Travel traditions in the Eastern world

Since modern tourism concentrates primarily on European countries and partly on North America, tourism studies are usually characterized by Eurocentrism. However, the contacts between the Christian and Muslim worlds, which have already been discussed, also influenced the formation of cultural traditions, including travel traditions. In addition, the religious pilgrimages of the East surpass similar phenomena in scale. Western world. Along with Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostella, Canterbury, Loreto, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu shrines of the East have been and remain centers of attraction for both religious and educational tourism: Mecca and Medina, the temples of Benares, the sacred river Ganges (Ganges), Buddhist temples and monasteries in Tibet, India, China, South-East Asia and so on.

In the "Rig Veda" the oldest written monument of the Indo-Aryans (XI-X centuries BC), the inhabitants of India, who came from the northwest, in poetic form tells, in particular, about sacred place where the waters of the Ganges and Jumna rivers merge. According to the Rigveda, bathing at the confluence of these rivers ensures heavenly bliss and that those who voluntarily die there will gain immortality. This is the first mention of Prayag (modern Allahabad), the largest religious center of ancient and modern Hinduism, where, starting from the 7th century. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gather in late January and early February each year, and once every twelve years (big Kumbhamela) the celebration attracts millions of people and is apparently the most crowded pilgrimage in the world.

In the II century. BC. the Great Silk Road from China to the Mediterranean was formed, along which for a millennium not only merchants, but also missionaries, Buddhist monks, who, according to archaeological evidence, visited Syria, Egypt, Libya and Greece, moved.

Worthy of mention is the journey of the Chinese monk Xuan Jiang to India in the first half of the 7th century for Buddhist sutras. His “Notes on Western Countries in the era of the great Tang Dynasty” includes the first description of religious holidays in Prayag with almost half a million believers. The celebration in those days was held once every five years and lasted a total of 75 days. Both Hindus and Buddhists and members of various religious sects made sacrifices and participated in rituals.

From the notes of Xuan Jiang, we learn, in particular, about mass religious suicides based on the belief that those who die in sacred waters on the days of the celebration will gain immortality (the law prohibiting religious suicides was adopted only at the beginning of the last century).

In the Middle Ages, a genre of adventure novel developed in Chinese literature, in which information about real travels and fantastic events connected with the philosophical layers of the narrative were intertwined in a bizarre way. Xuan Jiang's notes on his pilgrimage to India served as the basis for one of the most popular novels of the 16th century. "Journey to the West" Wu Chang'an.

Arab learning was of particular importance not only for Eastern, but also for European culture. The European Renaissance owes much to Arabic science and culture, which accumulated in libraries translations of ancient authors, which later became the property of Europeans. The cultural and scientific achievements of the Arab world were perceived by enlightened Christians, mainly through Spain, the western extremity of the Arab world, where the libraries of Toledo, reclaimed by the Christians in 1085, became a center of attraction for European intellectuals, who at first were par excellence translators.

Starting from the 8th - 9th centuries. AD the countries of the Arab world experienced a period of cultural and scientific upsurge, especially noticeable in comparison with Christian medieval Europe. At the court of the heirs of Harun al-Rashid, the most significant sources of geographical information are collected and translated, the nature of which is evidenced by their names: al-Khwarizmi's "Book of the Earth's Picture", which was a revision of Ptolemy's "Geography" with the addition of Arabic and Iranian materials; original guidebooks - "Books of ways and states" (descriptions of the routes of merchants and pilgrims, often with the authors' own observations and descriptions of various sights), "Wonders of the countries", "Wonders of the Earth", etc.

Testimonies of Arab merchants and travelers of the 9th-10th centuries. are the most complete source of information about Eastern Europe and Ancient Rus', in particular. For example, ibn Fadlan, a merchant who traveled in 921-922. as part of an embassy from Baghdad to Volga Bulgaria, he reports the most valuable details about the manners and customs of Slavic and Scandinavian merchants, which he observed on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks." The journey of ibn Batuta (14th century) was record-breaking in length and duration: having set off as a 20-year-old youth from Tangier (Morocco) on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he traveled throughout the inhabited world known to the Arabs. For 24 years of wandering, he visited the shores Pacific Ocean, in the Volga Bulgaria, in Mozambique, Mauritanian Spain. Western Sahara, Arabia. In his vision, he, like Herodotus, provides a wide variety of information about the countries he visited, fascinatingly tells legends and entertaining stories. A special place in the work is occupied by stories about Muslim relics and holy places (Mecca and Medina).

