Two Calendars

Olga, my Russian teacher, and I were speaking recently about the two different types of calendars. There is first the regular calendar, which clearly denotes days, months, and years, and the "Russian" calendar, which she based upon the seasons. That is to say, while it is offically, by astrological terms, "autumn", here is Russian, the calendar is set on "winter."

Yesterday was my introduction to Russian winter, though it was a rather gentle meeting. The temperatures hovered around the freezing point, and there were some snow flurries as I walked to school. Well, today, we have ended our initial introduction, and headed into full-on winter, as we have already received a few inches of snow today and it is only 2 pm as I write this. So begins the longest season in the Russian calendar, lasting perhaps 6 months.