By the end of November, the cold cobblestone streets in Polish villages and cities are lined with Christmas markets selling traditional Polish cuisine, handcrafted souvenirs, and traditional amber handicrafts. Christmas is one of Poland’s largest celebrations. The main festivities occur over the course of three days from December 24 to 26. The 25th and 26th […]

Orthodox Easter is by far the most important religious holiday in most Slavic lands and is the busiest day at most Russian Orthodox churches across the globe. The holiday is steeped in history and mystic symbolism. The following is a dual-language article meant to teach you about history and culture of Orthodox Easter while allowing […]

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in St. Petersburg in 1913, declared by activists there and celebrated with rallies that demanded more rights. It did not become an official state holiday and day off, however, until 1965. In that year, March 8th was chosen as it marked the day when, in 1917, women again marched […]

Bulgaria has been on my list of places to visit for a while. I had planned to visit it while enroute to somewhere else, as a long layover. I never really thought about it in terms of a multi-day destination. However, in June, 2019, an opportunity to spend a few days there appeared and I […]

The New Year is, without doubt, the most important holiday on the Russian calendar. It equates if not outstrips the importance of Christmas in America, if to compare the two holidays in the two cultures. New Year in Russia is a time to be together with family and friends, for gift giving, major consumer spending, […]

Wianki (or, in English, Wreaths) is a Polish holiday event that takes its roots in the pre-Christian tradition of celebrating summer solstice as a day of fire, water, fertility, love and joy. Wianki is celebrated each year in June and is a Midsummer festival marking the summer solstice. While it has analogues throughout Europe, in […]

Constitution Day in Ukraine is celebrated on June 28th. Celebrated since 1996, this day commemorates the anniversary of the approval by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) of the Constitution of Ukraine. Before 2014 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the holiday’s importance and observance were minimal and around 10% of Ukrainians believed it should […]

Quarantine Diaries is a series of free language lessons from SRAS. Each lesson can take a variety of forms but all focus on building intermediate and advanced vocabulary and listening skills. The below entry, from Evgenia Obryadina, SRAS’ St. Petersburg Student Coordinator focuses on video content that will be available, live, on May 9th in […]

Quarantine Diaries is a series of free language lessons. Each can take a variety of forms but all focus on building intermediate and advanced vocabulary and listening skills. After the brief introduction, watch the Russian news report below and then read the side-by-side translation of the transcript as provided by First Channel. Then, answer the questions provided. […]