| Christmas
was banned as a holiday by the Soviet regime but was restored to its
former status in 1991, and now it is a public holiday. In 1918, the old
Julian calendar, which had been used in Russia for 930 years, was
abandoned and replaced with the Gregorian calendar, which had already
been used for a long time in many countries. The difference between the
Julian and the Gregorian calendar is the length of the year. The Julian
year is 365.25 days, whereas the Gregorian year is 365.2425 days. This
means, for instance, that January 1 in the Julian year comes one day
later every 128 years, according to the Gregorian calendar. The next
time there will be any noticeable difference is in the year 2100, which
will be a leap year in the Julian calendar but not in the Gregorian, so
the Julian year 2100 will be one year longer. The difference between
the Julian calendar and the Gregorian one was 13 days when the Soviet
Union abandoned the Julian calendar. Remarkably enough, the Russian
Orthodox Church is still using the Julian calendar, so Christmas Day is
celebrated 13 days after the Catholic and Protestant Christmas Day,
that is on January 7. Naturally, not many of the Russians of today
remember what it was like to celebrate Christmas in Russia before the
revolution. New Year took the role of Christmas regarding the giving of
presents, Grandfather Frost (the equivalent of Father Christmas and
Santa Claus) the gathering of the family. However, it seems that Russia
will take up some of the old traditions again, and in the future we may
see more presents given at Christmas than at the New Year. |
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Saturday
January 8 , 2000
12 Noon - 4 PM
GCC Student Union:
Reserved for 50. Outside area includes bar-b-q pits, picnic tables,
volleyball court. Inside area includes, tables, ping-pong table,
restrooms. Kids okay. See map and
directions to campus.
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Food: Potluck,
members bring dish--salad or desert--for free attendance. Club will
prepare and cook lamb, beef, chicken and pork shashlik
(shishkabob) and hot dogs. Club will provide paper plates, plastic
utensils, drinks-tea, sodas, punch, etc. No alcohol. Samovar
will be fired up for "chai".
| Cost: |
- FREE to all who bring food
(serving
for 10), Russian dishes preferred, else--
- $3 for members, who don't bring anything.
- $5 for non-members.
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Sign-up
& Payment Due BEFORE Friday
December 18, noon.
We need to report expenses to the school 3 weeks
before the event. Contact: |
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| Entertainment:
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- Music--Russian cassette music to
be
played. Musical members asked to perform, or help us sing Russian songs.
- Frisbee -- weather permiting, or
indoors
- Ping-pong--inside
- Arcade games--coin operated,
inside.
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