Tag Archives: Russian traditions
Russian Perspective on International Women’s Day Posted by Jenya on Mar 4, 2014
In a few short days, on March 8 to be exact, most Russian women will wake up in anticipation of something special. For many of them this feeling will be confirmed with gifts of love and affection from family and friends, yet others will face disappointment when their expectations do not come to pass…
Day of Rest and Volunteering Posted by yelena on Aug 29, 2013
In Russia, calendar week starts в понедельник (on Monday). So вторник (Tuesday) is the second day of the week. Can you guess what day of the week is субботник? Ok, so that was a trick question. Субботник is not a day of the week, but a concept. Суббота (Saturday) is the sixth day of the…
Test Time – Check Your Knowledge of Russian Language Posted by yelena on May 25, 2012
It’s the end of the school year in Russia. The good news is that летние каникулы (summer school break) is about to start. The bad news is that first there are some экзамены (exams) that need to be passed. Of course, if you studied hard all year or, say, took time зазубрить (here: to cram)…
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…
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…
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…