Christmas is a religious holiday celebrated on the 25-th of December. On this day Americans celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and sing, Christmas carols. Another important tradition is sending Christmas cards. People start sending cards to their relatives and friends early in December, Going home for Christmas, is another good tradition. Christmas is considered to be a family celebration and every person must come back home on this day.

This means that at Christmas, American houses are full of aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives who might not see each other for a year. Americans put up a Christmas tree and decorate it with toys and sweets. There are religious ceremonies at churches on Christmas Day and families usually attend them. The Christmas table is very big. You can see turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, pies and other food. In the morning, children hurry to the Christmas tree to look for presents. They hang big colorful socks for Santa Claus to put presents inside. Everybody starts unwrapping presents and thanking each other.

The word "Christmas" is derived from the words "Christ's Mass" - the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. But although Christmas is undoubtedly a Christian celebration, it is also true to say that it is an unusual combination of pagan and Christian festivities. A Christmas tree stands in everybody's living room at Christmas, shining its good cheer around the room. Sitting on the very top of the tree is a silver star surrounded by tiny lights. All the branches are hung with silver bells, tinsel and sparkling lights. Around the base of the tree lie, the gifts and toys wrapped up in bright colorful paper.

The Christmas tree has spread its influence around the world. In fact, America adopted it before it found its way to England early in Queen Victoria's reign. Now every Christmas British people are sent a huge fir tree from Norway, which stands in Trafalgar Square, in the centre of London, shining down on all the people who gather on Christmas Eve. In pre-Christian times evergreens, trees that remain green throughout the year. Were worshiped in Northern Europe as symbols of eternal life. Mistletoe, hung up as a Christmas decoration is a symbol of love and reconciliation. Holly, a well-known Christmas decoration today, has Christian associations. In Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, holly is known as "Christ's thorns", the legend being that Christ wore a crown of holly thorns before his death. Some people have seen associations between the word "holly" and "holy". Giving presents goes back to Roman Saturnalia when good luck gifts of fruit, pastry or gold were given to friends on New Year's Day. In Britain, the traditional day to give presents until relatively recently was December 26thand not as it is today, Christmas Day. December 26th is now known as Boxing Day, for it was then that the priests of the middle Ages opened alms boxes to give to the poor.

Not all Christian customs and traditions are of ancient origin. Although various people have claimed to have designed the first Christmas card. William Egley, an English artist, seems to have the best claim. In 1842, he designed his own card and sent it to one hundred of his friends. Today three billion are sent annually in the United States alone.

It is difficult to speak about England without speaking about its holidays. Christmas Day is among them. All English people celebrate Christmas (or X- mas) on the 25th of December. Christmas! What kind of holiday is it? It is the yearly celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It falls on December 25 by the Catholic Church and on the 7th of January by the Orthodox Church. This holiday means the beginning of the new year and the new life. English people celebrate this holiday with the evergreen tree — Christmas tree. Children rut along sock, called a Christmas stocking at the end of their beds and Santa Claus conies down the chimney to bring them presents. Christmas Day is the greatest holiday in England. It is interesting to visit the shops before this holiday. There are a lot of nice Christmas cards and presents there. English people like this holiday very much and prepare for it beforehand. They buy presents for each other, try to send Christmas cards for their relatives and friends. It is interesting to visit London during this holiday. There is a Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. We can see many lights, toys and sweets all over this tree. Everywhere you can see slogans "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". The traditional English dinner on Christmas is turkey and pudding.

New Year's Day is celebrated on the 1-st of January but Americans begin celebrating it on the 31-st of December, There is a big celebration in Times Square in New York City on this day. New Year's Day is not as widely celebrated as Christmas. On January 1 Americans visit friends, relatives and neighbours. There are parties and а lot of food. People watch television together and write New Year’s resolutions.

At midnight on 31st December bells will ring out around the world to welcome the New Year. Although certain countries and religions calculate time by other calendars most countries in the world now number their years according to the Gregorian calendar introduced in the 16th century by Pope Gregory XIII. This calendar was intended to overcome the confusion caused by calculating time according to the moon's phases.

In Europe traditions vary considerably, but most of them involve a meal or special food. Swiss housewives bake special bread, rich in butter, eggs and raisins. They also cook roast goose. Children go from house to house greeting the occupants and receiving invitations to come inside. People in Italy hold all-night parties, where salt pork lentils are included on the menu. Lentils are supposed to be lucky and bring money - perhaps because they look like small piles of gold coins. There is a practical reason for meals featuring in these new year festivities. Most people stay up all night, or at least until midnight to "see the New Year in", so sustenance is essential. Also there is common superstition that if the new year begins well it will continue like that.

So great efforts are made to provide an atmosphere of goodwill and plenty. Parties are arranged a drink flow freely. In Spain it is a custom to eat, ^ grapes at midnight and toast the new year in champagne. at family gatherings. Groups of friends visit restaurants in Turkey intending to spend the night in celebrations which include present giving. So a people in Greece play cards, hoping that a win will bring them luck for a whole year.

There is one day a year when all Americans stay home with their families and eat a big dinner. This is Thanksgiving Day. The pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of The pilgrims sailed to America on board the "Mayflower" ship for religious freedom. They were among the first European settlers in America. There were people living in America before the pilgrims arrived. These people were the Native American Indians.

The pilgrims first winter in the New World was very difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops. Without fresh food half of the pilgrims died. The following spring the Indians taught the pilgrims how to hunt, fish, plant and survive in America.

The crops did well and in the fall of 1621 pilgrims had a great harvest. They were thankful and decided to celebrate with a Thanksgiving feast. They prepared a dinner of turkey, corn, beans and pumpkins

They invited their Indian friends to share this feast. The Indians brought food for the feast too (they even brought popcorn! ). Americans still celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the fall. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Turkey is still the main dish and pumpkin pie is the most popular dessert.

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