Happy Russian Old New Year!

It may sound strange to some Americans… “happy old new year,” but it makes a lot of sense to Russians. In Russia today, January 13th 2012, many will celebrate the new year with friends, family, presents, and vodka. The new year came to be one of the best holidays ever for Russians because of the meaning and history behind it.

Before Communists took power, Russian Orthodox Christmas was a very important and sacred Russian holiday. However, Communists banned all religious holidays as they banned religion in the country, so Christmas became less and less popular with years passing by. New Year replaced Christmas in the hearts of people, thus the Christmas tree became the New Year tree.

The Russians party all night long on Old New Year’s Eve night. They make sure to have a table full of delicious food and they try to stay up as late as possible, if not the entire night, including children.

The Russian Old New Year came to be on the 13th-14th because of the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The Russian Old New Year is not an official holiday, but many still celebrate it, especially with friends.

So whether you’re Russian or not, I’d like to say Happy Old New Year (Счастливый Старый Новый год!) to ya!

June 12: Russia Day!

Here in America, we just finished celebrating Memorial Day, and soon we will be firing up those backyard grills to celebrate another Independence Day, or as some call it: the 4^th of July. In Russia, the struggle for independence was not as clear cut as it was here in America, but there is still one day each year for Russians of every age to come together to celebrate their past. Each year on June 12^th since 1992 Russia has officially been celebrating it’s own independence day, more commonly referred to as Russia Day. On this day in 1990, the Russian parliament officially declared sovereignty from the USSR, thus creating the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation is, in effect, a democratic republic very similar in many ways to the government of the United States. In addition to Russia Day, this occasion and the transition of political power was marked by a new Russian constitution, a new Russian flag, and a new Russian national anthem.

Initially, not everyone was happy about this change, and even more were confused about who exactly Russia was declaring independence from. For many, the end of the Soviet Union was followed by years of economic and social hardships. For this reason, Russia Day was not very popular when it was first introduced. Over the years, however, as social and economic conditions gradually improved, Russia day came to mean more than just another day off work.

Today, people all over Russia celebrate this official holiday in their own way. The holiday has taken on a new life of it’s own as people find new ways to celebrate their heritage. Government offices, banks, and schools are closed for the day, and many employers give their workers the day off as well. There are many concerts and firework celebrations all throughout Russia, very similar to the tradition of fireworks on the 4^th of July here. In some parts of the country you may even see parades with massive floats, and people dancing in traditional costumes. The holiday is less about the Soviet Union today and more about national pride; about connecting past, present, and future generations with everything that Russia has to offer. So, when this June 12^th rolls around celebrate in your own style. Drink a cup of tea from your Russian tea glass holder. Wear your favorite Russian wool shawl. Open your favorite nesting doll. Crack your favorite fabrege egg. Pray to your patron saint. Or tilt back that bottle of vodka, because Sunday June 12^th 2011 is Russia Day!

Russian Fairytale: Baba Yaga & The Wicked Geese

Massive Diamond Unearthed in Russia

When you think of diamonds, what part of the world do you think about? Alaska? Canada? Africa? Well, from approximately 1994 until 19989, Australia was the world leader in terms of amount of diamonds being mined within the country. During these years Botswana and Russia were second and third respectively in terms of diamond production. In 1998 all of the known Australian deposits had been all but depleted, while new deposits were being discovered at a rapid pace in Botswana. Meanwhile, in Russia, diamond mining had remained rather constant from 1994 until about 2003. Russia first started mining diamonds in its northern regions of Siberia in the late 1950′s as a way for the USSR to remain self-sufficient while competing in a new high-stakes world market. In 1970, Russia was competing as the world’s third largest producer of diamonds, far surpassing any production rate that America could keep up with. When the USSR fell, the diamond mines in Russia came under private ownership and continued to flourish. From 2003 to 2004 Russia increased its diamond production by nearly 250%; pulling away from the pack and making it the true and solid second in today’s world diamond game. Botswana still remains the top producer however.

A few weeks ago, on April 21, 2011 workers of the Udachninsky Mining Company in Siberia unearthed a massive 136 Carat honey-yellow diamond. This is a very unique color for a diamond, and some speculate that it has something to do with the extreme latitude at which this diamond was found. The diamond mines in Siberia are some of the most northerly mines in the world. Several mines in Canada’s Northwest Territory rival for this position. In any case, there is no denying the impressiveness of this discovery. The diamond is said to have an irregular shape which has led to much more curiosity surrounding it. At this time, the diamond has not been appraised, but it is expected to catch a lot of attention if it ever goes to sale. This extremely rare find gives hope to all armature diamond hunters around the world. Your big one could still be out there. If you aren’t into digging in the dirt,however, The Russian Store has you covered with our line of exquisite gemstone and diamond jewelry. Treat yourself today.

Easter In Russia

It’s time for the Easter Bunny! This coming Sunday millions of people across the globe will be celebrating Easter in their own ways. Christians in Russia have been celebrating this holiday since the time of Christ with public gatherings and feasts. Russia is traditionally an Eastern Orthodox country as opposed to the Western Christianity of the United States that is predominantly composed of Protestants and Roman Catholics. These different sects of Christianity are all celebrating the same thing, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but they often do it on different days. The Eastern Orthodox church keeps a different calendar than the Western Church does, and therefore Easter is often celebrated at different times of the year depending on which calendar you follow. However, this year it just so happens to be that each calendar places Easter on the same day, April 24^th.In Russia though instead of hiding eggs like we do here in America, they spend their time dying and painting eggs. Russia has long revered the egg as an eternal symbol of life. Many homes in Russia will have eggs on display all year round, but especially at Easter time. Pisanki are very popular in Russian homes. Even the royal family celebrated the holiday with elaborate egg displays. Here is a picture of an Easter egg from the house of Alexander III that dates to 1890. This magnificent work of art is currently on display at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis. This Sunday, people all around Russia will be dying their eggs red, thus continuing an age-old tradition. The red color is meant to symbolize the blood of Christ. And just like here in America, Easter in Russia is always accompanied by a large feast where family and friends come together to appreciate one another and celebrate life. Happy Easter.

