Archive for 'Traditions'
Defense Against the Dark Arts! Posted by Rob on Nov 6, 2012
[Note: This post was originally written for Хеллуин, but as already mentioned, the arrival of Hurricane Sandy caused some power outages and delays…] In the Harry Potter books, “Defense against the Dark Arts” is a mandatory class for Hogwarts students, and in the Russian editions, it was straightforwardly translated as “Защита от тёмных искусств.” And…
Decorate Like a Russian Posted by yelena on Jul 5, 2012
From my philosophy course I remember that бытие определяет сознание (being determines consciousness). Understanding Russian/Soviet/post-Soviet/New Russian consciousness just from reading about the environment or even travelling to Russia for a few weeks is just like trying to understand what маракуйя (passion fruit) tastes like from reading about it or looking at pictures. That’s what in-country…
Even More About Russian Easter Posted by yelena on Apr 12, 2012
As promised, here’s the rest of the story about Russian Easter. The first week after Easter Sunday is known as Пасхальная неделя (Easter Week). The biggest day of this week and the peak of the Easter celebration is Красная Горка (Low Sunday). And here we have the word красный in its meaning of “beautiful” instead…
Celebrating Russian Easter Posted by yelena on Apr 11, 2012
Let’s hope that all of us are done with taxes. This leaves us with just one problem to solve – what to do with hundreds of plastic eggs we have left over from Easter. So let’s tackle this problem and learn a bit about Easter in the process (and if you don’t celebrate Easter, you…
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…
Russian Wedding – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Jan 24, 2012
Let’s talk some more about Russian weddings. I left off on the part where новобрачные (the newlyweds) leave the ЗАГС (registry office). In case you missed the first part, it is here. Somehow I completely forgot to mention обмен кольцами (exchanging the rings) that happens during the ceremony. Wedding bands in Russia are called обручальные кольца and…
How to Celebrate a Wedding по-русски Posted by yelena on Jan 18, 2012
Doesn’t look like much, does it? Yet this fairly unassuming doorway, with a four-letter acronym ЗАГС, leads to a life of (hopefully) married bliss. This particular door is for the ЗАГС is in my hometown of Volgograd. I walked by it countless times as a child and was inside the office only twice, at a…