Thread: Christmas in Russia

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

Is it widespread to celebrate Рождество with gift-giving on 7 January?

My understanding is that long before the atheist Bolsheviks appeared on the scene, gift-giving (and ёлочки, and Дед Мороз) in tsarist Russia was associated with the New Year, and Christmas was a rather formal and solemn religious holy-day, but not a festive holiday.

New Year is still the biggest holiday in Russia and Christmas is not so big. Christmas in Russia is kinda like New Year(except for NY ) in US and New Year in Russia is like Christmas in US - gift- and congratulations- wise. Many people go to church that day (even people who go to church twice a year)

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

(And "recess" in the American elementary-school sense, when the children are allowed a free half-hour of time for play between lessons, would be перерыв, as far as I know.)

посыпаю голову пеплом
I was using Lingvo translator because I didn't know exact translation, thank you

Doomer, the translation of каникулы as "recess" is totally correct in some contexts -- for example, if you're talking about government calendars, and sometimes also in higher education. For example, "it may turn out that the bill will not be passed before Congress starts its summer recess".

But in the context of elementary-school education, "recess" means "a break for rest and play between lessons, usually in the middle of the day, typically 20-40 minutes".