PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL OCCASIONS
IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IN THE USA
Listed below are some holidays and special occasions celebrated in Great Britain and in the USA.
Which of them are common for both countries?
| The United Kingdom | The USA |
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Bank Holiday - 1 January St. Valentine's Day - 14 February Easter - March or April Four Saint's Days: St. David's Day - 1 March (Wales) St. Patrick's Day - 17 March (Ireland) St. George's Day - 23 April (England) St. Andrew's Day - 30 November (Scotland) Halloween - 31 October Guy Fawkes' Night - 5 November Christmas - 25 December |
New Year's Day - 1 January Martin Luther King's Birthday - the third Monday in January St. Valentine's Day - 14 February President's Day (Washington's Birthday) - the third Monday in February Easter - March or April Memorial Day - the last Monday in May Independence Day - 4 July Labor Day - the first Monday in September Columbus Day - the second Monday in October Halloween - 31 October Veterans Day - 11 November Thanksgiving Day - the fourth Thursday in November Christmas - 25 December |
The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England.
Mother's Day is traditionally observed in Great Britain in March. The day used to be known as Mothering Sunday and dates from the time when many girls worked away from home as domestic servants in big households, where their hours of work were often very long. Mothering Sunday was established as a holiday for these girls and gave them an opportunity of going home to see their parents, especially their mothers. They used to take presents with them, often given to them by the lady of the house.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe the celebration changed to honor the "Mother Church" - the spiritual power that gave them life and protected them from harm. Over time the church festival blended with the Mothering Sunday celebration. People began honoring their mothers as well as the church.
When the labour situation changed and everyone was entitled to regular time off, this custom remained, though the day is now often called "Mother's Day". People visit their mothers if possible and give them flowers and small presents.
If they cannot go, they send a "Mother's Day card", or they may send one in any case. The family try to see that the mother has as little work to do as possible, sometimes the husband or children take her breakfast to her in bed and they often help with the meals and the washing up. It is considered to be Mother's day-off.
The idea to keep Mother's Day was very popular in the United States of America, too, as far back as at the beginning of the twentieth century.
In the United States Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organized Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass every year.
In 1907 Ana Jarvis, from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.
On May 8,1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation making the second Sunday in May a day for "public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country." On Mother's Day, American children follow the tradition of giving their mothers gifts which they have made themselves, or bought in stores. Adults give their mothers red carnations, the official Mother's Day flower.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honoured by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.
Father's Day was declared a national event in 1924 to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations."
b) What kind of events are Father's Day and Mother's Day? Speak about a similar celebration in your country.
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.
Howard Johnson (c. 1915)
Quotations:
"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them."Victor Hugo
All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. Abraham Lincoln
A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. Washington Irving
The mother loves her child most divinely, not when she surrounds him with comfort and anticipates his wants, but when she resolutely holds him to the highest standards and is content with nothing less than his best. Hamilton Wright Mabie
A mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart - a heart so large that everybody's grief and everybody's joy found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation. Mark Twain
One the best way to celebrate Mother's Day is to give your mom the day off. Let her take it easy and relax while the rest of the family does the work.
Many families begin Mother's Day with breakfast in bed. Usually Dad and the kids will let mom sleep late as they go into the kitchen and prepare her favorite meal. A Mother's Day breakfast can consist of anything your mom likes.
After the food is cooked arrange everything nicely on a tray. Don't forget the vase with a single flower. With spring here, the children can pick a tulip or daffodil from the garden outside. When everything is ready, carefully carry the tray and mom's favorite sections from the newspaper to her bedroom. Cards and small presents from the children can be placed on the tray before it is presented to mom in bed.
Many families make a special Mother's Day dinner or take mom out to her favorite restaurant for a meal. It is a good day to let your mom relax and let her see what a wonderful family she has.
А роеm is the sweetest way to convey your feelings. Touch your mom's heart with this poem.
WHENEVER I'M AWAY FROM HOME, MOTHER
Your love for your mother
is something that you never
completely comprehend
until you are separated by the miles
from her warmth and her wonder.
When I was living at home,
I took many things for granted
without meaning to
and I always knew
what a precious person you were
but I never really took the time
to go beyond the thought
and into what you really meant to me.
Now that I'm without you by my side,
I find myself thinking of you so often...
hoping in a way that it will
bring you a little closer to me.
And in those thoughts
I always come to the conclusion
that you are more than my mother,
you're a counselor and a companion;
you're a dear friend and a happy home;
you're a thousand beautiful memories
and you're someone
whom I love with all my heart.
By Collin McCarty
Top 10 Momisms
You 've heard your mom say it hundreds of times, you are now saying it. You know what we're talking about, those lines all moms seem to have handy when they need the kids to obey.
- Why? Because I said so, that's why!
- I'm going to give you until the count of three!
- It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
- "I don't know" is NOT an answer.
- I would never have talked to my mother like that.
- I'm not running a taxi service.
- If everyone jumped off a cliff would you do it too?
- Someday your face will freeze like that.
- It hurts me more than it hurts you.
- I love you.
- Money doesn't grow on trees.
- Were you born in a barn? Shut the door.
- Go ask your dad.
- I'm not talking just to hear my own voice.
- I hope someday when you have kids they're just like you, then you'll know.
- Bob, Sue, Joe, Fido...whatever your name.