As in Europe, around religious and shopping centers East, a corresponding network of services is being formed: from the trade in relics (for example, in Mecca - patches of "Kisva", the brocade cover of the main shrine of Muslims, the Kaaba) to the services of the so-called "bayaders" (Indian temple dancers). IN Muslim countries in caravanserais and pack animals they provided shelter and food for three days at the expense of the treasury (this is reported, in particular, by Afanasy Nikitin in his “Journey Beyond the Three Seas”). After this period, the traveler had to either pay or go further.

IN ancient China and in ancient India there was a well-developed and fairly well-maintained network of roads (in China, tea houses were located along the roads, where you could drink tea at a reasonable price, and in India, roads were lined with trees to protect travelers from the sun). Interestingly, in China, when laying roads, they thought about how to protect travelers from evil spirits, which, according to traditional Chinese ideas, move only in a straight line (“evil takes the shortest path”). Accordingly, the roads were winding and confusing - which was more reminiscent of medieval Europe than ancient Rome.

In some cases, the system of services was delivered quite modern. So, in India, during the already mentioned pilgrimage to modern Allahabad, (to the confluence of sacred rivers), the rite of ablution has long been led by the so-called pandas, who inherit this position. This organization includes hundreds of families who have divided the whole of India into districts; the richest pandas send their agents to travel and look for new clients. Each new pilgrim is obliged to conclude a written agreement that on the next visit he will apply exclusively to his panda, and he will start detailed documentation on clients. Hundreds of hairdressers also live at the expense of pilgrims (today, from the whole ritual, which was rather complicated in antiquity, three main points remain: bathing, shaving and paying a fee).

In the 19th century, according to a modern Indologist, “the enterprising spirit of Europeans showed itself here”: As a pass to paradise ... a pilgrimage tax was introduced. Interestingly, the measures taken by the English. by the government (a strict order of movement that prescribes passing only through certain streets and through certain gates; the issuance of documents certifying the right to ablution; the presence of troops in case the crowd tries to break through by force; rules designed to eliminate abuses in the collection of taxes) organically merged with the traditional the order that secular authorities established already in the Middle Ages, as we saw in the example of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

The trip is the first, most memorable:
It was when our daughter was about ten years old. However, many years have passed, with age I can confuse.
Once on a weekend, the husband, who had bought by that time a badly beaten jalopy, with the proud name Zaporozhets, announced: “Let's go to the forest!”.
He also said that he was taking us to the Grafsky Reserve, for strawberries.
Since he did not show initiative in matters of trips so often, then for the sake of creating family traditions and strengthening the cell of society, I, of course, agreed. Beforehand, she only timidly asked if there was a river nearby. It was 35 degree heat, and I wanted to swim like crazy.
I was indignantly answered that the main thing in this trip was the collection of sweet berries, dearly loved by his heart, and not at all some kind of stupid river there.
I was young, inexperienced, and not scandalous (at the time!))), so I did not object further. She sat down with her daughter in a red-hot torture chamber, depicted joy and anticipation of the journey on her face, and we slid down to the enthusiastic hooting of local boys who had already managed to write “Wash me!” on the dirty door of our Auto.
We drove for a long time. Three hours, stopping every half an hour along the way, and cooling the smoking engine.
We asked passers-by for directions, they, sincerely trying to help, directed us either to the right or to the left, as a result, we almost got lost, but after long ordeals, we nevertheless arrived in the forest!
A narrow track, broken by tractors, led to the grove, besides, it was in a shallow ravine, and there was no way to go to the clearing. The car was belly scraping on the ground, but there was simply no strength to remain in its hot captivity.
I suggested that my husband let us out with my daughter so that he could drive further and find a place for parking, and at that time we took a little walk.
No sooner said than done! Joyfully fluttering out of our metal bug, we cheerfully walked along the roadside. Misha moved on. After a few seconds, I suddenly heard a strange buzzing...
It grew stronger and stronger, and terribly acted on the nerves.
Trying to determine the source of the noise, my daughter and I began to vigorously turn our heads, then wave our arms, then squeal heart-rendingly!
In general, it was impossible to do everything that was done when meeting with an angry swarm of hornets!))) I still don’t know whether my husband crushed their nest with a wheel, or whether my spirits irritated me so much ... We, heart-rendingly howling, rushed from the swarm away, to our typewriter, blushing in the distance.
Most of all, I was afraid that these creatures would bite the child. I ran and yelled: “Misha! Misha! Misha! pi..pi…pi..pi.. Hand over the car back!”
Do you want to know your husband's reaction? he stood and smiled, waved his hand to us))
When I was sweaty, red, and out of breath, I stuffed myself and the child into the car, then brought down on him ... you yourself understand that (now my vocabulary is already much wider than it used to be!)))! And I asked him why he didn't pick us up, you know what he told me??
“But I didn’t hear! I thought you were running and waving your hands, you rejoice at me!))) Silent scene.))))

