Archive for 'Culture'
«Что делать в честь дня России?» [What to do in honor of Russia’s (Independence?) Day?] Posted by josefina on Jun 13, 2010
Yesterday – «12 июня» [June 12th] – was a very great and highly important day for citizens of Russia, Russians and, of course, our ordinary crowd of «сочувствующие» [pl. sympathizing] Russophiles worldwide. It was «день России» [‘Day of Russia’; or why not ‘Russia’s Day’], a public holiday formerly known as «день независимости России» [Russia’s Independence…
Reading: Master and Margarita – Chapter 1 Posted by yelena on Jun 11, 2010
By now you know that the novel starts off at «Патриаршии пруды» [Patriarch’s ponds], but why there, of all other spooky places in Moscow. While even Bulgakov-ologists don’t know exactly why, the choice appears to be highly symbolic. First of all, there’s the name itself. Don’t you think it’s interesting that Woland and his motley…
Real Russia: «Курение и курево» [Smoking and ‘something to smoke’] Posted by josefina on Jun 8, 2010
«Россия, у нас проблема» [Russia, we have a problem]. Last week I read some «пугающая статистика» [frightening statistics] about Russia in an online edition of a Swedish newspaper: every day in Russia «860 (восемьсот шестьдесят) миллионов сигарет» [860 million cigarettes] are sold. That’s 6,5 cigarettes per «гражданин Российской федерации» [citizen of the Russian Federation] «ежедневно»…
Reading «Мастер и Маргарита» Summer of 2010: The Schedule! Posted by josefina on Jun 6, 2010
With our blog’s new project you can do BOTH «одновременно» [at one and the same time]! During the summer of 2010 we’re all going to really apply ourselves. We’re going to read one and the same book together and share our experiences with each other. We’re going to expand our horizons and strike up conversations…
Juices, Waters and Bulgakov Posted by yelena on Jun 4, 2010
Do you know that most of Russia has «континентальный климат» [a continental climate]? This means very cold winters followed by short, but very warm dry summers with occasional temperatures “characteristic of tropical climates”. June’s barely begun and «температура» [temperature] is already in the lower 30ies in my native Volgograd. Josefina’s second home, Yekaterinburg, is expected…
And the winner is… Posted by josefina on May 30, 2010
…«Мастер и Маргарита» [“The Master & Margarita”]! What are the stickers lying next to the book for? Read the post and find out! It was a close race on the poll “Russian literature is better than sex” on our Facebook page, but eventually it was clear to everyone what book had won! The final list…
Are You a Cultured Person? Posted by yelena on May 16, 2010
The other day I was teaching my son not to throw the trash on the ground. «Мусорить плохо» [It’s bad to litter], I said and then added «и некультурно» [lit.: and it is uncultured]. That’s when he asked me what «культурный» means. Good question! Growing up in Russia, I’ve heard the phrase «культурный человек» [a…