Warming-up.

Have you ever traveled abroad?

If yes, where did you go and what was it like? What customs were different from your country’s customs?

If no, would you like to go to abroad? Where would you like to go and what do you think it will be like?

Do you think it is important to follow a country’s customs when you visit there?

     Read the following text. Discuss the information about Belarusian holidays it provides. What other folklore and folk traditions make the image of Belarusian culture?

Make sure you understand the meaning of the following words and word-combinations:

to pass the test of time

to attract visitors to the country

mysterious

to pick up a miraculous flower

to find out destiny and marital future

the marking of the summer solstice

a little flame glimmering in the depth of the forest

fiction creatures  

Belarusian customs and traditions

Belarusian folklore and folk traditions, which have passed the test of time and despite the past bans preserved their charm, have become the basis for many tourist events attracting visitors to the country. During the year, national holidays related to the events of the historical past of Belarus are held in all the regions of the country.

Kupalie is the most mysterious of all Belarusian festivals. It is celebrated on the night from the 6th to 7th of July. According to popular legends existing for thousands of years, a flower of a fern unfolds on Kupala midnight and the one who finds it will be eternally young and happy. And that person will know the future. On that night young people set off for the forest with a naive, yet romantic hope to pick up such miraculous flower. In the meantime girls bind wreaths and let them drift down the river trying to find out their destiny and marital future. At the same time it is the celebration of the power of nature through the marking of the summer solstice. It would be difficult to find a more picturesque holiday. The essential part of it is the great fire, which according to the belief, has a purifying power. Young couples hand in hand must jump over it. Sometimes young people clear themselves in water of rivers and lakes. Besides, they move on a round dance. It’s an amazingly wonderful and ancient pagan festival. The Kupala night is the darkest one in the year. One step away from the fire and you plunge into absolute night and stars. But what sort of a little flame is glimmering in the depth of the forest? Is it really the flower of fern?

Kolyady is actually the celebration of the New Year as per the old calendar (prior to 1917) on the night of January 13–14. Traditionally some people dress or the images of animals or fiction creatures, and then noisy companies, holding the depiction of the sun and a nanny-goat’s head, begin to visit houses one after another singing original Kolyady songs: in response people treat them with the food from their tables and sometimes give them money. Nowadays this old holiday is celebrated mostly for fun.

One more folk festive of pagan origin is Maslenitsa. It is a ceremony at the junction of two seasons; it sees off winter and meets spring. Popular festivals of folk music are organized at the time of Maslenitsa. People sing traditional songs and dance in the streets wearing national costumes. But the distinguishing feature of this holiday is, of course, pancakes!

New Year is widely celebrated all over the country. Preparations to this holiday start a couple of weeks before. The towns and cities of Belarus put on holiday attire; illumination. New Year trees in the squares and New Year fairs add to the holiday mood. The culmination of the festivity is the December 31 — January 1 night, when various concerts and open-air merrymaking take place, January 1 is an official holiday.

Questions to discuss:

1. What are some of the most important customs of your country? How about Japan or China? How about America or Australia?
2. Do you follow all of your country’s traditional customs?
3. What are some strange foreign customs that you have heard of?
4. Are there any customs in your country visitors might find strange?
5. How do people greet each other in your country? Has it changed from the past?
6. Do you enjoy learning about other countries’ customs?
7. What are some customs in your country that people should follow when they are eating? Do you think other countries have the same custom?
8. What are some strange wedding customs in your country?
9. What national souvenirs will you recommend a British tourist to buy?
10. Do you think it is important to follow our grandparents’ traditions? Why?