Travel traditions in the eastern world

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

In the "Rig Veda" the oldest written monument of the Indo-Aryans (XI-X centuries BC), the inhabitants of India, who came from the north-west, in a poetic form tells, in particular, about sacred place where the waters of the Ganges and Jamna rivers merge. According to the Rig Veda, ablution 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. annually in late January - early February, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gather, and once every twelve years (great Kumbhamela), the celebration attracts millions of people and is, apparently, the most crowded pilgrimage in the world.

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

Worth mentioning 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 include the first description of religious holidays in Prayag with a gathering of almost half a million believers. The celebration in those days was held 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 during the days of the celebration will gain immortality (the law prohibiting religious suicide 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 associated with the philosophical layers of the narrative were intertwined in a bizarre form. 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 by Wu Chang'an.

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

Starting from the 8th - 9th centuries AD the countries of the Arab world were experiencing a period of cultural and scientific upsurge, especially tangible 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: "The Book of the Picture of the Earth" by al-Khwarizmi, which was a reworking of Ptolemy's "Geography" with the addition of Arabic and Iranian materials; kind of guides - "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 9-10th centuries. are the most complete source of information about Eastern Europe and Ancient Russia, in particular. For example, Ibn Fadlan, a merchant who traveled in 921 - 922. as part of the embassy from Baghdad to the Volga Bulgaria, reports the most valuable details about the manners and customs of the Slavic and Scandinavian merchants, which he observed on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks." The travel 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 all over the inhabited world known to the Arabs. For 24 years of wandering, he visited the shores The Pacific, in the Volga Bulgaria, in Mozambique, Mauritanian Spain. Western Sahara, Arabia. In his ssshnenie, like Herodotus, he gives a wide variety of information about the countries he visited, fascinatingly tells legends and entertaining stories. A special place in the essay is occupied by stories about Muslim relics and holy places (Mecca and Medina).

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

V ancient China and in ancient India there was a well-developed and fairly well-maintained road network (in China there were tea houses near the roads where you could drink tea at a reasonable price, and in India the roads were lined with trees to protect travelers from the sun). It is interesting that 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 walks the shortest path"). Accordingly, the roads were winding and tangled - which was more reminiscent of medieval Europe than Ancient Rome.

In some cases, the service system was delivered quite up-to-date. So, in India, during the already mentioned pilgrimage to modern Allahabad (to the confluence of the sacred rivers), the ritual of ablution has long been led by the so-called pandas, who inherited this position. This organization includes hundreds of families who have divided all 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 turn exclusively to his panda, and he will bring detailed documentation to clients. Hundreds of hairdressers also live at the expense of pilgrims (nowadays, from the whole ritual, which was quite complicated in ancient times, there are three main points left: bathing, shaving and paying).

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

The first trip, the most memorable:
It was when our daughter was about ten years old. However, many years have passed, with age I can and confuse.
Once on a weekend, my husband, who by that time had bought a badly beaten clunker, with the proud name Zaporozhets, announced: "We are going to the forest!"
He also said that he was taking us to the Grafsky Reserve, for strawberries.
Since he did not show the initiative in matters of trips so often, for the sake of creating family traditions and strengthening the cell of society, I of course agreed. Previously, I only timidly asked if there was a river nearby. It was 35 degrees Celsius, and I wanted to swim to the point of stupor.
I replied indignantly that the main thing in this trip was picking a sweet berry dearly loved by his heart, and not at all some stupid river.
I was young, inexperienced, and not scandalous (at that time!))), So I did not object further. I sat down with my daughter in a red-hot torture chamber, portrayed joy and anticipation from the trip on my face, and we crawled off to the enthusiastic hooting of local boys who had already written on the dirty door of our Auto "Wash me!"
We drove for a long time. For three hours, stopping every half hour on the way, and cooling the smoking engine.
They asked for directions from passers-by, they, sincerely trying to help, directed us to the right and then to the left, as a result, we almost got lost, but after long ordeals we still arrived in the forest!
A narrow track, broken by tractors, led into the grove, and besides, it was in a shallow ravine, and there was no way to go to the clearing. The car scraped with its belly on the ground, but there was simply no longer any strength to remain in its red-hot captivity.
I suggested that my husband let me out with my daughter so that he could drive on, and found a parking spot, and at that time we walked a little.
No sooner said than done! Having happily fluttered out of our metal bug, we walked merrily along the side of the road. Misha drove on. A few seconds later, I suddenly heard a strange buzzing ...
It grew stronger and stronger, and terribly got on the nerves.
Trying to determine the source of the noise, my daughter and I began to turn our heads vigorously, then wave our hands, then scream heart-rendingly!
In general, it was impossible to do everything that was impossible to do when meeting an angry swarm of hornets!))) I still don't know if my husband crushed their nest with a wheel, or if my spirits were so annoying ... 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 .. Give the car back! "
Want to know your husband's reaction? he stood, smiling, waving to us))
When I, sweaty, red, and panting, shoved myself and the child into the car, I pounced on him ... you yourself understand that (now my vocabulary is much wider than it once was!)))! And I asked why he didn’t come after us, do you know what he told me ??
“But I didn’t hear! I thought you were running and waving your hands, you rejoice at me! "))) A dumb scene.))))

