Everyone here is looking forward to the holidays. We gather that it goes something like this.Each home has a "new years tree," decorated with this year's theme. 2009 is the Year of the Cow, taken from the Asian calendar, so cow/bull ornaments and toys are everywhere. Lots of presents are under the tree to be opened New Years Day.
On New Years Eve, five minutes before midnight the President addresses the nation--in each time zone, it sounds like. Then they set off a million fireworks--more or less all night.
Father Frost and the Snow Princess visit in the night, bringing gifts. January 7th is a holiday for the churches, a Christmas.
Of course, there's lots of good food and family visiting. The city sponsors ice sculptures, actually a carved ice "city" which is supposed to be spectacular.
The holidays last for about two weeks, during which time work comes to a halt and imbibing is the order of the day.
2 comments:
The ice city sounds so cool. It is a little sad to see the lack of religion. Is that from communism? I thought the Russian Orthadox church had stayed stronger.
Na starove!
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