Passion For Russian

My family started a new Christmas tradition last year: on Christmas Eve, my 2 brothers and I (and муж, of course) go over to my parents to open presents in our PJs. It’s kind of a way to try to keep the child-like magic of Christmas going - both for us, and for my parents.

Here’s me this Christmas Eve. This must be the true test of having the “Passion for Russian” - having Russian PJs. Do you?

Jan 16

Once again, I love seeing brands I recognize translated into Russian. See more of these on my Cyrillicized Tumblr. (And feel free to send me submissions there as well!)

Jan 13

Jan 12

This is something I like doing when I’m on vacation and I try to keep it up in my non-vacation life as well. I keep a tiny weekly calendar on me and record what I do each day. It’s a lot easier to keep up than a traditional journal (which I’ve never been able to commit to) and I just think it’s fun to know that I had a Cake Batter Ice Cream Cone at Handles (in Stow, Ohio) on May 21st, 2005, for example. It’s also really helpful in this case, when it takes me over a year to finish blogging about one trip. :)

This was actually at a pizza place we stopped at after the Cossack concert, btw, so that’s probably what I’m writing about here.

Do you have a way you keep track of the fun things you do on your trips to Russia (or elsewhere)?

Jan 11

I’m pretty impressed with Google Translate on this one - it actually translated it as “Do not lean against the doors”. I was sure it would say “Not to lean” or something. Go Google!

*Note: I actually wrote this post before I wrote the Google Transliterate Post. I told you: I’m a Google girl! :)

Jan 10

For Russians, Free

So, as I was saying, the thing that topped off my experience at the “Bagatitsa” Cossack Concert was this:

It was the second time in my trip I got ‘the Russian discount’ on something. (The first time, you may remember, was at Peterhof.) We came out of the concert and a few of the dancers were taking pictures with tourists. I might add that pretty much everyone in attendance was a tourist, which was kind of disappointing.

They had a sign up that said “Photos: $2 or €2” (I think that’s about how much they were - I don’t remember exactly.) Obviously, the thrill of the discount isn’t saving the $2, it’s passing for Russian.

So I asked (in Russian) how many rubles it was and they said, “For Russians, Free”. Okay! So I got mistaken for a being Russian and got this cool picture! My only regret in this situation was that I held back from speaking very much because I didn’t want to give myself away as a non-Russian. In hindsight, I should have just risked it - it would have been worth a nice chat with a couple Cossacks.

What do you think - do I pass for a Cossack?

Jan 09

Jan 06

Jan 05

I’ve known for a while now that I’m a Google girl: Android phone, Gmail, Google Translate, Google Calendar, Google Apps, you name it.

And now, Google has given me one more thing to admire: the new version of Gmail supports transliteration into Russian! All you have to do is click the transliterate button, type in English how the word sounds in Russian, and when you add a space or punctuation - poof - it’s in Russian! It’ll even spell check your Russian for you!

Jan 04

Jan 03

This may be hard to believe, but until about a week ago, I’d never seen the animated movie, Anastasia. The thing that actually prompted me to finally watch it was listening to one of the songs from the movie, Once Upon a December, which several people posted on Tumblr lately, and I think is really lovely - especially the Russian version.

I really liked the movie and especially enjoyed the music, although I really wish I could find the Russian version of at least the soundtrack. (Can anyone help me out?)

If you’ve seen this movie, do you recognize the photo above? It’s the self-portrait that Anastasia shares with her grandmother in the movie. Fun fact: this is an actual self portrait that Anastasia Romanov painted when she was 12 years old, that was scanned for use in the movie.

So, really - does anyone know how I can get my hands on the Russian version of the movie or the soundtrack?

Jan 02

С Новым Годом!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year’s. Муж and I spent the week in Ohio, and got back to DC just in time to have a nice low-key New Year’s at home alone.

I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, exactly, but I do think it’s a nice time to get a fresh start and get into some good habits. There are a lot of good habits I plan to work on for this year, and I have a lot of plans for my blog that I’m going to keep a secret for now.

But one thing that I am willing to put out there in writing (partly because I need the accountability) is that I plan to have a new post for every weekday. This will take a lot of organization and discipline, but I’m sure I can do it.

Do you have any good habits you’d like to work on for this year? Maybe spend more time practicing Russian?

In the mean time, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see on this blog - I’ll need lots of ideas!

Dec 19

Dec 15

I’m not celebrating anything in particular. I just came across this post card in some old stuff an I always liked it. I actually bought this used at a little book market somewhere in Russia in 2003.