Confirmation

Hi,

my name is Max and I want to tell you something about the confirmation. In Austria you have your confirmation at the age of 13 or 14 years. But before you have the confirmation you have to do a confirmation preparation course. These are primarily some lessons where you learn something about the church and also about the catholic faith in general. The next thing you learn in the confirmation preparation is how the mass is going to happen. In my confirmation preparation lesson we first heard something about what confirmation means. We learned that it’s an affirmation in the belief on God. We also had a guided tour through the church were we will have our confirmation. I will have the confirmation in the Linzer Mariendom, which is the biggest church in Linz. I have been an altar boy for three years so I know a lot about a mass and the Catholic church. I’m going to have my confirmation this summer.

Carnival (written by Christoph)

Carnival is a festival which is celebrated during the seven weeks before Easter. It's well known that the people fast before Easter. While fasting, the people shouldn't eat meat. But it isn't very strict so not all people do it. Because of this time of fasting, the people want to enjoy eating once again. For this they have this festival, where they have fun. The children are mostly dressed up with costumes as pirates, cowboys and so on. The feasts mostly take place in a pub, in schools or in the streets. If there is an event on street, there is often a carnival parade. There are many people in coloured costumes who wear funny masks. They walk slowly through the streets and throw sweets to the people.

When I was young I remember that I dressed up as a cowboy often, because I liked this figure a lot. In primary school we played a lot of games and we ate a lot of “Krapfen“, which is a traditional sweet for Carnival. It is a very sweet dough filled with apricotjam. It's very delicious.

I think Carnival is a very important and special festival because people have a lot of fun, can dress up and act crazy.

Welcome to Austria!

Hi everyone!

My Austrian friends told me that they would like to present their countries' customs and traditions and will tell you a bit about their holidays and celebrations. They are looking forward to your comments!