Christmas Traditions

I have read an article at share-christmas.com and it talks about Christmas traditions.

I thought you might be interested because it's very interesting to know about Christmas traditions of other countries.

Basically I have chosen 3 countries: America, China and Spain.

The Americans put on the top of their Chrismtas tree an angel. They celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. The Americans call father christmas, Santa Claus.

People in China decorate their homes with colourful paper lanterns. Compared to America Christmas day isn't a holyday. The children must go to school and the adults go to work. The Christmas trees are decorated also with paper lanterns.

The people in Spain sing and dance on the streets after Christmas mat on Christmas eve. A very famous song is "Feliz Navidad". This song is known in a lot of countries. The Spains have their christmas dinner after midnight.

What surprised me most was the fact that in Spain people dance and sing on the streets. I didn't know that but I think it's a very nice tradition. What shocked me most was the fact that in China people must go to work or to school. I think Christmas day should be also a holiday in China.

Some sentences about Paul and Flora (page 10/1)

Paul (USA)

Paul was very nervous before he came to Austria. He asked himself if his German had been good enough to comunicate fluently? After one year in Austria he can say that it was great. He met lots of nice people and took good memories back to the USA. There was only one thing he couldn't believe: the alcohol law. He told that a lot of people drink alcohol and they do that also on public places.

Flora (Ireland)

Flora was looking forward to see Austria. She met friendly people. Flora said that the more she learned about the Austrian way of life, the more she learned about the Ireland culture. She added that there is a big difference between Austria and Ireland. For example in Ireland it isn't allowed to smoke on public places. Flora enjoyed her stay in Austria.

Press Review - Traffic volume down in Vienna

I read an article the other day in "Austrian-Times.at" and it talks about Vienna's traffic volume.

I thought you might be interested because it is a very important theme nowadays.

Basically what it says is that the traffic volume in Vienna went down. In contrast to the year 2004 the traffic decreased in the roads of Austria's capitle city. It went down about 930 kilometres to seven billion kilometres in 2008. The Austrian Traffic Club (VÖC) said that every car had covered about 12,666 kilometres last year - a decrease of 1,100 kilometres compared to 2004.

What surprised me most was the fact that the traffic in this city decreased. I thought that it got more. This fact is real good because polution is a big problem in our time. If people use public transport it is very good for the environment.

As for me, it is important that the traffic volume is decreased. I hope that it will get down in other cities too.


Vocabulary:

traffic volume (Verkehrsmenge) = The traffic volume goes down.
cover (zurücklegen) = You must cover 100 kilometres to get to Vienna.
environment (Umwelt) = Less traffic volume is good for the environment.


http://www.austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2009-09-17/16462/Traffic_volumes_down_in_Vienna_#

Press Review British Airways

I have just read an article in the today’s online version of Austrian Times and it talks about British airways.

I thought you might be interested because it’s a very important theme at the moment.

Basically what it says is that the British Airways open a new route to Austria. There were only the routes to Vienna and Salzburg but now there will be also a route to Innsbruck. There will run five more flights between Gatwick and Innsbruck a week.

I think that’s a good idea to have one more route. The connection between the two countries is better and people can fly easier because they have more opportunities.

Press Review European Election

I have just read an article in the today's online version of Austrian Times and it talks about the european election.

I thought you might be interested because it's an important theme these days.

Basically what it says is that the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) was the loser in the election. They won just 29,3 per cent and lost about 10 per cent. The winner of the election was the People's Party. They won the election with 29,7 per cent. An other winner was the list Hans-Peter Martin with 17,9 per cent.

The frustration at the Social Democratic Party was big.

What me surprised most was the fact that the list HPM won a lot of votes. I wasn't voting but I am satiesfied with the result of the election.

Press Review St. Patrick’s Day

I have just read an article in Bernhard Ebner’s blog myblogebner.blogspot.com and it talks about St. Patrick’s Day.

I thought you might be interested because St. Patrick’s Day is a very popular day in a lot of countries.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in lots of countries around the world. In the eighth century he became the patron of Ireland. He was taken away from home from Irish raiders when he was 16 years old. St. Patrick lived there for six years and then he escaped and returned to Wales. After he entered the church he returned to Ireland as a missionary.

What interested me most was the fact that he was taken away to Ireland and then he became the patron of this country.

I agree with the author’s posting about St. Patrick’s Day and it fascinates me that this isn’t only in Ireland celebrated.

St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. I have found some information about this important day in lots of countries.



St. Patrick's Day is a feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland. This day is celebrated on March 17 th . Today is bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States and New Zealand it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday. It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Churche in the early part of the 17th century and it is a holy day for Roman Catholics in Ireland. If St. Patrick’s Day is on a holy day like Palm Sunday like in the year 2008, it is celebrated on March 15th.




Everybody who celebrates is dressed green and drinks a lot of alcohol and there is also a lot of Irish music in pubs. On St. Patrick’s Day there is nearly everything in the colour green (except the Guinness beer). In some areas there are rivers painted in green only for one day.

Dress codes - Yes or no?

That's a difficult question. In my opinion dress codes are not important. I think pupils should wear what they want at school. If people don't like their clothes, they won't be happy and I think that's the point.

But on the other side dress codes are a good idea to help pupils not to spend the whole money on clothes or other expensive 'fashion accessories'. The young people should learn to handle money and so the 'military look' is maybe a good suggestion.

I think all in all dress codes are not necessary but they can be a help for teenagers to learn to handle money.