The New Year came on 01 January and the night before was the most festive celebration of the entire year. Dinner is served in the evening (darkness comes around 4:30pm in Central Russia) and the countdown across 11 time zones begins in earnest.
Around 20 December, Russians begin buying and decorating their "
New Year Tree " called a
Ёлка ("Yolka" means fir or spruce tree). It is what Westerns call a Christmas tree. Generally they are much smaller than found in Western homes, although each city has a huge "
New Year Tree " on the city's main square.
The Nativity fast with no meat, dairy, alcohol, is set aside for a day and on many tables there will be a roasted goose about half the size of an American turkey, or a large baked fish that may stretch much of the length of the table.
Many families began the meal around 8pm and more food will appear from the kitchen until well into the wee hours of the morning. Just minutes before Midnight, the president (Putin in Russia, Poroshenko in Ukraine, Lukashenko in Belarus, Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, Sargsyan in Armenia, Mirziyoyev in Uzbekistan, etc) will address their nations with wishes of good cheer, some understated but obvious nationalism, and the traditional announcement of how long the state holiday will last (mandatory paid time off, shorted in Belarus this year due to the current economic crisis there). Their speeches are prerecorded and timed to end exactly at the stroke of Midnight at which the bells of the Kremlin's Saviour Tower are broadcast across Russia and into neighboring countries to count down the final seconds to the New Year.
Fireworks erupt and whether on city plaza's or inside of homes you can hear cries of
С новым годом [S nO-vym gO-dam] which means Happy New Year!
Children finally succumb to sleep but many adults will stay awake in anticipation of a traditional stroll on the city plaza, a famous park, or at popular spots like Red Square or Gorky Park in Moscow, Sofiivska square or Maidan (Independence) Square in Kyiv, etc.
Moscow's Red Square has been transformed into a massive Christmas village and a large outdoor ice skating rink since early December and on the night of the New Year it is packed with festive visitors from Moscow, across Russia and beyond. Security lines to enter Red Square are long with people waiting for hours just to have a chance to welcome the new year on Red Square.
VIDEO On New Year's morning the children wake up in expectation of a visit by
Grandfather Frost and his beautiful blond granddaughter the "
Snow Maiden . (Снегурочка)" Gifts are presented at the New Year (not at Christmas) and many parents hire a local Grandfather Frost, thousands of telephones numbers of Grandfather Frost were posted on bulletin boards and pasted on Metro sign leading up to the New Year. Sometimes it is an Uncle and cousin, or family friends who knock on the door all dressed up and pretending to be Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden. Sometimes their identities are obvious and the children are delighted to "out" who the characters really are.
The Snow Maiden is always beautiful, and can be found dancing at restaurants and clubs for entertainment features. Grandfather Frost is usually nearby as you will see in this video.
The next stop on the calendar is Christmas.
Christmas will come a day earlier, 6 January, in Armenia which is the world's oldest official Christian nation dating to the year 301. Armenia will be joined by a few others who celebrate Christmas on 6 January, including the Assyrian Church of the East (Christians across much of the Middle East), the Coptic
Orthodox in Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Syrian Christians, and India (Catholic Christians in India celebrate on 25 December).
For those of us interested in places like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, etc, your lady very likely celebrated Christmas on 7 January.
One the night of Christmas Eve, 6 January, families gathered around the table for a traditional "Nativity feast" which consisted of 12 vegetarian dishes (last night of the 40 day meat fast). Those dishes were themed around the 12 Apostles. Small pieces of bread covered with garlic and honey were eaten as a symbol of each year which brings a mixture of joy (honey) and sorrow (garlic).
Faithful Orthodox began arriving at their local churches around 10 to 11pm for the Midnight liturgy which lasted from 2-3 hours as the Scriptures from the Old Testament about the coming of Christ and into the New Testament arrival of the Christ-child are sung and chanted. One chant in particular that is sung over and over by the choir and congregation while priests and deacons chant Scriptures is "
God is With Us " taken from Isaiah in the Old Testament.
The liturgy ends with the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Tired folk return to their homes where many stay up to greet the morning. In families which come together at the home of a relative it is common to see children sleeping on sofas, on the floor, etc, while men sit and drink tea and eat cake. The ladies are often bustling around the kitchen for the traditional Christmas feast. It may not quite rival the meal that was enjoyed at the New Year, but it may come pretty darn close.
A buckwheat cereal called "
Kasha " is traditionally eaten at Christmas for breakfast. Your lady may refer to it as
porridge . It may be perhaps the only food traditionally reserved for breakfast as Russian's don't have many rules as to what foods are specifically for breakfast, for lunch, or dinner.
The last remaining holidays of the season come with the "Old New Year" on 14 January and then Epiphany on 19 January.
The "
Old New Year " is set for the date of what would have been the New Year on the Julian calendar.
Epiphany is on 19 January. In the Eastern world Epiphany commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. It is observed on January 19 because Christmas Eve falls on 6 January instead of 24 December as in the West.It is on this date that you see Russians making the sign of the cross just before diving into icy cold water in the traditional belief that the water has special healing powers after being blessed by a local priest.
When are holiday decorations taken down? It depends on the family. Most leave holiday decorations up until after the "Old New Year" on 14 January. Others take them down either just before, or after, Epiphany. Whatever date best suits your lady is best and to avoid offending her, I'd suggest that you not insist on their removal until the date that coincides with her family tradition.
