Mid-summer

European midsummer festival are pre-Christian in origin.They are particularly important in northern Europe in places such as Denmark, in Ireland, parts of Britain, France and Italy, other parts of Europe, and elsewhere such as Canada and the United states.

History

People believed that mid-summer plants had miraculous healing powers which they picked on that night. Evil spirits were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again and bonfires were lit to protect against them. Later, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other evil powers.In Sweden, Mid-summer celebration originates from the time before Christianity.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer

Opinions

Saradevi: I feel that this festival is something very unique as most countries do not have such interesting traditions.

Jia Yin: This is definitely an unusual festival. It will be interesting if I had the chance to witness such a festival.

Yu Shan: I feel that this the traditional beliefs of this festival is rare and extraordinary. The way people celebrated it is fascinating too.

Alvita: This festival is amazing! I never seen such unique festival before. The festival also has a very long history.

Differences between the christmas jess have and the christmas I have

Similarities between Jess's Christmas and My Christmas

Both of us had a happy Christmas.
Both of us had difficulty thinking up what presents to buy for our friends.
Both of us had to help out with the household chores.
Both of us celebrate Christmas with our family.

Differences between Jess's Christmas and My Christmas

Jess: Jess also had money problems (his father gave him only $1).
Jess got something that is free for Leslie.
Jess did not go with the family for christmas shopping.
Jess sang Christmas songs with May Belle and Joyce Ann.
Jess gave his friend(Leslie)his present in Terebithia.
Jess helped his sibling(May Belle)to wrap her present.

Me: I did not have any difficulty buying presents for people.
I did not give anything free to my friends.
I went Christmas shopping with my family.
I did not sing Christmas songs, we watched television.
I gave my friend her present at her house.
I did not help my brother wrap his Christmas present.

Valerie Ho

Literature Part A ~

Chinese New Year~

My family and I didn't celebrate Chinese New Year too traditionally. We only have a small family gathering as most of my relatives are in Indonesia. So its just my father, mother and me who celebrate it.

I don't mind it much though. We had a very nice dinner. We stayed home the whole two days. Eventhough its just a small gathering, I'm very happy that my family is still here with me.

Also, I got ang paos!!! Its not much, but I'm still very happy. I saved it instead spending it. The CNY celebration in school is great!!! I love the Chinese Orchestra performance the most. We all enjoyed the celebration greatly. My friends and I exchanged our experience.

This is some moments in life that I cherished the most. I know that once time past, this will never came back again. Nevertheles, I will look forward to next year's Chinese New Year.

Written by: Alvita (1) 2E8

Chinese New Year

Part (b)-Christmas

Similarities
-Both of us get gifts during the occasions.
-Both of us are delighted with our gifts.
-Both of us have still have to do work.
-Both of us celebrated the festivals with our family.
-Both of us enjoyed the occasions.
Differences
-I get gifts in the form of red packets while Jess get gifts in the form of presents (a box of watercolours) .
-I had to do homework and revise for common test while Jess had to milk the cow.
-I only celebrated Chinese New Year with my family but Jess celebrated it with his family and his friend, Leslie.
-I enjoyed all the time throughout the festival while Jess enjoyed some parts of the festival only.

By: Yu Shan

Literature Part B ~

Similarity of Jess in celebrating Christmas and me celebrating Chinese New Year:
~We both recieved gifts (me in ang pao).
~We both have trouble deciding on a perfect surprise for our loved ones.
~Both of us succeeded on gettingour loved ones happy.
~We both tried to get the attention of our family members.
~Both of us enjoyed the festival in the end.
~We both celebrate it with our family.

The differences:
~We have different way of celebrating the festival.
~He got racing toy cars for the Christmas present, while I got my whole family together and healthy .
~He got teased by his sisters, while I don't have any.
~He still has to work on Christmas, while I don't on Chinese New Year.

