New Year’s Again?

Jan 11th, 2008

Yes it’s true. In Russia, the New Year comes once again. On Monday January 14, 2008 the Old New Year will be upon us.

What is the old New Year? Back before Soviet times, Russia used the old Julian calendar and it was off by a couple weeks. So, January 7th is Christmas and January 14th is New Years Day. In my opinion, this is just another excuse to have a party. So, no complaining here. We will head out to a friend’s house for New Year’s eve on Sunday evening.

Speaking of parties, seems most Russians are up for any excuse to celebrate. Not that they are all drunks or anything even close, but celebrations seem to be more often than I grew up ever attending. For instance, we are invited to 3 different parties this weekend – a birthday party, a dinner party and the New Year’s party. Pretty soon Maslenitsa (pancake week) will be here. In Russia, it is a seven day long party. It is also a very longstanding tradition. Here in the USA, we will probably get together with some friends and celebrate for an afternoon or an evening.

We spent our New Year’s eve at a Russian party. Lot’s of excellent food, plenty of liquor, beer and wine. No complaints here. Drank a lot, ate a lot, danced a little (Russian women love to dance!), socialized a bit, watched Russian tv, played charades. This lasted until 3AM when we decided it was time to get home. But the party was still going strong! Here a few pics: