martes, 24 de abril de 2012
jueves, 19 de abril de 2012
Easter in England!
Hi,
I know this is a little late but I thought I would tell you all about Easter in my country.
In England, Easter is not widely celebrated as a religious holiday. There are religious ceremonies over Easter weekend, but the majority of people don't really celebrate in a religious way.
In schools, we have two weeks off to celebrate Easter. The special days include: Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Sunday. This year, Easter weekend started on Friday 6th April and finished on Monday 9th April. We also celebrate Shrove Tuesday. This takes place before Easter, and is more commonly called 'Pancake Day'. On this day, everyone eats pancakes. This started because in the olden days, people used to give up all rich foods for 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter, so they would have a feast the day before. These days, most people just give up one item of luxury food, for most this is something such as meat or chocolate. Most Christian people take part in Lent, even if they are not very religious. The day after pancake day is called Ash Wednesday, and this is the official date Lent begins. Lent finishes on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The main reason Christians celebrate Lent is because in the Bible, it says that Jesus spent 40 nights alone in the desert and was not tempted by the food offered by the Devil. Christians stop eating luxury foods for 40 days to represent the sacrifice made by Jesus.
The main tradition at Easter in England is to give chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday, and they are delivered by the Easter Bunny (a bit like Santa Claus bringing presents at christmas!). These are given on Easter Sunday to celebrate the end of Lent, when people can eat luxury foods again. We give chocolate eggs because an egg is a symbol of a new life, and this represents Jesus being resurrected. People used to give decorated eggs to each other at Easter, but now we have changed to chocolate eggs. However, in primary schools, most children spend the day before the Easter holidays decorating eggs in school, and there are usually competitions to judge who has the best decorated egg.
As you can see, Easter is very different in England compared to Spain!!
I know this is a little late but I thought I would tell you all about Easter in my country.
In England, Easter is not widely celebrated as a religious holiday. There are religious ceremonies over Easter weekend, but the majority of people don't really celebrate in a religious way.
In schools, we have two weeks off to celebrate Easter. The special days include: Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Sunday. This year, Easter weekend started on Friday 6th April and finished on Monday 9th April. We also celebrate Shrove Tuesday. This takes place before Easter, and is more commonly called 'Pancake Day'. On this day, everyone eats pancakes. This started because in the olden days, people used to give up all rich foods for 40 days (not including Sundays) before Easter, so they would have a feast the day before. These days, most people just give up one item of luxury food, for most this is something such as meat or chocolate. Most Christian people take part in Lent, even if they are not very religious. The day after pancake day is called Ash Wednesday, and this is the official date Lent begins. Lent finishes on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The main reason Christians celebrate Lent is because in the Bible, it says that Jesus spent 40 nights alone in the desert and was not tempted by the food offered by the Devil. Christians stop eating luxury foods for 40 days to represent the sacrifice made by Jesus.
The main tradition at Easter in England is to give chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday, and they are delivered by the Easter Bunny (a bit like Santa Claus bringing presents at christmas!). These are given on Easter Sunday to celebrate the end of Lent, when people can eat luxury foods again. We give chocolate eggs because an egg is a symbol of a new life, and this represents Jesus being resurrected. People used to give decorated eggs to each other at Easter, but now we have changed to chocolate eggs. However, in primary schools, most children spend the day before the Easter holidays decorating eggs in school, and there are usually competitions to judge who has the best decorated egg.
As you can see, Easter is very different in England compared to Spain!!
martes, 10 de abril de 2012
Easter In the USA
Easter is a catholic holiday in the United States just like it is here in Spain. However, there are a few traditions that even non-religious families celebrate. The first is the dying or coloring of eggs known as "Easter Eggs" which is used to symbolize the tomb of Jesus. Before Easter Sunday, friends and families get together to dye eggs to make colorful and pretty. Although this is traditionally a religious activity, it is very fun for young children and has become more of a tradition celebrating spring which has arrived.
Here are 2 examples of Easter Eggs:
The second tradition is called an Easter Egg Hunt. This is also a fun activity for young children in which parents hide the (sometimes visible) Easter Eggs from the kids. The kids then find and collect the hidden eggs. It happens both inside and outside of houses but is most common outside in parks and large areas.
Below are a few photos of an Easter Egg Hunt:
Here are 2 examples of Easter Eggs:
The second tradition is called an Easter Egg Hunt. This is also a fun activity for young children in which parents hide the (sometimes visible) Easter Eggs from the kids. The kids then find and collect the hidden eggs. It happens both inside and outside of houses but is most common outside in parks and large areas.
Below are a few photos of an Easter Egg Hunt:
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