* * *
It`s always exciting to celebrate holidays and I like it very much. My favourite holiday is Halloween. It`s celebrated on the 31st October. It can be also called as “All Hallows Evening” and “Beggars Night”.
Halloween is historically celebrated in the English-speaking countries. But nowadays it`s popular all over the world. To begin with, this holiday is a good opportunity to dress up. In the past people did it in order to scare evil spirits but today it`s just a way of entertaining. What`s more, Halloween is a one more reason to have fun. You can gather with friends and have a little party with sweets, costumes and funny games like “trick-or-treat”. Besides, it`s always amazing to decorate house with pumpkins, fake spider`s web, skeletons and other creepy things.
However, in some countries religious people are against Halloween. For example, in Russia ardent Christians consider this holiday to be contradicting to their ideals. Furthermore, they say that the Night before Ivan Kupala can be a very good replacement of Halloween for our country.
As for me, Halloween is no more a religious holiday and has nothing in common with occultism. So everyone should have an opportunity to have fun during it.
In conclusion, I reckon that Halloween is one of the most interesting and exciting holidays in the world. If you spend it in a right way, it will bring you a lot of joy and fun. That is why Halloween is one of my favourite holidays.
Olga Gordienko, Grade 11
* * *
I love different holidays. I like New Year , Birthday , Halloween, but the greatest holiday for me is Victory Day.
Firstly, this is the day of happiness. 71 years ago, the Nazi Germany signed a capitulation. This event put an end to the Great Patriotic war in 1945, and we congratulate our dear veterans, give them presents and flowers, watch patriotic films and visit the places of fierce fighting every year on this beautiful spring day.
Secondly, this is the day of memory. Our country has lost 27 million people, hundreds of cities and thousands of villages. Our grandparents, parents and relatives worked hard under impossible conditions, fought with coward enemy in tranches near Brest and Smolensk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Kiev and Berlin, starved to death in blockaded Leningrad and in German prisons. We should remember their feats of arms and everybody, who died in this war. We also should remember all military crimes done in this war, to save future generations from all horrors of war.
To sum it up, I believe that if we didn’t have this Great holiday, we would not have other holidays, because we do not know what would happen, if German soldiers had won that war.
Ilya Muraviov, Grade 9
* * *
It is really well-known fact, that there are hundreds of various holidays all over the world. Each of them is devoted to historical events, famous people and even to some animals, which were very useful to ancient tribes. Each of the holidays has its traditions, attractive dishes and extraordinary costumes, so that each of above mentioned features are an integral part of the true holiday…
Well, I prefer very eventful, unusual, allocated holidays, full of things, which are peculiar to it. I’m fond of spending time with my family and my relatives in cozy house, near fireplace, holding caps of milk in my hand and playing some board games. In addition, I enjoy giving gifts to my relatives and friends, so I can say that my favorite holiday is New Year. Maybe it would be very banal, but it’s the only holiday, when we are so genuine and sincere, when we don’t worry about anything in this world, we don’t hurry to work, we just derive pleasure from being around people, who are very dear for us…
But not only this aspect has a great deal of influence on my emotions. As far as I concern, one of the most adorable moments of this amazing holiday is New Year’s Eve vanity. I am really crazy about overlooking through the shelves, looking for exactly that present to my mum, sister, daddy, and, definitely ,it doesn’t really matter which present you are going to give, more important that you put a part of your soul, dedicating your leisure time to this…I love observing snow, lazily covering dim streets ,fluffy fur tree, standing in the middle of the square with its bright shining star on the top , adults, hurrying up to the shops to buy a new IPhone to his son.
And one more part of New Year is, obviously, New Year’s table, full of juicy tangerines, stodgy salads, and mushy cakes, the smell of which stupefy me every year, and I can’t resist from temptation to eat them before we sit down at the table.
Presently, I can’t imagine my life without this indescribable, superb, remarkable holiday. This is the day, when I get the greatest deal of joy, determination and, of course, love. And each year I’m really glad to wake up early and run to the Christmas tree to check in the bottom of it, and then watch, how my parents and relatives are surprised with my presents to them.