But our tests did not end there! We drove about half a kilometer to break away from the swarm. (And I'm not making it up!) It's a miracle that we were not bitten!
Finally, we stopped at a forest clearing, and finally decided to do what, in fact, we had come for. The daughter and husband went to look for strawberries. The child went into the bushes, and…. Screamed in an inhuman voice with fear. Slightly - almost stepping on a huge viper.
My patience finally ran out, and I demanded immediately to 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 this way! After a few meters we got stuck in the sand, and I had to push the car))) Mom dear !!! We pulled it out, though my unfortunate back still remembers this feat!
We drove out of the forest and saw a wonderful lake ahead. I began to beg to stop the car.
My husband gritted 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 vengefully replied that we will still return here! Having strayed about twenty minutes, and not finding the way, we really returned, after which we were graciously allowed to bathe. Well, we came off as well!)))
After that, someone from the local, to the great joy of my and my daughter, showed us again some kind of 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 to joy? Yes, because this road passed through all the children's camps and rest houses, and there were many excellent places for swimming. So the purpose 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 the stove did not work in it in winter, and I, on the contrary, worked as a windshield wiper, then, probably, he is 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 travels during the winter school holidays on a trip to Russian cities and villages, was supported by the trade union committee of the enterprise this time too.

This year, our journey was for the first time in Nizhny Novgorod region... On the eve of Orthodox Christmas, we arrived at Serafimov Diveevsky in the name of the Holy Trinity convent - an Orthodox convent in the village of Diveyevo. 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 the Monk 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 all 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 Canal of the Virgin. There is such a belief that if you walk along the groove and read a prayer 150 times, then the most secret desires will come true and miracles of healing will occur.

We met the morning of January 6 in Arzamas. At the time of our arrival, services were not held at the Resurrection Cathedral, which is considered the main decoration of the city. However, the ministers opened the doors of this magnificent, majestic five-domed cathedral especially for us. The temple has preserved its pristine state 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 of our trip called "Boldino". We all know very well the Boldinskaya autumn - 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 the signs of modernity here: the metro, the cable car across the Oka (on which we, of course, did not miss the opportunity to ride), skyscrapers under construction. On the other hand, 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 the Pedestrian Street, paved with paving stones, you can meet representatives of various subcultures.

The journey 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 churches, someone was struck by the places associated with the life and work of the great Russian poet, and someone will have vivid impressions of the trip to cable car and much, much more ...

Elena SKVOROK

We have a lot of traditions!

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

Our family traditions are a discussion at dinner of the events of the past day, summer travel by car to the sea, joint meals, discussion of plans, prints of a baby's feet at one year old, marks of a child's growth on the wall, children's drawings, reading books to kids at night, dad's fairy tales, Family birthday, celebration of Easter, Christmastide; new year tradition- homemade toys, culinary traditions - various preparations for the winter, picking mushrooms, fishing, singing songs, summer at the grandmother'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 tell you about one tradition of our family.

