American Traditions and Customs

In Europe there are people who have lived in the same house and been in the same job for 20, 30 or more years. That’s not the American way of life. The Americans love change, they call it the spirit of adventure, a spirit that they think is more characteristic of America than of Europe. They like to move away, to change houses and jobs.

While the Englishman thinks it is ill mannered to ask private questions, the American doesn’t feel that at all. He will tell you all about himself, his wife and family, and ask where you have come from, what your job is, how you like America and how long you are staying. The American prefers sociability. In his home he doesn’t object to being seen by everyone — he actually likes it.

With this sociability goes overwhelming hospitality. A national Thanksgiving Day is perhaps the only holiday spent by the Americans at home. Table decorations follow a traditional pattern — a harvest of Indian corn, apples, oranges, walnuts and grapes. Flowers also bring the fall scene indoors. The centrepiece is the traditional roast turkey.

Still another American tradition concerns Halloween. Its origin dates back hundreds of years to the Druid festival. The Druid New Year began on November 1, marking the beginning of winter and the reign of the Lord of Death. The custom of telling ghost stories on Halloween comes from the Druids. On this occasion children usually wear ghost costumes or false faces. They also carve out rounded eyes in pumpkins and put burning candles inside them to make them visible from far away.

In Texas, where the West begins, the biggest annual festival — the Fat Stock Show — is held. Its rodeo, hold together with the stock show, is the biggest indoor rodeo on the earth.

And, of course, no nation can exist without humour. As they themselves say, an American must have one wife, two cars, three children, four pets, five suits, six acres, seven credit cards — and is lucky to have eight cents in his pocket.

 

American Symbols

The American flag is often called "The Stars and Stripes", it is also called "Old Glory". It represents the growth of the nation. It has 13 horizontal stripes,7 red and 6 white which stand for the original 13 states. In the top left hand corner there are 50 white stars on a blue background: one star for each state.

The national anthem of the United States is "The Star Spangled Banner". The words written during the Anglo-American war of 1812—1814 and set to the music of an old song. Every state has its own flag, its own emblem and its own anthem too.

The eagle became the national emblem of the country in 1782. It has an olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (a symbol of strength). You can see the eagle on the back of a dollar bill.

The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of American democracy. It stands on Liberty Island in New York. It is one of the first things people see when they arrive in New York by sea. This National Monument was a present from France to the USA. France gave the statue to America in 1884 as a symbol of friendship. Liberty carries the torch of freedom — in her right hand. In her left hand she is holding a tablet with the inscription "July 4, 1776" — American Independence Day.

Outstanding People of the USA

 

The fates of many famous people of America have very much in common.

Thus, one of the most well-known statesmen of the USA, Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1809. His father was a poor farmer and the boy had to work much on their small farm. But he read a lot, too. When he grew older he felt a strong interest to law. He became a lawyer and he always tried to use the law to defend people. In 1846 he was elected to Congress. There he said he was against slavery. In 1860 he became the President of the USA. In 1864 Abraham Lincoln was elected the President again, but a year later he was killed by his enemies in a theatre in Washington.

An American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. His family was not rich and the boy’s education was limited to three months in the public school. When he was 12 he started to work. Several years later Edison learned telegraphy and became a telegraph operator. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. After a few months of work he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. The other two of Edison’s greatest inventions were the gramophone and the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success.

So did many of the famous American writers. O’Henry, for instance, a well-known short-story writer had to earn his living from the age of fifteen and he educated himself with the help of friends.

Another famous American novelist, Theodore Dreiser had to leave school and work at a factory when he was still a boy. Later he became a newspaper correspondent and then he began to write books. He wrote such popular novels as “Sister Carrie”, “Financier”, “Titan”, etc.

Business Trips

 

Never before in the history of the world have businessmen traveled as much as they do today. It is not surprising because we are living in a world of growing international trade and expanding economic and technical cooperation. Though it is fascinating for tourist travelling, it has become the most tiring of all occupations for many businessmen and experts. Therefore, choosing a comfortable hotel to stay at is a matter of big importance. There are plenty of good hotels, motels and guest houses in the world, which are conveniently located in major business centers.

