Our "Festa Junina" origins

Midsummer: It may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 through June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures.
European midsummer-related holidays, traditions, and celebrations are pre-Christian in origin.They are particularly important in Northern Europe - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania - but are found also in Ireland, parts of Britain (Cornwall especially), France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, other parts of Europe, and elsewhere - such as Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, and also in the Southern Hemisphere (mostly in Brazil, Argentina and Australia), where this imported European celebration would be more appropriately called Midwinter.
Brazil
Portuguese St. John's Day, brought to Brazil during colonial times, has become a popular event that is celebrated during a period that starts one week before St. Anthony's Day (June 13) and ends after St. Peter's Day (June 29). This nationwide festival, called "Festa Junina" (June Festival), or São João, takes place during midwinter in most of the country.
Rural life is celebrated through typical clothing, food, and dance (particularly square dancing, or quadrilha). The quadrilha features couple formations around a mock wedding whose bride and groom are the central attraction of the dancing. A kind of maypole (called "pau-de-sebo") is also raised and used in some festivities.
Two northeastern towns in particular have competed with each other for the title of "Biggest Saint John Festival in the World", namely Caruaru (in the state of Pernambuco), and Campina Grande, in Paraíba. As festivities also coincide with the corn harvest, dishes served during this period are commonly made with corn, such as canjica and pamonha; dishes also include peanuts, potatoes, sausages, and sweet rice. The celebrations are very colorful and festive and include the use of fireworks and bonfires. (source: Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer#Brazil accessed June 19, 2011, 8:14 p.m.)
I love those those festivals , they remind me of my childhood. The “quermesses” are the places where we can meet old friends and make new ones. Children, young, adult, middle-aged and elder people have a lot of fun. What about you?

Earth song video

Here is the link. Have some fun!

EARTH DAY

Earth Day History:

Earth Day was created in April 22, 1970 by American Senator Gaylord Nelson, to protest against pollution. Nowadays it is celebrated in many countries around the world, and in Brazil is also the same day of our Discovery.

We should care about our planet, planting trees, fighting against pollution, recycling, to preserve this wonderful green blue planet we live in. That´s why I decided to post this comment even being almost in the middle of the year.

Watch Michael Jackson´s video, sing with your students, celebrate the Earth Day everyday!

Earth Song lyrics –( Michael Jackson)

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth its weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaah Oooooooooh

What have we done to the world?
Look what we've done.
What about all the peace,
That you pledge your only son?
What about flowering fields?
Is there a time?
What about all the dreams,
That you said was yours and mine?

Did you ever stop to notice,
All the children dead from war?
Did you ever stop to notice,
This crying Earth its weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaah Oooooooooh

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaah Oooooooooh
Hey

what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about everything
(What about us)
I given you
(What about us)
What about nature's worth
(ooo, ooo)
It's our planet's womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We're ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can't we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can't you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about baby boy
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn

INTERESTING ENGLISH SITES

Dear workmates,
Find some interesting sites to give you a hand:

1) www.englishclub.com – lessons, games quizzes, forums, chat, lesson plans – all free
link: Learning english videos – tales from america – 18 minutes- message: learning english is a necessity in many parts of the world. Foreign teachers in New York .You can find activities, teacher´s notes, quiz referring to the video.
download and distribution for free, but the site: www.englishclub.com should be mentioned.

2) www.longman.com – Teens link – interesting photocopiable materials
ex: Packing Game – (area: holidays and travel)

3) www.webenglishteacher.com - site for teachers – activities, free worksheets,etc.

4) Owl English.purdue.edu –(The Purdue on line writing lab) (University of Purdue – Indianapolis, In, USA) excellent hints for improving Teacher´S English.

5) celteachers.blogspot.com :
This blog was created by CEL(Centro de Estudos de Línguas) developers ( a group of 20 English teachers from several DEs (Diretoria de Ensino) from São Paulo State, under the command of CENP (COORDENADORIA DE ESTUDOS E NORMAS PEDAGÓGICAS) LEM English teachers:Ana Beatriz and Neide Gaspar.

Where does the acronym "O.K". come from?

The word O.K. was firstly used in 1838 by Boston newspaper.
They tried to come up with the way to make the journal more interesting by using acronyms such as I.D.N (I don't know).
The acronym was getting distorted from time to time and one of them is O.W. which stands for All right because the pronunciation is similar to Oll Wright as well as O.K. which stands for All Correct because the pronunciation is similar to Oll Korrect.


However, the O.K. would have been forgotten over time had it not been used in the campaign for U.S. President of Martin Van Buren.
The O.K. Club was established to support Van Buren in the election. This O.K. stands for Old Kinderhook which is his hometown. Even though he lost the election it brought a big popularity to the word O.K.
The popularity of O.K. is widespread and continue until present.

http://www.kinglishschool.com/history_ok.htm (accessed on June 7th, 2011)