Holidays in the USA

FEBRUARY 14 - St Valentine's day- Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome and died for his faith in170 AD. Strane thing is that he was not noted for helping lovers in distress and was not the real patron saint of lovers! This days its fashionable to send pretty laceedget cards.There seems to be no limit to the variety of cards on sale for this celebration!There's a custom in lot of countries,on St Valentine's day:the names of young unmarried guys and girls were mixed up and then drown out by chance!! The person of the opposite sex whose name came put after yours was your chosen for the comming year!!

FEBRUARY 22 - Washington's birthday- in addition to commemorating the birth of the US first president its a great day for shoppers! This day is not marked as a national holiday. Many schools, offices and banks remain open! The US congress observes the birthday of George Washington with speeches, stories and readings from his works.

MARCH 22- Easter- It falls on the firs Sunday after the first full moon between march 22 and april 25. Easter is in memory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ . The 40 days before Easter are called Lent. Easter is a church holiday , and many churches have an outdoor sunrise service. People give each other presents- coloured and decorated eggs (symbol of new life) .

MAY 30- Memorial Day- It is a national holiday. Schools, offices, banks- close for the day. On that day, Americans honour the servicemen who gave their lives in past wars. Everywhere you can see decorated cemeteries. They put up the flags on the graves of the army, navy and airmen. In addition to this Memorial Day is often marked by other ceremonies: parades, sports competitions.

July 4- Independence Day- In 1776 , America signed the Declaration of Independence. On this day you may see wonderful things like Fireworks, and hear speeches like " Americanism, democracy, free enterprise '' .

September The first Monday in september- It is kind of holiday of recreation !! The summer is over and now its time for classes!! Vacation time is over too, resorts, camps and beaches close . And a long year of hard work and classes awaits.

October 31- Halloween- It is the evening before All Saints' day. Its customs date back to a time when people believed in devils, witches and ghosts. People thought that they could do all kinds of damage to property . Now! When people dont believe in evil spirits they just have fun on this day. Mainly children dress up as ghosts and witches and go out into the streets. They go frome house to house and say '' Trick or treat !!! '' ( Give me a treat or ill play a trick on you) . People give candy, cookies, fruits . There is also a custom of making a jack- o' -lantern ( when you scrape out a pumpkin and cut the outlines of eyes, nose and mouth in its side! ) and lighting a candle inside it. It refers to a man named Jack who wonders around the earth, lighting his way with a pumpkin lantern .