Seasons and Celebration

     There are many kinds of festival around the world. However, the way to celebrate them is different depends on each countries. Let's compare our culture to foreign countries.

     Before we gave our presentation about celebrations, we read "Seasons and Celebrations" published by Oxford Bookworms. This book shows 8 celebrations such as Halloween, Christmas and Easter. We can understand their origins and how to celebrate them in the world. Also, we can know how celebration has changed until now. On this blog, I picked 4 celebrations and introduce them.

   
     The first celebration is The New Year. In many places, people go to parties, bars or restaurants with friends or family in the evening. In New York, thousands of people go to Times Square. In London, people go to Trafalgar Square. People do there and look at the clock just before midnight. Then, they count the last ten seconds before the New Year begins. After that, they make a circle and sing an old song called 'Auld Lang Syne'. Many people drink a glass of champagne, light some fireworks, or dance until the sun comes up. 

  In contrary, Japanese people go to the shrine with their friends or family on January 1st. It is called "Hatumoude" in Japanese. Then, people eat oseti together. Oseti has many kinds of food such as kazunoko, datemakitamago, kuromame and so on. What children like the best is... "Otoshidama". Children can get some money from their grandparents and relatives.

     The second celebration is Easter. It is said that Easter is more important festival than Christmas. Easter begins with Good Friday that is the day the Romans killed Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem, about two thousand years ago. Easter Day is the Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring, so it is different every year. On Easter Day, people decorate eggs with different colors, then take them to the top of hill and they roll down. It is a one of the traditional event called 'egg-rolling'. Also, people give chocolate Easter eggs as presents. Furthermore, many people eat hot cross buns at Easter. These are made with fruit and spices, small loaves of bread, and they have a cross on top. 

     In Japan, there are few people who celebrate Eater Day. However, I think it is interesting and important for us to celebrate it because Easter Day means spring and new life. This concept connects with not only foreigners but also us. Let's celebrate next year!!!

     The third celebration is Halloween. Two thousand years ago, people who lived in Britain celebrated their New Year on November 1st. Then, the Christians cam and people celebrated 'Hallowmas', a three-day festival between October 31st and November 2nd. At that time, October 31st was called "All Hallow's Eve", then slowly the name changed to Halloween. By the way, do you know why people  celebrate Halloween? It is because people believed that bad spirits such as ghost came in the winter hundreds of years ago. Then, people wanted the bad spirits to go away, so they celebrate it. On Halloween day, people enjoy a lot of things. Some people make "Jack o' lantern". It is a kind of light, and people use big autumn fruit or vegetables to make it. Some people dress like witches and ghosts. Children enjoy some games. The most famous Halloween game is called 'bobbing for apples'. People put water and apples in a big bowl. The apples stay on top of water. Then, children try take an apple out of the water by their teeth.

     In Japan, many people also enjoy Halloween. However, some people get too carried away. Unfortunately, they are arrested by policemen every year. Maybe most of people don't know Halloween's purpose or history, so I think we should know about it.... and let's enjoy Halloween doing 'bobbing for apples' next year.

     The last celebration is Christmas. At Christmas, people remember when Jesus Christ was born and the Christian religion started. Now, Christmas is  very important for Christians, but it is also similar to us. We buy and give presents, have parties, and be with family. People start to get ready for Christmas in late October or early November. Many shops are decorated with lights, trees and so on. In the middle of December, most families also buy Christmas trees and decorate them. On  Christmas Eve, children leave a stocking for Santa Claus when they go to bed. Then, parents tell their children that Santa Claus comes when they are sleeping. It is the same way in Japan. When I was a child, my parents used to tell me such a thing. Then, I try sleeping earlier to get presents. On Christmas Day, people eat turkey with lots of winter vegetables and then hot mince pies or Christmas pudding. In Japan, when it comes to Christmas dinner, I can imagine "KFC". Many people eat "KFC" for Christmas in Japan. Christmas is coming! What will you ask Santa for? I dress Santa Claus and give my parents some Christmas presents. It is so happy to see them smiling with presents. I have to think what I give to them this year...I'm so excited!!! Have a nice Christmas!!

     Through this book and my research, I noticed that there are some different ways to celebrate between foreign countries and Japan. Also, I hadn't known the origins, histories, and purpose to celebrate. Thanks to these new knowledge, I'll be able to enjoy some celebration more and more next year!! I can't wait next year!!

Maguire, Jackie. (1997). Seasons and celebrations. London: Oxford University Press