 2000 years ago, the calendar divided the time into BC (before the birth of Jesus Christ) and AD (Latin abbreviation, meaning "the year when our Lord-Jesus was born") according to the assumed date. In the first 300 years after AD, Jesus' birthday was celebrated on different days. Finally, in 354 AD, church leaders designated 65438+February 25th as the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Christmas party:

Christmas is an indispensable program, including family-style, friend-style and lover-style parties. A good opportunity for friendship, affection and love gathering. Wearing Christmas hats, singing Christmas songs and talking about everyone's Christmas wishes.

Christmas dinner:

As a grand celebration festival, Christmas cannot be without food. Christmas turkey dinner is an example of the main course. In the past, people might cook by themselves in the microwave oven. Now, people eat in restaurants for the holidays, and businesses will also take the opportunity to earn customers' money. Of course, there are many Christmas foods, gingerbread, candy and so on.

Christmas hat:

This is a red hat. It is said that wearing it at night can not only make you sleep soundly, but also keep you warm. The next day, you will find more gifts from your relatives in your hat. On carnival night, it is the protagonist of the audience. No matter where you go, you will see all kinds of red hats, some with sharp tips and some with golden lights.

Christmas socks:

It used to be a pair of red socks, no matter how big they are, because Christmas socks are used to hold gifts. Children's favorite thing, they will hang socks by the bed at night and wait for the gift the next morning. What if someone delivers a car at Christmas? Then you'd better ask him to write a check and put it in his socks.

Christmas card:

This is a kind of greeting card to celebrate Christmas and New Year, with pictures of the story about the birth of Jesus and words like "Happy Christmas and New Year" printed on it.

The good news is:

Christmas Eve refers to the night of February 24th to the morning of February 25th. 10. The church organizes some choirs (or formed spontaneously by believers) to sing Christmas carols from door to door or under the window, which is called "good news", which means to reproduce the good news that angels report the birth of Jesus to shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem. People who "give good news" are called Christmas waiting, and this activity often lasts until dawn. There are more and more people, the songs are louder and louder, and the streets are full of songs.