44 Million Year Old Spider Has Uninvited Guest

Have you ever seen the original Jurassic Park movie? The concept is based on the whimsical idea thatscientists can clone dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures that have been trapped in fossilized amber by extracting their preserved DNA.  While this idea may have been far-fetched at the time it was written, scientists today are using amber to learn some pretty interesting things, although I still think cloning dinosaurs is a long way off. I came across an article recently that was published on March 25th of this year by Discover Magazine. According to the article, Michael Ohl, an employee of Berlin’s Museum of Natural History, has been working with the museum’s collection of prehistoric spiders trapped in amber. His work is centered around insects called mantidflies and their method of spider-boring. The pictures below show the spider that Ohl has been working with. He discovered that this spider had some extra company. The mantidfly larva can bee seen in the detail picture. The larva attached itself to the underside of the spider in order to get nutrition from the spider while the larva was developing. Mantidfly larva are true parasites; they latch onto female spiders, get dropped with the spider’s egg sack, eat the spider’s eggs, then they enter into a cocoon to emerge as adults. This ancient preserved specimen of this hard-to-catch phenomenon is one of only ten known mantidfly larva fossils that exist in the entire world. The piece of amber that the spider was discovered in is thought to be approximately 44 million years old. Amber is a window into our past. Science now has yet another link from the past to help people better understand the natural world. We commend the work of Mr. Ohl, and we hope that scientists can continue to learn about the past from amber. Maybe one day I will be taking my grandchildren to the dinosaur zoo. In the meantime I can dream about the idea while I peer into one of our collectible amber stones.

Google Honors Yuri Gargarin

Today, April 12, 2011 marks a historic event for humanity. 50 years ago today, the former Soviet Union sent the first human being beyond the Earth’s atmosphere into space. After the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union remained as the world’s most powerful nations. The two countries entered into fierce competition with each other in order to obtain the rank of world’s most powerful nation. The Cold War began, and with it so too did the first international space race. The Soviets were first in space, but America was first on the moon. Yuri Gagarin was the lucky cosmonaut to make the truly historic flight. He spent nearly two full hours in orbit around the Earth, and then returned safely to solid ground, much to the delight of people watching around the world.

Yuri was born in the village of Klushino which was then part of the U.S.S.R. He wore the official CCCP logo on all of his cosmonaut gear as he dared to travel where no man has traveled before. His call sign on the radio was Kedr, which is a Siberian Pine tree. The spacecraft that carried Yuri around the globe was named the Vostok 1. This was Yuri’s first and last flight into space. He later served as an alternate for another Soviet space mission, but never made it back into space. Yuri was hailed as an international celebrity until his tragic death in 1968 as the result of a jet-plane crash.

Today, people still pay homage to Yuri in different ways. His face appeared on a commemorative coin in Russia in 2001. There are many status all around Russia that depict Yuri. Here at The Russian Store, we carry a special Yuri t-shirt to honor his memory and lasting legacy. Even Google got in on the fun today with one of there signature Google Doodles for Yuri. Yuri is loved throughout the world, and he will remain an inspiration to people of all ages; always reminding them that they can achieve the impossible.

Our re-grand opening!

Hi, welcome to The Russian Store blog.  This is the first post (one of many) that we’ll be making to share more about our company and our products.

Today we’ve launched our latest website and are excited to share a bunch of new features with you.

Enjoy!

You Should Check Out Our New Trinket Boxes!

The Russian Store is now offering cute trinket boxes. These boxes are the perfect holiday gift for that hard to shop for person. These pewter boxes are spun cast before being hand-painted with a thick enamel-like paint. Many of these boxes are plated with gold or fine silver to add a touch of class to these fun gift ideas. These jewelry boxes feature shinning Austrian crystals in a veritable rainbow of colors. These crystals are hand-placed by skilled artisans one-by-one. It is important that these crystals are hand-placed because of the unique shape of these trinket boxes. Lower quality boxes feature crystals which easily fall off, ours are tested for perfection!

These keepsake boxes are a great last-minute Christmas shopping idea, they’re great to store nick-nacks, easy to lose items, small jewelry like earrings or rings, or any number of small items. They also work great as a stand-alone piece of decoration. Got a lonely shelf somewhere? Looking for an ornament for your desk? Want to send a loved one a cute reminder? These trinket boxes are great for just that.

We feature a huge selection of boxes. Over 250! So take some time and browse through, find something you like. All of our trinkets arrive complete with their own gift box!

Amber Laine: A Great Source for Fashion, Amber, and Gemstone Jewelry

Be sure to check out our sister store Amber Laine. You’ll find a selection of 100% natural top-of-the-line amber jewelry which you would expect from our site, but Amber Laine also focuses on a unique line of Fashion Jewelry and Gemstones as well. Whether you’re looking for a turquoise bead necklace, a amethyst ring, or a sterling silver pendant, or a fashion bracelet you’ll find it at Amber Laine. Our eclectic, always updated collection of jewelry is something to see, and our low prices are something to act quick on! Check out 2010 hot jewelry trends, and get a heads up on 2011′s upcoming looks.