Archive for November, 2007
An [Unusual] Russian Wedding Posted by josefina on Nov 30, 2007
Getting married is, as it should be, a big deal in any country in the world. Russia is not an exception to this rule, even though in Russia the wedding is a big deal but marriage not as much, because of the simple reason that getting married in here involves two days of drinking…
November Snow: Winter in Russia Posted by josefina on Nov 28, 2007
There’s something about Russia which cannot be experienced during those hot, sunny months of continental summer. There’s something about Russia which only comes out with the first snowfall, something that can only be seen when those first, fragile white flakes start to fall. As the ground gets covered, more and more, minute by minute…
The Russian Emotion: Sickness Posted by josefina on Nov 14, 2007
As opposed to many languages, such as, for example, my native language of Swedish and the world language of English, Russian language regards diseases as something coming from the outside the organism, not from inside. The vocabulary used for talking about ailments in Russian clearly points out that not only is the sick person…
What to read when in Russia? Posted by josefina on Nov 13, 2007
Of course, as a student of Russian literature, I would have like to take this moment to convince as many people as possible that the thing to read when in Russia is Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Bulgakov, Gogol, Akhmatova and Lyudmila Ulitskaya – in that very same order. But today I will put aside my higher…
How to Approach a Russian Posted by josefina on Nov 12, 2007
Господин, товарищ – молодой человек? It’s that old dilemma again – how do you approach a Russian in a courteous and politically correct manner? Saying ‘comrade’ to anyone anywhere after 1992 without feeling a tinge of irony is impossible, and even though the titles used before the October Revolution, such as «господин» [mister] and «госпожа»…
Helsinki – Saint Petersburg Posted by josefina on Nov 9, 2007
[August, 2004] Already in Helsinki, as I step onto the train that in about eight hours will reach Saint Petersburg, I can sense Russia. Feel her. Russia is in the brown cloth on the seats, in the green, thick curtains hanging in front of dusty windows, in the once upon a time shiny samovar with…