Holidays in The United States
After thanksgiving Americans start preparing themselves for Christmas. Even better, the day after thanksgiving, on Black Friday, Americans already start putting up the Christmas decorations. They also start their Christmas shopping on that day. Lights are hung up everywhere, and Christmas carols are being sung, and there are artificial ice rinks to go ice skating on at every street corner. The Americans celebrate Christmas to the fullest. Christmas is being celebrated on December 25th. Christmas eve is usually celebrated with a party and at night Santa flies from home to home with its sleigh and 8 reindeer, leaving behind presents under the tree.
Christmas
Christians visit the church on Christmas eve to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Everybody celebrates this holiday in their own way. On Christmas morning families gather around to open the Christmas presents under the tree or that are hanging in a stocking by the chimney.
Celebrating New Year’s Eve, the American way
New York City is the place to be to end the old year and welcome the new year with a big bang on Times Square. New York is beautifully decorated the last weeks of the year, to make it even more spectacular. 750,000 people visit Times Square every year to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The Ball starts lowering down at 23:59, while everybody counts down the last 60 seconds. The Ball is huge and lit beautifully and hits the ground at midnight. When the ball hits a spectacular light show starts and colourful confetti is whirls down on the crowd. That’s when the party can really get started. Really a magical way to welcome the new year.
Since New Year’s Eve is celebrated outside it is important to dress well. It can get very cold! If you want to have a good view of The Ball you should find a spot on Broadway between 43rd street and 50th Street on Seventh Avenue to 59th Street. Most people will come there early to find a good spot so make sure you are there early too. The Streets to get to Times Square get locked down early too, the best way to reach it will be by coming in on Sixth or Eight Avenue.
Super Bowl
Get ready because on the 7th of February 2017 it is time for the Super Bowl again. This year is the 51st edition of the Super Bowl. For the less worldly between us, the Super Bowl has nothing to do with bowling. It is the final of American football in which the winners of the two competitions play against each other. The Super Bowl is one of the most important sport events in The Unites States. This day is also seen as a national holiday. The winners of course get eternal fame; the Vince Lombardi Trophy (Named after the now passed away Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi), and the ring. The ring is engraved with the logo and bejewelled with diamonds that show the edition of the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl is of course being broadcasted on tv. About a 100 million people watch this event annually. This obviously means that companies love to get send time for their commercials. For 30 seconds of commercial time they pay 4.5 million euros! This day is also called Super Bowl Sunday. People gather around the television with friends, family, drinks, chicken wings and pizza. Apart from thanksgiving this is the day in the year that Americans consume the most food.
And then we haven’t even discussed the half time show yet. This is a big show in which famous artists play their songs. Normally football players only get 12 minutes during half time, however they changed this to 30 minutes especially for the artists. Who would not want to experience this event?
