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January 17, 2012
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Russki Jammies 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?

Russki Jammies

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?

Tags: holidays

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January 02, 2012
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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! 

Tags: Holidays New Year's

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January 13, 2011
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New Year’s Eve It’s the day before Old New Year’s day in Russia. In English we call this “New Year’s Eve” (or we would if we celebrated this holiday). I’ve always wondered how to convey the “eve” in Russian. So I finally found out. It’s “Новогодный вечер”. So the “eve” is “вечер” or evening. Makes sense! Update: I’ve gotten some feedback from Twitter followers that this is incorrect. According to them it would be “вечер перед новым годом”, ”канун нового года”, or “Новогодняя ночь”. This just goes to show you that there are always debates and misunderstandings about the proper way to say something.  С наступающим старым новым годом! (Happy old new year’s!)

New Year’s Eve

It’s the day before Old New Year’s day in Russia. In English we call this “New Year’s Eve” (or we would if we celebrated this holiday). I’ve always wondered how to convey the “eve” in Russian.

So I finally found out. It’s “Новогодный вечер”. So the “eve” is “вечер” or evening. Makes sense!

Update: I’ve gotten some feedback from Twitter followers that this is incorrect. According to them it would be “вечер перед новым годом”, ”канун нового года”, or “Новогодняя ночь”. This just goes to show you that there are always debates and misunderstandings about the proper way to say something. 

С наступающим старым новым годом! (Happy old new year’s!)

Tags: Old New Year's vocab Holidays

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December 31, 2010
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С Новым Годом! С Новым счастьем! This is a beautiful wood carving of Дед Мороз that was given to me as a wedding gift. It came from TolsToys.com. С Новым Годом (Happy New Year’s) and I hope this guy brings you everything on your wish list!

С Новым Годом! С Новым счастьем!

This is a beautiful wood carving of Дед Мороз that was given to me as a wedding gift. It came from TolsToys.com.

С Новым Годом (Happy New Year’s) and I hope this guy brings you everything on your wish list!

Tags: Father Frost Holidays New Year's

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December 27, 2010
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Don’t worry - Christmas isn’t over!

In case you are experiencing a let down after Christmas, I wanted to remind you that Russians haven’t even begun to celebrate their holidays!!! So let’s join our Russian brothers and sisters and keep the celebration going… 

Here are the dates to keep in mind:

  • December 31 - New Year’s Eve. New Year’s celebrations begin and last through the night.
  • January 1 - New Year’s Day. Same day as in America, but in Russia the celebration is more like our Christmas. Дед Мороз (Russian Santa) leaves presents under the Новогодняя ёлка (New Year’s Tree). New Year’s Day became the most important holiday in Russia when Christmas was banned under communism.
  • January 2 - Most Russians get the day off of work. New Year’s celebrations continue.
  • January 6 - Christmas Eve. Christmas celebrations begin.
  • January 7 - Russian Orthodox Christmas. Celebrated later than ours because it follows the Julian calendar.
  • January 14 - Old New Year’s. New Year’s Day according to the Julian calendar. This is a smaller, quieter celebration.

Any Russians out there? Feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong!

Tags: Christmas Holidays New Year's

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November 25, 2010
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A friend had a birthday party recently and demanded that everyone choose a decade and dress accordingly. If you can’t tell I am supposed to be from the 60s. And now…to relate this to Russian… Pilgrim = паломник Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! C Днём Благодаренния!! (and Happy Birthday to the birthday boy - you know who you are!)

A friend had a birthday party recently and demanded that everyone choose a decade and dress accordingly. If you can’t tell I am supposed to be from the 60s.

And now…to relate this to Russian…

Pilgrim = паломник

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

C Днём Благодаренния!!

(and Happy Birthday to the birthday boy - you know who you are!)

Tags: Holidays