8. Customs

Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some British customs are known all over the world: bowler hats, 5 o’clock tea and talking about the weather, fish and chips. Englishmen have many traditional holidays, such as Christmas, Halloween, Mother’s Day, Easter and others. Like our traditions there is also in Britain St Valentine´s Day in February and April Fool´s Day on April 1st.

In a real English breakfast you have fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato and mushrooms. Then there´s toast and marmalade or apple pie for dessert. Every English family has five o'clock tea.

Pubsare an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. They are open at lunchtime and again in the evening, but they close at 11 o´clock. Holidays: New year- is celebrated in a family with a traditional apple pie. the catholic churches in this day give concerts of organ music. InEnglandChristmasis the most widely celebrated festival. It’s the most colourful and merry holiday. Christmas meal is really traditional: stuffed turkey, boiled ham, mashed potatoes to be followed by plum pudding, mince pies, tea or coffee and cakes.

Another popular holiday is Guy Fawkes Night-it commemorates the discovery of the so-called Gunpowder Plot and it is widely celebrated throughout the country.

St. Valentine’s Dayis celebrated on 14^thof February.

Easter is a time when certain traditions are observed. Easter eggs always grace breakfast tables on Easter Day. Sometimes they are hidden about the house for children to find them.

Superstitions in Britain

Superstitions can be defined as, "irrational beliefs, especially with regard to the unknown" , can cause or fortell an event. If a black cat crosses ur path u will have bad luck, dropping a knife/fork means a company is coming. Many superstitions deal with important events such as birth, death, pregnancy, marriage. A person born on Sunday will have good luck. A bride and groom will have bad luck if see each other before the ceremony. Burning ears mean smb is talking about u.13^thFriday – unlucky day. It is human nature to believe in smth.

Habits in USAcame from UK so they are in some things similar, but the most of people in USA celebrate all festivals in private in their homes. Each of holidays is in American opportunity for inviting a lot of friends, but also strangers, to your hose, which undergoes a thorough cleaning and is decorated, before the party, in keeping with the celebration.

New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day

There are only a few customs kept by general public in the USA.There are some days dedicated to important persons of the past in American calendar: Martin Luther King's day, Lincoln's birthday or Washington's birthday.Easteris not a national holiday and most of Americans spend Easter Sunday with the family. Like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny - usually a person dressed up in a large, colorful rabbit suit - brings gifts of brightly colored eggs, candy and chocolate eggs and rabbits to children. Then comesMother's and Father's day- days dedicated to our parents because they really worth it. Between these two days isMemorial Daycelebrated. It honours Americans killed in all past wars and most recently all the death. Flowers and flags are replaced on the graves of the war-death. Quite antagonistic isIndependence day. It is the national birthday. There are parades, band concerts, speeches by public officials, and fireworks displays in the evenings. Labour Day, Columbus day, Veteran's day and Halloween is followed.

Thanksgiving day: The thanks were not only for the bountiful food, but also for the help of teaching them how to plant, hunt, fish, and then cook foods that were strange and unknown to them. It became a national American holiday many years later. Nowadays it is celebrated by a traditional dinner which main course is roast turkey.

Christmas: Every year on Christmas eve, the American President turns on the lights of the huge Christmas tree situated near the White house. Around the Christmas season churches, various organizations, and newspapers ask for donations of money and food for the needy, In the USA Christmas are not a family holiday, families invite friends to join them at dinner and often have give parties at Christmas-time.

Origin of Superstitions

The origin of superstitions can be connected with beliefs people held, in the old times. Fear about the unseen, less knowledge about the forces of nature and lack of general awareness laid the foundation of certain beliefs in society. These beliefs might have lacked logic, but there was nothing that could convince people otherwise. They were passed from one generation to another. There are two categories of superstitions, good luck superstitions and bad luck superstitions. for instance a black cat, a dead bird, an open umbrella, the number 13 and spilled salt symbolize bad luck, while a falling star, a horseshoe, a rabbit's foot and the number 7 are popularly associated with good luck.

Superstition in my opinion is a belief that an event is influenced by certain factors.

Tradition , are stories usually stored and transmitted from generation to generation. It is a system for transmitting information. Traditions are very important for a community facilitates relations between them . The whole community has the same traditions but each person of this community has his own superstitions different from others. At one point, superstitions are common with the traditions, Some traditions have evolved from the superstition . For example, somehow became a tradition to put something red to baby, not to be overlooked.

I think superstitions were born in some people's fears and after happenings that they could not explain .

traditions are made of pleasure and superstitions by fear.

We all are superstitious in our own small ways. We have these little notions of a particular color, number, object or person being lucky for us. We believe these little things can do us good. None of us is completely non-superstitious. Superstitions are our little support systems.