EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. What Game Are They Playing? Football or Soccer?

Of course they are playing …  How about …?  Well, they are kicking the ball around with their feet trying to score a goal, that’s for sure.  If so, it’s definitely a foot-ball sport.  How come this game is called soccer in the US, then? 

Getting Back to Work After Long Weekends

Long weekends are a lot of fun.  Returning to work after a few days off is a completely different story.  How to deal with the back to work syndrome?  Is there anything to mitigate the pain of forced labor?  Actually, I don’t think so.  You just gotta get thru the back to work transition as if you were going through the flu recovery.  Another long weekend is coming again, sooner or later.  Sometimes it feels like much, much later.

Getting Ready for Summer Jobs in Schools and Colleges in US and Poland

How are students getting ready for summer vacation and jobs in the USA?

First of all students are looking for ways to make money when they are off from school.  It would be best to get a job in the field, that is, a job related to their current or planned education and eventually profession or trade.

Constitution Day in Poland and USA

Constitution Days are celebrated in numerous countries all over the world as a sign of appreciation for the "funding document” of their political system.

The US Constitution Day is observed on a fixed date - on September, the 17^th, unlike most American holidays, which are set on a specific weekday, instead.

May Day or Labor Day in Poland and US

 May 1st as Labor Day is traditionally observed not only in Poland, but in the most of the World with some exceptions.  One of those is the US.  In the States, Labor Day is celebrated in/ at the beginning of September - on the first Monday of the month, to be exact.

Why such a difference?

Long Weekends in the USA and Poland and the 5W Rule

Party time, dude!

Who doesn’t like to have fun, man?  Who does not like long weekends?  Whether you live in the United States of America or in Poland or in any other country in the whole wide World, for this matter, it doesn’t matter – “I just wanna have fun”.  Who ain’t?

TOEFL Tests Practical American English

How is TOEFL different from the European British English tests? 

In essence: the TOEFL tests your practical knowledge of American English the way it is used today in everyday situations in the US or as Americans would say it - “in America”.

New Year’s 2012 Speech by US President Barack Obama

Traditionally the US President gives a New Year’s speech in his Weekly Address to the Nation.

This year’s presidential appearance and presentation were focused on the poor economic situation and overcoming the crisis.

Celebrating New Years’ Eve in the USA

Just like in the most of the World January 1^st marks the beginning of a new year in the USA.  The New Year’s Eve’s celebration is the biggest and a truly world-wide party with its climax at the NewYear’s midnight, which like a web interconnects party goers all over the planet and moves around the globe following the time zones.

Majority of people get together with friends and families to celebrate the event.  They either stay home and have private parties or go out to bars, restaurant, theaters or places where they will be able to welcome the New Year in spectacular and scenic surroundings and where they can watch the traditional fireworks shows.

The Word Eve in American English

Do you know what the word eve means?  Have you speculated about it?  Did you check into it?

We all know about Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  Some of us know that Halloween is the eve of All Saints’ Day.  But what does the word stand for exactly?  Does it carry the meaning “the day before” as it may imply?   Or maybe it denotes something else?

Why Christmas and New Year’s Are Exactly One Week Apart not Only in the USA?

Have you ever thought why these two major holidays Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and obviously Christmas and New Year’s are exactly one week apart?

It may be just a pure coincidence but maybe not.

One Two Eight or Twelve Days of Christmas in the USA

In most countries Christmas is celebrated as a two-day holiday.  The second day of Christmas is sometimes called the Boxing Day.  No, it has nothing to do with fighting or the sport of boxing.  The name comes from an old tradition of giving gifts in boxes to servants by their lords.

In the USA Christmas is a one day festivity.  I still remember my first Christmas in America.  For me it so obvious that it is a 2-day celebration that it didn’t even come to my mind that I should go to work on the Second Day of Christmas.

Christmas Carols in the USA and the “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens

Who doesn’t like Christmas Carols and Christmas in general?  Well … you might be surprised.  But that’s a different story.

What are Christmas Carols, anyway?  When did the carols tradition start?  Why are these songs called carols and what does the word carol itself mean?  Where are Christmas carols performed nowadays?  Should we still talk about Christmas carols or rather Christmas songs?

