Тема "Американские традиции и обычаи" (American traditions and customs)

The United States of America is the country with the most diverse cultures. As it is the land of immigrants, almost every nation of the world has contributed something to American traditions and customs. Some of them may seem quite strange and completely different from those of our native country.
First of all we must say that American people are not just the nation of fast food and baseball caps. It is a unique nation rich in its traditions and typical habits. Americans like smiling, handshaking and joking. They protect their privacy and avoid discussing such controversial subjects as religion, money, politics and personal values. At the same time the people are really friendly and open-minded. Many Americans appreciate independent thinking. They are always punctual and wait their turn in lines patiently.
Baseball, basketball, football and bowling are America’s favourite pastimes. These kinds of sports are played all over the country by thousands of amateurs.
Most of the US holidays are authentically American and celebrated in all the states. These are Thanksgiving Day, Columbus Day, Independence Day, Presidents’ Day, Veterans’ Day, Memorial Day, Halloween and St. Valentine’s Day.
On Christmas Eve the people decorate their homes with holly and mistletoe, they hang stockings over the fireplace and leave cookies and milk for Santa. As for Independence Day which is celebrated in summer, American families are always happy to drive to the countryside to enjoy picnics, barbecues and camping trips. In the evenings there are always impressive fireworks. As for Halloween, adults and children like to carve “jack-o-lanterns”, dress up in scary costumes and attend parties. Kids also adore roaming from door to door asking for sweets and shouting “trick or treat”.
The type of traditional food in the USA varies depending on the region or the state. Southern states, for instance, are known for fried chicken and dumplings, alligator meat and corn bread. In Texas the cuisine is mostly influenced by Mexican burritos, tacos and chili peppers. On Thanksgiving and Christmas Days American people have really huge family dinners. The traditional food on Thanksgiving Day is roast turkey, mashed potatoes, mincemeat pies and pumpkin pies. At Christmas the Americans cook roast turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, “hopping John”, plum puddings, apple pies and mince pies.
There is a unique American holiday which was made famous in the 90-s thanks to a comedy film “Groundhog Day”. According to the folk saying, if a groundhog emerges out of its burrow on a cloudy day the spring will come early. If not – the winter is going to stay for the next 6 weeks.

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