My most memorable trip was a professional visit to Minnesota, USA to meet my colleagues and friends.Twice I flew across twelve time zones to hear Minnesotans speak with pride and love for their state. Some of my Americans friends, whom I met on various international American-Russian projects, couldn’t see why I was drawn to the northern state of Minnesota. It is very similar to my native Altay region on the South-west of Siberia. The contrast between these regions is hardly detectable and there is nothing really new that one can encounter.This is exactly why I keep coming back to Minnesota. Everything is so familiar and welcome to a Siberian: the rows of sky-high pines, dazzling white smiles of birch groves, fresh air, good warm baked potatoes, immense depth of sky and waters.Some of the culture shocks that my Biysk friends Oksana Sulimenkina and Viktoria Kochkina, who travelled with me, have experienced on their trip to America were the generous portions of food served, an endless ocean of smiles around us and hardened health of Minnesotans. While we were running around St Cloud State campus with many layers on, but still shivering of chilly wind, Minnesota residents wore light summer outfits seemingly ignoring the vicissitudes of the weather. Uh-ti ! (Rus.)- Wow! Are Minnesotans tough!
Let me introduce colorfully painted traditional Russian nesting dolls called MATRYOSHKA (ma-TRYOSH-ka; plural ma-TRYOSH-kee}.They come in a variety of sizes, characters and number of dolls nested one inside the other. The name, also spelled matriosha, was a popular name for girls. A peasant mother of old Russia often tended to a large family. The largest doll is the grandmother with future generations of dolls tucked inside her. This symbolizes the hope and value of life and the family; the heart an soul of Russian people. Traditionally, a matryoshka was given to newborns to wish them a long and prosperous life.The popularity of the matryoshka spread quickly. Today, it is the most sought after Russian souvenir.Matryoshka is a great representative of Russia's folk heritage and traditions.Read more…
My favorite holiday in Russian culture is New Year's Eve that is celebrated on the 31 st of December.
There is always a festive dinner in every home. Families and friends get together to stay up long during the night to see the old year off and to see new year in. There is lots of music, songs, fireworks and joy on this night. Everybody is happy and full of hope for positive changes in the coming year.Children get gifts from the traditional Russian gift-giver named Grandfather Frost and from his assistant Snow Maiden. See the picture above. Enjoy!Read more…