But our trials didn't end there! We drove somewhere half a kilometer to break away from the swarm. (And I'm not making this up!) It's just a miracle we didn't get bitten!
Finally, we stopped at a forest clearing, and finally decided to do what, in fact, we came for. Daughter and husband went to look for strawberries. The child went into the bushes, and .... yelled in an inhuman voice from fear. Almost stepped on a huge viper.
My patience finally snapped, and I demanded to immediately take us out of this viper.
Since my daughter supported me in every possible way, dad decided not to argue with two angry women, put us in our ancient car, and drove ... forward. He said it would be shorter! After a few meters we got stuck in the sand and I had to push the car))) Dear Mom!!! We pulled her out, though my unfortunate back still remembers this feat!
We left the forest and saw a wonderful lake ahead. I begged to stop the car.
The husband clenched his teeth and said that he would not stop, and in general, he was tired, and it was time for us to go home.
To which I vindictively replied that we would still come back here! After wandering about twenty minutes, and not finding the way, we really returned, after which we were graciously allowed to swim. Well, we broke away!)))
After that, one of the locals, to the great joy of my and my daughter, showed us again, some roundabout road, along which we returned home for four hours, and I already began to doubt that we were going to our native Voronezh, and not to Moscow. Why joy? Yes, because this road passed through all the children's camps and rest houses, and there were quite a few excellent places for swimming. So the goal of the trip, even if not the one that was planned at the beginning, was nevertheless achieved by us!))) (The husband reads from under my hand while I write, sniffs angrily, and says that the car was not ancient !))) Considering that in winter the stove did not work in it, and I, on the contrary, worked as a windshield wiper, then he is probably right!)))) The main thing is that we love him with any car !!!

04.02.2014 OOO LUKOIL-Permnefteorgsintez

A good long-term tradition of LUKOIL-Permnefteorgsintez, when a group of employees together with their children go during winter school holidays on a trip to Russian cities and villages, was supported by the trade union committee of the enterprise this time as well.

This year our journey for the first time lay in Nizhny Novgorod region. On the eve of Orthodox Christmas, we arrived at Seraphim Diveevsky in the name of the Holy Trinity convent - an Orthodox convent in the village of Diveevo. This place is considered the fourth earthly Lot of the Most Holy Theotokos (after Iberia, Athos and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra), and is also associated with the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Preparations for Christmas were in full swing on the territory of the monastery. You can talk a lot and for a long time about the history of the monastery and the miraculous healings that happened to people after visiting these amazing places. But it's better to see it with your own eyes. I will only add that in addition to the majestic temples that are located on the territory of the monastery, we also visited the world-famous ditch of the Virgin. There is such a belief that if you walk along the groove and read the prayer 150 times, then the most secret desires will come true and miracles of healing will occur.

We met the morning of January 6 already in Arzamas. At the time of our arrival in the Resurrection Cathedral, which is considered the main decoration of the city, there were no services. However, especially for us, the ministers opened the doors of this magnificent, majestic five-domed cathedral. The temple has preserved its originality to this day thanks to the inhabitants of Arzamas, who saved it in hard times, surrounding it with a dense ring.

On the same day, we discovered a new page in our journey called "Boldino". We all know the Boldin autumn very well - one of the most fruitful periods in the work of Alexander Pushkin.

Our journey ended, as it began, in Nizhny Novgorod. This beautiful city is located at the confluence of two great Russian rivers - the Oka and the Volga. This is a city where antiquity and modernity are closely intertwined with each other. On the one hand, there are all signs of modernity here: the metro, the cable car across the Oka (which, of course, we did not miss the opportunity to ride), skyscrapers under construction. On the other hand, the majestic temples are reflected here in the waters of the Volga and Oka rivers, the Potemkin Stairs (just like in Odessa, only a couple of steps are missing), and on Pedestrian Street, paved with paving stones, you can meet representatives of various subcultures.

The trip will be remembered for a long time by all its participants. Someone will remember this special feeling of the soul that arose when visiting majestic temples, someone was struck by the places associated with the life and work of the great Russian poet, and someone will have vivid impressions from a trip to cable car and much, much more...

Elena SKVOROK

We have a lot of traditions!

Family traditions are the spiritual atmosphere of the house, which includes the daily routine, customs, lifestyle and habits of its inhabitants, which are passed down from generation to generation.

