Временно Жизнь

Дед Мороз aka Santa Clause

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Right before the end of the Fall semester many of the new international students get to experience a real Eastern European Christmas/New Year's Party put on by our language instructors. In this part of the world Santa Clause is known as "Дед Мороз", which literally translates into "Grandfather Frost" or what some people simply call "Father Frost". Father Frost looks and acts exactly like our Santa Clause with the long white beard and red robe, but there are some differences. For example, he does not ride a sleigh and doesn't seem to have any elves. No elves?!? What's up with that?! He does have a Снегурочка (Snow Maiden) that accompanies him on his way. He also doesn't climb down chimneys in the night while everyone is sleeping to deliver presents under the tree. Instead, he appears with all his glory in large parties and gatherings so that everyone can see him as he hand-delivers gifts to individuals at the parties.
Above is Father Frost as he arrived with his gifts and to the left of him is his Snow Maiden. Do you notice the girl on the right who's dressed up in a mouse costume? I'm not exactly sure how the mouse fits into the whole story but it sure was interesting.
Throughout the party students recited holiday poems, read the history of Father Frost, and shared how they celebrate Christmas/New Years in their home country. By the way, all of this was done in the local language. Nothing was done in English, with the exception of my roommate and I singing "Jingle Bells" for everyone. Yeah that's right...we sang Jingle Bells and we didn't sound too bad!
Curious as to how many countries were represented in the above picture? France, America, Algeria, and China.

Countries represented above: Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Algeria and America

Here are some friends who are Uyghur (weeger) of China.

What's a party without some dancing! We we're able to participate in some traditional dances with the other students.
Here's a picture of my roommate and I with the head lady of the English Language Dept. at our university.

Throughout the 3 hour party I was in awe at the fact that there were at least 8 different countries represented at this party and yet all of us were speaking in a language that was foreign to us. All of us were speaking in a language that was not of our own. It was an important reminder of how crucial it is to learn the heart language of other peoples in hopes to effectively communicate with them.

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