Easter around the world.doc

Easter around the world

Wielkanoc, najważniejsze święto dla chrześcijan, celebrowane jest rozmaicie na całym świecie. W Anglii można jeszcze zobaczyć cokolwiek dziwny widok żon podnoszących swych mężów. We Francji natomiast można usłyszeć pozdrowienia z okazji nowego roku!

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Americans celebrate Easter with sunrise services, Easter bunnies, eggs, and baskets. In some regions there is a custom of wearing new clothes at Easter. This is a very old tradition that goes back to first-century Christianity. At that time, baptisms generally took place once a year and people dressed in white gowns for the occasion. Those who had been baptised wore new clothes to indicate that they had risen to a new life with Christ.

GERMANY
Some Germans think it is good luck to eat green food on Thursday before Easter. At one time, some even believed that if they didn't eat a green salad they would turn into donkeys.
Germans started the tradition of the Easter bunny. A traditional children's game played on Saturday night before Easter is the rolling of eggs on tracks made of sticks. On Easter night huge festival fires are lit on hilltops.

THE UNITED KINGDOM
Today's Easter celebrations resemble the American tradition. Lots of chocolate Easter eggs are consumed! In the past, however, customs were quite different.
On Easter Monday, men carried their wives in chairs covered with white fabric and decorated with colourful ribbons. The following day, the ladies carried the men in the same way. The custom was to remind people of Christ rising from the grave.
Tradition also influenced the Monarchy. The sovereign used to wash the feet of the poor on the Thursday before Easter. The King or Queen washed the feet of as many people as the sum of his or her age.

WALES
The Welsh customarily decorated the graves of family members and friends on Easter Saturday. Decked with flowers the graveyard became a reminder of the promise that because of Christ's resurrection Christians will also one day be raised from the dead.

FRANCE
Church bells hang silently from Good Friday until Easter morning. The legend is that the bells do not ring because they go to Rome and return bringing gifts. When the bells ring at Easter, children go outside to collect Easter eggs and sweets that have "fallen from the sky." Occasionally one may hear the greeting "Happy New Year!" This is an ancient carry over from the time when Easter was sometimes on the same day as the beginning of a New Year.

ITALY
In Italy a visitor to a house never refuses the Easter eggs that have been blessed by the priest for this occasion. Usually the eggs are placed in the middle of a sweet bread that has been shaped into a chick, bunny, or doll. Making these special breads is a favourite family activity.

SWEDEN AND NORWAY
It is customary to bring budding branches from flowering trees into the house. In the warmth of the home, the buds burst open just in time for Easter. Sometimes the branches are made into Easter trees and hung with coloured eggs or feathers.
On the night before Easter, children go around in costumes delivering holiday letters and cards. They also set off fireworks.

THE NETHERLANDS
Throughout the country Easter is celebrated as a great Spring holiday. In homes there are charmingly laid tables with decorations of coloured eggs and early flowers. Paasbrood, a delicious sweet bread stuffed with raisins and currants is one of many traditional feast day specialities.

GREECE
People carry lighted candles at midnight services on Easter Eve. The worshippers leave the church with their candles lit. Many believe it is good luck to keep them burning until they reach home.
On Easter Day a special bread is eaten. It is called the Bread of Christ. A Greek cross representing the Crucifixion is always marked on its crust and the loaf is decorated with Easter eggs.
On Easter Monday traditional folk dances are performed.

MEXICO
In Mexico, Easter is a combination of Semana Santa (Holy Week - Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday) and Pascua (Resurrection Sunday until the following Saturday). For most Mexicans this 2 week period is THE time of the year for vacations (a good time NOT be on the roads - better to stay at home and enjoy the holiday with your family).
Semana Santa celebrates the religious aspects of the last days of the life of Christ. Pascua is the celebration of Christ's Resurrection. It is also a release from the penance of Lent!

Easter around the world
(Adapted from Anglorama)

ACTIVITY 1.
Read the text and put the jumbled paragraphs into the correct order (from 1-6)
a. -
b. -
c. -
d. -
e. -
f. -

a. Bread is the other form of Easter food that is very important in some countries. In Italy, sweet bread is shaped into a chicken, bunny or doll. On Easter Sunday, in Greece, the people eat what is called the 'Bread of Christ', marked with Greek cross to represent the Crucifixion. In the Netherlands, a delicious sweet bread, 'Paasbrood', stuffed with raisins and curtains, is produced as an Easter speciality.

b. Of course, you will always find some strange, or even bizzare customs, too! The Welsh focus on decoration of graves. The English used to decorate chairs on Easter Monday, and then husbands were carrying their seated wives! The next day - the reverse would happen! The Germans, though, get first place for craziness. They believe it is 'good luck' to eat green food on the Thursday before Easter and, at one time, they belived that not eating a green salad would turn you into a donkey!

c. I personally, would recommend you visit Latin America at Easter, because celebrations there are biggest ang most amazing in the world! In Guatemala, the biggest coffin I've ever seen was carried by more than 300 people across the city of Antiqua on a very hot day. They paid for the privilege to do so! All the streets were covered in flowers - very colorful - and flowers were also showered onto the coffin, which represented Christ's burial place. This unforgettable event was finished with many different forms of gunfire and cannon-fire!

d. Clothes can also play an important part in Easter celebrations. On the night before Easter, Swedish and Norvegian children go around their local home towns in fancy costumes, delivering holiday letters and cards. And in some regions of the USA everyone wears new clothes at Easter, showing that they have began new life with Christ.

e. Have you ever asked yourself, "How is Easter celebrated around the world?", "Are Polish customs unique?", "Is the eating of eggs popular in most countries?"

f. Well, eggs - the chocolate ones - are eatten in large numbers in the USA, Britain and France. You can see decorative eggs in Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands. Germans prefere simply to play with them - they roll the eggs on tracks made of sticks.

ACTIVITY 2.

Write a paragraph (100 words), describing Easter celebrations in Poland. Outline the regional variations/customs.

ACTIVITY 3.

Using the text details, prepare an Easter quiz for your friends (minimum: 15 questions). Search the Web for more information, if necessary.

ACTIVITY 4.

Prepare a wall-chart, showing in symbolic form, the customs adopted by the various countries around the world. Present this to the class, explaining your pictures, where necessary.

PROJECTS:
Focus on one country, and study further how it celebrates Easter. Collect samples of songs, customs, interviews with native-speakers, pictures, etc. to put into a booklet entitled for example "The USA at Easter". Web searchers may help you greatly, to get the information you need.

GLOSSARY:
shape - ukształtować
mark - oznaczać
stuff - nadziać, wypchać
bizarre - bardzo dziwny
focus on - koncentrować się na
grave - grób
reverse - odwrotność
craziness - szaleństwo
turn you into - zamienić cię w
recommend - polecać
amazing - zachwycający
coffin - trumna
shower - tu: obficie posypywać
represent - oznaczać
burial place - miejsce pochówku
unforgettable - niezapomniany
gunfire - wystrzały z broni
cannon-fire - wystrzały z dział
fancy costumes - wymyślne przebrania
unique - wyjątkowy
decorative - ozdobny
roll - toczyć
track - szlak
stick - patyk

TRY IT OUT! Extra tips for the teacher
Think of a traditional Polish Easter dish and write a detailed recipe.

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