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Russian Holidays
Kristina's birthday is on the 22 of June.
Don't forget to make her feel special this day - send her flowers and send a birthday greeting!
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The biggest Russian holiday is New Year (1 January). During the Soviet time people were not allowed to celebrate Christmas (Russian Christmas is 7 January), and New Year was the most cheerful holiday.
The next holiday is the Old New Year (13 January). Russians had a different calendar before February 1918. The difference between Julian (the old Russian) and Gregorian (European) calendars was 13 days, and after the Soviet government adopted Gregorian calendar Russians started to celebrate many holidays twice: according to the new style and the old one.
Non-official "Men's Day" is 23 February, the Day of Army. All men in Russia are liable for call-up (including reservists), so they all are celebrities. On this day women usually give men small gifts.
Official "Women's Day" is 8 March. On this day men give women gifts, usually flowers. Men also are supposed to do all the housework, this is pretty nice - at least once a year women can have some rest and forget about dishes, cooking, kids, take a magazine and relax on the coach...
1st of April is the non-official "Day of Laughter". People tell jokes to each other, newspapers and TV publish funny stories and jokes. The motto of this day: Do not trust anyone on the 1st of April ("Pervoye aprelya - nikomu ne veryu").
1st of May is Labor Day. During the Soviet era there were huge demonstrations on this day, as everybody was obliged to show his loyalty to the state; now only communists organize meetings on this date.
12th of June - Day of Russia. It's an official holiday but Russians are not used to it yet. They spend this day on their "dachas" - small plots in countryside where they plant some vegetables.
1st of September is the Day of Knowledge. It's the beginning of a school year. Children go to schools with flowers for teachers, there are meetings before the classes start - nice and exciting.
7th of November - Day of October Revolution (25 October according to the old calendar). It's still an official holiday in Russia though there is not such a huge celebration as it used to be during the Soviet era.
Russians love to celebrate. They adopted the Western holidays such as St. Valentines Day, Catholic Christmas (they celebrate Christmas twice - Catholic and Orthodox) and Halloween. They also appreciate Chinese New Year, Muslim and Jewish holidays, as Russians are very tolerant to other religions.
From time immemorial each folk holiday in Russia had its own, peculiar ceremonies, traditions, songs. The origin of many holidays doesn't often relate to the Christian holidays, as far as the source of these ancient ceremonies lies in the remote past, the times of paganism. Christianity brought an end to the pagan ceremonies. However, many traditions were preserved by the people in the forms of merry entertainment and festive occasions, some of them were even adapted to the Christian ceremonies and traditions.
The Easter
Like in all Christian countries the Easter Holiday is also celebrated in Russia. Special round-shaped sweet bread (Easter cakes) is cooked. On the Easter's Eve the Easter cakes are on sale in nearly all bakeries. Moreover, Paskha (rich mixture of sweetened curds, butter and raisins) is also prepared on Easter and eggs are painted in different bright colors. The red egg is considered a symbol of Easter. The Easter egg has many specific purposes; it is a traditional Easter present given to friends and relatives as an Easter salutation. There is a proverb saying that once you wash your face in the water with the Easter egg in it, you will always be healthy and beautiful; the fire will die, if the Easter egg is thrown into it, etc. On Easter people usually visit their relatives. The traditional greeting, if translated from Russian, says: "Christ is alive", the answer is "Christ is truly alive...".
Holiday Greetings
Below are some basic Russian phrases (written in Cyrillic, transliteration, practical transcription) with their English equivalents.
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English
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Russian
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Transliteration
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Pronunciation
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Happy Birthday!
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Pronunciation
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S dnem rozhdeniya!
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S dn'OM rah-ZHDE-n'ia!
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Merry Christmas!
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Счастливого рождества!
C рождеством!
Весёлого рождества!
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Schastlivogo rozhdestva!
S rozhdestvom!
Vesyologo rozhdestva!
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shchis-LEE-vah-vah razhdee-STVAH!
srah-zhdee-STVOHM!
vee-S'O-lah-vah rah-zhdee-STVAH!
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Happy New Year!
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С Новым годом!
Счастливого Нового года!
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S Novym godom!
Schastlivogo Novogo goda!
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SNO-vim GO-dahm!
shchis-LEE-vah-vah NO-vah-vah GO-dah!
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My sincere greetings with ...
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От всей души поздравляю с ...
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Ot vsej dushi pozdravlyayu s ...
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Aht fsehy doo-SHI pahz-drahv-L'A-yoo s ...
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...New Year!
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...Новым Годом!
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...Novym Godom!
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...SNO-vim GO-dahm!
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...Christmas!
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...Рождеством!
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...Rozhdestvom!
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...rah-zhdee-STVOHM!
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I wish you ...
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Желаю тебе/вам ...
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Zhelayu tebe/vam ...
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zheh-LA-yoo teh-BEH/vahm ...
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... happiness.
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... счастья.
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... schast'ya.
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... SHCHAST'-yah
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... good luck.
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... удачи.
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... udachi.
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... oo-DA-chee!
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... good health.
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... здоровья.
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... zdorov'ya
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... zda-ROHV'-yah!
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May all your dreams come true.
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Пусть сбудутся все твои/ваши мечты!
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Pust' sbudutsya vse tvoi/vashi mechty!
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poost' ZBOO-doo-tsa fseh tva-EE/VA-shi mehch-TI!
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I wish you all the best.
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Желаю всего хорошего.
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Zhelayu vsego horoshego.
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zheh-LA-yoo fseh-VO ha-RO-sheh-va!
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(I wish you) Happiness and health!
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Счастья и здоровья!
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Schast'ya i zdorov'ya!
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SHCHAST'-yah ee zda-ROHV'-yah!
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