Christmas traditions all over the world

I recently read an article on the online version of "whychristmas.com" and it talks about different traditions in other countries.

I thought you might be interested because it's christmas time ...

First of all I am telling you something about the canadian traditions.

They send their biggest fir or pine to Boston because the Boston people helped them some time ago. A very common tradition is the "Mummering", people dress up and knock on somebody's door and ask if they are allowed to come in. Then they eat the christmas cake and celebrate together.

In Spain most people go to the "Midnight Mass" and after the meal people go through the streets playing guitars, beating on tambourines and drums. The children get their presents not on Christmas Day, but on Epiphany.

The Italian children get their presents from La Befana, she is a old witch who visits every household in the night of Janurary 5th. Cannons are fired from Castel St. Angelo in Rome to announce the beginning of Christmas time.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

FlyNiki to offer Bulgaria link

I read an article the other day in the online edition of “austriantimes.at” and it talks about the new Austrian budget airline of FlyNiki.

I thought you might be interested because FlyNiki is an Austrian airline.

Basically what it talks about is that FlyNiki run a flight from Vienna to Bulgaria, because there isn’t a link at the moment. It is also said that there was a competition with four other European low-cost airlines who already offered a connection to Sofia.

Sofia will not be the only addiction to FlyNiki’s destinations.

What surprised me most was the fact that they are starting new routes although we are in the financial crises.

Vocabulary:

link (Verbindung): If something is linked with an other thing, there is a link between them.

original link:

http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2009-12-16/18920/FlyNiki_to_offer_Bulgaria_link

Flora Reported Speech

I have recently heard an interview about Flora's stay in Austria.

Flora said that she had met a lot of interesting people. She also told us that she had learned a lot of her own traditions in Ireland when she was in Austria.
Flora said that take smoking in public places is unbelievable in Ireland. So she mentioned that the smoking law in Austria isn't strict.
She mentioned that she had known some cliches of Austria but not all of them are true.

Borealis helps in Italy

I've just read an article on "austriantimes.at" and it talks about the earthquake in Italy.

I thought you might be interested because the austrian plastic producer company Borealis is the capital of our federal state Upper Austria.

Basically what it says is that the austrian company Borealis helps building shelters for people, who got homeless by the L'Aquila earthquake this year. Borealis, a subsidiary of the Austrian oil and gas producer OMV, is to supply the polyethylene for the water pipes made by the italian firm Centraltubi.

The Austrian foreign-trade office in Padua will supply stuff for 1.3 kilometres of waterpipes in a 13-building appartment for about 1,200 persons.

According to Veronica Ettinger are the polyethylene pipes for water and gas are very resistant to earthquakes. So they try to give a lot of polyetlyene pipes to these people in L'Aquila.
There are still about 11,000 homeless people in the L'Aquila region and about 299 people died cause of this earthquake.

On my opinion, I really like the idea of the company Borealis because I think everybody should help other persons.

http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2009-09-18/16515/Borealis_to_help_Italian_earthquake_victims

The Sound of Music

I have just read an article on "austriantimes.at" and it talks about a musical.

I thought you might be interested because I love musicals and so maybe there are some of you who also share this passion.

Basically what it says is that Salzburg become very famous because of the fact that there was produced the musical "Sound of Music". The visitors want to see the place where the musical was released.
We knew that the city is very interesting because of the famous birthplace of Mozart or the composer Haydn, as well as the conducter Herbert von Karajan. (Herbert von Karajan wrote symphonies and he was a very popular conducter.)

So the newest attraction is the cheesy musical steering by Julie Andrews singing about her favourite things.

It is estimated that more than 1.2 million people annually make the pilgrimage to Salzburg in order to see where movie history was made in the 1960's.

On my opinion, I am a really big fan of these musicals. I like watching musicals because the acteurs have to present their own style but it is also very hard for them to play such a part, where they have to sing and dance and to play.

http://www.austriantimes.at/?id=13498

Switchplate plant in France

I have just read an article on "austriantimes.at" and it talks about voestalpine.

I thought you might be intrested because voestalpine because maybe you live in Upper Austria and it is a very popular

Basically what it says is that the Upper Austrian steel producer voestalpine has opened a new railway switch-plate plant in France, which costs about 18 million Euros. This switch-plate was opened on June 18th 09 and it employes about 73 people.
According to Wolfgang Eder, the General Director of voestalpine, there won't be any further layoffs in autumn if the business cycle stabilises.
It also says that voestalpine's earnings has gone dramatically down.

