Special dates

Happy Halloween!

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Hallowe’en is a popular festival in many countries all over the world, and every year it seems to get bigger. Now, in the northern hemisphere, it’s getting dark earlier and it’s starting to get cold. Christmas is still a long way away. They need something to cheer them up and take their minds off the fact that winter is nearly there!

“O Halloween, diferentemente do que muito se propaga, não é uma festa unicamente americana e pagã. É uma mistureba com elementos dos antigos celtas, de romanos, de irlandeses e ingleses da Idade Média e dos primeiros séculos de tradição cristã.

Se o Halloween é o resultado de 2 mil anos de adaptações e evoluções, está mais que na hora de o saci maluco invadir a festa do vampiro importado. O Halloween marcava a mudança de estações. E nisso um Halloween brasileiro levaria vantagem. Não é o inverno gélido e decrépito que bate à porta. É o verão.”

Halloween jogo-da-maca

Por Felipe Van Deursen, da Superinteressante. Publicado em 1 nov 2016.
Read the full article here.

Oktoberfest 2017! 10 Reasons to celebrate it here!

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OKTOBERFEST 2017

Oktoberfest in Blumenau is a whole world apart from any Oktoberfest celebration around the world. It takes place in Blumenau, a very German city in Brazil. Also the pretty city of Pomerode is just a short distance away. So, here are the top 10 reasons why you must celebrate Oktoberfest in Brazil.

1. The second largest Oktoberfest outside Germany

Blumenau hosts the world’s second largest Oktoberfest outside Germany! The Brazilian city of Blumenau hosted over 500,000 visitors to Oktoberfest in these last few years (the city has a population of almost 350,000) for 18 days of beer guzzling, dancing, singing, parades, fun, oh and some German culture with that Brazilian flair! It is a party not to be missed.

2. Location

Blumenau and Pomerode are situated in the European Valley in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. This area was named such due to the beautiful rolling green hills and land that was settled by Europeans mainly from Germany and Italy. The views are amazing. Imagine rolling green hills with quaint little German style farms and homes, near streams and rivers, cows grazing freely. The countryside here is absolutely beautiful!

3.  The most German city in Brazil

A short drive from Blumenau lies the small city of Pomerode. Pomerode is called the most German city in Brazil.  Most of this city’s inhabitants are bilingual in German and Portuguese.

Oktoberfest a

4.  The costumes

Brazilians love to dress up in costume! You can purchase your own traditional German costume at many of the areas gift shops. People who wear costumes to Oktoberfest get in half priced! The amount of people dressed up in German clothing just brings extra excitement and fun to the festivities. It puts everyone in the mood to have a great time!

5.  People watching

Brazil is home to some of the most beautiful people in the world, in part due to having so much ethnic diversity.

GERMANY-MUNICH-FESTIVAL-DRINK-LIFESTYLE-BEER-OKTOBERFEST

6. The food

With the large German immigrant community you are bound to have some quality German food. It is all available – schnitzel, sausages, spetztl, etc. The batata recheada – or stuffed potato – rules all at the Blumenau Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest b

7.  The weather

The weather in Brazil in October is amazing. It is spring and it’s not too hot and not cold. The temperature runs between 69 and 85 degrees fahrenheit this time of year.

8.  The beaches

Blumenau is close proximity to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! Where else can you party at one of the largest Oktoberfest’s in the world one day and lay out in your swimsuit at the beach the next?

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9.  The beer

You can enjoy Oktoberfest even if you are not a beer drinker. If you don’t like beer try some of the wines local to Brazil and the famous Brazilian cocktail the Caipirinha! For the non-drinkers out there, Brazil is known for having some of the best fresh juices in the world!

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10.  The parades

The Oktoberfest parade is full of beautiful dancing men and women, children, sleeping babies being pulled in wagons while parents enjoyed a few beers, bicycles, fun German themed floats, a giant pig float, marching bands, lively music pumped from speakers on the floats, folkloric groups, hunting and shooting clubs, Oktoberfest royalty, and the list goes on and on. Everyone goes to the parade, both young and old. The parade goers are also participants, singing and dancing along, cheering for the people in the procession. The parade occurs every Wednesday at 7:30p.m. and every Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in downtown Blumenau. Attending the parade is a must to get into the party mood!

