Scrapbook: Unusual holidays

Here in the UK, we are, as I write, just beginning to talk about the possibility of holidays again, and some intrepid folk have actually flown off to holiday pastures new. While I am mainly thinking of annual leave, there are many excuses to celebrate one-day holidays, which offer plenty of oddities, particularly amongst those originating in the US:

• January 1st is ‘Polar Bear Plunge Day’. (Do not try this at home – in fact, if a live polar bear is involved, I suggest you don’t try it anywhere!) In actual fact, this holiday – which is celebrated in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands – involves jumping into a body of cold water to celebrate the New Year.
• January 19th has been designated in the US as ‘National Popcorn Day’.
• March 18th is apparently ‘National Awkward Moments Day’, a day to remind us that nobody is perfect.
• April 22nd is the beginning of ‘National Stationery Week’ (soon to become ‘National Stationary Year’?).
• September 19th is ‘International Talk Like a Pirate Day’. Ooh aaarrr!

Climbing in Yosemite

At various times, I have become aware of people’s very different attitudes to their annual break. On a visit to Yosemite National Park in California, I pulled into the car park at the foot of El Capitan. This world-famous vertical rock face some 4,000 feet high is beloved of climbers and, sure enough, there was one such climber by his car with an impressive array of climbing equipment laid out on the ground beside him. I asked if he was on the way up or had just finished; he replied that he had just finished his annual climb of the vertiginous rock for the 21st year in succession! It turned out that he used his two-week annual leave to make this climb, ascending with four kit bags full of provisions and climbing gear, and descending with two. He said that he discovered something new every year, and had found a number of extraordinary things, such as a single ledge with a unique species of frog, only found there and nowhere else.

As a confirmed and somewhat talented beach bum myself, I found myself in awe of such dedication, whilst successfully being able to steer well clear of any imitation.

Bizarre holidays

If lying on a beach is not for you, there are many other more exotic ways of spending your holidays:

Swimming with pigs

One island in the Bahamas is home to a family of around 20 pigs. Uninhabited (apart from the pigs, that is), this island has a beautiful beach accessible only by boat. When your boat arrives, it will be greeted by these delightful swimming animals (doing piggy-paddle, I suppose), who will be expecting food. If you so wish, you can jump in and swim alongside them. Who needs dolphins?

Rolling down a hill inside a plastic ball in New Zealand

OK, so the title needs adjusting to make it sound slightly more exciting, but in essence that is what we are talking about. Otherwise known as ‘Zorbing’, it involves the hapless participant being secured in a capsule inside a giant three-metre transparent ball and then hurled down a hill at speeds of up to 50 km per hour.

It is billed as ‘great fun’, but may be a little too ab-zorbing for me …

Snow-less tobogganing in Portugal

This popular tourist attraction involves being pushed down some (fairly steep) streets in a wooden toboggan by two men in straw hats. ‘OK, it sounds a little odd’ as the advertising blurb puts it. Sounds? It is more than a little odd. I think I prefer the old-fashioned horse and cart thing.

Racing cockroaches in Australia

Every Australia Day (January 26th), this festival of speed takes place in Australia. You can either race your own cockroach – trained, of course, to a state of peak fitness – or simply buy one at the track. I’m not sure what sort of track would serve – would there be jumps and a finishing post, I wonder? Of all the things to celebrate a national day, I’m not 100 percent sure that watching scurrying cockroaches quite does it.

Dog sledding in Lapland

Having experienced a two-hour sled ride, I can actually vouch for this – it is a memorable experience and the scenery and silent mode of travel is a wonderful combination. Resist the temptation to take a seat too close to the front of the sled as it is also closer to the dogs and they don’t stop for ‘comfort breaks’ …

Training as a warrior in Mongolia

Yes, you read that correctly – step into the immense plains of Ulan Bator, and into the shoes of a 13th-century warrior. This holiday offers a training regimen and wilderness experience identical to that of the nomadic masters of battle once commanded by Genghis Khan. During the day, you have the opportunity to wield swords and bows and ride horses across the vast Mongolian landscape. At night, you can experience wilderness camping in the same kind of tents as these mediaeval warriors. After a nine-day campaign, you will receive a certificate of achievement, not to mention assorted muscle-related ailments – though perhaps refrain from adding ‘trained mediaeval Mongolian soldier’ to your CV on your return.

Bungee jumping off the Bloukrans Bridge

The Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa offers the world’s highest bungee jump from a public road bridge (a stomach-churning 216 metres). As you leap towards the Bloukrans River from the arch of the bride underneath the highway, cars and trucks may be crossing the gorge above you. On consideration, beaches, here I come!

Bizarre for the wrong reasons

A magazine asked its readers for stories of holidays that were, perhaps, less than successful. There were two that stood out for me:

• One reader reported that when he was a child – one of five – his parents left nothing to chance when they prepared for their summer holiday. They made endless lists and did the packing weeks in advance. On the morning of the trip, they made a final check and set off in the car. At some point during the trip, his mother realised that there was something missing: one of his sisters. They turned the car round and drove home, where his father found her sitting on the toilet.
• Another reader said that she and her fiancé were initially delighted when her soon-to-be in-laws offered to pay for their honeymoon. Having little money themselves, they had visions of at last being able to visit Mexico or relax on the beaches of Hawaii. This, however, was not quite what the in-laws had in mind. They booked the honeymoon at Disney World. Not only that, but they announced that they were coming as well – along with her mother-in-law’s two best friends, their three kids, her new sister-in-law and her husband. Apparently, not a lot of honeymooning went on!

