jobean
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Post by jobean on Feb 22, 2008 0:12:19 GMT -5
We don't do the Halloween thing at all. My parents know nothing about it, and one time these kids did the 'trick or treat' thing to us and it took me a while to explain to my mum that she had to give them some kind of candy. As for the easter thing, we get a 4 day weekend but don't do much except get chocolate. But I think that's because I'm not associated with that religion.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Feb 22, 2008 8:07:47 GMT -5
As for Halloween, we have something that roughly translates to carnival, about two months before Easter. People dress in costumes like you do in Halloween and there are parades and parties... Wouldn't that be more like Mardi Gras?
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Post by Carma on Feb 22, 2008 8:14:28 GMT -5
As for Halloween, we have something that roughly translates to carnival, about two months before Easter. People dress in costumes like you do in Halloween and there are parades and parties... Wouldn't that be more like Mardi Gras? Not to sound completely stupid.. but two months before easter... is that the beginning of februari? because in the south of Holland we have carnival, and it comes from the Catholics... and then everybody gets dressed in constumes and they drink a lot and party all day long.. with parades etc... and it's in more parts of europe.. I don't know if you mena that? because I don't find that very much like Halloween actually... we have sint maarten! thats like halloween, but not really the same.. and not in my region of holland..
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Feb 22, 2008 9:13:53 GMT -5
Wouldn't that be more like Mardi Gras? Not to sound completely stupid.. but two months before easter... is that the beginning of februari? because in the south of Holland we have carnival, and it comes from the Catholics... and then everybody gets dressed in constumes and they drink a lot and party all day long.. with parades etc... and it's in more parts of europe.. I don't know if you mena that? because I don't find that very much like Halloween actually... we have sint maarten! thats like halloween, but not really the same.. and not in my region of holland.. We have Carnival here! It's usually in February.
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bookworm
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
"Everything you can imagine is real" - Pablo Picasso
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Post by bookworm on Feb 22, 2008 11:32:58 GMT -5
Isa, I don't know what Mardi Gras is...
In christian orthodox tradition, the 50 days before easter are considered a time of fasting and self-evaluation etc. So just before this period begins, we have the carnival, like a last opportunity to party! The carnival is mostly related to religious customs, I just meant it's like Halloween because of the dressing up in costumes...
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Feb 22, 2008 15:53:41 GMT -5
I guess it's the same thing then, just a different name - Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) is the day before Lent begins (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), so basically it's the last day you're allowed to party, eat and drink what you want until Easter, according to religious traditions.
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jobean
First novel published
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Post by jobean on Feb 22, 2008 15:56:30 GMT -5
That's weird - for us, the Mardi Gras is the Gay and Lesbian parade
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Feb 22, 2008 15:57:30 GMT -5
LOL ;D
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jobean
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Post by jobean on Feb 22, 2008 16:01:05 GMT -5
I'm actually being serious!! Wow I never knew the Mardi Gras actually had something to do with Easter. I always thought the gay and lesbians made up the name.. You learn something new everyday!
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Feb 22, 2008 16:43:09 GMT -5
I'm actually being serious!! Wow I never knew the Mardi Gras actually had something to do with Easter. I always thought the gay and lesbians made up the name.. You learn something new everyday! Oh, I believe you jobean! It's just so funny to think that it started out as a religious holiday and it somehow turned into a gay parade!
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Michelle
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Post by Michelle on Feb 22, 2008 17:58:07 GMT -5
The reason that we have Mardi Gras/Carnival/etc is because in the past the church made you give up practically everything for lent and you had to use up all of your food that would spoil - flour, milk, eggs, any type of sweet. So people had big meals to use them up. And I suppose you had to party before you had to be all solemn for 7 weeks. No weddings, baptisms, or parties of any kind used to be permitted during lent.
We have a big Polish population in southeastern Michigan so Fat Tuesday is also known as Paczki Day. Paczkis are these incredibly fattening donut like things. They have like 1200 calories each. All the bakeries sell them that day. And you constantly see people walking around with pastry boxes. But outside of this area (and maybe Poland), I don't think many people have them.
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Isa
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Post by Isa on Feb 22, 2008 20:03:56 GMT -5
Sounds quite yummy, memccart!
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Lu
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Post by Lu on Feb 23, 2008 8:55:39 GMT -5
You're right memccart. I guess it's the same thing then, just a different name - Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) is the day before Lent begins (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), so basically it's the last day you're allowed to party, eat and drink what you want until Easter, according to religious traditions. It's the same here, the last day of Carnival is called Martedì Grasso, which means Fat Tuesday. We get chocolate eggs for Easter. i love them(/chocolate)!
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Post by Pilleriin on Feb 24, 2008 4:25:26 GMT -5
We do. I have birthday in April, so when Easter is same time than my birthday, I used to get chocolate and porcelain bunnies present to my friends. Now I have like 10 different Easter porcelain bunnies. You're the Easter Porcelain Bunny girl! ;D We don't celebrate Halloween at all. We have similar events on 10th November and on 25th November. On 10th we have 'Mardipäev' (Martinmas, St Martin's Day). It's an old Estonian tradition. It's very similar to Halloween. Children (they're called mardisants) often go from house to house singing their St. Martin's Day songs and wishing households good luck for crops, cattle and for the household in general. They are wearing costumes ( on St. Martin's Day you have to wear something dark). St. Martin’s Day is a male holiday, since it honours a male saint. In the old times when men went singing and dancing door-to-door, one of the men was disguised as a woman. The most cherished time for going door-to-door is St. Martin's Eve, when traditionally the group leader was a male, called the Martin Elder or Elder Saint. They often wear masks of animals, such as bears, goats and rams. We also have parties, plays and other traditions on St. Martin's Day. The St. Catherine's Day is a female holiday. On the St. Catherine's Day children (kadrisandid, kadris) dress up and go from door to door to collect gifts, such as food, cloth and wool, in return for suitable songs and blessings. Comparison to the mardisants, who were generally dressed in a masculine and rough manner and often wore animal masks, the kadris wear clean and light-coloured clothing, which is in reference to the coming snow. I hope you understand it! We don't eat only chocolate on Easter. We paint usual chicken eggs (boiled) and then exchanged them with our friends and family. In the evening we have a competition whose egg is the strongest Today it's our Independence Day!
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