Bondarenko Timur, Grade 9
* * *
Like many other children, I like New Year's Day and my birthday because we have great parties and a lot of fun and I often get a lot of presents. But most of all I like preparing presents for others, for example: for my parents, my friends my grandparents. But most of all I like preparing presents for my mother's birthday. Honestly, It means that my favourite holiday is my mother's birthday.
We all, my father, my brother, me and even my dog prepare everything for this day to make my mother happy. My father buys a big bunch of roses, her favourite flowers. My brother makes a card in which he writes his best wishes. My father and I choose a present for my mother. This day we always go to a restaurant and a museum which she would like to visit. This holiday we get the main present-our mother's love!
Dmitriy Ulybin, Grade 7
* * *
Saint Valentine’s Day is the world’s famous and one of the most recognizable feasts on the European and American continents. Nevertheless, some people are confident in exaggerated meaning of this day and tend to refrain from celebration of Valentine’s Day.
As for me, I love this holiday most of all as it became associated with romantic love. Firstly, people send cards, chocolates, flowers and other gifts to express their feelings to each other. Secondly, people spend time together especially if they are couples? For example, they spend the dates in the cinemas, restaurants, cafes or somewhere else Finally, Saint Valentine’s Day enables people to confess their love because it is an old tradition to talk about their feelings.
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
However, there are those who claim that it is a Catholic holiday and the representatives of the other religious don’t accept it, for example, the Orthodox church has another day of love in July called The Day of Saint Peter and Saint Fevronia. Moreover, there are numerous people who don’t fall in love and feel loneliness on this day more than usual so it seems to be intolerant to have fun when many of our friends or classmates are sad.
But I don’t agree with that judgment. To begin with, this holiday became secular many decades ago so its celebration doesn’t depend on the person’s religion. More than that, Saint Valentine’s Day doesn’t prohibit spending the time in the company of friends and enjoying the life even if you don’t find your lover.
In conclusion, I should say that Saint Valentine’s Day is a marvelous feast when you have an opportunity to show your feelings or confess in love for the first time and also you can spend romantic time together.
Natalia Bondarenko, Grade 11
* * *
In my childhood I used to celebrate every holiday in the year, because I liked each of them very much. But as I get older I realized that I hardly can call three of them my favorite ones.
Most of all I enjoy New Year’s Day. The atmosphere of this celebration is fantastic: snow-covered streets, a lot of luminous garlands, decorated for the New Year shops, houses’ windows and doors — all these make the world around us look like a fairy tale. People give a lot of presents to each other, but, to my mind, it is not necessary: you feel happy and magic even if you do not wait any gifts from anybody. I like New Year’s Day, because it is time of the year when you see happiness in people’s faces and feel like a fairy tale comes to life.
The second celebration, which I am delighted on, is Victory Day. It is a day when everybody in Russia and other countries unite and thank their grandparents for the victory in the Second World War. We all are proud of our heroes and want to do everything possible to make those, who are still alive, happy. Then, after the ceremony, a lot of people go out of cities and towns to be closer to nature, to enjoy its beautyand to sing some friendly songswith a guitar. I admire this part of the holiday too.
As I came to France, I learned something about French traditions and celebrations. So, I know French people annually celebrate Bastille Day. There are a lot of fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on this day every year. In the evening of the 14th of July Eiffel Tower is painted in various colours, including the colours of French flag. It looks awesome; a lot of people all over the world come to see this breath-taking performance. Also, as it is the middle of the summer, in daytime everyone can walk around warm and sunny streets of Paris. I think such walking is very lovely. So, I enjoy this holiday very much, because it is summer and it is so exciting to spend this day with your friends or with your family and complete it with terrific fireworks at night.
In conclusion, I do not really celebrate most of the festivals because they do not attract me. But ones, which I have just written about, are very enjoyable for me.
Titova Ksenia, Grade 10
* * *
I'd like to tell you about my favourite holidays. I have quite a lot of them. I usually celebrate holidays with my relatives and friends. We gather together, lay up the table full of food, dance and play different games.
