English traditions and customs

English traditions and customs

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. Foreigners coming to England are stuck at once by a lot of customs and traditions in English life. Some ceremonies are rather formal, such as Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping the Colour, the State Opening of Parliament. Sometimes you will see a group of cavalrymen riding on black horses through the streets of London. They wear uniforms, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. These men are Life Guards. Their special duty is to guard the queen of Great Britain and very important guests of the country.

The British is a nation of home lovers. They say:”There is no place like home”. Home, sweet home. East or West, home is best. An Englishman’s home is his castle”. The word “home” can be translated into Russian as “дом, жилище, семья, домашний очаг”. To this day an English family prefers a house with a fireplace and a garden to a flat in a modern house. The garden is a subject of special attention; it’s usually shown to guests. The British are fond of growing flowers, especially roses. English people like animals very much, too. Pet dogs, cats, horses, ducks, chickens, canaries and other friends of men have much better life in England than anywhere else. The English are tea-drinkers. They have it many times a day. Some Englishmen have tea for breakfast, tea at lunch time, tea after dinner, tea at tea-time and tea with supper.

Holidays are especially rich in old traditions. Some of them are of religious origin, for example, Christmas and Easter. Christmas is a great English national holiday. Some new traditions have been recently born in the UK. There is a colourful demonstration of old veteran cars in the evening every year at Brighton, which is 60 miles from London. On the Red Nose Day, which takes place for one day every two years, British goes crazy. People all over the country (even police, officers and teachers) wear red noses and do silly things. It’s the day when doing really stupid things can raise loads of money for charity. Traditions and customs in the UK play a more important part in the life of people than in other countries.