Thanksgiving day

Thanksgiving Day is a public holiday in the United States. It now comes on the fourth Thursday in November. This is a day for family reunions. Thanks are offered in the churches for the blessings (благословения) of the year, and at home a big dinner that usually includes roast turkey and cranberry sauce (клюквенный соус) is served. Thanksgiving is a harvest festival, and is one of the oldest and most popular celebrations in the world. The original celebration in the United States was held in 1621 after the first harvest in New England. The Pilgrims had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the “Mayflower”, arriving December 21, 1620. Only half of the original band survived the cold winter. But the first harvest, fortunately, was good.

The date of this first feast is not known and there is no record that it was called “thanksgiving”. But two years later the Pilgrims set apart a day of thanks for rain that put an end to a long dry period. Later, Thanksgiving days following harvest came to be celebrated in all the colonies of New England, but not on the same day. It was during the third year of the Civil War, October 3, 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving. In 1951, the United States Congress named the fourth Thursday of November a Thanksgiving Day.

New york

Although New York is not the capital of the United States (and not even of New York State) it is the biggest and most important city of the country. Situated at the mouth of the deep Hudson River, it has always been the gateway to the USA. But it is more than just a door: it is also a window through which the life of the whole nation may be observed.

New York is many things to many people. It is the financial and media capital of the world. It is the headquarters of the United Nations. It is the center of American cultural life. It is the national leader in fashion and entertainment.

The “Big Apple”, as New York City is nicknamed, is a city unlike any other. It has everything for everyone. It offers the best, the biggest and the brightest of everything. It is a place of excitement, beauty… and contradictions. There is, for example, no canal on Canal Street, Battery Park is not a power station, and Times Square is a triangle. As they say, only in New York!

People who come to New York by sea are greeted by the Statue of Liberty. It has become a symbol of the city (if not of the whole country) and an expression of freedom to people all over the world. The statue shows liberty as a proud woman draped in the graceful folds of a loose robe. In her uplifted right hand, she holds a glowing torch. She wears a crown with seven spikes that stand for the light of liberty shining on the seven seas and seven continents. In her left arm, she holds a tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence. A chain that represents tyranny lies broken at her feet.

The Statue of Liberty was France’s gift to America. It was designed by the

French sculptor Bartholdi and presented to the USA in 1886. The Lady in the Harbour stands 151 feet tall, weighs nearly 225 tons and has a 35-foot waist. In 1986 she underwent a face-lift in honour of her 100th birthday.

There is a museum in the base of the statue devoted to the history of immigration to the United States.

365 steps lead from the entrance to the observation area in the seven-pointed crown (visitors are not allowed to climb to the torch). The views are breathtaking.

The Lady of the Harbour is tourists’ favourite souvenir. It takes the form of salt shakers and pencil sharpeners, adorns plates and T-shirts.

CANADA

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.

The lands have been inhabited for millennia by various groups of aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France established nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces.

At present Canada is a federation of 10 provinces and 3 northern territories.

It is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state. The federal Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leader of the party that wins the largest number of seats in a newly elected House of Commons is asked to form the government.

The red and white with single maple leaf flag was adopted.

The total population is about 30 million people with the average population density of 2.8 per sq. km.

More than one third of Canada’s population is of British immigrants and there are many descendants of French immigrants. This is why both English and French are the official languages of Canada. Other immigrant groups include German, Italian, Asian people and native American Indians.

Ontario, with 12.5 million people has the largest population of any of Canada's states. Quebec, with 7.6 million people is next most populous.

People who have never been to Canada often think that it’s always cold, all across the land. The truth, however, is quite different. Being a large country, Canada has a wide range of climates and temperatures. Most of the country has four distinct seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall). Most of Canada has a semi-continental or a continental climate. Depending on the exact location, summers are warm or hot and winters are cold or very cold (or brutally cold). The exception is Canada's Pacific coast, where summers and winters are mild.

Sunshine is abundant in most provinces, particularly the Prairie Provinces in the middle of Canada.

Canadians call their currency The Loonie. This has less to do with insanity than the picture of the common loon - a Canadian bird - on the back of the coin. The picture of Queen Elizabeth on the front of the coin has not yet inspired the nickname of The Queenie or the Lizzie.