New Year is my favourite holiday since early childhood. My brother and I usually decorate a New Year tree with colourful glass balls and toys. I also like cooking New Year supper. I always help my mother to decorate New Year dishes. At night we have a real feast. We eat what we have cooked and watch TV. After clock strikes midnight, New Year comes. We drink champagne and give each other presents.
My other favourite celebration is my birthday which is in May. On this day I am in the centre of attention. My parents and friends give me presents. If the weather is nasty I have a birthday party at home. If the weather is fine I invite my friends to have a picnic in the forest. I invite close friends and we have fun together.
I also like St.Valentine's Day, which is a new holiday in Russia. It is celebrated on the 14-th of February. I like this holiday because it gives a lot of fun. We have Love mail at school. A box is placed on the ground floor of the building and anybody can put into it a card with the name of the person it is addressed to and the number of the form. In the middle of the day the mail is delivered and it is nice to get a card from a person you don't know.
I really enjoy holidays and celebrations!
Daniil Globov, Grade 10
* * *
There are many holidays in the world. Some of them are very popular all over the world. But some of them are badly known even in their own country.
In the USA many holidays are celebrated . On one of them is the St. Patrick’s day.
The legend about this holiday tells us that a young boy named Patrick lived in the British Isles. Аt the age of 16 Patrick was captured by Irish people, who often raided the territory of the British Isles. They brought him to Ireland. At that time Ireland was a pagan country. It was inhabited by Celts and their priests were druids. Patrick lived there for several years. He was a shepherd. Being a religious boy, every day he prayed that he would be able to return to his homeland. According to the legend, one night while he was praying, a voice told him to go to the seaside and find a ship that was waiting for him in a harbor. Patrick did what he was told, got aboard the ship and managed to sail to Great Britain. But in the year of 423 Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary. He travelled from village to village and talked about the Christ. He believed that he was called by God to perform this important mission and covert the Celtic people to the Christian religion. But they didn’t understand him and didn’t believe in the Holy Trinity. One day Patrick picked up one of the plentiful shamrocks, growing wild in Ireland. It struck him how to explain. «Here are there leaves», he said to the people «but yet one plant. Imagine the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as each of three leaves. Here they are and they are the one.» He used the familiar object and the tribesmen understood him. From that time on, the shamrock has become the symbol of Ireland.
St. Patrick is revered as a patron saint of Ireland. The stories of his miracles reached far and wide. There is a legend that he got rid of all the snakes in Ireland.
St. Patrick died on the 17th of March. First, it was a day of mourning but then it turned to commemoration of him and his deeds.
On that day people make parades, dance and eat special foods. People also have to wear green clothes. If they don’t wear them, they will be pinched. That holiday is celebrated on the 17-th may each year. The symbol of that holiday is clover shamrock.
I really like St. Patrik’s day! I’m looking forward to it every year to celebrate it!
Ekaterina Slavnova, Grade 8
* * *
My favourite holiday is Victory Day. I think the 9th of May 1945 concerns everyone in our country. All families were touched by the Great Patriotic War. For example, my grand father spent four years on the battlefield as an artillery officer. Many other members of my family had to move to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Tatarstan where the living conditions were very hard. We keep in our memory all these humans destinies: heroic, tragic, terrible, but noble and generous at the same time...
For this reason people commemorate the Great War by official ceremonies and private gatherings. I also participate in this event because it is very important for our generation.
The celebration of Victory Day in 2015 was particularly impressive. Following the official parade, over 500 000 Russian and foreign attendees marched through central Moscow in commemoration of those who perished and those who survived in the World War II: it was so called March of the Immortal Regiment. It is estimated that up to 12 million Russians participated nation wide in the 2015 March of the Immortal Regiment.
It is not by chance, maybe, that this holiday takes place in spring time when the weather is particularly enjoyable. The spring sunshine makes us feel happy, hoping for peace and the best future.