Our family is full of creative personalities. My sister Masha and I sew and embroider, my brother Seryozha is studying to be an artist-painter, and my older brother Zhenya has eloquence. Therefore, for the birthdays of our close friends and relatives, we give gifts, invented and made by hand. Brother Seryozha will think of everything, select the 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 its own free time we try to spend together. We have a lot of common interests: travel, photography, sports, floriculture, aquarium keeping. We love to travel together, get to know new cities and countries, discover 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, and visited the Holy Land in Jerusalem. And in our travels there is a tradition - every summer we necessarily go to Lake Seliger, to the Nilova Hermitage, where the relics of the Monk Nil Stolobensky, one of the most revered Russian saints, rest. This is an extraordinary place where you can relax in body and soul: reserved, transparent, pine forests, the vast expanse of Seliger with picturesquely scattered islets, 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, Semenkevich Petr Romanovich, a career soldier, major general of tank forces, was born in Belarus into 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 from the first days of the war went to the front. He went through the entire war and ended it near Berlin. I didn't know my great-grandfather, but he talked a lot about the war to my dad, and dad to me. Every year on Victory Day, our whole family must visit grandfather's brother-soldiers, congratulate them on the holiday, go with them to grandfather's grave. Every year, unfortunately, fewer and fewer of them remain 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 be interrupted. May God give them all health!

Petr Semenkevich (8b)

Delicious tradition

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

We also bake goose and turkey in the oven every Easter and Christmas.

Very tasty!

Alexey Kuimov (8b)

Memory 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 supplying the army with fuel. Together with him, another 10 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 also died, it was 1990.

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

And until now, on July 4th, my family and my closest relatives, friends, now my grandfather, are gathering at the dacha in memory of my great-grandfather.

Ivan Luppov (8b)

Features of my family

We have a big family. It takes its roots from different places: from the Far East, from Siberia, the Moscow region. Surely, if you dig deeply into your pedigree, you can find that you come from places that you never thought of before!

Of course, we all do not live in the same city. My relatives are scattered all over Russia: they are in Tatarstan, and in Chuvashia, and in the Caucasus. Wherever 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 unspoiled beauty landscapes with volcanoes, geysers, the Pacific Ocean - Kamchatka is indescribable. All this awakened the desire to create in my grandfather. After school, he entered an art school, and then at the Institute of Arts. Grandpa became a real artist. At first he worked as a graphic designer, and then began teaching 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 taking place in the museum. The cycle of paintings "Orthodox Rus" was presented 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 studied reading, drawing with me, and I will never forget his game of Lisa Patrikeevna, which was worn on my hand.

I would also like to tell you about my grandmother. She was born in the city of Nakhodka, at the very end of the earth. After school, my grandmother entered a music school, and later 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 a volcano, in which there was a volcanic lake, swam in mud springs ... When I grow up, I will definitely go to Kamchatka. And with this I will lay the foundation for a new family tradition! And now about my grandmother.

My grandmother teaches me to play an 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 did not want: she taught me poetry, rehearsed roles from performances, wrote essays with me for regional competitions - 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 many 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, and parachute many times. And how many mopeds, scooters he has, a snowmobile, a jet ski - just not to list. Dad can also ... 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 to travel annually, 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 is teaching herself now English, grandmother - new works on the piano. I think this is the main tradition of my family.

Daria Kudryavtseva (8b)

Culinary tradition

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

But besides culinary traditions, there are others. For example, every May 9 we go on foot along the river to Poklonnaya Gora (on foot for 30 minutes). Therefore, most often I associate May 9 with a hike. And the tradition to go 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 summer cottage with flowers, and a vegetable garden. And also wormwood, the extraordinary 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 dad 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 haven’t decided yet who I want to become, but it seems to me that I’m definitely not an architect.

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

I have two grandfathers, one of whom fought and the other was in school at the time. It so happened 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 for coal. Since he had 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 on the way, grandfather met a German soldier who carried a huge backpack on his back and carried a gun in his hands. The German saw his grandfather and threw his backpack onto his sled, saying: "Shnel!", Which means "faster." Grandfather had to carry that backpack so that the German would not shoot him. But soon a German car with people drove past, and the German, seeing it, took a backpack, ran 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 buttoned. Apparently, this is how God punished the German for cruel treatment of people.