Our family traditions are dinner discussions about the events of the past day, summer trips by car to the sea, meals together, discussion of plans, baby footprints at one year old, baby growth marks on the wall, children's drawings, reading books to babies at night, dad's fairy tales, Family birthday, Easter celebration, Christmas time; new year tradition- home-made toys, culinary traditions - a variety of preparations for the winter, picking mushrooms, fishing, singing songs, summer at grandma's, a skating rink on the river, photos of butterflies, insects, Border Guard Day, growing indoor plants.

Anastasia Kashchenko (8b)

creative family

I want to talk about one tradition of our family.

Our family is full of creative people. My sister Masha and I sew and embroider, brother Seryozha is studying to be an artist-painter, and older brother Zhenya is eloquent. Therefore, on the birthdays of our close friends and relatives, we give gifts, invented and made by hand. Brother Seryozha will think of everything, select colors, Masha and I will sew everything, embroider, in general, we will do everything necessary, and brother Zhenya will say warm and pleasant words for congratulations.

This is such an interesting tradition in our family!

Natalia Loginova (8b)

We travel and honor the memory of our ancestors

Each family has its own traditions that unite and hold it together. There are some in my small but very close-knit family.

All your own free time we try to spend together. We have many common interests: travel, photography, sports, floriculture, aquariums. We love traveling together, getting to know new cities and countries, discovering new places. We visited Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, drove almost all of Spain by car, saw very beautiful fjords in Norway, visited the monastery of St. Catherine, the Burning Bush on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, were in the Holy Land in Jerusalem. And in our travels there is a tradition - every summer we definitely go to Lake Seliger, to the Nilova Pustyn, where the relics of St. Nil of Stolobensky, one of the most revered Russian saints, are buried. This is an extraordinary place where you relax both in body and soul: reserved, transparent, pine forests, the boundless expanse of Seliger with picturesquely scattered islands, one of which is a monastery.

There is another tradition in our family that is especially dear to me. My great-grandfather and my namesake, Petr Romanovich Semenkevich, a regular military man, major general of tank troops, was born in Belarus in a large family. His childhood and youth were difficult, he worked at a factory and studied. Before the war, he graduated from the Armored Academy in Moscow and went to the front from the first days of the war. He went through the entire war and ended it near Berlin. I did not know my great-grandfather, but he told a lot about the war to my dad, and dad told me. Every year on Victory Day, the whole family visits our grandfather's brother-soldiers, congratulate them on the holiday, and go with them to grandfather's grave. Every year, unfortunately, there are fewer of them alive. They are very old, cry, remembering the days of the front, and are very glad that they are not forgotten. Five years ago, some of them were on May 9 with us in Pleskovo. And I really hope that in this memorable year of the 65th anniversary Great Victory this tradition will not end. God bless them all!

Petr Semenkevich (8b)

Tasty tradition

We have a culinary tradition in our family. Every Sunday my brother and I go to visit our grandmother, who is now 83 years old. She bakes amazing pancakes in a Russian oven, and we help her together.

And every Easter and Christmas we bake a goose and a turkey in the oven.

Delicious!

Alexey Kuimov (8b)

Memories of grandfather

I can tell you about one of our family traditions, which came from my great-grandfather.

Luppov Anatoly Petrovich, my great-grandfather, during the war was the head of the department for providing the army with fuel. Together with him, 10 other people worked in this department. Every year on July 4th, on his birthday, they got together. This continued after the war. After a while, the company began to get smaller and smaller. Then my great-grandfather died, it was 1990.

My great-grandfather was a very kind person. I remember, in my childhood, some fellow soldier of his came, but he has been gone for 5-6 years. Everyone loved grandfather, especially grandchildren - my dad and aunt. Unfortunately, I did not find him.

And until now, on July 4, my family and close relatives, friends, now my grandfather, are going to the dacha in memory of my great-grandfather.

Ivan Luppov (8b)

Features of my family

Our family is big. She takes her roots from different places: from the Far East, from Siberia, the Moscow region. Surely, if you carefully dig into your pedigree, you will find that you come from places that you never thought about before!

Of course, we don't all live in the same city. My relatives were scattered all over Russia: they are in Tatarstan, and in Chuvashia, and in the Caucasus. Where they are not!

One of the main features of my family is a penchant for creativity. The main creative person, of course, must be considered my grandfather on my mother's side, Yuri Efimovich Koldaev. He was born in the Siberian town of Leninsk-Kuznetsky. After the war, they were forced to leave for Kamchatka. Unusual in its untouched beauty landscapes with volcanoes, geysers, the Pacific Ocean - Kamchatka is indescribable. All this awakened in grandfather the desire to create. After school, he entered an art school, and then the Institute of Arts. Grandpa became a real artist. At first he worked as a graphic designer, and then he began to teach children at an art school, later he was admitted to the Union of Artists of the USSR. Many years passed, and my grandfather and his family moved to Volokolamsk. There are many of his paintings in our house, and exhibitions are still held in the museum. The cycle of paintings "Orthodox Rus'" was donated to the Sunday school. Among the students of my grandfather is my aunt, she is engaged in design. I love my grandfather very much. He taught me reading, drawing, and I will never forget his game of Lisa Patrikeevna, which was put on my hand.

