Professional holidays

Professional holidays are widely celebrated among the members of certain professional groups: teachers, doctors, auditors, sales assistants, diplomats, etc. There are really lots of professional holidays in Russia, but they are not public holidays, so the banks, offices and schools are not supposed to close.

Other holidays

Though quite a number of holidays have already been described, we haven’t mentioned all the occasions that Russians celebrate. There are some other holidays which are quite important, though some of them are very unusual, to say the least. Take ‘Old’ New Year, for example, which is celebrated on January 14. After Peter the Great moved the date of New Year celebration in Russia from September to January 1, in 1700, it became an official holiday. But in 1918 by a special decree of the Bolshevik party, Russia adopted a new, European calendar, and had to add two weeks to its chronology. So when the country started celebrating New Year on January 1, in 1919, some people would continue celebrating it according to the old calendar, which was on January 14. Due to this calendar change, now we celebrate Christmas on January 7, not on December 25, as our ancestors used to.

Some people get into celebration of the Old New Year because they can not stop after celebrating New Year and Christmas!

St. Valentine’s Day, which is on February 14, is quite a new, but popular and well-accepted in Russia Catholic holiday. The holiday is celebrated in the same manner as it is celebrated in Catholic countries.

April Fools’ Day is unofficially, but very widely celebrated on April 1. Jokes are heard everywhere on this day. People play tricks on their colleagues, relatives and friends. Even if one fools you, you are not supposed to show any signs of bad temper. Otherwise, people will suspect you of the worst possible sin — the lack of humour.

Apart from this, Russians also celebrate the Children’s Day (June, 1), Day of Knowledge (September, 1), Mothers’ Day (last Sunday in November), Day of Elderly People (October, 5), Students’ Day (January, 25) and some other holidays.

c) Answer the following questions.

1. What types of holidays are distinguished in Russia?

2. What is an “official” holiday?

3. What are the origins of religious holidays in Russia?

4. What is characteristic for Russian professional holidays?

5. What other holidays are celebrated in Russia?

4.17. A) Put each of the following words in its correct place in the passage

below to complete the text about some British traditons.

b) Pick up the names of some major British holidays and festivals.

cottage cards meals exchanged breaks owes warm holy hands pumpkins conservative scarlet law houses cool

They say that the English are very (1) ______. They firmly stick to their customs and traditions. Their theatres are closed on Sundays because of the law, which has been in force since Shakespeare’s times. But cinemas are open because there were no cinemas when the (2) _____ was passed.

An English family prefers a small house with a garden to a flat in a block of flats. However, not all working people can afford a (3) ______. Nevertheless both the rich and the poor have a fire-place by all means. This is their tradition.

All over the country it is the custom to have (4) ________ at regular hours. Usually they have breakfast between 8 and 10 o'clock. Between 12 and 1 o'clock they have lunch. The third meal of the day is 5 o'clock tea. The English know how to make good tea. Seven cups of it in the morning will wake you up; nine cups will put you to sleep at night. If you are hot, tea will (5) ______ you off, and if you are cold, it will (6) ________ you up. They have dinner at 7 o'clock.

There are very beautiful and colourful ceremonies in Great Britain. They are also traditional. The most stirring of all London ceremonies is the Changing of the Guard. The ceremony takes place at Buckingham Palace - the Royal residence. It starts at 11.30 a.m. and lasts about 30 and 40 minutes. It is performed by the Guards who are dressed in their full ceremonial costumes of (7) ______ tunics and bearskin tall hats.

Holidays, festivals and celebrations in Great Britain are also connected with some colourful traditions. So, on Christmas Day in Britain the (8) _____ are decorated with holy and bunches of mistletoe. Christmas (9) ______ are arranged on mantelpieces, shelves, tables, and walls.

Halloween takes place on 31^st October and means a “(10) _____ evening”. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts. At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in (11) _____ and put a candle inside, which shines through the eyes. People may play different games such as trying to eat an apple from a bucket of water without using their (12) _______.

The Christian religion gave the world such a wonderful holiday as Easter. But the celebration (13) _____ its name and many of its customs and symbols to a pagan festival called Eostre. The egg, for instance, was a fertility symbol long before the Christian era. The ancient Persians, Greeks, and Chinese (14) ________ eggs at their spring festivals. In Christian times the egg took on a new meaning symbolizing the tomb from which Christ rose. The ancient custom of dying eggs at Easter time is still very popular.

There are a lot of customs and traditions at some colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. If a "fresher" comes late to dinner or (15) ________ one of the unwritten laws of behaviour, a senior student may order him to drink a large silver cup filled with beer. He must drink it in one attempt. If he succeeds, the senior student pays for it. If not, the cup is passed round the table at the expense of the "fresher".

As a rule, the English love and respect their customs and traditions.

c) Say whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. ___ The English don’t respect their traditions.

2. ___ An English family prefers a small house without a garden to a flat in a block of flats.

3. ___ All over the country it is the custom to have meals at regular hours.

4. ___ Usually they have breakfast in England between 10 and 12 o'clock.

5. ___ There are no beautiful ceremonies in Great Britain.

6. ___ The ceremony of Changing of the Guard takes place at Buckingham Palace.

7. ___ Halloween takes place on 1^st of October.

8. ___ The egg was a symbol of life.

9. ___ The ancient custom of dying eggs at Easter time is still very popular.

10. __ If a "fresher" comes late to dinner or breaks one of the unwritten laws of behaviour, a senior student may order him to sing a song.