Christmas Gift Giving to Children in the USA and Where the Wise Men Came from

We, the adults, can live without Christmas gifts.  It is a completely different story, though, when it comes to giving gifts to children for Christmas.  For one reason or another presents, especially the ones for Christmas, have a very special meaning which goes far beyond regular generosity.

Christmas Is Coming to Town! The Holiday Shopping Season in the USA

Ho, ho, ho!  Coca Cola’s Santa Clause is coming to town!  Shopping malls are full.  It takes forever to get in to go shopping there and even more time to get out from there.  That’s American Christmas time.

Fortunately and lucky for us - shoppers - we have an alternative now.  We can just sit down at the computer or, better yet, take it to bed and go shopping on line at the comfort and convenience of our own home and even our favorite couch or sofa.

Coca Cola Christmas 2011 in USA

It’s all about Christmas for commerce, for both the traditional brick and mortar outlets and virtual Internet stores.

Majority of retailers and wholesalers or whole sellers alike make most of their profits at this time of the year called the Holiday Shopping Season.  Its official start falls on Black Friday, which is the Friday following Thanksgiving.

Now, there is also a digital or electronic commerce or e-commerce equivalent - the Cyber Monday, which is the Monday right after the Thanksgiving weekend. Not really surprisingly, considering the nature and character of the American entrepreneurial spirit and business environment and law, Internet stores started capitalizing on Thanksgiving itself with the very recent addition of Cyber Thanksgiving. 

Christmas commercials are very lavish and impatiently participated by viewers and listeners, too.  They are the cream of the cream of advertising and the world of trade promotions. 

One company took it to the extreme.  I’m talking Coca Cola here. 

Christmas in Washington, DC, USA

December is traditionally the month of Christmas celebrations including the annual “Christmas in Washington” show, which this year (2011- two thousand eleven) will air on TNT on Friday December 16^th, a week before Christmas Eve. 

In the tradition of so American-like charitable giving by the rich and famous to the poor and needy this show first appeared in 1981 and this year it celebrates its 30^th  (thirtieth) anniversary. 

Of course, it is also a huge promotional event for the participating celebrities and the television network itself. 

It is tremendously popular and you will be able to see the re-runs number of times during the year that follows. 

Merry Christmas! (the Christmas Song video and lyrics)

Tora! Tora! Tora! Did the Pearl Harbor Attack Have to Happen?

Who hasn't heard the Tora! Tora! Tora! phrase popularized by the movie carrying (or under) the same title or has not seen the film itself is rather a rhetoric question.

The Japanese aerial attack on the American naval military base in Pearl Harbor, HI (Hawaii) on December 7th, 1941 woke up “the sleeping giant”and marked the beginning of the official US involvement in WW II (World War Two or "doublew doublew" two).

We all know how it happened.  This, one of the most tragic and most disastrous catastrophes in American history and at the same time one of the most victorious and most glorious Japanese military operations or battles ever, was depicted by some of the most successful and most popular movie hits like “Tora! Tora! Tora!” or “Pearl Harbor”(movie trailer videos). 

Political Asylum in the USA – the Joseph Stalin’s Daughter’s Case and Homeschooling

Immigration to the USA is strictly regulated by law, just like in any other or at least most countries in the World. 

The political asylum principle, requirements and proceedings are part of the system.  A person intending to emigrate from a foreign country and immigrate to the United States of America needs to meet certain criteria of eligibility.  Primarily he or she must be considered a refugee and be granted the right of asylum.  The link at the end of this sentence takes you to the outline of the complete rules and history regarding this matter of political asylum in the USA. 

Sometimes granting a political asylum decision is controversial and counter intuitive.  The Joseph Stalin’s daughter’s case is one of the best known examples.

How widely or loosely it can be interpreted shows the recent instance of German immigrants who were granted political asylum due to the alleged hardship of the lack of possibilities of home schooling there.

See ya …

Cyber Monday and Cyber Thanksgiving in the US – the Electronic Black Fridays

Now when the craziness of the Black Friday weekend is behind us we can all relax, finally get some rest and in the coziness of our own homes … go shopping online. 

Just like the Black Friday, the Friday right after Thanksgiving, is the beginning of the Holiday shopping season, the Cyber Monday, following the whole Thanksgiving weekend, has become its online equivalent in the e-world and a great start to the year end digital shopping frenzy on the world wide web or net.