Many developing countries, such as India, Egypt, Nigeria, Libya, etc have excellent hotels. Their numerous facilities include both large and small cocktail bars, barber's shops and conference halls equipped with simultaneous, multilingual translation systems. There are parking areas which can accommodate a lot of cars. It might be useful for travelling businessmen and tourists to know that tailor shops, shoe repair shops, laundry and dry cleaning services are available for guests. People in the office help guests to book train or steamer tickets and rent a car. They are also ready to give all necessary information.

Nowadays people who go on business mostly travel by air as it is the fastest means of travelling. Passengers are requested to arrive at the airport 2 hours before the departure time on international flights and an hour on domestic flights, as there must be enough time to complete the necessary airport formalities.  

Most airlines have at least 2 classes of travel: first class and economy class which is cheaper. Each passenger of more than 2 years of age has a free luggage allowance. Generally this limit is 20kg for economic class passenger and 30kg for first class passenger. Excess luggage must be paid extra. Each passenger is given a boarding card to show at departure gate and again to the stewardess on boarding the plane.

Business trips are just part of doing business. And there are as many reasons to go on a business as there are places to go: to sign contracts, to discuss terms of delivery, payment or shipment, to have tests, to consult, to improve one’s professional skills, to provide support. Representatives of the companies involved usually make preliminary arrangements to meet. Whether a long-term or short-term trip, the itinerary must be carefully planned by the head of a department or another executive. After the trip, an employee is ordinarily expected to give a full financial accounting of the trip to his boss.

Sightseeing, cultural events and just plain relaxing are a regular part of every business trip. And no businessman would dare forget to buy gifts for relatives, friends and colleagues while on a business trip to an interesting, new location. These trips are important because they contribute to the expansion of  company’s business relationships and help that company succeed in the competitive world market.

On a business trip people might meet colleagues and business partners for the first time. Often, colleagues from different countries experience cultural difficulties, that is, they are surprised by strange, to them, social conventions in a new place. Different cultures do things differently! Management styles also differ from country to country. It’s often useful when doing business in a foreign land, to get some advice from a special agency which consults on questions of international business. These days business trips are very important because face to face meetings are more valuable to profitable business than any other type of strategy.

Great Inventions

Television (1920s)

The invention that swept the world and changed leisure habits for countless millions was pioneered by Scottish-born electrical engineer John Logie Baird. It had been realized for some time that light could be converted into electrical impulses, making it possible to transmit such impulses over a distance and then reconvert them into light.

Motor Car (Late 19th Century)

With television, the car is probably the most widely used and most useful of all leisure-inspired inventions. German engineer Karl Benz produced the first petrol driven car in 1885 and the British motor industry started in 1896. Henry Ford was the first to use assembly line production for his Model Т car in 1908. Like them or hate them, cars have given people great freedom of travel.

Electricity

The name came from the Greek word for amber and was coined by Elizabeth I's physician William Gilbert who was among those who noticed that amber had the power to attract light objects after being rubbed. In the 19th century such great names as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Alessandro Volta and Andre Marie Ampere all did vital work on electricity.

Photography (Early 19th Century)

Leonardo da Vinci had described the camera obscure photographic principle as early as 1515. But it was not until 1835 that Frenchman Louis Daguerre produced camera photography. The system was gradually refined over the years, to the joy of happy snappers and the despair of those who had to wade through friends' endless holiday pictures.

Telephone (1876)

Edinburgh-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. The following year, the great American inventor Thomas Edison produced the first working telephone. With telephones soon becoming rapidly available, the days of letter-writing became numbered.

Computer (20th Century)

The computer has been another life-transforming invention. British mathematician Charles Babbage designed a form of computer in the mid-1830s, but it was not until more than a century later that theory was put into practice. Now, a whole generation has grown up with calculators, windows, icons, computer games and word processors, and the Internet and e-mail have transformed communication and information.

Aeroplane

The plane was the invention that helped shrink the world and brought distant lands within easy reach of ordinary people. The invention of the petrol engine made flight feasible and the American Wright brothers made the first flight in 1903.