On my opinion, it is really good that voestalpine also works in other countries and that they won't lay off more people.

http://www.austriantimes.at/index.php?id=14063

European Parliament Election

I have just read an article about "austriantimes.at" and it talks about the European Parliament Election.

Basically what it says is that the Social Democrate Party (SPÖ) was the biggest looser. They lost two mandates, in the year 2004 they got seven mandates. The so called "winner" of the election was the People's Party (ÖVP). They won six mandates and Hans-Peter Martin won three mandates. The FPÖ got two mandates, one more than in the year 2004 and the Greens made a loss, so they will get only one mandate.

What surprised me most was the fact that only 42,4 per cent voted and that Hans-Peter Martin finished third with three mandates.

As for me, I was allowed to vote but which party I have voted for is a secret.

New Post chief

I have just read an article on "www.austriantimes.at" and it talks about the new post chief.

Basically what it says is that the austrian post will get a new chief, his name is Georg Pölzl and he is also the head of the German telecommunications giant T-Mobile. He will start his work on 1 October 2009. Former long-time Post chief Anton Wais resigned for health reasons at the end of March and Jettmar became acting chief on 1 April.

Georg Pölzl has been T-Mobile’s chief since the beginning of this year. Before that, he was responsible for Deutsche Telekom’s restructuring programme and had previously had a nine year stint running T-Mobile’s Austrian operations in Vienna.

As for me, I hope that the post is able to hiring employees again and that there are more jobs available.

Red Bull sales soar after German cocaine beer

I have just read an article in "austriantimes.at".

It talks aboud "Red Bull".

Basically what it says is that the energie-drink has rocketed after authorities in five German provinces banned it after finding traces of cocaine in the drink.

It is also mentioned that "Red Bull Cola" lost its statues as a foodstuff and became subject to the German Narcotics Act.

A narcotic act is a sort of drug.

But there is no danger of becoming addicted to the drink.

On the one hand I think that the ennergie-drink tasts really good, but on the other hand it consists of a lot of coffein.

On the whole I won't stop buying this drink.

Press Review Framework

I have just read an article in Angelika Pehböck's blog "myblogpehboeck.blogspot.com" and it talks about St. Patrick's Day.

I thought you might be interested because St. Patrick's Day is very important for the Irish people. The basic information about the text is, who he was, how he lived and why he became famous.

It is very interesting how they celebrate St. Patrick's Day. They celebrate St. Patrick's Day on march 17th and they dye their food and drinks with a green food colouring, which looks very funny.

What I liked most is that the text is very nice created and I also liked the nice picture.

On my opinion we should also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, because it would be very funny.

Dress codes

Okay, now I am telling you something about dress codes.

In some British and American schools students have to wear uniforms, but nowadays students want to wear the newest fashion. They want to show the difference between poor and rich families. They want to show their own personality, they don't want to have the same look as another girl or boy.

I'm attending the Business College in Perg. We don't have to wear those uniforms and i thinkt that is really good. So everybody can wear his own style and maybe you feel better, if you wear what you want. There is only one thing; we aren't allowed to wear crop-tops. The teachers don't comment on our clothes because if they did, they wouldn't make themselves popular among the students.

In British families children war school uniforms which have the advantage that nobody will laugh about the children of poor families because of their second hand clothes, and it is also cheaper.

I think dress codes are useful, because at school nobody will be discriminated. If you wear a uniform at your school, you fell that you are a member of a team. In some jobs uniforms are obligatory and that is good. If there is an accident for example and the fire brigade and the police are there, you won't be able to say who is who.

St. Patrick's Day

When is St. Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day take place each year on March 17, the traditional religious feast day of Saint Patrick.

Who is St. Patrick?

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery.


The Parade...

The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762.

The New York City St. Patrick's Day parade marches up 5th Avenue from 44th street to 86th street.

Over 100 St. Patrick's Day parades take place around the United States, but the parades in New York City and Boston are the largest.

The New York St. Patrick's Day parade does not allow automobiles or floats, but over 150,000 marchers participate in the parade.


Places to Spend the Day...

There are 4 places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, TX, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,841 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes had 162 residents and Shamrock, OK, 125.