Cheap holidays

For those who couldn’t afford a holiday, the past offered a couple of cheap choices:

• From 1946 to 1989, many people in the UK could enjoy a ten-day holiday in beautiful countryside with free food and accommodation. Sounds idyllic? The only downside was that they were taking their holiday at the Common Cold Unit, an institute which was conducting research into the cold virus. On arrival, the ‘holidaymakers’ were exposed to either the cold virus or a placebo, so there was a chance they might not even catch a cold and could enjoy their holiday without a single sneeze!
• In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people living in the poorer areas of East London would go to Kent for several weeks to pick the flowers of the hop plant, which are used to brew beer. Although the work was hard, pay was low and living conditions were far from luxurious, the chance to leave the dirt of the city for the clean air of the countryside represented the nearest thing to a holiday that they and their children could experience. Families returned year after year and many friendships were forged in the hop fields.

There is a worksheet with more information about these holidays, which you might like to use with your students. This worksheet can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. Suggested answers to the second activity (there may be other possibilities):

• Similarities: Both Maggie and John: lived in London, found London polluted, had holidays in the countryside, stayed in a hut which was spacious, socialised with other people there, met their life partners.
• Differences: At the time, Maggie had a job in London; John didn’t. Maggie didn’t work on her holiday; John did. Maggie’s holiday was part of medical research; John’s wasn’t. Maggie’s hut was comfortable; John’s wasn’t. John had the same holiday several times; Maggie only mentions going once. John went with his family; Maggie went alone.

Holiday romance – with a twist

1 Work in pairs. You are going to read two stories of holiday romances. First discuss the sorts of things you expect to find in such stories and what kind of holiday you think the people may have been on.

2 Student A, read Text A. Student B, read Text B. Don’t show your text to your partner. When you have read your text, tell your partner about it and try to find as many similarities and differences as you can between the two stories.

Text A: Maggie

I had just started my first job in London. It was 1948 and I didn’t earn much money, so I couldn’t afford a holiday. A friend told me about the Common Cold Unit, a place in the countryside where they were doing research into colds. They were offering a free ten-day holiday for volunteers who would act as human guinea pigs. Some volunteers were given the cold virus; others acted as the control group, and the substance they were exposed to contained no cold virus. I thought that sounded quite good. There was a good chance I wouldn’t get a cold at all, and if I did, a cold isn’t exactly life-threatening. Also, I would get out of London, which was really polluted because of all the coal fires, and I could just relax in beautiful countryside. I really didn’t expect to meet my husband there. But that’s exactly what happened. We stayed in groups of huts – quite comfortable and spacious – in the grounds of a hospital. You were not allowed to enter anyone else’s hut, but you could socialise by telephone. If you met outside, you had to stay at least nine metres away from each other. When you applied, you had to fill in a form about yourself and your interests, and the staff put people with similar interests in the same group of huts. When you arrived, you got a list of all the other people, with information about them. It was a bit like online dating, without computers! Many of the volunteers were regulars – they took their holidays there every year. Some were students using the time to study, others were artists who needed peace and quiet to work. The man in the next hut didn’t go out much so I hardly ever saw him, but one of the others told me that he was a writer, working on a book. One day, I found a note from him underneath my door. He said that he had seen me around and would like to get to know me. Could he phone me that evening? I was intrigued – especially as we weren’t really allowed to send notes. But anyway, I sent a note back saying that would be fine. And that’s how it started. We chatted on the phone and then went for a walk together – we each had to hold the end of a nine-metre piece of string, which was hilarious. And after the holiday, we kept in touch. We got married two years later.

Text B: John

I was brought up in the East End of London, which at the time was a very poor area. My father worked on the docks, unloading cargo ships, and my mother did other people’s washing to earn a bit of extra cash. We weren’t as poor as some families, but there was certainly no spare money for holidays. So every September, we did what most people in the area did. We caught a train to Kent and spent three weeks picking hops on a farm. The hops were sent to breweries to make beer. This was the 1940s, so all the picking was still done by hand, largely by women and children from London. My father only came down for a few days, because he earned better money on the docks. The farm where we worked was owned by a farmer called Mr Banham. He was a kind man, and I think life on his farm was a lot easier than it was on many other hop farms in the area. We stayed in huts on the farm. These weren’t very comfortable, but they were OK and, compared to our tiny flat in London, there was quite a lot of room. The work was hard and your fingers got sticky picking the flowers off the hop vines, but for us it was heaven. We were in beautiful countryside, away from the dirt and pollution of London. We were breathing clean air and we got fresh vegetables to eat every day. At night, we sat around bonfires and there would be singing and dancing. When I was small, I think I spent most of the time playing with the other children rather than picking hops. But by the time I was in my teens, I was expected to work as hard as the adults. One day, I found myself picking next to the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had the most radiant smile. I was quite shy, but I plucked up the courage to talk to her. And that evening she came and sat next to me by the bonfire. We became friends. Of course, when the picking was over, we had to go home and she didn’t live near me. But we met at Mr Banham’s hop farm every year for three years. And when I was 18, I asked her to marry me. She did, and we now have three children and eight grandchildren.

Scrapbook compiled by Ian Waring Green