I would also like to tell you about my grandmother. She was born in the city of Nakhodka, on the very edge of the earth. After school, my grandmother entered a music school, later she met her grandfather. She and her grandfather were not afraid of difficulties and hardships. My grandmother told me a lot about how they went hiking in Kamchatka. They were at the top of the volcano, in which there was a volcanic lake, bathed in mud springs ... When I grow up, I will definitely go to Kamchatka. And this will start a new family tradition! And now about the grandmother.

My grandmother teaches me to play the instrument, and she also loves to travel. She travels to Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Kaliningrad. And once she was in Italy! But if the grandmother has to stay at home, she does not lose heart, she comes up with different recipes, because. likes to cook, for example, dumplings with potatoes.

What she taught me is invaluable. My grandmother forced me to do what I didn’t want to: she taught me poetry, rehearsed roles from performances, wrote essays for regional competitions with me - my grandmother developed me. I achieved all my results largely thanks to my grandmother.

And my dad is just an extraordinary person. He has many hobbies, one of them is the history of the Great Patriotic War. At the dacha, dad has a lot of books about the war and military maps, as well as military rarities that he found in the forests where the battles took place. He knows how to snowboard, bike, skydive many times. And how many mopeds, scooters he has, a snowmobile, a jet ski - you can’t list everything. Dad also knows how to fly a plane! In addition, dad is a jack of all trades: he can build something, repair something, he is not afraid of any work.

Our favorite family tradition is the annual trips, often and several times a year. We travel by car, sometimes for a couple of days - just to see something new. And we love to go to the sea! Traditionally, we try to visit Turkey once a year.

Everyone in our family has some hobbies, everyone strives for something new. Mom teaches herself English language, grandmother - new works on the piano. I think that this is the main tradition of my family.

Daria Kudryavtseva (8b)

culinary tradition

There are a lot of traditions in my family, but I will talk about some of them. Of course, every family has a culinary tradition, in my family too. Once we decided to make a Ryzhik cake for someone's birthday - it so happened that this cake became an indispensable attribute of the festive table of our family's birthdays.

But, apart from culinary traditions, there are others. For example, every May 9 we go on foot along the river to Poklonnaya Gora (on foot 30 minutes). Therefore, most often May 9th is associated with a hike. And the tradition of going to Taganrog every summer is sacred. The tradition started when I was about a year old. Therefore, summer for me is the sea, and a dacha with flowers, and a garden. And also wormwood, an unusual smell of wildflowers and hay.

Olga Koroleva (8b)

family dynasty

There is a tradition in my family - the choice of the same profession as one of the parents. For example, my grandfather Roald Vasilyevich, a chemist, and my father was also a chemist at first, and then became an architect. My older brother, knowing that being an architect, in his opinion, is interesting, decided to choose the same profession. I have not yet decided what I want to become, but it seems to me that it is definitely not an architect.

We also have a tradition of building a house according to our own project and monitoring the progress of construction. For example, my dad and brother worked together to build a house where our whole family will live.

I have two grandfathers, one of whom fought, and the other at that time was in school. It turned out that the Germans occupied the city where my grandfather Roald lived. Many different stories happened to him, I will tell one of them.

One day my grandfather's mother sent him to the railway station to fetch coal. Since it was necessary to bring a lot of coal, and it was a long way to go (and grandfather was 12 years old at that time), he took a sled. But along the way, grandfather met a German soldier who carried a huge backpack on his back and a gun in his hands. The German saw his grandfather and threw his backpack on the sled, saying: “Schnel!”, which means “quickly.” Grandfather had to carry that backpack too, so that the Germans would not shoot him. But soon a German car with people drove by, and the German, seeing it, took a backpack, ran up to the car and tried to climb onto it. This car was tall and he had nowhere to put his foot. His comrades had to take him by the collar to drag him into the car, while the German almost suffocated, as the buttons on his overcoat were fastened. Apparently, this is how God punished the German for his cruel treatment of people.

My other grandfather, Vasily Alekseevich, fought, and only by a miracle did God save him from death. For example, when the Germans were bombing, one bomb fell next to my grandfather. Then, from the stories of his comrades, grandfather learned that when the bomb fell, several people remained lying, and grandfather, raised by the blast wave, fell right on them, and other people covered him from above. So grandfather escaped from other explosions that killed almost everyone. Grandfather himself did not see any of this, as he lost consciousness. My grandfather once came to Pleskovo when I was in the third grade.

