Archive for 'Culture'
Meet Russia’s Dirtiest Town: Yekaterinburg! Posted by josefina on Mar 22, 2008
Like any other town with a little bit of self-respect, my Russian hometown at the moment, Yekaterinburg, has its own website with all sorts of indispensable information about the city, enlightening both for locals and visitors. The portal’s address is www.e1.ru and the other day I came across a piece there which screamed out loud…
Yet Another Public Holiday: С Восьмым Марта! Posted by josefina on Mar 8, 2008
The 8th of March is International Women’s Day, which in Russian translates into Междонародный женский день, or, even better – выходной день [public holiday]. Since the 8th of March this year falls on a Saturday, the Russian Federation has decided to solve this situation in two ways – one way for those not working or…
Масленица: A Farewell To Winter! Posted by josefina on Mar 1, 2008
Do not be afraid, and do try not to be confused, if some Russian tells you that March 1st is the first day of spring in Russia. It may be hard to believe if you take a look around; especially with below zero temperatures lingering in many parts of the country and most of it…
Ура, январские праздники! Hurrah, the January Holidays! Posted by josefina on Jan 7, 2008
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…
С Новым 2008 годом! Happy New Year! Posted by josefina on Dec 31, 2007
Everything in the West is already over – after the 25th of December – but it has barely begun in Russia. The week before New Year’s Eve is the busiest week of the year in the great Motherland that reaches from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, meaning that a couple of days before the big holiday there…
Glintwein: The Magic of глинтвейн Posted by josefina on Dec 27, 2007
Even though non-Europeans miss out on lots of stuff, not to mention everything that non-Russians miss out on, I think the most serious of these must be not drinking глинтвейн [“glintwein”], known in English speaking countries as mulled wine. Since the Russian name for this hot beverage based on semi-sweet red wine obviously comes…
A Little Note on “New Russians” Posted by josefina on Dec 5, 2007
Or maybe I wouldn’t call it a “note”, since it is just a few tiny bits of conversations that I’ve picked up from people around me. The longer I live in Russia, the more Russian people surprise me. I thought it would be the other way around. I thought that I would grow to…