Customs and traditions in Great Britain and Belarus

The proverb says «So many countries, so many customs» and it is really so, as every country has its own customs and traditions which make it special and differ it from other countries of the world. Traditions are said to reflect the national character.

For example, British people are known to be conservative and slow to adopt rational reforms such as the metric system. This conservatism on a national scale is quite vivid in the public attitude to the monarchy, which is still respected in Britain. British royal ceremonies are very spectacular, they are great tourist attractions and help the tourist trade. Highlights of the ceremonial year are the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace, the Trooping of the Colour, the State Opening of Parliament.

The Guard changes every day at 11.30 in front of Buckingham Palace. This ceremony usually gathers a crowd of tourists.

The Trooping of the Colour is a big parade with brass bands and hundreds of soldiers at Horse Guard's Parade, held to celebrate the Queens official birthday in June. Soldiers march in front of the Queen with their flags (or colours).

The official opening of Parliament usually takes place at the end of October or beginning of November. The Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage - the Irish State Coach. At the houses of Parliament the Queen sits on the throne in the House of Lords. Then she reads the "Queen's Speech". At the State Opening of Parliament the Queen wears a crown and other jewels from the Crown Jewels.

As for holidays, there are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain. They are: Christmas Day, Good Friday, Ester Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and late summer Bank Holiday, Boxing Day. The type of celebration of these public holidays varies very much according to the local custom, family tradition and personal taste.

We in Belarus also celebrate Easter and Christmas, but as our country is inhabited by people belonging to different religions, the government recognizes both Orthodox and Catholic Christmas and Easter as red-letter days. This fact proves Belarusian people are tolerant to all religions.

Boxing Day is a traditional British holiday, which is not celebrated in our country. It is the day following Christmas day (26 December). It was formerly the custom to give "Christmas boxes" of gifts of money to servants and tradesman. Nowadays people just give presents to each other, but on annual Christmas gift are still given to dustmen or paperboys

There are also some festivals in Britain, which celebrate some historical or mythical events.

For example, the Welsh Eisteddfod Festival is a sort of Druid festival, as well as a famous festival of music and poetry. Here people dressed in traditional Welsh costumes name the bard of the year. Halloween has its roots in the pagan Celtic festival of Samhain. It was the day when the spirits of their dead were believed to revisit their homes. So people dress in costumes and lit the candles in pumpkins with cut-out grim faces to scare the evil off their homes.

Due to its geographical position, Belarus has always been a place of interaction of different nations and of their cultures, a kind of crossroads where the Catholic West met the Orthodox East. The international contrast over the centuries is made Belarusian people tolerant and hospitable. However, this tolerance to other customs and tradition has become the danger to the sense of our national identity. Many ethnic Belarusian assimilated into other cultures and did not care about the Belarusian culture and language. But since Belarus became independent there has been a revival of interest in Belarusian culture. For example, the Festivals and Tournaments of Knights are held to represent the medieval culture. Besides, the museums of folk lifestyle (as "Dudutki" and "Aziartso") are becoming very popular. They are ready to present the old ceremonies of matchmaking, wedding and seeing off winter, which are very colorful and unforgettable. Some of these ceremonies are quite ancient, as the roots of Belarusian culture come from pagan times. The most famous folk festivals are Maslenitsa, Spring Calling, Kupalle, Dazhynki and Kaliady.

Maslenitsa is an old Slavic holiday, when people celebrate the end of winter. They eat pancakes, which are the symbols of the sun and burn the dummy of Marena, made of straw, which is the symbol of winter.

Kupalle is the most mysterious of all Belarusian festivals. It symbolizes the struggle between good and evil. So, people gather around big bonfires, dance, sing songs and jump over the fire to purify themselves by it. In the evening, young people look for the magic fern flower, which is said to bring luck.

Dazhynki celebrates the end of harvest, when the last sheaf of grain, decorated with flowers and ribbons is brought from the field with singing and dancing.

There are also some stereotypes, connected with the private life of British and Belarusian people. For example the proverb "The Englishman's home is his castle" implies that the British are the nation of stay-at-homes. And Belarusians are said to be fond of proverbs, riddles, tales, prediction and herbal medicine.

No 18. Speak about stereotyped ideas that people may have about the way of life in another country. Compare Belarusians Britons (Americans). Explain why they are so different.

As it is known, every country tends to accept its own way of life as being the normal one and to praise or criticize others as they are similar to or different from it. And unfortunately our picture of the people and the ways of life in other countries is often a distorted one. We like to "pigeon-hole", to categorize and generalize about nationalities. We are used to creating national stereotypes and clinging tenaciously to our prejudices. But of course we are not always right behaving and thinking in such a way, even though there really can be distinguished certain features typical of this or that nation, as every nation has a reputation of some kind.

Let's take the British, for example. The attitude to this nation is quite mixed, because in fact the British is the collective name for the English, the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish.

