January 19

[mendeleyev]

You lady asks if you observed Крещенские which sounded to your ears something like kre-shen-skiy and you'd never heard that term before, therefore rendering you clueless.

Just so you know, January 19 is the Eastern celebration of the Epiphany.

Sure it is a religious day, but the practice is also a cultural idea and so you will most certainly find a lot of sinners standing alongside the saints, ready to plunge into the ice.





The Epiphany is celebrated on this date in the Eastern world and that includes dunking yourself in ice water. My baptist friends would be surprised to learn that we Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians really do "follow the Lord in baptism" in a very literal way. As this is the date to commemorate the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River, each January 19 we reenact that event and for us, that means plunging into the ice.


 
 
In many areas local fire departments cut holes in the ice and bring engines with generators for light as many churches begin the process early, as around 3 or 4 am and it will go on and on into the afternoon in large population centers.
 
 

[Faux Pas]

Mendy

Of course you are aware, dude in the picture with the baby would be arrested for child abuse in the US

[mendeleyev]

True, and as the Common Core curriculum in American schools labels conservative groups as fascists, kids on Monday would be learning that their parents who participated were the new Nazis of the world.   

[TheTraveler]

if i climb out of the hot tub and jump straight into the heated swimming pool, does that count?

[jone]

Somehow this doesn't appeal to me.  Makes me think of two things the size of raisins. 

[lordtiberius]

I read about this in the M journal.  This explains why Betsy's Dad asked if she went to church today and why her brother in law jumped in the river.

[mendeleyev]

why her brother in law jumped in the river.

 

Think of 19 January as the one day of the year in which you can tell her family members to go jump in the lake...and live to tell about it.