[00:-1.00]Lesson 9 Chinese Seasonal Festivals
[00:-2.00]Autumn
[00:-3.00]Every year in September or October,
[00:-4.00]the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated by Chinese people all over the world.
[00:-5.00]On this day,
[00:-6.00]the moon is said to be at its biggest and brightest in the year
[00:-7.00]and'moon cakes' are eaten at moon viewing parties.
[00:-8.00]The Mid-Autumn Festival is important
[00:-9.00]because it is a special occasion for family reunion.
[00:10.00]Millions of people make the journey back home
[00:11.00]to share the feeling of 'being togther' with all members of the family.
[00:12.00]Traditional moon cakes are made with bean paste and salted egg yokes
[00:13.00]but nowadays there are many different kinds of moon cakes
[00:14.00]including ice-cream,coffee,chocolate and even fruit moon cakes.
[00:15.00]Winter
[00:16.00]The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
[00:17.00]It marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
[00:18.00]There are many stories about the origin of the Lantern Festival.
[00:19.00]In one stories
[00:20.00]lanterns were lit to celebrate Buddhism's pwer in driving away darkness.
[00:21.00]In another story,the lanterns saved a town from destruction.
[00:22.00]There was g god who wanted to burn dow the town.
[00:23.00]He was tricked into believing the town was alrea burning
[00:24.00]by the sight of thousands of lanterns.
[00:25.00]In the past,
[00:26.00]lanterns were usually lit by candles
[00:27.00]and decorated with pictures of birds,animals,flowers,etc.
[00:28.00]Nowadays,most lanterns are powered by electricity
[00:29.00]and may in a variety of shapes and sizes.
[00:30.00]In the northeast part of China,
[00:31.00]there even ice-lanterns.
[00:32.00]The special food for Lantern Festival is sweet dumplings,
[00:33.00]which is made of glutinous rice and different sweet fillings.
[00:34.00]The dumpling can either be boiled or fried
[00:35.00]depending on the preference of the individuals.
[00:36.00]Summer
[00:37.00]The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.
[00:38.00]It is celebrated with customs that started more than 2000 years ago.
[00:39.00]In the old days,dragon boat races were held only in Chinese communities.
[00:40.00]However,in recent years,
[00:41.00]people fron other cultures have also taken part in the races and enjoyed the fun.
[00:42.00]The special food for the festival is called Zongzi.
[00:43.00]Glutinous rice,wrapped in fresh bamboo leaves,
[00:44.00]is steamed with a sweet or salty filing.
[00:45.00]As the Dragon Boat Festival is in early summer,
[00:46.00]it also marks the beginning of the hottest season of the year.
[00:47.00]Lesson 11 Weddings Weddings in Indonesia
[00:48.00]What to do and what not to do
[00:49.00]If a friend gets an invitation to a wedding,
[00:50.00]you can go with him/her,
[00:51.00]even of you don't receive an invitation yourself.
[00:52.00]The times of the wedding ceremony
[00:53.00]and the reception are both on the invitation.
[00:54.00]However,you shouldn't go to the ceremony
[00:55.00]because it is conducted only for close family.
[00:56.00]If you really want to see it,you should asd first.
[00:57.00]Everyone can attend the reception afterwards.
[00:58.00]Nowadays,Indonesian women don't have to cover their heads,
[00:59.00]but they usually wear traditional clothes.
[-1:00.00]There is a box at the entrance to the reception
[-1:-1.00]and you have to put money into it!
[-1:-2.00]But don't worry,
[-1:-3.00]you don't have to contribute a lot of money.
[-1:-4.00]And remember-at most wedding receptions you can't drink alcohol.
[-1:-5.00]Greek weddings
[-1:-6.00]On the day of a Greek wedding ceremony,
[-1:-7.00]the groom has to ask teh bride's father for his daughter's hand in marriage.
[-1:-8.00]The groom's best man then goes with the couple to the church,to be married.
[-1:-9.00]During the church ceremony,
[-1:10.00]the best man should help the priest to put crowns made of orange blossoms on the heads of the bride and groom
[-1:11.00]A long silk ribbon has to link the crowns to symbolise a happy
[-1:12.00]and long life for the couple.
[-1:13.00]After the ceremony,the guests can attend a wedding reception,
[-1:14.00]which is usually a huge party and can last through the night.
[-1:15.00]There is a lot of eating,drinking and dancing,including the famous Greek circle dance,
[-1:16.00]where everyone joins in.
[-1:17.00]During the reception,
[-1:18.00]guests can smash dishes on the floor
[-1:19.00]and pin money the bride's wedding dress for good luck.
[-1:20.00]Lesson 12 Christmas
[-1:21.00]Memories of christmas
[-1:22.00]For me,christmas always began in the middle of the cold,windy month of November.
[-1:23.00]My sister,Alison,and I sat down in front of the fire
[-1:24.00]and wrote a letter to Father Christmas
[-1:25.00]telling him a bout all the presents we wanted.
[-1:26.00]We solemnly addressed our letters to 'Father Christmas,
[-1:27.00]the North Pole',before sending them up the chimney.
[-1:28.00]With December our excitement grew each day-
[-1:29.00]as we opened the adve calendar,
[-1:30.00]Christmas cards arrived in the post,
[-1:31.00]the nativity play at our school,
[-1:32.00]Chirstmas lights in the streets,the town carol service.
[-1:33.00]And of course,
[-1:34.00]snow everywhere.Enough snow to make snowmen,
[-1:35.00]build iglood and to have glorious snowball foghts in the school playground.
[-1:36.00]On Christmas Eve,the whole family helped to decorate the house,
[-1:37.00]put up the Christmas tree and the decorations and blow up the balloons.
[-1:38.00]Then,in the afternoon,when Auntie Kathleen and my two cousins arrived,
[-1:39.00]everything was ready.
[-1:40.00]Before we went to bed,
[-1:41.00]we left some brandy and mince pies for Father Christmas
[-1:42.00]and then put our stockings at the end of our beds.
[-1:43.00]We tried to stay awake as long as possible to see Father Christmas
[-1:44.00]but the next thing we knew it was morning.
[-1:45.00]Christmas morning!
[-1:46.00]At gte bottom ofthe bed was the stocking,
[-1:47.00]now full all kinds of small presents and sweets,
[-1:48.00]and at the bottom a chocolate sixpence and a tangerine.
[-1:49.00]Christmas morning was bright and sunny,
[-1:50.00]and after church,my cousin David and I went out into the garden
[-1:51.00]to play with our new presents.
[-1:52.00]Lunch was always late,but what a lunch!
[-1:53.00]Roast turkey with all the vegetables followed by Christmas pudding
[-1:54.00]and brandy butter.
[-1:55.00]When we pulled the crankers,the dog barked,
[-1:56.00]we took out the plastic toys,laughed at the jokes,
[-1:57.00]put on the silly pap hats and laughed again.
[-1:58.00]After lunch,
[-1:59.00]the adults slept on the sofas in front the Queen's speech on television
[-2:00.00]while we all played card Then we had tea,
[-2:-1.00]with a huge Christmas cake covered with snowmen and polar bears.
[-2:-2.00]It didn't seem possible but we carried on eating.
[-2:-3.00]By bedtime all of the children were exhausted.
[-2:-4.00]As soon as we turned off the light,
[-2:-5.00]we all fell into a deep,contented sleep |