The national character of the English has been very differently described. Some people find them calm, reserved, open-minded and trustworthy, while others consider them to be hidebound, insular and superior. But what is definite about this nation is that the English are a nation of stay-at-home. "There's no place like home", they say and "The Englishman's home is his castle". English people are traditional in many ways, they do enjoy doing things that have been done for generations and they don't like to adopt themselves to something new. Traditionally, the English are thought to be reserved, shy of strangers, suspicious of changes and slow to accept new ideas. Foreigners coining to England are struck at once by quite a number of customs and traditions in English life seemingly incompatible with the modern way of life and technical conditions of a highly developed country. The English are honest, responsible, self-disciplined and courteous people.

People, living in England don't like displaying their emotions in dangerous and tragic circumstances. They pride themselves on being well-tempered and cheerful under difficulties. They don't like boasting and showing off in manners, dress or speech. However, in spite of all these positive characteristics, some people are absolutely convinced the English are a nation of the most illogical and snobbish people in the world.

As for the Welsh, they are renowned for their singing ability as well as for their language and cultural traditions. They are really gifted in the art of self-expression in words; they are not afraid of being poetic in speech and they make ordinary conversations as bright as possible. Besides, there is much literary, musical and dramatic activity in modem Wales and it was always been called "the Land of Songs".

The Scots also have some national distinctions. They are said to be very serious, cautious, thrifty, rather inventive and even mystical.

While speaking about the Irish I should say that they are known for their charm and vivacity as well as for the beauty of the Irish girls. Moreover, the Irish are said to be great talkers.

You see that the national stereotypes of the British are quite varied, but in fact people living in the UK are as individual as any other nations.

One of the countries that is different from GB in many ways is no doubt the USA. While the British are known to be conservative, the Americans are the people who like changes and who are always open to new ideas. They are incurable optimists, though it is believed that there are many social pressures and perpetual strains in America.

The generalization often made about Americans is that they value their individualism highly. They place great emphasis on their individual differences, on having a great number of choices and on doing things in their own way.

Some more values that are said to be important to the Americans are the family, privacy ^choice in education and freedom. However, it is obvious that all these factors are no less important to us either, as well as to any person living in the world.

Discussing the American nation, we can't but mention such things as the American's mania about personal cleanliness, love for cars and prepacked food, besides they say the American children are really unbearable.

On the whole, Americans tend to be considered trend-setters in life styles, but what is thought to be typically American today probably won't be so for long.

To finish up the list, I'd like to tell some facts about the Belarusians. Even though I can hardly judge my native nation objectively I think that it is one of the kindest nations in the world. The Belarusians are sincere and open-hearted. They don't remember evil and easily forgive their offenders. The character of a Belarusian is deliberate, composed and mild, with well-developed will, domination over himself and tolerance at work. Our people have gentle souls with extremely high sensitivity and imagination. The evidence of this is the beauty and wealth of our national poetry. The Belarusians are very generous and hospitable and will hardly find a home where the hosts will hesitate to give a guest cm open-hearted welcome.

Some people say that the Belarusians are passive, listless and even cowardly. We can't say, however, whether it is true or not, because we are Belarusians ourselves and it's much easier to speak of something or someone from outside.

Most of the distinctions between these nations can be explained by their different origins as well as by the different conditions their ancestors used to live in, which include the climate, the landscape and even the geographical position of the countries. So nowadays these nations have their individual peculiarities based on their historical past and the heritage of their own.

You see here are the descriptions of these nations. But I can hardly say that everything I've told about them is the exact truth. I've never been to GB or the USA myself, so it is more commonly to be called the set of stereotypes. But I'm strongly determined that a person should form his or-her attitude towards this or that nation not in accordance with one's words, but from his or her own experience.

No 19. Speak about different ways of travelling. Compare their advantages and disadvantages. Explain your choice.

I'm extremely fond of traveling - feel terrible envious of any friend who is going anywhere. I can't help feeling I should so much like to be in his place. Generally, the choice of means of traveling is vast and you can always choose something which you can afford and which at the same time will more or less satisfy your demands.

For most people, speed is a very important factor when they are traveling, so they prefer traveling by air because nothing can match airplanes for speed and comfort. Though airplanes have the disadvantage of being the most expensive means of traveling. But I think this high fare is worth paying as it takes only some hours to get to any place on the Earth. Besides, flying is a thrilling thing. You can enjoy a breathtaking bird's eye view of the world. You really see the shape of the land. But for almost everyone safety is the most important factor. So many people don't fly, because they are scared of plane crashes. But I should say that there are more road casualties per day than air deaths per year.

Another method of traveling is going by train. It's rather popular as it is comparatively cheap. Besides, from the comfortable corner seat of a railway carriage you have a splendid view of the whole countryside. If you are hungry you can have a meal in the dining car and if the journey is long you can have a birth in a sleeper.

But going by train is still very slow and tiring. Hardly anyone can positively enjoy sitting in a train for more than a few hours. Reading is only a partial solution as it's almost impossible to take your mind off the journey, off the monotonous rhythm of the wheels clicking on the rails.

