Halloween in the World
Halloween is a very old Celtic holiday. It bears the name of “Samain” and announces winter.
In France:
For children, Halloween had some success in France, because Halloween is detached of all regions. But Halloween is not celebrated in big cities like Paris.
For adults, Halloween is not very celebrated because they think Halloween is very different from their religion.
In England:
In the evening of the 31st of october, the children dress up in scary costumes, often prepared the days before (ghost, vampire, skeleton...), and they make up. They go to the houses of their district and request candies, fruits or money with the sentences “Trick or treat!” or “Happy Halloween”
In the USA:
At the same time as they offer candies to the children, adults try to guess who hide behind disguises.
In 2010, the Americans spent 66 dollars on average a person on the purchase of suits, candies and decorations.
In Japan:
The Japanese do not traditionally celebrate Halloween. However the event won in popularity these last years, and the Japanese celebrate the event in their way!
One of the customs of the foreigners living in Tokyo is to celebrate Halloween in the trains of the line Yamanote. The instructions are the following ones: be disguised, sing, dance, speak loudly.
Mathilde Bled
Armistice day in Paris and London
Paris : This is a ceremony on « arc de triomphe », the french President memorial the shrine of the unknown soldier.The president was booed by a people of National Front but they think that the president is bad .
London :This is a memorial in the graveyard of the first world of war and the custom is respected . There are a two-minute silence . Two soldiers play the trumpet for the ceremony . They respect the members of the armed force .
Jules Audrain
New year around the world
All around the world the passage in 2014 was done in joy. There was lot of fireworks on or around the famous monuments or in the famous places : Eiffel Tower, London Eye, Time Square, … . People celebrated it in family or with other people.
In Dubaï there was the biggest firework in the world. It is in the guinness book. For the celebration there was more than 500 000 fireworks.It lasted six minutes and it cost 6 million dollars.
In New York, like every year, the ball descended. People have the « traditional » Nivea's hats. There was near one million people waiting for midnight. All during the eve there were lot of concerts ( rock , pop, jazz...), videos and apparitions of famous people.
Mathieu Dorey
The 70th anniversary of the D-day
This year, this is the 70th anniversary of the D-day. For this occasion, François Hollande invited the English Queen, Elisabeth II, the president of Russia, Vladimir Poutine and the president of United States of America, Barack Obama as well as about fifteen other heads of state, the 5th and the 7th to come in Normandy. The last time when the Queen came in France, that was for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day, on june 2004. The ceremony will take place on Sword Beach, one of Landing beaches « reserved » for the troups of his majesty at the dawn of D-day.
I. Pissis & M. Bled