Asalkhanov Anatoliy, Grade 9
It`s always exciting to celebrate holidays and I like it very much. My favourite holiday is Halloween. It`s celebrated on the 31st October. It can be also called as “All Hallows Evening” and “Beggars Night”.
Halloween is historically celebrated in the English-speaking countries. But nowadays it`s popular all over the world. To begin with, this holiday is a good opportunity to dress up. In the past people did it in order to scare evil spirits but today it`s just a way of entertaining. What`s more, Halloween is a one more reason to have fun. You can gather with friends and have a little party with sweets, costumes and funny games like “trick-or-treat”. Besides, it`s always amazing to decorate house with pumpkins, fake spider`s web, skeletons and other creepy things.
However, in some countries religious people are against Halloween. For example, in Russia ardent Christians consider this holiday to be contradicting to their ideals. Furthermore, they say that the Night before Ivan Kupala can be a very good replacement of Halloween for our country.
As for me, Halloween is no more a religious holiday and has nothing in common with occultism. So everyone should have an opportunity to have fun during it.
In conclusion, I reckon that Halloween is one of the most interesting and exciting holidays in the world. If you spend it in a right way, it will bring you a lot of joy and fun. That is why Halloween is one of my favourite holidays.
Olga Gordienko, Grade 11
* * *
I love different holidays. I like New Year , Birthday , Halloween, but the greatest holiday for me is Victory Day.
Firstly, this is the day of happiness. 71 years ago, the Nazi Germany signed a capitulation. This event put an end to the Great Patriotic war in 1945, and we congratulate our dear veterans, give them presents and flowers, watch patriotic films and visit the places of fierce fighting every year on this beautiful spring day.
Secondly, this is the day of memory. Our country has lost 27 million people, hundreds of cities and thousands of villages. Our grandparents, parents and relatives worked hard under impossible conditions, fought with coward enemy in tranches near Brest and Smolensk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Kiev and Berlin, starved to death in blockaded Leningrad and in German prisons. We should remember their feats of arms and everybody, who died in this war. We also should remember all military crimes done in this war, to save future generations from all horrors of war.
To sum it up, I believe that if we didn’t have this Great holiday, we would not have other holidays, because we do not know what would happen, if German soldiers had won that war.
Ilya Muraviov, Grade 9
* * *
It is really well-known fact, that there are hundreds of various holidays all over the world. Each of them is devoted to historical events, famous people and even to some animals, which were very useful to ancient tribes. Each of the holidays has its traditions, attractive dishes and extraordinary costumes, so that each of above mentioned features are an integral part of the true holiday…
Well, I prefer very eventful, unusual, allocated holidays, full of things, which are peculiar to it. I’m fond of spending time with my family and my relatives in cozy house, near fireplace, holding caps of milk in my hand and playing some board games. In addition, I enjoy giving gifts to my relatives and friends, so I can say that my favorite holiday is New Year. Maybe it would be very banal, but it’s the only holiday, when we are so genuine and sincere, when we don’t worry about anything in this world, we don’t hurry to work, we just derive pleasure from being around people, who are very dear for us…
But not only this aspect has a great deal of influence on my emotions. As far as I concern, one of the most adorable moments of this amazing holiday is New Year’s Eve vanity. I am really crazy about overlooking through the shelves, looking for exactly that present to my mum, sister, daddy, and, definitely ,it doesn’t really matter which present you are going to give, more important that you put a part of your soul, dedicating your leisure time to this…I love observing snow, lazily covering dim streets ,fluffy fur tree, standing in the middle of the square with its bright shining star on the top , adults, hurrying up to the shops to buy a new IPhone to his son.
And one more part of New Year is, obviously, New Year’s table, full of juicy tangerines, stodgy salads, and mushy cakes, the smell of which stupefy me every year, and I can’t resist from temptation to eat them before we sit down at the table.
Presently, I can’t imagine my life without this indescribable, superb, remarkable holiday. This is the day, when I get the greatest deal of joy, determination and, of course, love. And each year I’m really glad to wake up early and run to the Christmas tree to check in the bottom of it, and then watch, how my parents and relatives are surprised with my presents to them.
