Black Friday

Black Friday is the day after thanksgiving.

It’s the start of Christmas shopping.

There are big sales of 50 %. The stores open earlier or close later.

And a lot of people want to buy the presents on this day.

This people are called door busters.

Very long queues are in front of the shops.

People sleep there to get the best place.

I think for the business people is it a very good day because of the high profit they make on this day.

In the view of a customer I think it’s really unnecessary being one of the door busters because I won’t risk my health for Christmas shopping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_8O_yR5glk

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival celebrated in the United States and Canada.

It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

The historical reason of thanksgiving is that the Squanto meets the pilgrims.

The pilgrims don’t have a farm and enough to eat so the Squanto told them how to build houses and farms and helped them.

When the harvest had been coming they had a thanksgiving dinner.

So the first thanks giving dinner was in the year 1621.

Today most of the families in the USA and Canada celebrate thanksgiving with their families.

They eat a lot. Special thanksgiving foods are a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and so on.

They also pray and give thanks.

HALLOWEEN









Halloween: October 31st.
Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallow’s Eve

Hallowed means holy
Eve is the day before a holy day
Halloween was an ancient British Celtic festival
At Halloween the souls of the dead returned.
People lit bonfires to frighten evil spirits
Now bonfires are only burnt on November 5th Bonfire night
Masks costumes ghosts
Witches on broomsticks with black cats.
Skeletons, bats and spiders
And Halloween lanterns
Have all become part of Halloween
Children play trick-or-treat
They ask for a treat hoping to get sweets


I searched an own halloween video.
I chosed this because I think it's a very funny video with the figures and the song is really cool....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpvdAJYvofI&feature=&p=4C81F782714A4846&index=0&playnext=1

Happy Halloween Everybody

Ferrah

Today there was a student from the USA in our class.
Her name is Farrah and she lives in Maryland, a small state near Washington D.C.
Farrah doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. She is 22 years old and studies German on a University. She told us about her hobbies, she is really bad at sports but she has all the machines and she likes to watch the “World Cup”. She likes reading books, listening to every kind of music, travelling and watching movies. Her favorite movies are Hangover, Super Bad and American Beauty.
What she likes most in Austria are the green mountains and the snow at the top of them and that the houses are much older than the modern buildings in the USA.
She has seen many cities of Austria for example Perg, Linz, Saalbach, Vienna (she was only one day there) and she went by train through Innsbruck and Salzburg.
Ferrah told us that she will stay in Austria till May.

The development of advertising

We have just read an article called „The development of advertising”.
The article talks about the history of the advertising, starting in the 19th century, this century is also called Industrial Revolution. It was the century, when they started producing. A lot of factories produced the same products, so brand-naming of products became necessary.
From the 19th century until the 1870’s the production had steadily expanded and there had been a growth in retail outlets. But there were an over-production and under-consumption, so prices and profits fell.
The companies produced because of this crisis other goods and widened the range of them. This was the start of what economists now call “monopoly capitalism”.
Many advertisers followed Lord Leverhulme who said that advertisements should contain ‘logical and considered’ arguments. Bigger and more expensive campaigns were mounted and smaller companies, who could not advertise, were bought by lager companies.

Our favorite spot is the “Kinderriegel” spot because it is very funny.
The spot is about a milk glass and a chocolate which have a relationship. They go in a discotheque and sing a very funny song. This song is a real catchy tune.

here can you watch our favorite spot:

WM South Africa

Group G:





Brazil

Brazil is a country in South America.
The inhabitants are called Brazilian and the language is Portuguese.





Some clichés of Brazil:

• the inhabitants are good dancers (samba)


• they are very fit
  
  

Portugal




Portugal is a country on the European continent.
They are called Portuguese and the language is Portuguese.



Some clichés of Portugal:

• the people in Portugal are ingnorant
  
  

Cote d'Ivoire






Cote d'Ivoire is a country in West Africa.
They are called Ivoirians. The language is French.


Some clichés of Cote d'Ivoire:

• the inhabitants are not very tidy
  
• there is a lot of waste everywhere
  
  

Korea DPR

Korea DPR is a country in East Asia.
The inhabitants are called Korean and the language is Korean.

Some clichés of Korea DPR:

• everybody in Korea makes combative sports


• they are patriotic

Our Environment

Bianca, Magdalena and Yvonne made a very interesting presentation with the topic “Let’s Go Green”. I think this topic is very important for all of us. We should protect our environment because we only have one world and we are all responsible for it.

They introduced us the website “WWF”. This website is very interesting, there you can find anything what you want to know about the environment. You found par example a lot of information about the foundation and their activities. You can also find information how you can protect the environment and a lot of news.

I think from now on, I won’t buy plastic bags in supermarkets and I will turn off the lamp whenever I don’t need the light and I leave the room.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet

I have looked at the website “Lonely Planet” because of the presentation of Magdalena, Katharina, Evelyn and Marlene and I was really surprised.
There you can find everything you want to know when you go abroad. There you have a good overview about many countries all over the world.
You also can buy many things which are very useful if you want to go abroad. What I didn’t like on that website is that you can’t choose between different languages, there is only one language.

Economy minister rejects lower hotel VAT

I have read an article in the online version “Austriantimes.at” and it deals with lower value-added tax on hotel rooms.

So Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner rejected calls for lower VAT on hotel rooms. He thought it would be more important to improve the strategy and marketing.

Mitterlehner also said that the ministry would meet tourism organizations in order to discuss a strategy for 2010.

The Austrian Hotel Association aimed to make the hotel industry more competitive. Therefore they called for it to be lowered and that is the reason why the VAT should be decreased from the current 10 to 5 per cent.

But ÖHV co-president Peter Peer pointed out that bookings have not gone down much since prices and turnover had plunged. In addition he mentioned that the VAT rates on hotel rooms were 3.6 per cent in Switzerland compared to 5.5 per cent in France and Italy.

In my opinion it’s unnecessary to lower the VAT because I think the hotels are actually not in a crisis as Peter Peer remarked that the bookings have not much to decreased.

http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2010-01-21/19868/Economy_minister_rejects_lower_hotel_VAT_

Words:

to plunge (schnell sinken) : Prices and turnover had plunged.

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Today I’d like to give you some information how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

Christmas in America

Early European settlers brought many traditions to the United States. Many settled in the early days in the South, these settlers would send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks.

In Hawaii this practice is still in use as under the sunny skies, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors.In Alaska, a star on a pole is taken from door to door, followed by Herod's Men, who try to capture the star. Colonial doorways are often decorated with pineapple, a symbol of hospitality.In Alaska, boys and girls with lanterns on poles carry a large figure of a star from door to door. They sing carols and are invited in for supper.

Christmas in Italy

The Christmas season in Italy goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena. During this period, children go from house to house reciting Christmas poems and singing.In some parts shepherds bring musical instruments into the villages, play and sing Christmas songs. A strict feast is observed for 24 hours before Christmas Eve, and is followed by a celebration meal, in which a light Milanese cake called panettone features as well as chocolate.

Christmas in France

On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree.In France it is a time for the whole family to come together at Christmas time to holiday and worship. On the eve of Christmas beautifully lit churches and cathedrals, ring out Christmas carols with the church bells.Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in.In the north of France, children are given gifts on December 6, which is St. Nicholas' Day, instead of Christmas Day. The adults give each others presents on New Year's Day.