My other grandfather, Vasily Alekseevich, fought, and only by a miracle God saved 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, which killed almost everyone. The grandfather himself did not see any of this, as he lost consciousness. My grandfather once came to Plyoskovo 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 extraordinary tradition, which I want to tell you about. As soon as the land is freed from snow, my mother and I take bicycles and go on a journey to conquer unknown lands. I remember these trips from early childhood, then my mother put me on the trunk, and we drove far, far. How much we have learned about the place where we live! We traveled around a huge forest, found many lakes, springs, discovered a wonderful village near Moscow, which has not yet been touched by civilization so much. There flows a lovely stream where women wash and shepherds graze cows.

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

Anna Khavanova (8b)

Fancy-dress holiday

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

Maria Galtseva (8b)

What we are like our children

Somewhere I read that a family prepares for a family, and a set of virtues growing on the basis of nepotism not only hardens a person for earthly life, but also inspires him for a flight into eternity. I wanted to write about a family that, in my opinion, takes their parental duty very honestly and seriously. Since our children study together and are friends, I often had to communicate with the Kuimov family. Here they do not read long lectures 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 hard work. The head of the family, Aleksey Vasilyevich, helped and helps people a lot, and most importantly, what he did, in my opinion, was to gather and put all the relatives nearby. His parents, parents of his wife, brothers and sisters (and he is from a large family) and 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. Always full of house and friends of children. 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, and nurse 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 fasting. Mom, Elena Aleksandrovna, realizes herself in motherhood, having four schoolchildren is very difficult, she is a creative person, she 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 with their own hands, and then decorate them. I would like to say a huge thank you to Elena Alexandrovna on behalf of all the participants in this already common tradition of ours. Gingerbread recipes are very difficult, and Elena Aleksandrovna cooks the dough in large quantities so that everyone has enough. I think they will remember for the rest of their lives how they baked gingerbread at Christmas.

Another tradition is musical living rooms. It is not the first year before Lent that the results of music have been summed up in the house, since all the children of the Kuimovs study music. The teacher Natalya Alexandrovna calls children only by name and patronymic, and the children become serious, trying to play as best they can. Friends of the children who play music also participate in the concert, and it turns out to be a very good concert. Mashenka sings and plays beautifully. The concert is attended by grandmothers, grandfathers, and other relatives who receive prizes, and then sit down at the table with the audience to have tea. I love to be in this family, where you feel comfortable, where love and mutual understanding reign, where you know that they will come to your aid if necessary.

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

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

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

N.V. Zakharova (half board teacher)

Memory of father

My deceased father (Vladimir Lebid) was an officer, colonel (in 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 church, then we go to the grave, and then we collect the memorial table at home. Everyone speaks only kind words about my father. Over and over again they talk about what a reliable friend he was, about his honest service, about his fair character. And my sisters and I tell you what a wonderful father he was.

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

Svyatoslav Lebid (8b)

Veneration of Saint Onuphrius the Great

We have a lot of traditions in our family, I want to tell you only about one of them.

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

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

Ioann Zakharov (8b)

School traditions

Last year I decided to try boarding. Thanks to this, I have made many new friends. I made friends with the current ninth grade and high school students. Having joined their team, I, to some extent, joined the traditions of the company. He even contributed some himself. Of course, I tried to accept good and at least harmless habits for others.

So, for example, the tradition of different types of greetings appeared. The greetings between us were carried out with the help of all sorts of handshakes, claps and other movements, and we greet each other almost at every meeting, even if ten times a day. We have different greetings with different people. My longest greetings are with Sasha Lykov and Seryozha Trashkov. It lasts about forty seconds, but due to lack of time, 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" was 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 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 make any sense, but they bring joy to us, students, and even some adults. Is joy really stupidity?

Ivan Luppov (8b)

Best traditions

Each family has an individual lifestyle, and it is most vividly 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 preparation, distracting us from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Some traditions have passed to us from our parents, we supplement them, shape them, and also create our own traditions that will pass 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 family traditions are often formed around their celebration. From childhood, one of the most anticipated and favorite holidays was, of course, the Nativity of Christ. And this is not surprising, because it is Christmas that is very rich in family traditions.