Bondarenko Timur, Grade 9
* * *
Like many other children, I like New Year's Day and my birthday because we have great parties and a lot of fun and I often get a lot of presents. But most of all I like preparing presents for others, for example: for my parents, my friends my grandparents. But most of all I like preparing presents for my mother's birthday. Honestly, It means that my favourite holiday is my mother's birthday.
We all, my father, my brother, me and even my dog prepare everything for this day to make my mother happy. My father buys a big bunch of roses, her favourite flowers. My brother makes a card in which he writes his best wishes. My father and I choose a present for my mother. This day we always go to a restaurant and a museum which she would like to visit. This holiday we get the main present-our mother's love!
Dmitriy Ulybin, Grade 7
* * *
Saint Valentine’s Day is the world’s famous and one of the most recognizable feasts on the European and American continents. Nevertheless, some people are confident in exaggerated meaning of this day and tend to refrain from celebration of Valentine’s Day.
As for me, I love this holiday most of all as it became associated with romantic love. Firstly, people send cards, chocolates, flowers and other gifts to express their feelings to each other. Secondly, people spend time together especially if they are couples? For example, they spend the dates in the cinemas, restaurants, cafes or somewhere else Finally, Saint Valentine’s Day enables people to confess their love because it is an old tradition to talk about their feelings.
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
However, there are those who claim that it is a Catholic holiday and the representatives of the other religious don’t accept it, for example, the Orthodox church has another day of love in July called The Day of Saint Peter and Saint Fevronia. Moreover, there are numerous people who don’t fall in love and feel loneliness on this day more than usual so it seems to be intolerant to have fun when many of our friends or classmates are sad.
But I don’t agree with that judgment. To begin with, this holiday became secular many decades ago so its celebration doesn’t depend on the person’s religion. More than that, Saint Valentine’s Day doesn’t prohibit spending the time in the company of friends and enjoying the life even if you don’t find your lover.
In conclusion, I should say that Saint Valentine’s Day is a marvelous feast when you have an opportunity to show your feelings or confess in love for the first time and also you can spend romantic time together.
Natalia Bondarenko, Grade 11
* * *
In my childhood I used to celebrate every holiday in the year, because I liked each of them very much. But as I get older I realized that I hardly can call three of them my favorite ones.
Most of all I enjoy New Year’s Day. The atmosphere of this celebration is fantastic: snow-covered streets, a lot of luminous garlands, decorated for the New Year shops, houses’ windows and doors — all these make the world around us look like a fairy tale. People give a lot of presents to each other, but, to my mind, it is not necessary: you feel happy and magic even if you do not wait any gifts from anybody. I like New Year’s Day, because it is time of the year when you see happiness in people’s faces and feel like a fairy tale comes to life.
The second celebration, which I am delighted on, is Victory Day. It is a day when everybody in Russia and other countries unite and thank their grandparents for the victory in the Second World War. We all are proud of our heroes and want to do everything possible to make those, who are still alive, happy. Then, after the ceremony, a lot of people go out of cities and towns to be closer to nature, to enjoy its beautyand to sing some friendly songswith a guitar. I admire this part of the holiday too.
As I came to France, I learned something about French traditions and celebrations. So, I know French people annually celebrate Bastille Day. There are a lot of fireworks at the Eiffel Tower on this day every year. In the evening of the 14th of July Eiffel Tower is painted in various colours, including the colours of French flag. It looks awesome; a lot of people all over the world come to see this breath-taking performance. Also, as it is the middle of the summer, in daytime everyone can walk around warm and sunny streets of Paris. I think such walking is very lovely. So, I enjoy this holiday very much, because it is summer and it is so exciting to spend this day with your friends or with your family and complete it with terrific fireworks at night.
In conclusion, I do not really celebrate most of the festivals because they do not attract me. But ones, which I have just written about, are very enjoyable for me.
Titova Ksenia, Grade 10
* * *
I'd like to tell you about my favourite holidays. I have quite a lot of them. I usually celebrate holidays with my relatives and friends. We gather together, lay up the table full of food, dance and play different games.