Oktoberfest e

Based on http://elizabethanddaleabroad.com/2015/03/20/oktoberfest-brazilian-style/

See more at http://www.oktoberfestblumenau.com.br/en/

A “long weekend” is coming!

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Independence day

Neste final de semana, haverá um feriadão prolongado. Muitos viajarão, outros ficarão em casa descansando, enfim, cada um aproveitará como pode o feriado.
Mas vamos ao que interessa: você sabe dizer “feriado prolongado” em inglês?
Sempre que um feriado cai próximo ao final de semana e algumas empresas ou escolas fazem um recesso na quinta e sexta, ou segunda e terça, chamamos em inglês de “long weekend”.
Você pode dizer também, a “three-day weekend”, quando o feriado é na sexta ou na segunda, ou então se o feriado é na quinta, com recesso na sexta, ou na terça, com recesso na segunda, podemos chamar de “four-day weekend”.

E as perguntas mais comuns antes de um feriado prolongado são: Como será seu feriado? Com você passará o feriado? O que você fará neste feriado? Em inglês, você pode dizer:

  • How is your long weekend going to be?
  • How are you going to spend your three-day weekend?

Agora que tal você usar estas perguntas juntamente com o vocabulário para este feriado de:

Complete as frases com as palavras ou expressões que estão faltando, de acordo com a equivalência:

1-      Thursday is a__________________.  (Quinta-feira é feriado.)

2-       It’ll be__________________________.  (Será um feriado de quatro dias.)

3-      I love______________________________.  ((Eu amo o feriado da Independência.)

4-      There are many_____________________in Brazil.  (Há muitos feriados nacionais no Brasil.)

5-     Our Lady of the Apparition or Our Lady Aparecida _______________a Thursday this year too.  (Nsa. Sra. Aparecida também cai em uma quinta-feira esse ano.)

6-      I’m in a___________________.  (Estou em clima de feriado.)

7-      We’ll _______________ Independence Day at home.  (Vamos passar o Dia da Independência em casa.)

Long weekend 2

Agora confiram suas respostas:  1 –a holiday; 2 – a four-day  weekend; 3 – Independence Day holiday; 4 – national holidays; 5- falls on; 6 – holiday mood; 7 – spend .

Se quiserem saber mais, vocês podem estudar  esse post aqui!

Happy Easter, guys! Enjoy the long weekend!

Adaptado de Livia Bueno  16/11/2011 e de Bruna Iubel  19/04/2014

http://www.influx.com.br/blog/2011/11/16/como-se-diz-feriado-prolongado-em-ingles/#sthash.eSDGPWiL.dpuf

http://www.influx.com.br/blog/2014/04/19/exercicio-de-pascoa-e-feriados-em-ingles/#sthash.KCkFhyqC.dpuf

Are you full of chocolate?

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I'm full of chocolate 1

I'm full of chocolate 2

The Easter holiday and everything that comes along with it is not going to ruin your goals as long as you get back on track ASAP. Easter is gone, so check out these fit tips on what you need to do now:

 1. Don’t weigh yourself

If you are a fan of scales, don’t go and get on the scale straight after Easter, the risk is that the numbers will be less than satisfying, you’ll know this without weighing yourself and getting even more disappointed. Instead, get back on track with eating healthy and exercising, and then weigh yourself the following week, if you have done well the numbers will be back to normal and you won’t feel so disappointed with yourself.

2. Don’t skip meals

Just because you overindulged over Easter, there is no reason to skip meals to try and make up for it. Skipping meals during the day usually leads to cravings in the evening and overeating, therefore it is much better to get into a good routine with regular healthy meals because the cravings in the evenings are rarely for carrots or peppermint tea.

3. Don’t go for the discount

You know how the shops have all the left over Easter chocolate on sale after Easter? DON’T BUY THEM. The only thing that is going to happen is that you will consume them and it will cost you, not so much in money because they were on sale, but in kilos in areas where you don’t want them.

4. Keep a diary

To make sure to keep yourself accountable with eating healthy and getting back on track after Easter, it’s a good idea to keep a food diary for at least two to three weeks. When we write down what we eat we automatically get more mindful of it and no one wants to write down two kilos of chocolate.

For a joke and good information about  chocolate’s health benefits, click here.

Adapted from http://www.fitnessenhancement.com/blog/5-fit-tips-get-back-track-easter/