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How do Russians celebrate Christmas?

Way to Russia Talk Lounge Forum Index -> Russian People

Author	Message
YellowMelon Frequent Guest Joined: 28 Nov 2008 Posts: 67	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:50 pm    Post subject: How do Russians celebrate Christmas? So, with Christmas Eve only a few days ahead of us I'd like to know how people in Russia celebrate it. Are there different traditions depending on the whereabouts of this vast country? I mean, in a country with eleven timezones it's quite a reason to think that there is some kind of diversity.
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Ender WayToRussified Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 498 Location: Urals	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:32 pm    Post subject: Re: How do Russians celebrate Christmas? YellowMelon wrote: So, with Christmas Eve only a few days ahead of us I'd like to know how people in Russia celebrate it. Are there different traditions depending on the whereabouts of this vast country? I mean, in a country with eleven timezones it's quite a reason to think that there is some kind of diversity. Christmas isn't a holiday for Russia. Russians celebrate New Year eve. en!wikipedia!org/wiki/New_Year%27s_Eve#Russia_and_Former_Soviet_Union www!123newyear!com/newyear-traditions/new-year-traditions-russia!html Replace "!" with "." in order to get URLs.
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camarks Moderator Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Posts: 333 Location: Richmond, VA USA	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:25 pm    Post subject: Christmas is less important in Russia than in Europe and the US, but it is celebrated. Also note that it is not as close as you think; "In accordance with the old Julian calendar, the Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on 7 January". See http://www.russia.com/blog/russian-orthodox-christmas-7-january for more details.
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Varrah Lounge Lizard Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 80 Location: St.-Petersburg, Russia	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:38 pm    Post subject: as for the timezones - those, who are healthy enough and live on the western side of Russia, try to celebrate for the whole day, starting with Petropavlovsk-Kachatskiy new year. If you are interested in Christamas particularly, it is celebrated on the 7-th of January, since Russia is orthodox.
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Avis Frequent Guest Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 42 Location: Moscow, Russia	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:03 pm    Post subject: As said above, we don't honestly most of russians celebrate the orthodox christmas just for it's in a row of bank holidays taking place from the 1st of jan till the 10th.. jmo lol kinda why not give it another drink as we are on holidays so far jmo again the explanation's russia's been out of any religion except of soviet /communist one for too long to start celebrating any christmas at once
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YellowMelon Frequent Guest Joined: 28 Nov 2008 Posts: 67	Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:00 pm    Post subject: Hmm, I think I made a food out of myself. Thanks everyone for the links, I didn't know that it got to the point that Christmas was banned in Russia for almost a century. The traditions as pointed out on www.russia.com are certainly interesting. Not exactly the way we do it in Sweden.
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Randy Lounge Lizard Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 115 Location: Texas, USA	Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:52 am    Post subject: Christmas I believe it is safe to say that nobody here has been in a non-orthodox Christian church here. But then, not many tourist, or travelers go to Russia to attend church. There are thousands in Russia who celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December as we do. As explained to me by some of those people, Jan 7 is mostly celebrated as new year, and some of those will celebrate the Orthodox Christmas as well, because of tradition. Some of the denominations in Russia are Lutheran, Baptist, Church of God, Salvation Army, Catholic, Wicka, and some modern day ocults. All churches that are not Orthodx usually are under some sort of pressure from the Orthodox leaders, and the government as they are always changing the laws, and rules for these denominations to operate. I do know that approximately two years ago a Salvation Army church had its doors chained shut because of changing rules. Maybe someone could do some research on this, but I believe that some time ago the Duma has voted the Russian Orthodox Church as the official state religion. This caused much problem for the other religions, or churches.
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Ender WayToRussified Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 498 Location: Urals	Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:01 am    Post subject: Re: Christmas Randy wrote: [...] I believe that some time ago the Duma has voted the Russian Orthodox Church as the official state religion. This caused much problem for the other religions, or churches. I've never heard about such kind of law. However Russian Orthodox Church always (except Soviet times) had a mutual support with government as "main" religion. It is because of history and traditions.
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bunker6 Frequent Guest Joined: 31 Jul 2008 Posts: 37 Location: Princeton, NJ / St. Petes, Russia	Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:36 am    Post subject: Generally it's all vice versa. New year comes first being a large holiday when you have the bang-bang party with loud music, drinks, gifts and fireworks. Christmas is just a day when you are with your relatives, have some dinner, go to church, long talks... More calm and home style.
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mandywilliams Frequent Guest Joined: 01 Feb 2010 Posts: 18	Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 9:42 am    Post subject: How do russian celebrate christmas In russia christmas is on the 7th of january and they dont really celebrate it much.(unless they are super religious, then they go to church on that day) However they do celebrate new years: they have christmas tree, and santa comes. To celebrate that there is a lot of alcohol involved and a ton of food.
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tracybarb Just Starting Joined: 12 Apr 2010 Posts: 9	Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:09 am    Post subject: I think Russians dont celebrate Xmas
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DarkCrew Just Starting Joined: 09 Apr 2010 Posts: 8	Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 8:10 am    Post subject: Re: How do russian celebrate christmas mandywilliams wrote: In russia christmas is... ....To celebrate that there is a lot of alcohol involved and a ton of food. The Americans also have their own traditions. For example I just can not understand how you can eat the whole huge turkey. For the Russian I know this is an incredible amount. Russian doing a lot of salads. Favorite salad for the new year - Olivier. Vodka drink for the new year, but necessarily on every New Year's table will be champagne. For example I'm russian and don't drinking vodka at all. By the way about drinking vodka: the second year in a rest on Cyprus and see how drunk Americans to death every night. And then run on floor and awakened all.
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