| 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 11, 2003
6 to 10 pm
GCC Student Union, Grill Room:
Outside bar-b-que pit fire. Inside area includes: tables for 50 people,
ping-pong table, video games, restrooms. Bring the kids. See
map and directions to campus.
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| Food:
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- Potluck - Everyone bring a dish (salad or
desert, preferably Russian food).
- Bar-B-Que - Club will prepare fire in case you
bring something to cook.
- Drinks & Plates - Club will provide
paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils, drinks (tea, sodas, ice). No
alcohol!
- Samovar will be fired up
for "krepki chai".
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| Cost: |
- FREE to all members
- Non-members will be urged to join
$2/year.
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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 permitting, or
indoors
- Ping-pong -- inside
- Arcade video games -- coin operated
for 25 cents, inside.
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Back to GCC
Russian Club
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