How I Survive Communism’s Consequences and Even Laugh Posted by josefina on Feb 27, 2008
[inspired by the nonfiction book “How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed” by Slavenka Draculic] With as many inhabitants and as huge a territory as Russia’s, it is a country bound to exist in different versions for each and every person who has ever lived in it. To me it seems that among much of…
What does здравствуйте & спасибо actually mean in Russian? Posted by josefina on Feb 11, 2008
The two of the most frequently used words in the Russian language, the two words without which it is simply impossible to get around in Russia, even when one isn’t trying to be the least polite, are actually more than just two words. I believe that anyone studying any language at all sooner or later…
From Russia with Humor: EnglishRussia.com Posted by josefina on Jan 23, 2008
Even though I don’t think anyone with even the slightest interest in Russia can possibly have missed this amazing blog, I still felt like I have an obligation to tell the world about it. Every time I take yet another picture out and about in the Great Russia, capturing her peculiar splendor and her eccentric…
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…
Russian Names – Contemporary Frequencies & Old Soviet Rarities Posted by josefina on Jan 2, 2008
After you’ve spent more than two weeks in Russia and made friends with at least a handful of Russians you will, without a doubt, ask yourself: “Is it just me or does this country only have ten given names all in all?” Though it may seem as if everyone you meet is either a Masha…
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…