Maria Sycheva (8b)

Conquering unknown places

Every family has traditions that it honors. Someone every year gathers with relatives for a holiday, others keep the family recipe and pass it on from generation to generation. Our family also has a very unusual tradition, which I want to talk about. As soon as the earth is freed from snow, my mother and I take bicycles and set off on a journey, to conquer uncharted lands. I remember these trips from early childhood, then my mother put me on the trunk, and we drove far, far away. How much we learned about the place where we live! We traveled around a huge forest, found many lakes, springs, discovered a wonderful village near Moscow, which civilization has not yet touched so much. There is a nice little river where women do laundry and shepherds tend their cows.

I really love these trips with my mother and I hope that this tradition will never be interrupted.

Anna Khavanova (8b)

Costumed holiday

Our family has a tradition that has been preserved for a long time. IN New Year we gather with the whole family and celebrate the holiday according to a scenario we have thought up in advance. We put on costumes and put on a show. We make the costumes ourselves, which is the most interesting thing for me. I met the New Year with a Snowflake, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and just a host of the holiday. Recently, we celebrate the New Year not only with family, but also with friends. They gladly joined the carnival and also participated in the creation of costumes and script.

Maria Galtseva (8b)

What we are and our children

Somewhere I read that a family prepares for a family, and a set of virtues that grows on the soil of nepotism not only tempers a person for earthly life, but also inspires him to fly to eternity. I wanted to write about a family that, in my opinion, is very honest and serious about their parental duty. Since our children study together and are friends, I often had to communicate with the Kuimov family. Here they do not read long morals to children, they are brought up by personal example. This is a patriarchal-Christian family, here they try to instill in children the virtues that grow in the family: sacrifice, desire and ability to serve, obedience, humility and diligence. The head of the family, Alexei Vasilievich, helped a lot and helps people, and most importantly, what he did, in my opinion, was to gather and settle all the relatives nearby. His parents, parents of his wife, brothers and sisters (and he is from a large family) built the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God nearby. Children are very lucky, they live in an atmosphere of love and kindness. A very hospitable family, the doors of the house are always open, both in the literal and figurative sense of the word. The house is always full of children's friends. There are no housekeepers in the house, all things - cleaning, cooking, etc. - are the joint work of the whole family, without exception. Children know that they need to visit their grandparents and help them, weed the garden, feed the chickens, babysit their little cousin. This family also has many traditions. Every Saturday, dad spends the whole day with the children, and on Sunday - mom's day, when they go to the theater, cinema, of course, if there is no fast. Mom, Elena Alexandrovna, realizes herself in motherhood, having four schoolchildren is very difficult, she is a creative person, actively helps in all classes where her children study. And when she has a free minute at home, she draws.

The second tradition is when, on the eve of Christmas, children invite their friends, classmates and all together make and bake real gingerbread cookies with their own hands, and then decorate them. I would like to say a huge thank you to Elena Aleksandrovna on behalf of all the participants in this already common tradition. Gingerbread recipes are very difficult, and Elena Alexandrovna prepares dough in large quantities so that everyone has enough. I think they will remember for the rest of their lives how they baked gingerbread for Christmas.

Another tradition is musical drawing rooms. It is not the first year before the Great Lent that music is being summed up in the house, since all the children of the Kuimovs are engaged in music. The teacher Natalya Alexandrovna calls the children only by their first and middle names, and the children become serious, trying to play as best as possible. Friends of the children who are involved in music also take part in the concert, and it turns out to be a very good concert. Mashenka sings and plays beautifully. The concert is attended by grandparents and other relatives who receive prizes, and then, together with the audience, sit down at the table to have tea. I love visiting this family, where you feel comfortable, where love and mutual understanding reign, where you know that you will be helped in the first place.

No matter how much moralizing, advice we give to children, the most important thing is a personal example. What we are and our children.

I want to apologize to the Kuimovs if I wrote something wrong, but I wrote what I felt.

And I also express my condolences to their large family: recently their grandfather, r. B. Vasily.

N. V. Zakharova (half-board teacher)

Memory of a father

My deceased father (Vladimir Lebid) was an officer, a colonel (at the general's degree). The tradition of our family is inextricably linked with the memory of him. Together with his military friends, everyone who knew and loved him, we are gathering on the day of my father's memory. Even in the days of his memory, my mother and I always visit the temple, then we go to the grave, and then at home we collect a memorial table. Everyone speaks only kind words about my father. Again and again they talk about what a reliable friend he was, about his honest service, about his fair character. And my sisters and I tell what a wonderful father he was.

