22.

A Rituals in Today's World

22. Rituals in Today's World

(weddings, funerals, celebrations, different ages of man)
Introduction: I will be talking about rituals in today’s world and celebrations across the world.
Birth: When mother and child arrive home from the hospital, relatives and friends will visit them.
English women often give babies presents before their birth at a party called a Baby Shower. The
Czech custom is that the husband gives the wife a present after the child is born. It’s very common
for the husband to be with his wife in the delivery room and experience the blessed event.
Birthdays and Name days: Children’s birthdays are celebrated. There is always a cake with candles
and the birthday child gets presents. Adults also have parties and celebrations, but in the States,
friends and relatives throw parties for the birthday person. They don’t have name days in the USA.
Weddings: Americans don’t eat, drink, sing, or dance as much as Czechs do at weddings. They wear
the same clothing as we do. American women never rent a wedding gown. It is traditional for the
bride(nevěsta) to wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The
groom(bridegroom = ženich) often rents his tuxedo. They have a maid of honour and a best man too.
They don’t break plates at the restaurants and the groom doesn’t carry the bride inside. Wedding
receptions in the USA usually last four or five hours. One of the wedding customs is tossing the
groom’s garter (házení kytice) over his shoulder towards all the bachelors. Whoever catches the garter
will be the next one to get married. Americans usually decorate their car with shaving cream and tie
cans on the back bumper so that they drag behind the car and make lots of noise. They don’t put a
doll on the front of the car.
Holidays and rituals in the USA
Halloween: 31st October - the day before All Saints' Day. Children prepare their costumes (witches,
fairies, devils, monsters and other scary beings) and pumpkins, which are hallowed out and a face is
cut into the pumpkin's skin. Inside a candle is placed the tight of which shines out through the face.
Such a pumpkin is called a Jack Lantern. Children go „trick or treat“ in their costumes. This is when
they go from house to house performing a little song or rhyme for sweets.
Thanksgiving Day: In September 1620 a group of English pilgrims arrived after 66 dangerous days
across the Atlantic Ocean to their new home New England. Sometimes the Pilgrims fought with the
Indians but they also learned a lot from them. The Indians showed them how to grow and cook new
kinds of fruit and vegetables. The first winter was difficult. Many of the Pilgrims died because it was
very cold and they had little food. In the spring they started to grow food, helped by some friendly
Indians, and in the autumn of 1621, they celebrated their first harvest. The pilgrims wanted to give
thanks, not only for the harvest but for their new home, new life and new friends. The date of
Thanksgiving Day in the USA has changed three times, but it is now the fourth Thursday in
November. Most Americans have dinner with their families. The traditional dinner is turkey and
pumpkin pie.
Easter: Easter in America is celebrated on a Sunday. The holiday has lost much of its religious
significance. Instead of going to church, many Americans travel, go shopping or go to watch sporting
events such as baseball. A popular activity for children is the painting of "Easter eggs". The children
use many different colours and many of the eggs are quite beautiful. Also, there is something called
an "Easter egg hunt". Parents hide the Easter eggs all over the house and reward the children with a
present of chocolate or candy when they find them.
Christmas: Christmas in the United States of America is not a national holiday, because not all
Americans are Christians, but it is a typical winter holiday and all shops are closed and people have a
rest day on Christmas. All shops and streets are decorated with trees and lights. Christmas carols can
22. B Rituals in Today's World

be heard everywhere. Families decorate their houses inside and outside, too. They have a Christmas
tree decorated in the living room. The President of the United States of America switches on the
Christmas tree in the Rockefeller Center and after that people switch on other trees in the states.
People like having a lot of presents under the tree. They sing carols and Santa Claus comes on
Christmas Day and the children open their boxes with their presents and adults exchange presents,
too. Christmas in the United States of America isn’t a family day. Families invite friends, they serve the
traditional Christmas dinner – roast turkey and often give parties. On Boxing Day many shops are
open although people don’t work. Just after Christmas big sales begin and large shops sell off their
stock at low prices.