Culture Note of Two New Years

Today is "Stari Novi God" meaning "Old New Years". It might seem confusing to have those two adjectives next to each other, and it might seem like an oxymoron, but it in fact makes sense in Russia. Historically, Russia and other countries operated on the Julian calendar system rather than the Gregorian, so New Years was on January 14th. Then in 1918, Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar, so the concept of "Old News Years" arrived. It was a nice way of preserving an old tradition I think. On this holiday, the celebratory programming for New Years re-aired on television and neighbors came over as guests. I also have the pleasure of knowing that they observe the 13th of Friday as superstitiously as they do in the States.

And...in February, I can technically count the "Chinese" lunar new years as a third New Years celebration, since Russia also goes out of its way to celebrate the year of the Dragon too. There is more paraphernalia of dragons in this country than I ever saw in America.