Preparing for the holiday, looking at the first star, after which you can eat kutya. Moreover, the whole family took part in the preparation of kutya. Mom cooked wheat, poured it with dried fruit uzvar, and dad and I ground poppy seeds with sugar in makitra. After all the culinary preparations, it is imperative to sleep so that those who are rested can go to the temple for the night service! In the temple, they approached the nativity scene and left a gift to the Baby. After the service, they always went to visit their grandmother, sang the troparion to Christmas and broke the fast with the whole family.

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

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

It is very good when family traditions not only bring the family together, but also bring considerable benefits, for example, they temper and heal. A useful tradition has already begun in our family - every year it is compulsory 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. A route scheme is laid on the map, suggested overnight stays and sights that must be visited are marked. A menu is made for every day. A week before the hike, food, bivouac equipment, and clothing are distributed among the participants of the hike.

The hike, like no other tradition, very much unites and strengthens family and friendships. Because in the mountains, the participants of the hike 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 wonderful it is in the evening, after dinner, with a mug of tea, by the light of a fire, 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!

Our family has a tradition that is pleasing to women. All men bake pancakes. And not only on holidays, but also on weekdays, just when you are in a good mood. We even reworked a rhyme from a children's book:

Daddy 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 for making pancakes. One day during Shrovetide, when Dad was at work, I baked pancakes. Cyril was sincerely surprised: "Mom, can you also bake pancakes?"

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

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

1st grade mother
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 barbecue, 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 transportation - this is the Chelyabinsk Lakes. For several years now, we are happy to go to recreation centers in Chelyabinsk region... Chelyabinsk lakes are famous for their cleanliness. I will tell you about the most popular of them, on which our family rests.

This is Lake Uvildy. If you dream of resting in a clean, sandy beach, spend the night in a cozy house on the shore of 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 on our journey. You completely surrender to nature, as if you were sleeping under open air and this is probably the most unforgettable. In the evenings, I love to admire the azure sunset and the tranquility of the lake. An interesting feature the lake is a multitude of islands scattered around it. Dad and his friends go to one of these islands to fish in the morning. Then you get a very tasty ear. Also, if you are a lover of fishing, then in some places there are special bridges for fishing. Well, of course, if you come there on weekends, you can get to a beach party. The DJ arrives with his team and the dancing lasts almost until the morning. We rest there from 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 rest, as we combine business with pleasure. For several years in a row, we have been going to usefully spend their holidays at one of the most unusual resorts, which is considered the main health resort in Russia. The road to the resort takes almost the whole day. 1300 kilometers over the shoulder and we are in place. 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 ° C. One of the most popular resorts Russia is almost no different from the Black Sea resorts, of course, except for the absence of the sea itself. We travel as a family "savages", rent a comfortable cottage, although in Sol-Iletsk there is a well-known sanatorium throughout the country. The resort has a well-developed infrastructure, a lot of entertainment for children, excursions, zoos, waterslides... But still the most interesting thing, attracting more than a million guests every year, is the group of salt lakes. The most popular is water mud therapy. Feelings after such procedures are beyond words. After that, the skin becomes smooth and soft, but these are not all the wonders of this mud therapy. The composition of the mud includes a variety of gases, iron sulfide, sodium and potassium, as well as substances with a bactericidal effect. My favorite lake is Lake Razval.

Its bottom is completely covered with salt, so it is impossible to drown in it, this is another plus for those who cannot swim. You need to lie quietly in the lake, 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 a whole year ahead. And, of course, I am looking 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 Avan country club became our favorite. We spend two days there. There is a cozy little hotel next to the pool. Avan is famous for its real thermal spring. The water temperature in his pool does not drop below 45 degrees Celsius. When there are severe winter frosts outside, we bask in the open air in the spring. It is an indescribable sensation when you go out into a forty-degree frost in a swimsuit, and sooner run into a hot spring, endowing the body with a powerful charge of useful substances. You don't even want to leave such a pool.

Also in the country club you can warm up in the Finnish sauna, visit massage treatments, play billiards and even go to the gym to work out. While the adults are relaxing at the spring, children can have fun in the playroom. The thermal spring water is distinguished by a high level of mineralization. The water contains sodium chlorides, bromine, iodine. Mineral water has a positive effect on problems of the support apparatus, on problems with blood vessels and 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, because we love it very much. And, of course, we will not stop there, and will visit many more different places in our vast Motherland.