Independent work “countryknowing”

Ash Wednesday

• February 28 People go to Church and get the ashes, which means that the priest will make a cross with ash on their forehead and some of them carry it all day long. St. Patrick’s Day March 17 St. Patrick is the Irish national saint and with Ireland being the green island, for this holiday everything is to be green. Shops are decorated as well as restaurants and you have to wear something green, if you do not you can get pinched by anybody.

Easter

April 15 Of course Easter is the holiday of the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. The symbols of Easter are the egg and the rabbit, both pagan symbols of fertility. Apart from going to church on Easter Sunday, Americans like to play Easter games like the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Roll. Easter Egg Hunts take place in most homes, lots of churches, shopping malls and public places where eggs are hidden and the kids are invited to find them. The second big game on Easter is the Easter Egg Roll where kids look who can roll an egg the greatest distance or without breaking it, which is usually played on a grassy hillside or slope. The most famous Egg Roll takes place on the White House Lawn, where hundreds of kids come with baskets full of egg and they play where usually the reporters are standing and hope that the President is watching the fun.

The second symbol of Easter is of course the Easter Bunny and he appears in a lot of Nursery Rhymes, too.

,,Here comes Petter Cottontail hoppin` down the bunny trail Hippity hoppity Easters on its way!"

The Easter Bunny has his origins in Germany and was introduced to American folklore by German settlers in Pennsylvania during the 1700s. It was called ,,Oschter Haws" and considered one of ,,childhood's greatest pleasures"

Take our Daughters to Work Day April 26

US Independence Day VS Thanksgiving

• July 4 Independence Day celebrates the birthday of the United States of America, which was founded on July 4th, 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On this day you see the national colours white-red-blue everywhere, people are off work and have July 4th parties, they have flags hanging in their front yards, they have barbecues, throw horseshoes, play sports and burn fireworks, a lot more than they do for New Year.
• Tooth Fairy Of course there are more traditions in America that are not bound to a certain date, for example the Tooth Fairy. If an American kid looses its tooth, it will put it under its pillow that night. When the kid is asleep, the Tooth Fairy will come and take the tooth and leave some hard cash instead. Of course prices have gone up, while my host mom got a quarter for each tooth, my little host sister is expecting the Tooth Fairy to bring at least a dollar for each tooth.
• Halloween Wednesday, October 31 Halloween is the time of ghost, witches, pumpkins and Trick or Treating. The history of Trick or Treating can be traced back to the early celebrations of All Souls` Day in Britain, when beggars walked from house to house and got treats to say a prayer for the dead. The custom changed and the children became the beggars, and during the Pioneer Days housewives would give kids treats to keep from being tricked. Nowadays, the kids walk their neighbourhood and say ,,Trick or Treat" and get candy from the people sitting in front of their houses with loads of candy. Even shopping malls and public places make Trick or Treating Days for kids to come and get candy. The symbol of Halloween is of course the pumpkin. It is pumpkin season and people used to cut faces out of pumpkins and put lights in it, but nowadays, Jack'O`Lanterns` are mostly made of plastic.

• Thursday, November 22 In 1621, after a hard first year in the New World, the Pilgrims` fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. Their governor proclaimed a day of celebration that was to be shared by all the colonist and the neighbouring Native Americans. The tradition of a thanksgiving day was kept in the following years, and in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation and so did all of the following Presidents, usually on the fourth Thursday of each November. Although there is no real evidence that turkey was served at the Pilgrims` first Thanksgiving, it is now the traditional meal for the family dinner. Usually people go home and spend the holiday with their families. Therefore, Thanksgiving is one of the most busy travel days of the year. A lot of people did not forget the origins of this holiday and they still give thanks for things that are important to them.