Hi! My name is Valery. I am from Russia. I have graduated from Moscow State University, philological faculty, and I speak English. It has always been very interesting for me to know how women abroad live: what makes them feel pleased and happy, and what makes them sad and upset.
For rather a long time Russians had lived ”behind the Iron Curtain” and people from other countries knew absolutely nothing about us. Nowadays the curtain has been raised, so we can travel, watch news, different shows, but we still know very little about each other. However, it seems to me, that if we knew about each other more, we could understand, respect and love each other better, so we could live more peacefully… I think I should get started with myself. And later on I’ll tell you about other Russian women: business-ladies and housewives, rich and not so well-financially-secured, married, split up and divorced. Of course, we are all very different, but we have something in common as well. I’d be very glad, if you would send me your questions. It would be easier for me to tell if I know for sure what exactly you are interested in. Perhaps, you could join me and send stories about yourself. Please, do! It would be great!..

I will tell you about Russian women: teachers, doctors, sellers, housewives. I will tell you what they eat, what clothes wear, what salaries receive, what they plant in summer in their summer residence and of what they dream.

Snegurochka, also known as the Snow Maiden or Snowy, is a unique character of Russian folklore and an essential part of Russian New Year’s celebrations. The origins of Snegurochka are contradictory. The roots of this feminine character can be found in Slavic pagan beliefs. According to legend, she is the daughter of Father Frost and the Snow Queen. However, another Russian fairy-tale tells a story of an old man and woman who had always regretted that they did not have any children. In winter they made a girl out of snow. The snow maiden came alive and became the daughter they never had. They called her Snegurochka. But when the summer sun began to warm the land, the girl became very sad. One day she went into the woods with a group of village girls to pick flowers. It began to get dark and the girls made a fire and began playfully jumping over the flames. Snegurochka also jumped, but suddenly she melted and turned into a white cloud. In some parts of Russia people still follow the ancient tradition of drowning a straw girl in the river or burning her on the bonfire to dispel the winter. This custom symbolizes the transition from winter to spring.

Yet, the image of Father Frost took its final shape in the USSR: he became the main symbol of the New Year’s Holiday that replaced Christmas as the most favourite and fairy holiday in the pre-revolutionary Russia. The image of “Soviet” Father Frost was established by Soviet filmmakers in the 1930s.

Russian New Year

The key figure of the Russian New Year is certainly Ded Moroz - Father Frost
( or Grandfather Frost, to be more exact) who arrives wearing a red caftan (old-style long garment) decorated with traditional embroidering and edged with snow-white fluff, a red cap, white mittens and felt boots. Boasting a luxuriant snow-white beard, ruddy nose and cheeks, and a cordial smile, he is leaning on an icy staff with a sparkling star on its top and carrying a huge red sack with presents for kids.

New Year is the main holiday of the year in Russia– the most welcome and the most beautiful one, rich in history, fascinating traditions and amusing customs.

New Year Celebrations in Pagan Rus’

The tradition to celebrate the year’s beginning goes back to hoary antiquity. The ancients usually timed the New Year to the beginning of nature’s revival and so it mainly fell on March.

In Old Rus’ there was for a long time the so-called pre-summer, i.e. the first three months of the year, starting with March. It was celebrated as avsen’, ovsen’ or tusen’, which later turned into the New Year. So, the first six months of the year formed pre-summer and summer, whereas the last six months were winter time. The transition from autumn to winter remained in the background, just like the turning of spring into summer. Initially the New Year was supposedly celebrated on March 22, the day of vernal equinox. Thus, Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) and the New Year celebrations coincided: winter was driven away, thus giving way to spring and the New Year.

Is there a Russian girl who wouldn't dream of love and marriage to crown it? Brought up on fairytales she believes in love and waits for her prince to come. Sometimes, during her whole life. The Russian classics teach us that love is the most sublime of all human feelings. For example, the Russian writer Ivan Bunin contended in his works that love is the only means to attain happiness in earthly life. Love is still the major factor for a Russian woman in choosing her partner.

Any Russian woman would like to be the object of chivalrous admiration, to receive flowers and poems written especially for her. However the image of an ideal lover doesn't interfere with love for a real person, not always so positive as she would like. One can often come across such an explanation of the paradox: 'Somebody has to love him as well.' And she can forgive a lot to the person she loves: alcoholism, unfaithfulness, lies and non-chivalrous behavior.