       Russian people love holidays, any of which is celebrated with lots of food and presents, with real Russian hospitality. Any important moment in the life of a family is treated as a great holiday and is celebrated with relatives, friends and neighbours. But all the holidays can be divided into state, religious and family holidays.
       State holidays include the New Year's Day (the 1s' of January), Constitution Day (the 12'" of December), Defender of Motherland Day (the 23rf of February), Women's Day (the 8"' of March), May Day (the 1sl of May), Victory Day (the 9 of May) and Independence Day (the 12* of June). Religious holidays, such as Christmas, Easter and other Christian holidays and other holidays such as Shrovetide are not state holidays, so children go to school, the day is a working one. Still, every year more and more people celebrate these holidays.
       There are many holidays when some professions are honoured, for example, the Day of Knowledge and the Teacher's Day.
       There are also personal, or family holidays such as birthdays, anniversaries, wedding days, days of graduation and other important days.
       New Year's Day is, probably, the main holiday in our country. The Russians prepare for it for a long time - everybody buys and makes presents, families and friends discuss the menu. Most people believe it is a family holiday, but young people sometimes gather together to celebrate it.
       From history we know that the tradition of celebrating the New Year's Day is a very old one, and goes back to our pagan past. It represented an important event - the weakening of the Winter and the close coming of the Spring. As centuries passed, it changed its place in the calendar and was celebrated in spring (when the new agricultural year began) and in September (after the harvest had been reaped). But Peter the Great ordered to celebrate it on the 1s1 of January decorating houses and rooms with evergreen plants (firs, pines and junipers) and making fireworks.
       The holiday begins with putting up the New Year Tree. It is a young fir-tree. The most famous fir-tree is the Kremlin fir-tree. It is the most beautiful one. There are fir-trees put up near shops and in squares, they are usually decorated with big toys and coloured lights. Some people buy natural trees, others have plastic ones. The family usually decorate the rooms with special decorations and decorate the tree with sweets, oranges, glistening glass balls and toys. The holiday is great fun for children because they can stay up late and also because after the holiday they have their school vacation. The most exciting is the moment of receiving a present or presents. In other countries the presents are brought by Santa Claus and put into children's stockings. There are even special stockings sold for this holiday. In Russia the presents are brought by Father Frost and handed in personally by him or his granddaughter Snow-Maiden. They are the main characters of every school or kindergarten New Year Party. When the preparations are over, the family sit in front of their TV set. At ten minutes to midnight the President makes his traditional speech. Everyone listens to the speech then wishes each other a «Happy New Year!» and drinks champagne. Champagne is the traditional drink for this holiday. Then it is time for presents. I try to make something useful for my parents, or buy something in shops. They usually give me books, clothes, and toys. After the exchange of presents we can eat and drink, dance and play games, or listen to music.
       There is no traditional dish for the holiday, except the Russian salad, As for my family, we usually have the Russian salad, fruit salad, fish salad, a plate with slices of smoked meat and sausage, fish or meat in aspic, eggs stuffed with mushrooms, salted and pickled mushrooms and vegetables. For the main course we have fried meat. This is kind of average New Year dinner in all Russian families, the quantity of food can vary, but the main dishes are usually served. It is a tradition in my family to go for a walk after the New Year meal. We play snowballs, explode crackers and make fireworks. While walking you can see dozens of people walking and enjoying the holiday. When we come back, tired but happy, granny brings in the cake. Granny usually cooks a cake either with strawberry home¬made jam or with poppy seeds for the New Year dinner. We all have tea or coffee and go to bed at about 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning.
       I know that Women's Day is an international holiday, it started in Europe in 1911, and was for the first time celebrated in Russia in 1913, but now it is not so popular in other countries as it is in Russia. Women's Day now is the day when men congratulate girls and women, give them presents and flowers, and do the housework.
       May Day used to be a political holiday, but now it is the holiday of spring. It is a state holiday, so nobody goes to school or to work. Victory Day is the day when we remember the heroic deeds of our grandfathers during the Great Patriotic war. This holiday is celebrated all over the country. There are patriotic films on TV, the songs of that period over the radio. You could also see the parades of combat machines in the Red Square test years but this year instead of it there has been a parade-ground concert where soldiers demonstrated their skills. The parade of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War is held every year as well. This is a very touching sight. This day we give them presents and flowers.
       Christmas, Palm Sunday, Easter, and Shrovetide are religious holidays. It is interesting that Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter are Christian holidays, but Shrovetide is a pagan holiday.
       Russian Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January. The date of Easter changes every year. Not all Russian people.celebrate them, because for many years religious holidays were prohibited. Many Russian children don't get presents and they have to go to school.
       Shrovetide is loved by everybody. This is the holiday when we see Winter off and greet Spring. The Pagans believed that Spring was a sweet young girl and needed their help to overcome Winter. So, they burned the figure of Winter and made pancakes which symbolise the Sun being round and hot. Now the tradition of celebrating Shrovetide is coming back as a merry holiday.
       One more holiday, which grows more and more popular every year, especially among the young people, should be mentioned. It is St. Valentine's Day, the day of those who are in love. Chocolates and flowers are popular gifts on this holiday. It has become popular lately, but has now many fans. You can buy different Russian postcards and chocolates for your Valentine. The holiday has come from the English-speaking countries where it is very popular.