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The Descent of Boxing Day
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Posted on Feb 28, 2007 by Jodie in English Culture, English Life, English News, English Traditions, GeneralThe day itself should not be associated with the usual boxing sport that most of us watch over the famous world sports channels such as HBO and ESPN. Rather, Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen’s day where people share food and is a national holiday for the families and friends to share friendship and love.
This event is usually spent on the 26th of December of each year, the day right after Christmas. This is celebrated in known regions such as Austria, Britain, New Zealand and Canada. During this time, most business and government offices are closed and people can be found in malls savoring the holiday for the time to enjoy and be with their loved ones.
Such a practice is considered and extension of the usual Christmas breaks. For some people, they technically practice this although unnamed. Besides, there is no harm in extending a one day vacation considering that the Christmas season should be spent at its fullest potential worldwide.
[tags]english tradition, boxing, boxing day, christmas[/tags]
English Music and Bands Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Comments Off Posted on Feb 25, 2007 by Jodie in English Culture, English Life, English News, GeneralEngland is known to house the best names in the music industry, covering that of rock, jazz and pop music. A lot of the known names in the music industry today have made their mark in most parts of the world. Music artists such as The Beatles, Led Zepellin, The Rolling Stones, and Queen have all made their mark as solid English groups that have taken the world by storm.
To this day, most of their original hits are still being played all over the world. The musical artists have left a trail of followers still supporting them to this day and this can be attributed to the quality of music that they have offered to music lovers all over.
All regions and countries have a good following for following the memorable and up to date musical tunes of today. Music hits the spot for most people and using the path of fans that they have until today, such English music names will forever remain in the annals of history and provide inspiration as well to aspiring musicians on the rise.
[tags]beatles, english bands, rolling stones, led zepellin, queen[/tags]
Taking the Toad in a Hole for Breakfast
Comments Off Posted on Feb 23, 2007 by Jodie in English Cuisine, English Culture, English Traditions, GeneralThe name should not be taken literally since similar to most adages, this is simply a name christened to unique conceptualized meals that the English have developed. And for the sake of clearing things out, no frogs or toads are included in it!
Seriously, it is simple egg and toast presented in a unique way. The center portion of bread is simply cut using a round object such as a cookie or a glass and then placed in a frying pan to which eggs are placed in the revealing circular portion. It is like simply frying an egg sunny side up but with borders which produces an appealing manner of presentation for dishes originating from England.
While the name termed for it may need some work, it is commonly known as Egg in the Basket as well. But knowing how to stimulate the curiosity of most people, the attention garnered by Toad in a Hole will really catch their interest since they are not too familiar with such an offered English meal.
[tags]english cuisine, english tradition, english breakfast[/tags]
Tea, usually associated to have originated in China, was also a common tradition that England practiced especially in the afternoons. It was Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford who introduced the afternoon tea practice stemming from her knack of becoming hungry in the afternoons during her time.
English tea and biscuits made their way as an apparent substitute towards what most people use in the form of coffee for social gathering and quality pastime breaks. Such a heritage has been in effect to this day.
Biscuits are not the only known partners that come with the traditional English tea. Other substitutes would include that of canapés or sandwiches and pastries to go. So the next time a person would find himself visiting the vicinity of England, expect a hot tea pot waiting for serving as a form of accommodation and social support element for a perfect English afternoon with your host.
[tags]tea, tradition, afternoon tea, coffee[/tags]
Each country has a different belief with regards to spending their daily lives at any day of the week. The usual weekdays of Monday to Friday are considered as working days, similar to that of most countries today. Saturday is an option for others to make as a working day or not, but for the British, Saturdays are times where they spend with their families and times for shopping.
Sundays are extension of the quality time spent with families. This includes the shopping malls and stalls which would not hold the usual working hours. Some would not even open since the British put premium towards family and religion during the weekends.
For Britain, it is obvious that premium on stronger ties within families is what is important. Their traditions and routine manner of living is something to envy. But for each country today, adjustments to the manner of living is a must to adhere towards the increasing demand for quality living.
[tags]english culture, english traditions, family[/tags]
The Origin of the Game of Darts
Comments Off Posted on Feb 17, 2007 by Jodie in English Culture, English Life, English Sports, English TraditionsDarts, a worldwide famous sport today, traces its origins in England where most of the professional dart players today originate. Darts holds the key towards the national past time sport, similar to that of football and basketball which has been a famous activity in parts of America and Asia to date.
Darts for its part has been known to be only a recreational activity that goes along with beer. But the level of competition that many would refer to as the Masters of Darts tournament have their own set of traditions and distinctions.
Darts actually originated in the middle ages where soldiers would hurl arrows on the upturned side of a barrel where arrows would be hurled closest to the cork bung, with the closes being the winner. Today, the concept has been totally developed into bulls eyes, where the score would be higher than that of farther hit targets in darts.
[tags]darts, sports, traditions, culture, competition[/tags]
Most people would see different wedding traditions, but if there is one that can be traced from the English style, that is of spreading flowers on the pathway towards the altar before the bride walks towards it. Such a practice stems from the belief that the bride will live through her life happily and lovely.
This practice is usually done by a small girl who dons the same design or dress of the bride herself. This is to avoid being singled out by any jealous evil wishers who might envy her life of happiness in the duration of the ceremonies.
