New Year's Day # 2

Last Saturday, Jan. 14th, ended the two week period wherein are three Russian holidays: New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), Orthodox Christmas (Jan. 7) and Old New Year (Jan. 14). The Old New Year is a remnant from the pre-communist, Tsarist era, when the Russian calendar was based on the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, which we in the west use. By the way, this is a great bit of trivia that you can use: When did Russia’s October Revolution take place? Nov. 7 (based on the Julian calendar, it was still October). So, Saturday was the last of the three holidays, and by far was the most low key of the three.

In comparison to New Year’s Day, the Old New Years is miniscule in comparison. New Year’s Day was just huge: streets were empty, hardly any of the public transportation ran, stores were all closed. When we walked to church on New Year’s Day, Tver, a city of a half million, felt like a ghost town. It was almost a bit eerie. Old New Year and Christmas, in comparison, paled in comparison to New Year’s Day. In fact, while some people went to church on Christmas, and some fireworks were lit for Old New Year, there was still a large hustle and bustle to Tver. Shops were open, people were traveling, some were working, the atmosphere was much more subdued. For sure, the winner in the hearts and lives of Russians is New Year’s Day.