Every nation has different customs and traditions, its own way of life.
In Europe there are people who have lived in the same house and been in the same job for 20, 30 or more years. That’s not the American way of life. The Americans love change, they call it the spirit of adventure, a spirit that they think is more characteristic of America than of Europe. They like to move away, to change houses and jobs.
While the Englishman thinks it is ill mannered to ask private questions, the American doesn’t feel that at all. He will tell you all about himself, his wife and family, and ask where you have come from, what your job is, how you like America and how long you are staying. The American prefers sociability. In his home he doesn’t object to being seen by everyone — he actually likes it.
With this sociability goes overwhelming hospitality. A national Thanksgiving Day is perhaps the only holiday spent by the Americans at home. Table decorations follow a traditional pattern — a harvest of Indian corn, apples, oranges, walnuts and grapes. Flowers also bring the fall scene indoors. The centrepiece is the traditional roast turkey.
Still another American tradition concerns Halloween. Its origin dates back hundreds of years to the Druid festival. The Druid New Year began on November 1, marking the beginning of winter and the reign of the Lord of Death. The custom of telling ghost stories on Halloween comes from the Druids. On this occasion children usually wear ghost costumes or false faces. They also carve out rounded eyes in pumpkins and put burning candles inside them to make them visible from far away.
In Texas, where the West begins, the biggest annual festival — the Fat Stock Show — is held. Its rodeo, hold together with the stock show, is the biggest indoor rodeo on the earth.
And, of course, no nation can exist without humour. As they themselves say, an American must have one wife, two cars, three children, four pets, five suits, six acres, seven credit cards — and is lucky to have eight cents in his pocket.