Lekcje kulturowe

Winter officially starts on December 21^st and ends on March 21^st, although traditionally December, January and February are said to be the three winter months. Winter certainly abounds with holidays and occasions to celebrate. There is Christmas and New Year’s Eve at the end of December. January welcomes us with Twelfth Night (January 5^th) and Epiphany (January 6^th). In February, Americans celebrate Groundhog Day (February 2^nd) and the entire world is in love on St Valentine’s Day (February 14^th).

Christmas is a holiday observed on December 25 when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. There are different Christmas customs and traditions around the world. For instance, in the UK and the USA primary school, which are reproductions of the religious story behind Christmas: when Jesus was born, a star appeared in the sky and showed the way to Bethlehem to three wise men who brought the baby gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against consumerism, when all the participants abstain from buying anything, even food or clothes. In North America it is celebrated on ‘Black Friday’, the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. For other countries Buy Nothing Day is observed on the Saturday following Black Friday.