Also, brides are also advised to carry a silver horseshoe to the hem of their wedding dresses. In the olden days, brides were even asked to carry actual horseshoes for good luck. The former is what most brides apply now since good luck is what any newlyweds will always be after.
[tags]wedding, wedding ceremonies, horseshoes, good luck[/tags]
Practically the entire world is aware that English is known to be the primary and perhaps universal dialect and language known worldwide. This can be traced to the influence created by the British Empire. It is usually a known second language to other countries who have their own primary language such as China and France. With the influence of its widespread familiarity, the English language has bee known to be one of the easier, if not better used means of establishing communication and ties today.
All over the world, English is known to be a requirement. Being familiar with the universal language is an important tool especially in professions. This can be attributed to the fact that people will always resort to English if people coming from different countries are different from one another. This way, areas such as business and social interactions can be at a stand-off, meaning that people can communicate freely and understandably.
[tags]english, universal, jobs, writing[/tags]
Recent statistics have revealed that the vast majority of rural post offices in England are not making enough money. The government is now under tremendous pressure to make some tough decisions. There is also a concern that thousands of pensioners living in many rural areas of England could face total isolation if their local post office closes because it is considered a lifeline in the absence of other services.
There is no doubt that a post office is needed in every community. It offers both convenience and reliability for people to pay their bills. It not only allows people to post letters but also let them catch up with local goings on. To me, it will be an absolute disgrace if people have to travel miles merely to pay bills. The internet is not always the best way to do things either as online identity theft has been increasingly common these days.
Some may argue that if there is decline is local post office usage, perhaps it’s because they can’t provide the services of the same standard they used to in the past. The government has historically been very supportive of the Post Office because it ensured that people, regardless of where they lived, were able to obtain necessary licences or permits and freely send letters and packages.
The current situation, however, demonstrates the failure of this government to take up its responsibilities to the people. They instead prefer to use economy to justify their actions, but are happy to waste a lot of money on crazy policies and unnecessary bureaucracies.
I always fail to comprehend why the government loves throwing money at things that are neither profitable nor useful. Whatever objection it may have, the Post Office has traditionally been a friendly and welcoming place where people can go and easily get things done. Much to the disgust of many, this will understandably be replaced by another powerful corporation which has an awful track record but is a big political party donor.
There are countless reasons why post offices should certainly be supported by the government. For instance, people in rural areas get little or sometimes no public transport, so the absence of post offices will surely make their lives even more difficult. I’ve myself stayed in both rural and urban areas and it was in fact relatively easier to post letters in the village believe it or not.
Many people, including myself, also cannot understand why the post offices are being targeted purely because they are making a loss. If that really were the case, the rail system and other public transport would be gone by now. This could easily give a wrong impression that people in urban areas, where all sorts of facilities are available to them 24/7, believe that rural people should be denied all facilities.
I genuinely believe that rural post offices should definitely be assisted. More and more of us are being pushed to live in suburban areas and as such have to use cars to do things. Nonetheless, there will always be a need to live in communities with convenient local services too.
In England, the two main ways to assess students’ performances are coursework and exams respectively. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has recently proposed to scrap coursework in favour of full scale exams because according to their report, coursework has become less valid.
People have argued that nerves often get the better off them in exams whereas they find little difficulty doing coursework. To be honest, I reckon it’s quite fair to give people a chance this way, although I myself am happy doing exams. Coursework gives people complete freedom as they can go onto a computer, delete and edit things they way they like. There is also an opportunity for them to properly research stuff.
Despite the fact that I never complained about coursework, I have to say that I would have preferred to do all exams. I reckon coursework can sometimes be unfair as parents, teachers and mates can give too much help. In addition, the growing use of Internet can also result in an extremely uneven playing field, where a C grade student can hardly be distinguished from an A grade student because they were allowed countless redrafts, given loads and loads of help and could then potentially end up with unfairly high marks.
Regardless of its drawbacks, coursework does have its major advantage too; students can feel more confident going into the exam as they’ve already got some marks in the bag. However, there is also a problem that tutors don’t always get the marking accurately and your final results could get moderated down. It would be quite a blow for anyone to be told that they’d got an A for their coursework and hence felt secure, only to later discover that it was actually worth a mere B or less.
That happened with my Geography coursework and I have to say it’s not nice at all. Maybe the idea of open book exams supported by many seems a viable alternative because it is not all about memorising and also minimises the problem of cheating. And certain subjects such as maths and science should not have coursework because it is rather pointless, though science could just have a practical exam instead.
As far as I’m concerned, students in modern English education have a bit too much coursework, and they are also over examined. However, if I was doing it again I would still rather do all exams, particularly at A level. During A-levels most people had to do quite a few papers for two full weeks and although I think it’s not so healthy I believe it taught me to learn to cope under extreme pressure and time constraints.
To scrap coursework might be good once and for all. I fully appreciate that some people find exams very stressful and as a result they might not be able to perform to the best of their academic abilities. With that said, there has to be some method of student assessment and no single method is perfect for everyone. Given the ease and prevalence of cheating in coursework, it’s blindingly obvious that a purely exam based system, in spite of any disadvantages it may cause some students, is a lot safer from cheating.