New Year is my favourite holiday since early childhood. My brother and I usually decorate a New Year tree with colourful glass balls and toys. I also like cooking New Year supper. I always help my mother to decorate New Year dishes. At night we have a real feast. We eat what we have cooked and watch TV. After clock strikes midnight, New Year comes. We drink champagne and give each other presents.
My other favourite celebration is my birthday which is in May. On this day I am in the centre of attention. My parents and friends give me presents. If the weather is nasty I have a birthday party at home. If the weather is fine I invite my friends to have a picnic in the forest. I invite close friends and we have fun together.
I also like St.Valentine's Day, which is a new holiday in Russia. It is celebrated on the 14-th of February. I like this holiday because it gives a lot of fun. We have Love mail at school. A box is placed on the ground floor of the building and anybody can put into it a card with the name of the person it is addressed to and the number of the form. In the middle of the day the mail is delivered and it is nice to get a card from a person you don't know.
I really enjoy holidays and celebrations!
Daniil Globov, Grade 10
* * *
There are many holidays in the world. Some of them are very popular all over the world. But some of them are badly known even in their own country.
In the USA many holidays are celebrated . On one of them is the St. Patrick’s day.
The legend about this holiday tells us that a young boy named Patrick lived in the British Isles. Аt the age of 16 Patrick was captured by Irish people, who often raided the territory of the British Isles. They brought him to Ireland. At that time Ireland was a pagan country. It was inhabited by Celts and their priests were druids. Patrick lived there for several years. He was a shepherd. Being a religious boy, every day he prayed that he would be able to return to his homeland. According to the legend, one night while he was praying, a voice told him to go to the seaside and find a ship that was waiting for him in a harbor. Patrick did what he was told, got aboard the ship and managed to sail to Great Britain. But in the year of 423 Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary. He travelled from village to village and talked about the Christ. He believed that he was called by God to perform this important mission and covert the Celtic people to the Christian religion. But they didn’t understand him and didn’t believe in the Holy Trinity. One day Patrick picked up one of the plentiful shamrocks, growing wild in Ireland. It struck him how to explain. «Here are there leaves», he said to the people «but yet one plant. Imagine the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as each of three leaves. Here they are and they are the one.» He used the familiar object and the tribesmen understood him. From that time on, the shamrock has become the symbol of Ireland.
St. Patrick is revered as a patron saint of Ireland. The stories of his miracles reached far and wide. There is a legend that he got rid of all the snakes in Ireland.
St. Patrick died on the 17th of March. First, it was a day of mourning but then it turned to commemoration of him and his deeds.
On that day people make parades, dance and eat special foods. People also have to wear green clothes. If they don’t wear them, they will be pinched. That holiday is celebrated on the 17-th may each year. The symbol of that holiday is clover shamrock.
I really like St. Patrik’s day! I’m looking forward to it every year to celebrate it!
Ekaterina Slavnova, Grade 8
* * *
My favourite holiday is Victory Day. I think the 9th of May 1945 concerns everyone in our country. All families were touched by the Great Patriotic War. For example, my grand father spent four years on the battlefield as an artillery officer. Many other members of my family had to move to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Tatarstan where the living conditions were very hard. We keep in our memory all these humans destinies: heroic, tragic, terrible, but noble and generous at the same time...
For this reason people commemorate the Great War by official ceremonies and private gatherings. I also participate in this event because it is very important for our generation.
The celebration of Victory Day in 2015 was particularly impressive. Following the official parade, over 500 000 Russian and foreign attendees marched through central Moscow in commemoration of those who perished and those who survived in the World War II: it was so called March of the Immortal Regiment. It is estimated that up to 12 million Russians participated nation wide in the 2015 March of the Immortal Regiment.
It is not by chance, maybe, that this holiday takes place in spring time when the weather is particularly enjoyable. The spring sunshine makes us feel happy, hoping for peace and the best future.
Asalkhanov Anatoliy, Grade 9