"It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet,
their first talk is of the weather"- Samuel Johnson
British people love talking about the weather because it
can be extremely unpredictable through all seasons. Sunshine, showers, wind and rain can all happen in a single morning! It's a topic that can be always used as an ice-breaker. When two strangers meet, in a train or a queue for
example, they can have a short
conversation about the weather, despite their British natural reservedness.
More quotes about the British weather:
"Sunshine is
delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating;
there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of
good weather" - John Ruskin
"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative" - Oscar Wilde
"Weather means more
when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and
thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans" - Marcelene Cox
Art has been strongly influenced too:
The Rain It Raineth Every Day (1889), by Norman Garsti
London, Houses of Parliament (1904), by Claude Monet
Rainstorm Over The Sea (1824-8), by John Constable
And of course it's often a source of inspiration for many comic artists:
Why the British talk about the weather all the time
However, every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case, these are the beautiful rainbows and dramatic skies that can be seen, especially in the winter.
In Greek 'OCHI' means NO and it refers to the rejection by Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum given by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to allow his forces to occupy the country on October 28, 1940. Every year, the events of 1940 are commemorated throughout Greece with student and military parades. Today, 26-10-2012, the students
of E class and their teacher, Mrs Eleni Paraschidou, presented a
narrative and a short play in commemoration of the 'OCHI' day. The presentation was prologued by Mr Christos Kagiannis, the headmaster of the school. Besides underlining the importance of 'Ochi' day, he also referred to two other important celebrations:
St. Demetrius name day- St. Demitrius is the patron saint of Thessaloniki and his feast day is on October 26th.
Thessaloniki 1912-2012: 100 years since its liberation on October 26th 1912.
The students started with a narrative of the events taking place in 1940, accompanied by a matching PowerPoint presentation with representative and strong images. One of the most touching and chilling parts was when this video was shown:
Following the narrative and presentation, the children presented a short theatre play and they finished by singing the song "The Accordion" by Manos Loizos. The students G.R. and E.T. accompanied the choir on their flute and guitar respectively.
Snapshots
Rehearsing the songs
Parade rehearsal
Parade rehearsal
The stage
Waiting to begin
The headmaster's prologue
Show time
Show Time
Singing "The Accordion"
On Sunday, 28-10-2012, all our students will participate in the parade taking place in Neochorouda, along with students from the Kindergarten and the Junior & Senior High School.
N.B. Children should not browse video sharing sites unsupervised.
This is a collage with photos of differents areas in our school. You can have a better look at the photos if you watch the slideshow 'Our School in Pics' (right-hand column of this blog).
The Greek carnival (Απόκριες) is
usually celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Halloween,
however, is celebrated on October 31st! There are major differences between the
Greek carnival celebration and Halloween celebration, but there is one thing
they have in common: dressing-up! Halloween seems to be all about spooky
costumes, whereas during the Greek carnival we can transform into anything we
desire! On Halloween night, children have parties where they play games such as Bobbing for Apples. Have a look here for more information about this celebration and its
origins!
Kids first Trick or Treating
Donald Duck - Trick or Treat - 1952
This is Halloween - The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, discovers Christmas Town, but doesn't quite understand the concept.
N.B. Children should not browse video sharing sites unsupervised.
After we talked about Simple Present, we prepared and presented our projects entitled "A Day in my Life"! We used this tense to talk about our daily routines to our classmates. At the end, we hang them on the notice board.
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