Time out

Social life

Having a social life is important to most Americans. After school and on the weekends, children play with other kids who live on their block or in their neighborhood. They may play ball or ride their bikes together near home or at the park.

Teenagers usually spend a lot of time with their friends just talking, or doing nothing special – just hanging out. They also like listening to music, and going to the movies, concerts, or dances. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, many teenagers have a boyfriend or girlfriend that they are going out with (in other words, dating exclusively). Teenage couples spend a lot of time hanging out together or with their friends.

Young adults, both single and married, enjoy going out on the weekends for a break in their routine. They might go with friends to a restaurant or bar, or go to each other's houses for dinner. They also enjoy going to the movies, theater, and concerts with their friends, or playing games like tennis or golf.

Family time

The hectic lifestyle of Americans does not stop the average family from doing things together. They enjoy playing table games like cards and checkers, and taking part in sports activities like tennis, baseball, or bowling. On the weekends, members of a family may go to a museum or movie together. Going to see a baseball, basketball, football, or tennis game is a great American pastime.

A mericans also love watching television together. Sitcoms – half-hour or one-hour comedy shows in the evening – are very popular. On the weekend there is usually some kind of sports game on TV, and friends and relatives go over to each other's houses to watch it together. While they are watching TV, they like to snack on junk food like potato chips or cookies. People who watch a lot of TV are called couch potatoes.

Going on vacation

There is so much to see in the United States that only 5 percent of Americans (about thirteen million) vacation outside the country. People who go to beach resorts on the east or west coasts stay in hotels and motels, or rent apartments or houses. Going on a cruise or flying to Florida, or an island in the Caribbean is popular during the winter months.

S ince traveling in the United States is so expensive, many Americans save on lodging and transportation by traveling in cars or vans and camping out in tents. There are campgrounds at popular vacation sites all over America. In the West, it is common to see families camping out in RVs (recreational vehicles), as they tour national parks like Yosemite in California and Yellowstone.

Airplane travel is also common in America. At holiday time, many people fly to other cities to visit friends and relatives. During the winter, many people take short vacations to places with warm climates, like Florida and the island of the Caribbean.

Public holidays

Americans usually have only two to three weeks' paid vacation a year, so they make the most of public holidays. Often public holidays fall on a Monday so people have only a minimum of extra time off.

Public holidays are the same throughout the country, although some states like Massachussetts and Maine have an extra holiday. They celebrate Patriot's Day on the third Monday in April to remember the first battle of the American Revolution.

Many people spend New Year's Day resting. That's because they've stayed up most of the night, greeting the New Year! Some went to parties at friends' homes or at nightclubs. Others were out on the streets, throwing con­fetti and blowing noisemakers. Many people make New Year's resolutions (to eat less, to work more, etc.). Few people keep their res­olutions.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which falls in January, around King's birthday, is a time to celebrate the life and achievements of this great American, who struggled for equal rights for black Americans.

Two other Americans are honored on Presidents’ Day. George Washington was the country’s first president. Abraham Lincoln brought the country through the Civil War. Their birthdays were both in February and are celebrated together.

Memorial Day, honors American soldiers who have died in wars. It marks the beginning of the summer. Many people take short vacations over the long holiday weekends. Others enjoy picnics or barbecues.

Labor Day is a holiday to honor working people all over America. It falls on the first Monday in September, marks the end of summer. For many students, the school year starts the day after Labor Day.

Columbus Day, which falls on the second Monday in October, celebrates Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492. As Columbus was Italian, working for Spain, Co­lumbus Day is an especially important holi­day for many Italian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans.

Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, comes in the middle of summer. It is another time to celebrate with barbecues and picnics, and many towns and cities across the nation have exciting fireworks displays in the evening. The Fourth of July is the day in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed and Americans started to fight for independence from the British.

O n Halloween (October 31) children wear costumes and go trick-or-treating. At each house they visit, they shout "Trick or treat?" Usually, people give the children candy, because they don't want to have a trick played on them. The windows of many houses have Halloween decorations and jack-o’-lanterns (pumpkins that have been carved with strange faces and have a candle inside).

In 1620 one of the first British settlements in America was established in Massachusetts. These settlers, known as Pilgrims, had come to America to freely practice their religion. They arrived in November, when it was too late to plant crops. Although many people died, the Pilgrim settlement survived the winter be­cause of help from Indians who lived nearby. The Indians taught the Pilgrims about corn and showed them where to fish. The next No­vember, after the crops were harvested, the Pilgrims gave thanks to God at a feast to which they invited the Indians.

Every year, Americans celebrate Thanks­giving on the fourth Thursday in November. Families and friends get together for a big feast. The meal usually includes roast tur­key with stuffing and gravy, a sweet sauce made from cranberries, sweet potatoes, and pump­kin pie. What a meal! It's not surprising that a recent Thanksgiving tradition is to sit after dinner in front of the TV watching a profes­sional football game.

After Thanksgiving, preparations for the winter holiday season begin. Christians celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas, and families and friends exchange cards and gifts. In fact, people start buying gifts right after Thanksgiving, although Christmas is a month away. Houses are decorated with Christmas trees and colored lights. On Christmas Day, children find presents from Santa Claus under the Christmas tree. Their parents tell them that Santa lives in the North Pole and, on the night before Christmas, he travels the world in a sled pulled by reindeer. He goes down the chimneys of houses to leave gifts for children who have been good. Naturally, children are the first to get out of bed on Christmas morning!