December 28, 2015

How to Celebrate the New Year


How to Celebrate the New Year

Now that Christmas is past, are you still looking to extend that holiday spirit a little bit longer? Then why not celebrate New Year’s the Russian way! We’ve gathered some tips to make your celebration as authentic as possible.

It’s common knowledge in Russia that the way you meet the New Year is how you’re going to spend it. So it comes as no surprise that Russians put a lot of thought into how they’re going celebrate the biggest holiday of the year. Add to that a healthy dose of Chinese zodiac influences, and you’ve got yourself the foundation for a whole range of sometimes contradictory tips and suggestions.

What Year Is It?

This isn’t a trick question! Of course it’s going to be 2016, but more importantly, it’s the year of the Fire Monkey. When preparing for your New Year’s celebration, it’s crucial to not just have a good time and please your guests, but to also please the animal of the year. This year’s animal is capricious, easily distracted, in love with money, fruits, candy, and other shiny things. As one website puts it, “modesty is not one of the monkey’s strong suits,” so feel free to put little monkeys all over your house (and then try to ignore their little eyes watching you all evening).

To really get into the adventurous spirit of the year, another website suggests doing something really out of the ordinary: a masquerade, or a “quest on the city streets,” or a crazy party, or a light show, or a rock concert. Even better, why don’t you go abroad – that’ll be especially memorable! But then it concedes that probably many of their readers want to spend the evening at home with their families. Those people will just have to please the monkey some other way.

Shiny New Year tree
Now that's an appropriately shiny tree

What Should You Eat?

Being a tropical animal, the monkey demands exotic fruits: bananas, pineapples, oranges. Good luck getting your hands on them out of season! As a herbivore, the monkey would prefer vegetarian dishes, although perhaps the fruit will appease it and it’ll turn a blind eye to traditional dishes like Olivier salad, cold cuts, pâtés, and the like.

What Should You Wear?

What did we say about the monkey loving shiny things? Make yourself shiny! And this year’s monkey isn’t just a monkey, it’s a Fire Monkey, so it has twice the reason to love sparkles and bright colors. That being said, each website’s interpretation of “bright colors” is slightly different. Red, orange, yellow are obvious favorites, but why will lilac and purple be popular this year, as one website asserts? No one knows! At least all the advice-givers agree that the little black dress should stay in the closet this year.

Toasting to the New Year

What Should You Do?

But in the end, even with all this advice, with its roots in a questionable interpretation of the Chinese zodiac, perhaps you’re better off celebrating New Year’s the traditional way: get your friends and family together, whip up some of your favorite dishes, and toast some champagne to next year being even better than the last. Whatever you do, make sure to have a happy New Year!

Tip sources: [Online-z] [missbagira] [vedmochka]

Image sources: site.sovety.ru, Wikimedia Commons, xlopushka.net

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955