I think I should also say a word or two for cars. Traveling by car is very convenient; you can stop everywhere you wish. There is no need to book tickets or to worry about our luggage, you are the master of the situation. Although while travelling by car you can't really enjoy the countryside and imagine that the car will break in the middle of nowhere? And what about the troubles of filling up a car with the petrol! Besides, if you are not able to travel with a friend who can take turns with you at the wheel, in can be rather tiring to travel alone.

I think there is no travel so romantic as by boat. It's nice to feel the deck of the boat under your feet, to see the rise and fall of the waves and to feel the fresh sea wind blowing in your face or hear the cry of the sea-gulls. Besides, traveling by sea offers you a great variety of civilized comforts. You can play games, meet interesting people, swim and enjoy good food. It's always amazing if you are a good sailor. But, some people .are seasick, especially when the sea is a little bit rough. Moreover travelling by sea takes a lot of time. Relatively two people are prepared to sacrifice up to a third of their holidays tor the pleasure of travelling on board a ship.

And still the most popular means of traveling is going on foot. I think it's the best way to see all the places you are passing by. The walker leaves the dull broad highway and goes along little winding paths, where cars can't go. He sees and explores the real country, all kinds of flora and fauna; he feels the quietness and calm of nature. And besides, you are saving your money traveling on foot. No one can deny that walking is the cheapest method of traveling. So I say a walking tour is just for me.

No 20. Describe the system of transport in Minsk and in London. Compare the peculiarities of these transport systems. Prove their importance for the development of the cities.

Nowadays people more and more travel abroad. And every person should remember that there are some peculiarities of the traffic rules and transport system in each country. To avoid different problems travellers should know these peculiarities and if you were in London you would be surprised by the differences of the transport system in this city and in Minsk.

The main difference is that London's traffic keeps to the left. While in our city it keeps to the right, so tourists have to be very attentive while crossing the road. Then even don't try to look for trams and trolleybuses in London, because there are no such means of travelling there. The easiest and the quickest way of getting around London is by the Underground, or the Tube, as it is often called because it looks like a long, narrow and dimly lit tube. The tube is the oldest metro in the world (1863) that's why its stations are old and not attractive to the eyes and on the contrary our Metro stations are very beautifully decorated. Moreover trains haven't any fixed schedule in London and during rush hours big crowds gather, while in Minsk trains run every three minutes during rush hours, every five minutes off-peak and every 7-12 minutes late in the evening. However the most essential difference between the Tube and the Minsk metro is that fares as the London's Underground are not fixed, but are proportional to the distance travelled, unlike in Minsk, where people should pay a fixed fare despite the distance of their travel. Another interesting feature, not typical to the Minsk Metro is that there are no drivers on the trains in London, they are controlled by computer program. But every train has a train captain on a board, in case there are any problems; he checks tickets and can drive the train if necessary.

Although the Underground is the quickest way to get to the place you need. Travelling round the city by bus is considered to be the cheapest one. A wide choice of buses is available both in London and in Minsk. Meanwhile, there are some peculiarities concerning London's buses. First of all, you can't but agree that red double-deckers are a familiar sight in London. In Minsk we also have double-deckers buses, but they are few. When in London you'll certainly notice that there are two kinds of bus stops: a compulsory stop, where all buses stop (the same we have in Minsk) and a request stop where people can stop the bus by raising their hands. Also you should know that Londoners waiting at a bus stop always form a queue, as there is a limit to the number of people who are allowed to stand when the seats are full. And it's very important that you never "jump" a queue otherwise you'll be misunderstand. I believe that this queuing is somehow an advantage, because it helps to make any travel more comfortable and pleasant. Unfortunately in Minsk we are not used to queuing at all and there are no limits to the number of people who are allowed to stand – that's why all the means of travelling are often overcrowded.

What concerns fares there are available in newsstands in the streets, in the shops as well as from drivers or conductors and should be punched immediately upon entering a vehicle. While in London people pay the driver or the conductor if it's a "two-man" bus. Yet, Londoners pay more the further they travel, but we have a fixed fare. And in the same way as in London we must buy a new ticket when we get on another bus.

Buying weekly or monthly seasonal tickets (which called 'travel cards') in London you need a passport-sized photograph. Both in Minsk and in London travel cards save your money if you have to get around the city a lot.

Both London and Minsk have much in common if talking about taxis. Everywhere it is considered to be the most comfortable and safest as well as the most expensive means of travelling. If you are either in London or in Minsk you simply hail the taxi in the street or go to a taxi-rank where there are several taxis waiting. But the easiest way is to call a taxi company and ask them to send a cab to your door. Both in London and in Minsk taxis carry metres indicating the fare to be paid at the end of the journey. But only in London taxi drivers expect to be tipped for all journeys. The normal tip is about 10 per cent. Although 1 think they deserve it because London cabbies have the reputation of being the best trained taxi drivers in the world.

So you see that in spite of the obvious differences transport system in London and in Minsk have quite a lot in common. And when in London, keeping in mind all peculiarities you get into any trouble.

No 21. Speak about your last visit to one of the theatres (cinemas) of minsk. Comment on your impressions. Explain what makes this kind of entertainment popular among people.