Saturday, February 23, 2013

To those about to rock, we salute you

Hooray!, for we've survived the worst of it. Already I can feel a change. The snow remains only in sludgy, dirty piles. Some women are vetoing tights and fur coats in favor of bare legs and skirts. There has been actual SUNSHINE sparkling down upon the city recently. And that four week no-holiday stretch has finally passed and another holiday (perhaps the first holiday of spring?) is upon us.


This one is for the guys-

The holiday was formerly known as День Красной Армии (Red Army Day) and День Советской Армии (Soviet Army Day).
Glory to the military forces of the USSR!
Now it's reincarnated as День защитника Отечества (Defender of the Fatherland/Motherland Day) or sometimes just flat out День Мужчин (Men's Day).
Congrats on the holiday, men!
Cell phones are buzzing with congratulatory texts, holiday cards are being sent on vk.com, and- according to one of my students- anyone who can drink, will be drinking today... if they didn't already start yesterday! In fact, by 4 PM yesterday, D and his male coworkers were already enjoying a feast of various dishes cooked up by their female coworkers.

My English class last night only had 2 men in attendance. The coordinator pulled me out into the hallway: "It's the holiday, the men are celebrating", she whispered. The office sported various balloon soldiers standing at guard-
Admit it, your first thought was St Patrick's Day too :p
Artem, one of the two male students in class, was gracious enough to reveal his holiday gift from the company-
"The real man's toolkit"
A hammer, a pacifier, and a nut were in this burlap sack.
"son, tree, house" (implying perhaps that every man should have a son, plant a tree, and build a house)

So to all the men out there, Happy Holiday!!!

And women, don't worry. Our day is coming up soon... March 8th, International Women's Day! : )

7 comments:

  1. Wow, this is a really interesting holiday! It was fascinating to hear of how it evolved from Soviet Army Day to simply Men's Day. Can't wait to hear about Women's Day next month!

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    1. Hi Cassandra! : ) Does Spain celebrate either of these holidays?

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    2. Not that I know of! I really don't think so, so I've gotta live vicariously through you ;)

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  2. I have good memories about this holiday in school. Each girl had to congratulate one boy. After that March 8 boys congratulated girls.

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    1. Thank you for sharing, Olga! : ) I'm so happy that you read my blog!

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  3. We did have Army Day (Nov.22 I think, I may be wrong now) and it's possible it has evolved into Men's Day as it has in Ukraine. I will have to ask one of my Macedonian friends. And I definitely remember 8th March.

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    1. Hi Vesna! Do you still celebrate March 8th, living in the US? Or have you switched over to Mother's Day? : )

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