Archive for 'Culture'
Let’s warm this house with “a housewarming” Posted by Gabriele on Mar 12, 2013
This past weekend I went to a friend’s housewarming party. In this post I wanted to introduce you to this expression as well as American traditions around housewarmings. First of all, let me define this word for you. housewarming (n): a party celebrating a move to a new home ‘A housewarming’ or ‘a housewarming…
Personal space: An American perspective Posted by Gabriele on Feb 19, 2013
Personal space is the area around a person that one thinks of as their area or space, and that they don’t want other people to come into or enter as they meet or talk. The amount of space people want or need around them, in order to feel comfortable, depends on a lot of factors…
A penny saved is a penny earned – not any more. Posted by Gabriele on Feb 15, 2013
“A penny saved is a penny earned” is an English idiom that means: money that you save is more valuable than money that you spend right away. This idiom comes from the idea that every little bit of money helps, but a lot of people don’t think a penny is really worth saving because it is…
Is e-mail killing the post office? Posted by Gabriele on Feb 11, 2013
The United States Postal Service (the national mail delivery system in America) announced last week that stating in August 2013 they will no longer deliver mail to people’s houses on Saturday. They will continue to deliver mail to homes and businesses Mondays—Fridays, just not on Saturdays. This is a big change in the United States. …
Sockets and plugs Posted by Gabriele on Feb 7, 2013
I’m sure you have noticed, either in travel or when buying electronics, that we don’t all use the same plugs and sockets for our electronics. This can be more than a little annoying, especially when traveling, but today this little annoyance is going to offer us that chance to talk about some new vocabulary! First…
In sports news: A family football game Posted by Gabriele on Jan 31, 2013
This coming weekend is the biggest game in American football, the Super Bowl! Football is one of American’s favorite sports. The football season that runs from September to the beginning of February every year takes over many American’s lives. During this season 32 different professional football teams play each other in games every Sunday (and…
America’s 57th Presidential Inauguration Posted by Gabriele on Jan 22, 2013
Yesterday was the United States 57th Presidential Inauguration, and second Presidential Inauguration for Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. It was a day full of celebration, with some of the fanciest celebrations taking place in the evening at Inaugural Balls. Since I live in Washington, DC I was able to go down…