Although my dad passed away almost 6 years ago, vivid memories of how we spent time together remained in my memory.

Svyatoslav Lebid (8b)

Veneration of St. Onufry the Great

We have many traditions in our family, I want to talk about just one of them.

In our family, Onufry the Great enjoys special respect. His wonderful life deserves a separate topic for discussion, but that's not the point now. So, every year we gathered on the day of memory of the saint with friends and close relatives and celebrate the feast of St. Onuphrius.

The reason for this understanding was his incredible miracles of helping our family.

John Zakharov (8b)

school traditions

Last year I decided to try living in a boarding house. As a result, I made many new friends. I made friends with the current ninth graders and high school students. Having entered their team, I to some extent joined the traditions of the company. I even made some myself. Of course, I tried to perceive good and at least harmless habits for others.

So, for example, there was a tradition of different types of greetings. Greetings between us were carried out with the help of various kinds of handshakes, claps and other movements, and we greet each other almost every time we meet, even ten times a day. We have different greetings with different people. My longest greeting is with Sasha Lykov and Seryozha Trashkov. They last about forty seconds, but due to time constraints, we often use the shortened version (it lasts about fifteen seconds).

Many, perhaps, remember how at the beginning of the school year a congratulatory poster “Congratulations on the 259th day of the year” hung in the forum. This is another emerging tradition. Better not ask where this story with the number 259 came from - the story is very long and confusing, but here we decided to somehow distinguish this day from all the others.

Of course, I agree with the opinions of others that these traditions are useless and do not carry any meaning, but they bring joy to us students, and even to some adults. Is joy stupidity?

Ivan Luppov (8b)

Best Traditions

Each family has an individual lifestyle, and it is most clearly reflected in family traditions. After all, it is traditions that emphasize those wonderful events that mean a lot in the life of a family. They give us the joy of waiting and preparing, distracting us from everyday hustle and bustle.

Some traditions passed to us from our parents, we supplement them, shape them, and also create our own traditions, which will go with us through our whole life, and our children will continue them in their families.

Our Orthodox holidays play a very important role in this, because often family traditions are formed around their celebration. Since childhood, one of the most anticipated and favorite holidays was, of course, Christmas. And this is not surprising, because Christmas is very rich in family traditions.

Preparations for the holiday, peeking out the first star, after which you can eat kutya. Moreover, the whole family took part in the preparation of kutya. Mom boiled wheat, poured dried fruit into it, and dad and I rubbed poppy seeds with sugar in makitra. After all the culinary preparations, you must definitely sleep so that those who are rested can go to the temple for the night service! In the temple, they approached the den and left a gift for the Infant. After the service, they would definitely visit their grandmother, sing the Christmas troparion and break the fast with the whole family.

To these Christmas traditions in our family, we decided to add the tradition of congratulating with a holiday card made by ourselves.

After Christmas until the very Epiphany, Christmas time continues, when everyone goes to visit each other and congratulate them on the holiday. And on Epiphany after the service and the festive prayer service with the blessing of water, according to tradition, we must go to the ice hole and dip there.

It is very good when family traditions not only bring the family together, but also bring considerable benefits, for example, temper and heal. In our family, a useful tradition has already been started - every year it is necessary to go hiking in the picturesque mountains of the Crimean peninsula.

At the family council, the date and route are decided in advance, other participants who want to join us are approved. The route map is laid out on the map, the proposed places of overnight stays and sights that must be visited are marked. A menu is prepared for each day. A week before the hike, food, bivouac equipment, and clothing are distributed among the hikers.

Hiking, like no other tradition, unites and strengthens family and friendship relationships. Because in the mountains, hikers can rely only on themselves and the support of their relatives and friends. All problems that may arise are solved together. The surrounding nature gives a lot of strength: mountain air, cool spring water, birdsong and a pleasant cooling breeze help to overcome all the difficulties of the hike. And how great it is in the evening, after dinner, with a cup of tea, by the firelight, to sit on a log and admire the stars that seem so close in the mountains.

I think it will best tradition in our family, it will definitely become generic, and our children will gladly accept it and pass it on to their families.

Maria Loginova (graduate of 2006)

We bake pancakes with the whole family!

In our family there is a tradition that is pleasant for women. Pancakes are baked by all men. And not only on holidays, but also on weekdays, just when the mood is good. We even redid a poem from a children's book:

Dad bakes pancakes for us
They are very tasty.
We got up early today
And we eat them with sour cream.

When Kirill was two years old, he surprised the teachers by telling a detailed recipe and the sequence of making pancakes. Once, during Shrovetide, when dad was at work, I baked pancakes. Cyril was genuinely surprised: “Mom, can you bake pancakes too?”