Written by: Alvita (1) 2E8

Chinese New Year

Part (a):
During the eve of Chinese New Year, my cousin and her parents came to our house in the morning. My grandmother was elated as her youngest son came back from Thailand to celebrate Chinese New Year. In the afternoon, we ate steamboat for reunion dinner. After the water had boiled, we added noodles, Japanese udon, fish balls, meat balls, prawns, etc, into the steamboat. It was the first time we added Japanese udon into steamboat! When the food had cooked, we began to eat. I tried the Japanese udon. It was delicious! While eating, we started a conversation. After eating, the adults went to the living room to chat and watched television while my cousin, brother and I went to my room. In my room, we chatted about school life, listened to famous songs and played cards games.
At about 4 p.m., my cousin and her parents went home. Then, we started hanging up decorations as it was the auspicious hour. My brother and I helped my mother to choose the nice mandarin oranges and put them on the plate nicely. We had enjoyed choosing and placing the mandarin oranges. My family and I stayed up until midnight to watch Channel 8, Chinese New Year’s special programme. As the clock stroked twelve, we jumped for joy, shook hands and said “Happy New Year” to one another. My parents gave us red packets. Next, we prayed. After praying, we were so exhausted and slept immediately once our head hit the bed.

The next morning, we changed into new clothes. My aunt, uncle, cousin and her parents came to our house. We exchanged mandarin oranges, red packets and said auspicious words to each other. We ate peanut-filling rice balls. As we bit the rice balls, the peanut filling came out of the other side of the rice ball. We laughed and chatted heartily while eating.
In the afternoon, we went to my maternal grandparents’ house. When we reached there, we were warmly welcomed by them. My brother and I were given red packets and we ate lunch there. Then, we visited my granduncle in his house just opposite my maternal grandparents’ house.
After visiting my granduncle, we went to Bugis Shopping Centre to watch the movie “The Wedding Game” with my cousin and her parents. I felt that some parts of the movie were comical but some parts were boring. After watching the movie, we went home.

The next day, all my relatives from my paternal side came to my house. My mother and aunt cooked a wide spread of delicious food. My father went to Ubi to buy Yu Sheng. Before eating lunch, we “lao” Yu Sheng. We had to bring our chopsticks as high as possible saying auspicious words. It was great fun. Then, we joined two tables together so that everyone would have a place to sit and savour the delicious food. Next, we went to pray in a temple in Loyang and visited two of my relatives’ house.

I like Chinese New Year as I can bond with my family and relatives. Moreover, I can see my relatives who had not come for a long time.

By: Yu Shan

Christmas

I celebrated Christmas with my mother's family last year. I was looking forward to the Christmas party since the school holidays in October. My family is usually the first to arrive at the party as my brother and I always rush our parents. I also had fun buying Christmas presents for my friends
All the adults had decided that the children was to plan the whole Christmas party, from the food to the decorations. My cousins and I were so excited that we started planning one month before the actual party which is on the eve of Christmas. We had decided to have fried food and order KFC delivery.
I felt that by letting us organise the Christmas party they have made us closer together. Although in the midst of organising the party, there were some differences in opinion, we managed to settle it in the end.
During the Christmas party, everyone ate the dinner together and we talked about everyday life, which may seem trivial to others but is very interesting to us. After that we watched the television and ate desserts.
Then, the part of the night we have been waiting for came and as soon as the clock showed 12 o'clock, we eagerly rushed to the pile of presents under the Christmas tree. We tore the presents together and one of my cousins almost opened my brother's present. We also thanked our aunts and uncles as they gave us our presents, as it is the thought that counts.
After the opening of presents, we all went home to play with them.

Hanami

Hanami means flower appreciatng or flower viewing.It tend to refer to sakuras or cherryblossoms which blossom during late march to early may.The blossom forecast is announced each year by the weather bureau.In modern Japan it is nomally an outdoor party beneath the sakura trees.Hanami when at night is called yozakura (lit. "night sakura").

History of Hanami:

This practise is centuries old & was said to be influenced by the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
Poems would be written praising the delicate flowers, which were seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful yet fleeting and ephemeral. This was said to be the origin of hanami in Japan.The custom was originally limited to the Imperial Court, but by the Edo period, it was spread to the common people as well.Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts.
Today, the Japanese people continue the tradition of hanami, they gather in great numbers wherever the flowering trees are found. Thousands of people fill the parks to hold feasts under the flowering trees, and sometimes these parties go on until late at night.They continue the tradition of hanami by taking part in the processional walks through the parks which is a form of retreat for contemplating and renewing their spirits.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami

Opinions

Jiayin: I find hanami rather meaningful. This is a great way for family bonding in which people gather together under the cherryblossoms to appreciate nature wonders. Personally, I hope that such festival can be conducted in Singapore.

Saradevi: I feel that Hanami is meaningful as it encourages family bonding & appreciation of nature.In my opinion, this calming festival should be participated by more families.

Yu Shan: I feel that Hanami is a significant and important event. Famiies and relatives can take this opportunity to bond together, have a reunion dinner and appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature and poems. It is also an interesting way of reuniting with our families and relatives. Hanami is similar to the appreciation of Sentosa Flowers in Singapore.

