We all know this time of the year: fairy lights, tinsels, Christmas trees, the smell of cinnamon, Gingerbread lattes, white bearded men dressed in red handing out leaflets in the streets...Yes, my friends: it's almost Рождество! As you know, Orthodox Christianity is Russia's largest religion, and Orthodox Christians don't celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but on January 7th as the Eastern Orthodox Church still follows the Julian calendar which was replaced in Russia by the Gregorian calendar in 1918. However, some people, western-oriented/English speaking/Catholic or Protestant minorities, still celebrate it, but it is not a national holiday, which means no time off from school or work. The orthodox Christmas, on the other hand, was re-established as a national holiday in 1992, but is regarded mainly as a religious event and not as a cultural or particularly festive or popular one. Under the Soviet Union, the government adopted an anti-religious atheistic policy and all displays of religiosity were rejected. Christmas as a religious holiday was banned in 1929 and Christmas Trees were turned into "New Year" Trees / ёлка (fun fact: decorations during the 60s/70s consisted of figurines of astronauts, rockets, satellites). With time, Santa Claus turned into Дед Мороз (Grandfather Frost) accompanied by his granddaughter Снегурочка. New Year's Eve came to replace Christmas as a secular, national celebration and Новый Год became the main holiday of the year. Now imagine yourself in Moscow on the 31st of December. You're sat around a large table with family or friends. On the TV plays "Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!" (this classic of Soviet cinema has been broadcasted every year on New Year's Eve since 1976). You are all chatting, not really paying attention to the film, whose plot and denouement everyone knows. One of your friend suggests to провожать Старый Год (literally: see off the old year). You can't open the champagne yet, but you start eating. On the tables lie multiple salads amongst which the famous "оливье" (отварной картофель, варёная колбаса, яйца вкрутую, солёные огурцы, зелёный горошек и майонез) and "селедка под шубой" (филе сельди, луковица, картофелины, морковки, яйца, крупные свеклы, майонез), колбаса, холодец, икра or лосось, пироги с вареньем или с вишней, and фруктовый салат. You then watch President Putin's annual speech, the clock strikes midnight, you open шампанское and поздравляете друг друга с Новым Годом и Новым Счастьем! You just had the typical Russian New Year's Eve experience! Thank you for reading. I hope you found it interesting.
Я желаю вам счастливых Рождества и Нового Года! Наслаждайтесь и хорошо празднуйте, потому что "как встретите Новый год, так его и проведёте"! Пока!
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Last week, my friend Luc and I took part in an event organised by “La Maison de l’Amitié Yaroslavl-Poitier” or "Дом Дружбы Ярославль - Пуатье", a touristic centre which links Yaroslavl with its sister town, Poitier. The center offers French classes and we visited a number of them to help students practice their oral skills and motivate them (Luc is half-French and although I am Moroccan, my first language is French). To mark our departure, the administrator of the center asked us to prepare presentations on a topic of our choice as part of an event organised for interested students and teachers. I decided to talk about my two homes: Morocco and Scotland. Of course, people knew some basic information about Scotland (bagpipes or волынка, kilts, Nessie and the Loch Ness…), but they were very happy to learn more about this beautiful country and were impressed by the beauty of the sceneries. (Interestingly enough, people here don’t seem to understand that Scotland is part of the UK. The post services actually searched on their system “Scotland” for “country of destination” and it took them a while to realise that it was actually under “United Kingdom”.) This centre itself is one of many in Russia that promote the French language and culture. There is a clear interest, and I would even say, fascination here for France. It took me a while to get used to hearing random and sometimes obscure French songs in cafés. You can easily find French classics at the Karaoke here and I even found some songs like Joe Dassin’s “L’été indien” adapted and released in Russian. Beyond music, the influence of French on the Russian language itself is quite important. It is very common to find words that stem or sound exactly like French (реноме, багаж, кошмар, этаж, мебель, душ, и т.д). Back in the 18th century, some Russian poets, amongst which Pushkin, would incorporate French or a Russified French in their productions. Since the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1725), France has been a country that agitates much excitation and passion in Russia. The sovereign initiated a civilisational turn towards modernization and opened the doors to Europe (Petersburg was actually constructed and appointed as capital of the Russian empire for this very purpose). France was then the leading power of Europe and its influence in Russia was so strong that French became the language of conversation and correspondence of the Russian nobility. Later, Catherina II (1762-1796) was strongly inspired by Enlightenment writers, entertained regular correspondence with Voltaire, and even received Diderot at her court. However, the French revolution of 1789 undermined the relations of the two countries, as other monarchies felt threatened in their stability. Strong restrictions on foreign travel were adopted, but this situation was temporary and soon enough strong cultural, intellectual, economic, and diplomatic exchanges between French and Russian resumed. (of course, in between there was Napoleon's attempted invasion of Russia, but that did not seem to strongly damage Russians' sympathy for the French). Interesting fact, even during the Cold War the French influence did not completely disappear. In the 1960s, Charles de Gaulles’ stance on American leadership and the need of a particular and independent French foreign policy led to an easing of its relations with the USSR. A number of cultural agreements were signed, French teaching assistants were appointed in universities, the teaching of French was expanded at the secondary school level, and the distribution of French films was even allowed in the Soviet Union. Even today, many schools in Russia teach their pupils French from the age of 14. I hope this post was interesting!
The next one will be on New Year's Eve celebrations on Russia! Пока! 9На прошлой неделе нас пригласили на показ документального фильма Родиона Исмаилова «ПЛАЦКАРТ». The screening was organised by the Yaroslavl branch of DOKer, a project which screens independent non-fiction and aims at supporting various genres of national and international documentaries in Russia. After screening, the public was invited to share their impressions and question the director on his cinematographic choices. The film itself was shot on a third class compartment of the train «Москва-Владивосток» connecting the two cities in a 7-day long journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway (Транссибирская магистраль), the longest железная дорога in the world. Given the configurations of this compartment, some of the passengers (many travel shorter distances) spend 7 days in an open wagon, with no curtains, no possibility to lock belongings, and no privacy. This setting leads people to truly live together, share meaningful moments, open themselves to others, and possibly connect for life. Rodionov Ismailov, the режиссёр of the documentary, captured what people here call "Настоящая Россия". He gave a voice to those that are often forgotten in society despite their great contributions. Moreover, he showed the diversity of Russia. Russia is not just Moscow and Petersburg. Russians are not that homogenous, indifferent, and cold people. In "Third class travel", they talk with passion and honesty about their nation, politics, friendship, family, love...They share with us what holds significance for them, what matters. We have here an old man expressing his nostalgia of the Soviet times, claiming that Putin should learn from Stalin's administrative skills; a young former prisoner convinced of his ability to succeed in a country where merit is key; another, less young, fed up by the corruption and lack of wealth redistribution in his country and decided to find opportunities where they lie, in China. A particularly warm and hospitable atmosphere forms as a group of Russians share food and drinks with Korean tourists and an elderly couple modestly wisely explains what love is, what life is. They are all preparing чтобы встречать Новый Год in a very particular and unforgettable way. The interviews are all followed by extracts from songs of a bard unexpectedly encountered on the train. (How can you possibly get more Russian?) I would definitely recommend watching this documentary when it's released online and to have a look at the other documentaries programmed on the website of DOKer. http://www.midff.com/atentamente I hope that you liked this post. Do you have any interest in non-fictional movies? Any suggestions?
Пока! |
AuthorThird year student at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Studies Russian, German and International Relations. Loves traveling. Loves languages. Loves to share. Hence, this BLOG! Archives
January 2018
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