Ingredients: 0.5 l of Essentuki, 3 teaspoons of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, flour until the density of liquid sour cream.

Instructions: Mix "Essentuki", sugar, salt, vegetable oil. Gradually add flour so that the dough becomes like liquid sour cream. Mix well. 30-40 minutes the dough rises. Bake pancakes only in a Teflon pan (!). Pancakes are dryish, but you can correct the situation if you eat them with honey or jam.

Mother of a 1st grade student
Kirill Yakovenko

I'll start with the hottest season, when my family and I go to unforgettable vacation. In July, when it's hot outside, you always want to swim in a clean, cool lake, fry kebabs, or just be in nature, watching the beautiful landscapes of mountains and forests. Therefore, in order to fully plunge into such an atmosphere, my family chose a wonderful place for spending time - these are the Chelyabinsk Lakes. For several years now, we have been happy to go to recreation centers in Chelyabinsk region. Chelyabinsk lakes are famous for their purity. I will tell you about the most popular of them, on which our family rests.

This is Lake Uvildy. If you dream of relaxing on a clean, sandy beach, spend the night in a cozy house on the lake, then you can safely go here. Some tourists, for example, like us, do not live in houses, but in tents. This is one of my favorite traditions in our journey. You completely surrender to nature, as if you are sleeping under open sky and this is probably the most memorable. In the evenings, I like to admire the azure sunset and the tranquility of the lake. An interesting feature The lake is a set of islands scattered across it. On one of these islands, dad and his friends go fishing in the morning. Then it turns out very tasty ear. Also, if you are a fan of fishing, then in some places there are special bridges for catching fish. Well, of course, if you come there on weekends, you can get to the beach party. A DJ arrives with his team and the dancing lasts almost until the morning. We rest there for 3 to 5 days. And always, when we return home, we remember funny moments, and there are a lot of them.

But our travels do not end there, in August we go to rest in the city of Sol-Iletsk, rich in its salt lakes. I think it's great vacation because we combine the useful with the pleasant. For several years in a row we have been going to spend our holidays to one of the most unusual resorts, which is considered the main health resort of Russia. The road to the resort lasts almost the whole day. 1300 kilometers behind us and we are there. It seemed that only in the morning, at the beginning of our journey, the whole sky was covered with clouds, and it was a chilly day, and after a thousand kilometers you get out of the car and the temperature outside is already under +40. One of the most popular resorts Russia is almost no different resorts on the Black Sea, of course, except for the absence of the sea itself. As a family, we travel as "savages", we rent a comfortable cottage, although in Sol-Iletsk there is a sanatorium famous throughout the country. The resort has a well-developed infrastructure, a lot of entertainment for children, excursions, zoos, waterslides. But still the most interesting, attracting more than a million guests annually, is a group of salt lakes. The most popular is water treatment. Feelings after such procedures cannot be expressed in words. After the skin becomes smooth and tender, but this is not all the miracles of such mud therapy. The composition of the mud includes a variety of gases, iron sulfide, sodium and potassium, as well as substances that have a bactericidal effect. My favorite lake is Razval Lake.

Its bottom is completely covered with salt, so it is impossible to drown in it, which is another plus for those who cannot swim. You need to lie in the lake calmly, because if water gets into your eyes, it can corrode the shell of the eye. Lakes tone the body, have a regulating effect on the central nervous system, and improve metabolism. Impressions after such a holiday are unforgettable, in a few days we improved our health for the whole year ahead. And, of course, I look forward to a new meeting with Sol-Iletsk.

This is how our summer holidays, well, in winter we go to the thermal springs of the city of Tyumen. Our family visited three such springs, and the country club "Avan" became the most favorite. We spend two days there. Near the pool there is a cozy small hotel. "Avan" is famous for its real thermal spring. The water temperature in its pool does not fall below 45 degrees Celsius. When there are severe winter frosts in the yard, we warm ourselves in the open air in the source. It is an inexpressible feeling when you go out in a bathing suit to a forty-degree frost, and rather run into a hot spring, endowing the body with a powerful charge of nutrients. You don't even want to leave this pool.

Also in the country club you can bask in the Finnish sauna, visit massage treatments, play billiards and even go to the gym to work out. While adults are relaxing in the spring, children can have fun in the playroom. Thermal spring water, different high level mineralization. The water contains sodium chloride, bromine, iodine. Mineral water It has a positive effect on the problems of the supporting apparatus, on problems with blood vessels and the heart, as well as on the nervous system.

I like such traditions, I like to spend time with my family, and also with health benefits. I hope we will continue to travel like this in the future, because we love it very much. And, of course, we will not stop there, and will visit many more different places of our vast Motherland.