Archive for year: 2011

The origins of May Day

The earliest May Day celebrations are generally acknowledged to have taken place in the pre-Christian era, with the festival of Flora (Roman Goddess of flowers), the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries, and the celebration of Beltane in Gaelic countries. Most of these were a celebration of the coming of summer, and of the fertility that accompanied the season.

More recently – since the 19th century to be more precise – May Day has also become synonymous with the labour movement, and is often viewed as a day to recognise the economic and social achievements of workers. Labour Day (or International Workers’ Day as it’s also known) has its origins in the ‘eight-hour day movement’, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.

The revolutionary nature of Labour Day’s history has lead to its adoption by many organisations and communities across the world as a day for political protest or rallies, which in turn was responsible for the American government’s decision to rename it ‘Loyalty Day’.

May Day (Loyalty Day) celebrations in the USA

Loyalty Day was first observed in 1921 as “Americanisation Day” to counterbalance Labour Day on 1st May, which was celebrated in other parts of the world and perceived as communist.  On May 1, 1930, about 10,000 Veterans of Foreign War members staged a rally at New York’s Union Square to promote patriotism. Through a resolution adopted in 1949, May 1 evolved into Loyalty Day, when Americans are supposed to show their loyalty to, and love of, their country with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other public places.

Read more about English courses in the US

May Day Celebrations in Scotland and Ireland

May Day celebrations in these two countries generally relate to Beltane – a Celtic calendar feast to mark the start of summer. Bonfires were common features of Beltane celebrations and still remain so today. Related rituals included driving cattle between two fires, and burning witches in effigy. One of the biggest and most-well known celebrations today is the fire festival in Edinburgh, when a huge bonfire is lit on Carlton Hill.

Read more about English courses in Scotland and Ireland

May Day Celebrations in Germany

In Germany, particularly in the more rural areas, people celebrate what is known as ‘Walpurgisnacht’ on 1st May. Walpurgisnacht stems from the legend of the abbess of a monastery of Heidenheim, who helped St. Boniface bring Christianity to 8th Century Germany. As her remains have been moved on multiple occasions, several days have been designated in her honor, one of which is the first of May. This date coincided with a pre-existing pagan festival, which, in Germany, included activities intended to protect against witchcraft. This brought about the development of a hybrid legend, in which witches were said to meet the Devil on the eve of May 1, on the Brocken peak. The night of April 30th became known as “Walpurgisnacht”. If you visit Germany at this time of year, you will find pagan celebrations that include bonfires and lots of partying – all night long in most cases!

Read more about German courses in Germany

May Day celebrations in the UK

In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out into the countryside —”going a-maying”— to collect greenery and flowers. Another English tradition was dancing around the maypole. Some towns had permanent maypoles, whilst others put up a new one each May. Every year the pole would be decorated with greenery and ribbons, colourfully painted, and served as a focus point of the celebrations.

These days, many of these traditions have been lost, although if you’re lucky you may find the odd Maypole in rural villages with communities keen to honour the tradition! One rite that has steadfastly remained, though, takes place in Oxford when the Magdalen choir sing from Magdalen Chapel Tower to celebrate the dawn of May Day. This tradition dates back to at least the 17th century. During the celebrations, people are also known to jump off the Magdalen Bridge in full evening dress – an activity that, although very traditional, is attracting increased safety concerns! As a result, the festivities may not remain the same for much longer, so a visit to Oxford on May Day this year would give you a glimpse of what could soon be an extinct British tradition…

Read more about English courses in Oxford

Toulouse, the capital of the French region of “Midi-Pyrénées”, is one of the most colourful cities in the south of France, where the weather is nice all year round.

It’s an attractive, historical university town but is actually also well-know for state-of-the-art technology – one of the city’s main attractions is La Cité de L’espace, a technological and educative theme park based on astronautics.

Culture and gastronomy

Toulouse’s 440 000 inhabitants are proud of the unique culture of the “Occitanie” territory, also called the Oc Country (Occitan: lo País d’Òc). The common culture of Occitanie is found throughout the whole of southern France, and is made up of Spanish, Italian and French influences. L’Occitanie reveals all its beauty through the people, the language, the monuments and obviously, the food!

It is a highly cultural city, with lots of museums exhibiting, for instance, the Cathare heritage of Toulouse. And many art exhibitions, festivals and concerts take place throughout the year in the city. In addition, big markets are organised every week, offering a wide range of typical food of the region, including bread, sausages, fresh fruits or vegetables.

When it comes to gastronomy, Toulouse offers lots of delicious typical meals. We could mention the Cassoulet, the confit of duck, Toulouse’s sausages, mushrooms, products issued from the Violette flower (candies, jam…) etc. The typical dessert is the Fenetra, a marzipan, apricot and lemon cake. The typical beverage is Armagnac, the oldest eau de vie of the South west.

Architecture and historical sites

The particularity of the town is that every building is built with pink/red bricks, whose shade varies with the sun! Moreover “La Ville Rose”, as it is commonly known, has plenty of monuments which are classified by UNESCO, such as the Canal du Midi or the St Sernin Church. The main square is La Place du Capitole where the symbol of Occitanie, a twelve point cross, is engraved on the floor with a birth sign at each corner.

People and lifestyle

There are more than 100 000 students in Toulouse, which makes it the 3rd largest university town in France. It is a very lively and warm city by night, where bars and streets are often busy all night long, mainly when the weather is mild. During the day the “Toulousains” like to saunter around the town centre streets, or along the beautiful river – La Garonne. They also love sitting at a table outside a café, or in one of the many squares.

Perhaps due to the balmy climate of the region, the art of living in Toulouse is different from all other cities in France. The melodic accent goes hand to hand with the happy nature of the Toulousains, who are well-known in France to be friendly, frank and warm-blooded people.

Those who are native of Toulouse often consider it as a town that belongs to their heart, and as a result they would never want to leave. An example is famous French singer Claude Nougaro, who was born in Toulouse and who used to sing for his beloved city…

Cactus offers general, individual and combined French courses in Toulouse, as well as a French and cookery course.

Whilst confident, independent travellers often enjoy meeting new people and having companions to spend time with, it’s not generally an essential element of their travels. For the many people who find themselves without a permanent travel companion, and who aren’t used to independent foreign travel though, heading abroad alone can sometimes seem either daunting, or just plain uninspiring.

Whilst there are holiday firms that specialise in ‘single’ travel, these holidays might not be what you want out of a trip abroad. For anyone who wants to combine their time abroad with really integrating into the culture, and learning some of the language, a language holiday abroad can be a great option.

Language schools tend, in general, to attract very friendly, sociable and open-minded people, and often students who enrol in a course will be there alone. Language courses abroad provide single travellers with:

1. A ready-made group of companions, including other people who are travelling alone.

2. Help finding accommodation and the option not to have to stay on their own- they can choose to stay with other students or with a local family.

3. Interesting ways to fill their days, including organised excursions to local places of interest, or specific sporting or cultural activities (included in the course).

4. Transfers to and from the airport to the accommodation – especially useful if they’re in a new country, or don’t feel confident about using public transport.

For single travellers over the age of 50, there is also the option to take a course intended solely for people of this age group, known as ‘young at heart’ courses. They are currently available at locations in France, Italy and Spain, and are designed to incorporate cultural rather than overly energetic activities, and to enable people at the same stage of life and with similar interests to enjoy each other’s company.

For full listings of language courses abroad, and information on prices and start dates, please visit the Cactus Language website.