My Russian New Year
In 1986, the first year I lived in Moscow, I began celebrating the traditional Russian New Years and have done so every year since.
In 1917, Christmas was banned in the Soviet Union due to the religious symbolism. In 1935 the tree was brought back to life as a Soviet New Years tree and Grandfather Frost (Dyed Moroz) was comandeered (wearing only blue, as ordered by Stalin) to bring gifts to Soviet children for New Years.
It was also at this time that Soviet families began their own yearly New Years traditions, spending the evening together until midnight to ring in the New Year. After midnight, anyone left awake and hankering for more adventure, would attend parties with friends, lasting sometimes for days.
The planning for Russian New Years begins weeks before. Each year is represented by an animal and an element using the Chinese Zodiac. This year is the year of the Water Dragon. This means we will be wearing black clothes with flashes of bright color and shiny gold. The table will have a bowl of water with floating candles (representing water and the fire the dragon breathes). The food is to be as fresh as possible before reaching the table and everything should be shiny and colorful to please this year’s animal.
Each year the rules are different; according to the animal and it’s element for that year. The idea is to make sure the animal for that year favors you and wants to do good things for you all year because of your devotion to it. And Russians take this all very seriously.
Tomorrow we will sit down to dinner at about 9pm and begin toasting the year which has passed (no toasting to the New Year until after midnight). We will also be watching a Russian New Years special on TV all night, including a speech given by the Russian President at midnight.
Just before midnight we pour glasses of champagne for the adults and OJ for the kids and wait for the stroke of 12. As the clock strikes midnight, we clink glasses and kiss each other into the New Year. Then we run outside, so the boys can make a racket for the whole neighborhood.
After midnight we start toasting the New Year, eat some more and continue to watch the Russian New Years Special, waiting for one Russian Super Pop Star to make his grand entrance. His name is Phillip Kirkorov (see below) and he is so totally over the top, that we gasp and laugh hysterically when he appears. He never disappoints and as he gets older, he gets more outlandish in his desperate attempt to cover his age. Once we have seen him, we can finally go to bed.
On New Year’s morning we all wake to find presents for the boys from Dyed Moroz (Grandfather Frost) under the tree. Dyed Moroz doesn’t wrap his gifts and he only brings books and ornaments for the tree (our own tradition – not Russian or Soviet). We tell the boys this is because he comes all the way from Russia, so he has to make sure the gifts are easy to pack and don’t take up too much room.
Russian New Years is my favorite holiday. It is not consumer-driven and it has so much symbolism. It also reminds me every year how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life… my Russian-American family.
Happy New Year! Or as they say in Russia, S Novim Godim!