Alvita: I feel that Hanami is a good way to calm your soul. You will feel as one with nature and at peace. This will be a good time with your family or even distant relatives. We can also celebrate the peacefulness with your close friends.

Literature Part B

Similarities in Jess's Easter (Chapter 8) with my Chinese New Year Celebrations:
- Both of ended up playing while doing work ( Jess had squirted milk while my cousins & I had splashed water)
- We get to wear new clothes
- Both of us had to go for prayers (Jess went to church while I went to the temple)
Differences of our in experiences:
- Stories were told in the chuch but there were no stories told in the temple I visited
- Jess invited Leslie over while I did not get a chance to invite my friends over for Chinese New Year
By: Saradevi

Chinese New Year (Assignment 3)

Part (b) : -Christmas-
Similarities
-Both of us celebrated the festival with our family.
-Both Jess and I were fustrated with problems
-Both Jess and I dreaded the approaching festival but appreciates and enjoyed it at the end.
Reason why the festival was dreaded.
Jess: Did not know what to give for Christmas
Me: The stress of the common test and the amount of homework
Reason why we enjoyed it.
Jess: Leslie managed to cheer Jess up with the help of Prince Terrien (P.T)
Me: Chatting with my family members helped me to forget all the worries in school and enjoy myself.

Differences:
- Both of us are troubled by different things
Jess: Did not know what to give others for Christmas
Me: Worried that there might not be enough time for the revision of the Common Test
- Jess was not having fun when spending time with his family. Instead, he was trying to please his father. On the other hand, I had a great time conversing with my family.
- The festive mood was spoilt in different ways.
Jess: The whining and teasing of Leslie by his sisters. His troubles made it worse.
Me: The mood was spoilt by the consistent race against time

By: Jia Yin (9)

Chinese New Year (Assignment 3)

Part (a) :
This year, time seems to be running out due to the common test and the homework.That might be the reason why i seemed to lost my enthusiasm of Chinese new year.After what seems like an eternity, the day before Chinese new year came! At around 6pm, my family and I went to my Grandmother's house for reunion dinner. There, we met up with my relatives and we began with a hearty conversation. It was amazing how fast time flies. We began to start eating after managing to squeese into a single table. By the time we went home, it was already late. We stayed up late to watch some television programmes such as movie specials.

The next morning, after wishing each other good wealth and prosperity, we ate our meals before watching more television programmes. I was bored at some of the television specials and almost fell asleep. After eating an early lunch, we made our way at my Grandmother's house to meet with my relatives. Then, we began visiting other relatives who lives in Upper Serangoon and Ang Mo Kio. It was fun to try boarding a lift with 10 people though i was worried that we will be trapped if the lift broke down.I find that visiting them is a good chance to know more about each other as we seldom meet.

Then, my family travelled to Bishan for another small family reunion. My grandmother on my mother's side was a great cook. I could not help but to request for a second helping. I am relieved that I did not ate too much new year goodies at my other relatives' houses. After dinner, we sat down and watch a television special of 'Little Nonya'. Even though it was quite short, we enjoyed ourselves and commented on the show. By the time we went home via taxi, we were already exhausted. Though tiring, I appreciate the time spent together. This year was not as bad as i thought after all!

By: Jia Yin (9)

Literature assignment (Chinese New Year)

By: Saradevi
For this Literature Assignment, I am doing on Chinese New Year.Every Year unlike most of the other students who stay in S'pore to celebrate, I would would always travel in to M'sia to visit my paternal side of the family.Well you see my dad is a Malaysian & so every year I return back to M'sia for the new year.
For this year, I went back on the eve.We rushed back for the reunion dinner.In M'sia I had to help out cousins to set up the tables,chairs & place the utensils properly. Oh the tables were dirty.It was really dusty & dirty but my cousins & I some how suddenly started to splash water at each other. It was fun.
Reunion dinner...The dinner we have every year although I always sit with my cousins instead of my parents.Its great fun eating with my cousins.We would be telling jokes while they would be gossiping about the Malaysian guys & teachers then we would all laugh like there was no tomorrow.
After dinner we would hide in a room & start telling stories while I share my experiences of school life in S'pore.
Visiting always came the next day.For visiting I always stick to my parents & I would be introduced to all the aunts & uncles of the really gigantic family tree.It was fun & overall I had great time bonding with my family.