In some countries you get one day off in January – the first. In other countries you might also get the second day off as a part of the public holiday known as New Year. In Russia – not so much. As a matter of fact – even more! The first seven days of 2008 are days off for everyone (but in 2006 it was even better – a whole ten days – what a glorious year that was…), and, as always when it comes to Russia, opinions on why this is so differ greatly. Some say that the delegates of the Duma in Moscow decided to do something kind for the people; others say that the same delegates of the Duma in Moscow decided to make an extra holiday for themselves. They have the money to get on a plane, fly out of the freezing country and travel to Egypt or Turkey. There they lie in the sun or go swimming in the Mediterranean while the greater part of the population is left at home to roll their thumbs while finishing off the salads and booze left over after New Years Eve. A third part declares that this is because Christmas in Russia, celebrated in the Orthodox Church which still counts the year by the calendar used before the Revolution of 1917, falls on the 6^th of January, leaving only four working days between the two big holidays. Why not let the two celebrations embrace each other and allow for families to spend more time together, enjoying this season’s pleasures?

And what are this season’s pleasures? They are almost too many to count – one can go skiing, ice-skating, or simply watch winter sports on TV. One can visit uncle Vanya in Kurgan or spend time with that third cousin in Kursk, or sell unfortunate New Year gifts on eBay. One can also have hour-long snow ball fights with friends out in the yard, take the dog for long walks out in the woods or stay inside to watch one of the many New Year Specials on TV where the cream of Russian pop competes at who can smile the widest and wear the most outrageous outfit.

But, in my opinion, the most pleasurable of all winter traditions in Russia must be those gorgeous ледовые дворцы [ice palaces]. They resemble theme parks and are built in the middle of every city that has any pride and the right kind of weather, lasting from late November till early March. Bigger cities often have more than one, for example in Yekaterinburg, where I live, many of the bigger shopping centers around the city have built their own ice palaces, which must indeed be a very lucrative idea. There parents can leave their kids to play, safely under watch by several guards, while they go shopping or sit in a warm café, sipping глинтвейн. During the first week of January every ice palace is crowded over the top, with kids everywhere throwing themselves down the slopes and climbing the sculptures, without once stopping to think about all the time and effort and hard, artistic labor that went into creating these works of art. Teenagers and young couples walk around with cameras in hand, girls making imaginative poses in front or interacting with the sculptures while their other halves take their pictures. Everything feels magic, everything around you is white and glittery and freezing and mysterious, while at the same so real, as real as the laughter and chatter and singing all around you. Sometimes there is an ice-skating rink nearby, where one can lend a pair of skates for a pretty cheap price and skate for an hour for an ever cheaper price.

It is best to visit such ice-palaces after the sun sets, which in northern countries such a Russia occurs already at around 5 p.m. in the winter. Not because there are fewer children around then, no, Russian children are allowed to stay up and be out playing at a very late hour. (Both they and their parents are always astonished when I tell them that my Swedish mother would not let me stay up after 9 until I turned 14.) When the sky is black and everything around is dark the lights are turned on and everything around starts to glow in different colors – blue, yellow, red, orange, green, pink and silver. The lights blink and glitter and it is truly like walking in a winter wonderland.