[Look, I know that many will argue that people have forgotten the meaning of Christmas in the west, and I do agree. But if we take into account percentages, there are still many people in the west that do remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.]
Of course a different culture will have different customs. Russians celebrate New Years as their biggest holiday of the year. The soviets deliberately acted out of ideology to remove the importance of Christmas. (It is fair and important to note that Orthodox Christmas is on January 7th- which is December 25th on the Julian calendar). But in reality very few Russians celebrate Orthodox Christmas. This is not to say that none do. In some ways this is a good thing, New Years can be the commercial holiday and Christmas the religious holiday. Besides the first seven days of the year are now all public holidays in Russia. (No Boxing day specials here.)
But what to do if you would like to celebrate Christmas the way you always have? (Before some suggest that we should celebrate Christmas on the 7th instead, try it for yourself first.)
Last year in Novosibirsk, Christmas trees were available for sale on the street by the middle of December. Russians put their tree up by December 31st, so the middle of December is still a little early. I was talking to a lady in the shop this evening who explained to me that people do not buy their tree too soon because "it will dry out." I guess many Russians do not bother to water their tree. Anyway as I have been asking around the common opinion is that Christmas trees will not come on sale until the 20th at the earliest or the 25th, or even after the 25th! We have been wanting to put up a tree for a while now, and have been a little depressed that we haven't been able to. Then yesterday I saw two small trees in pots in the supermarket for sale. I knew that they would be more expensive than usual. Would I wait for the real thing, but risk them not being available before Christmas, or would I lash out and by a smaller version now, and therefore not miss out?
Before being able to make up my mind, for a short period we had a "Christmas table", the two figurines are Ded Moroz (Father Frost- the Russian version of St Nicholas) and Snegurochka (his assistant- roughly translated as "snow girl").
In the end, I decided I did not want to take the risk of missing out, so I trotted off through the forest to the Gastronom this evening to hopefully pick one of the little shrubs. After asking about 5 people, asking them to call management on the phone and waiting half an hour, I finally received the price, 1250 rubles, that is about $60. I knew that I was being severely ripped off. I bought a tree 2.5 times as big last year for 350 rubles. But, blow the expense, I wasn't about to risk ruining Christmas. The tree came in a pot with soil, so it should last a lot longer. I guess this is probably why it is so expensive in the Russian mind (as they usually do not water the tree.)
Abigail naturally was very excited about our Christmas tree. Apart from supper she has spent the last hour hovering around it and admiring its beauty. There is nothing like the genuine joy of a child to rescue a potential disaster from the doldrums.
2 comments:
Christmas this year will be so special for you. As Sasha and Abigail were born at the same time of year, I remember that this Christmas at 2 and a half was the first that she REALLY got into. You are right, Christmas with a child makes all the difference in the world, and given that it is our children who will carry on the tradition, it is important to have them. My struggle seems to be ever increasing to keep the reality and not just the nice traditions foremost. You can read more of my thoughts in my blog... (soon!!)
I emailed a picture of Evelyn when she was about the same age as Abigail. She was helping us decorate the tree. It doesn't matter when we celebrate the birth of the Saviour only that we do. I feel sorry for those who don't celebrate it because it is a pagan festival date (the date we in Canada celebrate Christmas on).
But I guess better not at all than for the wrong reason.I pray you have a blessed time together .
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