Archive by Author
Cinderellas Among Us – Household Chores in Russian Posted by yelena on Mar 14, 2012
In the US there is a good saying “woman’s work is never done”. Or as Russian women might say делам по дому конца краю не видно (lit. can’t see the end to house work). So what is considered женская работа (woman’s work) in Russian households? Let’s find out and, since house chores have to be…
Women’s Day or Femininity Day Posted by yelena on Mar 8, 2012
March 8 is a holiday in Russia, Международный женский день (International Women’s Day) or праздник Восьмого марта (the Eighth of March) or simply Женский день (Women’s Day). There will be plenty of поздравления (congratulations), цветы (flowers), поздравительные открытки (greeting cards), шоколад (chocolate) and подарки (gifts). Men will also try, if just for one day, to…
And the Winner of Russian Presidential Election 2012 is Posted by yelena on Mar 5, 2012
Way back, when the genre of рекламный ролик (advertising clip) was in its infancy in Russia, there was a commercial with a tagline При всём богатстве выбора другой альтернативы нет (Given all the choice, there is no other alternative). Coincidentally, at about the same time свободные выборы (free elections) in Russia were also in their…
Not So Nuclear Russian Family Posted by yelena on Mar 1, 2012
If you have the time, you might like the Russian-language sitcom Сваты. Much of it is available on YouTube. It’s a good sitcom to practice conversational Russian as well as to try to figure out who’s who in this crazy extended family. Want to play a quick game of associations? I’m going to say (ok…
Another Meaning of Sputnik Posted by yelena on Feb 28, 2012
I loved Rob’s comment on my Valentine’s day post. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might remember Rob’s previous guest posts, including Chemistry for Muggles as well as his exhaustively researched comments, both on the blog and on the Facebook page. This particular comment was so amazing that I figured, it needed…
Defender of the Fatherland Day Posted by yelena on Feb 23, 2012
February 23rd is yet another holiday in Russia – День защитника Отечества (Defender of the Fatherland Day). The majority of young Russian males end up serving in the Armed Forces as призывники (draftees). Comparatively few Russian women serve in the military. Besides, women have their own holiday on March 8th. For all these reasons, February…
Time to Visit Your Тёща Posted by yelena on Feb 21, 2012
Don’t take this song (or this post for that matter) very seriously. Not all husbands experience intense dislike of their mothers-in-law and not all mothers-in-law can’t stand their sons-in-law. This week Russians celebrate the festival of Масленица (Maslenitsa). We wrote a bit about it on this blog before in this post, this one and this…