Презентацию подготовила Ученица 9 «В» класса Толпеева Алина.

January 1 st is a legal holiday in the USA but celebrations begin on December 31 st. Many New Yorkers come to Time Square in the centre of the city. At one minute to midnight a lighted ball drops slowly from the top of a pole of one of the buildings. People count down while the ball is dropping. Alaska celebrates Christmas at night, Santa Clause is strictly American. European children have other visitors.

Dutch children watch for St. Nicolas, a tall man with a white beard, dressed in a bishops robe and a tall pointed hat. He comes on December 3d, St. Nicolas Eve. On that evening, children put their shoes before the fireplace. They stuff hay and carrots into the shoes for St. Nicolas horse. When Dutch settlers came to the new world, they brought St. Nicolas with them. If you try to say the words St. Nicolas very fast, you can hear Santa Clause.

Swedish children look forward to St. Lucys Day which is December 13 th, and this day leads to Christmas. A girl wearing a crown of pine boughs and seven lighted candles awakens the family and serves them cakes and coffee. On Christmas an imaginary white-bearded dwarf brings gifts in a sleigh.

Danish children have mysterious visitor named Jule Nesse, a kind old man who supposedly lives in an attic. On Christmas Eve, the children put porridge and milk for him at the door of the attic.

Italian children look for an old gnome or a sprite on the 12 th night after Christmas. They have a manger and a star. It can be dangerous to have a walk at night at the end of December. People usually throw the old things from their houses through the windows: broken cups and plates, old clothes and boots and sometimes different pieces of furniture. They believe that on the New Years Eve the magician Befaniya comes to the houses through the chimney and put the presents fot the children in their stockings or shoes

In this country housewives start to cook special food for the New Years Day and the members of the families do a big cleaning up. The idea is to get rid of the past year dirt, and welcome the new. On the radio or on the TV you can hear 108 bells. The 108 th bell rings just a second before the midnight. The people say: Happy New Year! People eat the special food and drink rice wine during the meal.

People call the New Years Eve Hogmanay. They visit their friends houses after midnight on the New Years night. The first person who comes to your house brings you luck. It must be a man or a boy with dark hair and eyes not a woman. He must bring a piece of coal for luck. At midnight when the clock begins to strike 12, the head of the family goes to the entrance door, opens it wide and holds it until the last stroke. Then he shut the door.

Christmas begins on December 16 th and ends with the observance of Epiphany, January 6 th. The celebration of La Posada begins on December 16 th and continues for 9 nights. On Christmas Eve, the Baby is placed in the manger and everybody sings praises at church. All the houses are decorated with piñatas (игрушка из папье-маше, начинённая сладостями). When they are broken on Christmas Eve, children find goodies of every kind and small toys and whistles there. Mexican children write letters to the Christ Child, listing their wishes for gifts. They place their shoes at the foot of the bed on January 6 th, the night of Epiphany

Puerto Rican children enjoy 12 days of Christmas and believe in Santa Clause. Before the children go to sleep, they hang their stockings at the head of the bed for gifts.

Spanish children look for three callers. On New Years Eve, visitors dressed as the three Wise Men may appear. The children put hay in their own shoes for the Wise Mens camels.