Holidays and how to spend them

The life of each of us is full of “highdays”, exciting days, which we look forward to – like school trips, birthdays, visits to the circus or the theatre – and which we love to remember afterwards.

Other highdays are days, which many people can share – whole families, whole villages, sometimes whole nations – like Bonfire Night, Pancake Day in the United States of America. They are days on which people have been having a “high old time” for many years, sometimes for centuries.

Holidays used to be “holy day” in the calendar, when there was a rest from everyday work and people celebrated in honour of a particular saint of happening in the Church’s year: like St. George’s Day, Whitsun or Christmas.

Holy days were often printed in red in the calendar to remind people that they were special days, so they came to be known as “red-letter days”. Some of these holy days are many centuries old too, and all countries and races of people have their own.

Highdays and holidays are very important, because they bring something special into everyday life; take part in them and enjoy them as much as you can.

For people who work at the same job 8 hours a day, 11 months of the year, holidays are very important. A holiday is the one time in the year when people feel they can relax and forget about the pressures and problems that are normally part of their lives.

The whole point of holidays is that it should be a change. Most people like a change of scene; if they live up-country, they like to get a big town and spend their time looking at shops and visiting cinemas and museums and art galleries, and having gay evenings at hotel and dance; if they are city-dwellers, they like a quiet holiday in the hills or by the sea, with nothing to do but walk and bathe and lie in the sun.

However, changes of scenes are usually expensive, and many people, from lack of money, are obliged to spend their holidays in the same surroundings as their working days. What can these do it make their period of rest a real holiday?

The best thing is to choose some of occupations entirely different from their daily vacation.

The whole virtue of holidays, which brings a change of scene or occupation, is that it is only temporary. Sooner or later, it comes to an end, and the holidaymaker goes back to his normal life. If he has used his holiday well, he ought not to feel a very deep regret that it is over, however much he has enjoyed it, for it ought to have refreshed him and filled him with vigour for the true work to which he is now returning.

A Trip to the West Coast.

Vacations offer an interesting topic of conversation for friends and acquaintances. Travellers often send postcards to their friends and bring them back a small gift or souvenir. Showing pictures, slides, or videos from a trip is also common.

Fatima:	Oh hi, Julie. Finally back from your vacation, I see.
Julie:	What do you mean, “finally”? I feel like I’ve only been gone for two days instead of two weeks.
Fatima:	Well, you know what they say — “Time flies when you’re having fun.” You did have fun, didn’t you?
Julie:	Oh, it was marvelous. It is so beautiful. And it was so nice to get away from this cold, miserable weather. And those mountain views — they were absolutely breathtaking.
Fatima:	How was Vancouver?
Julie:	Busy. So much to see and do there. It was nice to take an urban holiday for a change, although next year I’ll be glad to go camping again.
Fatima:	So what all did you do?
Julie:	Oh, we went to Stanley Park and the aquarium, up Grouse Mountain and to museums and galleries. All the usual touristy things.
Fatima:	Did you get over to the island? It’s only two hours away by ferry, isn’t it?
Julie:	Yes, it was funny how on the ride over, everyone stayed out on deck to enjoy the view, but on the way back, we just sat inside like seasoned travellers and read magazines!
Fatima:	Victoria is a city I’ve always wanted to visit. They say it’s such an elegant city with a lot of British influence.
Julie:	We liked Victoria so much that we stayed on a day longer than we had planned.
Fatima:	Oh, well, one of these days I’ll get there myself. In the meantime, I better get back to work.
Julie:	Before you go — I got you this pin for your collection.
Fatima:	A tiny totem pole! It’s beautiful. Thank you very much.
Julie:	You’re welcome. Maybe you can come over on the weekend and I’ll show you my pictures and my souvenirs.
Fatima:	Sounds great.

you know what they say an expression used to introduce a saying or proverb; "they" refers to people in general

time flies time goes by quickly

breathtaking exciting or wonderful

touristy slang adjective form of “tourist”

ferry boat that transports cars and people

seasoned travellers experienced travellers

I better reduced spoken form of "I’d better"

totem pole poles carved by some northwest coast Aboriginal peoples

souvenirs small items to remind travellers of the places they have visited

Discussion.

1. Where do you think this dialogue is taking place? What is the probable relationship between Fatima and Julie?

2. Has Fatima ever been to the west coast of Canada?

3. Change the dialogue so that Julie has just come back from a visit to a city near where you live. Practise variations of the dialogue in pairs.

4. Give a short oral presentation to the class on a place you have visited or a place you would like to visit.

5. What kind of holiday do you prefer — sightseeing in a city, camping out or relaxing in a resort?