CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
The most important feast days in Great Britain are: New Year’s day, St. Valentine’s day, Easter, Mother’s day, Father’s day, Halloween, Remembrance day (It is observed on November 11 to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918) and Christmas. Unlike the continentals, the English have no traditional celebration on Christmas Eve. The important day of Christmas is Christmas day - in the morning children enjoy unwrapping presents and at midday Christmas dinner is a great occasion. It consist of roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and roast potatoes and Christmas pudding. On Christmas Day, the monarch addresses the nation and the Commonwealth on radio and television. December 26 is called Boxing Day and for children it marks the beginning of the pantomime season, which ends at Easter. A pantomime is a traditional Christmas-time entertainment with music, dancing, acrobatics and clowning. Many people go visiting on Boxing Day or to parties in the evening. Besides these feast days, in every country is celebrating a patron day: in England, it is St.George day, in Wales St.David’s day, in Ireland St. Patrick’s and in Scotland St.Andrew.

Typical food in the UK are sausages, fries eggs, bacon and chips but many people realized that too much fat may cause disease therefore they drink more milk, eat brown bread and eat less fat food. About 10 % of all young people are now vegetarians.
Sport in Britain is dominated by football, rugby, cricket and fishing. Very popular event in sport is a boat race between Oxford and Cambridge, which is held on the Thames every spring. Another significant sport event is horse race at Cheltenham. The winner wins 300, 000 GBP. To win here is every jockey’s dream.

STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICIES
The British are said to be conservative. They still use their traditional system of weights and measures, they drive on the left and they still wear traditional school uniforms at some schools.
Everybody knows the English saying, “My house, my castle” which demonstrates their right to privacy. They are proud of their isles, which have given them a feeling of security. British are famous for their politeness, self-discipline and their specific sense of humour. Very famous is their mania for tea in the afternoon. The British are fond of pets and children. The UK is notorious for rainy weather.

UK is unfortunately a country with many conflicts, which follows from various structures of ethnic groups. British people are fond of sports. Beauty of many sports, and namely football, is being constantly spoiled by rising hooliganism. Bad reputation of British fans is known worldwide and they are called rowdies. In overall, black people are discriminated. It is very hard to find a well-paid job for them when they do not have an good education. Northern Ireland is a region of conflicts between Catholics (the Irish) and Protestants (the English) who live there side by side. The Irish Republican Army makes terrorist attacks in which many innocent people died.

EUROPEAN UNION
After the end of the WW II. Winston Churchill urged to create an organization consisting of European countries, which will help to prevent next destructive wars. Soon it has become reality and six states established ESUO (European Coal and Steel Community). However, UK wasn’t between them. It created EFTA (European Free Trade Association) and the EC (European Community) signed in 1981. Now the UK doesn’t use a EURO currency.

FAMOUS BRITISH PEOPLE
LITERATURE

WILIAM SHAKESPEARE (23 April 1564 - May 3, 1616) belongs to the most famous playwright in the world. He wrote such a masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet or Macbeth.

AGATHA CHRISTIE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was a British crime fiction writer.

ALFRED JOSEPH HITCHCOCK (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was a British movie director whose films are closely associated with the suspense thriller genre.

SHERLOCK HOLMES is a fictional detective created by British author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle. He is famous for his prowess at using logic and careful observation to solve cases.

JAMES BOND is a sophisticated British spy, the character invented by Ian Fleming. Bond has the code name 007.