Well, today we get to do the Christmas all over again, Russian-style. In the Soviet times, the main celebration moved from the "prohibited" Christmas to the New Year's Day, and till today, this is the day where the biggest celebration happens, where Grandfather Frost (Russian non-religious version Santa) brings presents to children. And of course, THE movie - "Irony of Fate", a 40-year old New-Year-themed comedy that without failure appears on TV every 31st of December.
All of that, the tree, the presents, the Grandfather Frost and of course the movie (with subtitles for my non-Russian-speaking family members) keeps moving with us around the globe. Kids don't mind - they get TWO round of presents this way!
Thanks for visiting and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
Very interesting information and my girls would have given their eye teeth for two rounds of presents when they were little! Happy new year Vera - I hope you have a great 2016.
nice! just like where i was raised, we continue to celebrate Christmas through to new year's. it's great for kids, tiring for the adults, but we do it all the time. happy new year to you and your family.
So interesting reading your comments about the Russian Christmas Vera. We all celebrate different,y & we in Britain have the same old films served up at Christmas too! Nothing changes but your freedom to celebrate Christmas Day itself is a great step forward. A very happy new year to you & your family!
Thank you - I am also glad to share a bit about the madness of our cultural blend. It's quite fun to live it, and I don't always realise not all families are so strangely mixed as our! And celebrating and partying.... oh well, we are not done actually - the Orthodox Christmas is coming up on January 7th, which also happens to be my husband's birthday. Plus, there is this strange thing as the Russian "Old New Year", which has to do with switching from Gregorian to Julian calendar for everything except church holidays (too difficult to explain, but basically, it's the New Year's Celebration according to the "old" calendar that has not been used in the country for over 100 years now :) . More to that is under: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year
Wishing you and your family health and happiness in 2016!
Thank you - I am also glad to share a bit about the madness of our cultural blend. It's quite fun to live it, and I don't always realise not all families are so strangely mixed as our! And celebrating and partying.... oh well, we are not done actually - the Orthodox Christmas is coming up on January 7th, which also happens to be my husband's birthday. Plus, there is this strange thing as the Russian "Old New Year", which has to do with switching from Gregorian to Julian calendar for everything except church holidays (too difficult to explain, but basically, it's the New Year's Celebration according to the "old" calendar that has not been used in the country for over 100 years now :) . More to that is under: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_New_Year