Маша и Медведь

A litte piece of Russian culture has entered our house recently, in the form of the hilarious animation series 'Masha and the bear'.
I spotted little Masha and her friend the bear for the first time when travelling to Ukraine in June. Merchandising was everywhere, especially in Kiev airport. And cute she is, as you can see on the dvd cover here.

Then last week - in the supermarket around the corner - there she was again. The dvd's of 'Masha and the bear' made it even to the Dutch-language market. I could not resist.

The dvd's were certainly worth their money. My daughters (6 and 4 years old) howl with laughter when they watch the adventures of Masha and the bear. That is mainly because Masha is not so cute as you might initially think. She is a 'little, annoying thing' who drives her friend the bear often to despair.


Which makes this animation series fun to watch for parents as well. So many scenes are familiar to me, and I guess to many parents: she does not give in when she has set her mind on something, she is not able to sit still for more than a second, she wants all attention of her friend the bear (who tries to escape sometimes but cannot say 'no' to her either),... This reminds a bit of the books and animation series of 'The little princess' of Tony Ross. The interaction with the bear on the other hand is more Looney Tunes style. Meep meep.

And while writing this, my daughters burst out laughing again! Masha, you have two fans! :-)
 

7 Russian books

End 2011, I followed this course on Russian literature, which was taught in such an enthusiastic way that you end up leaving the room with the firm decision to actually READ these books that you have just discussed.

Now, Russian classic books are not exactly what you would name 'thin booklets'. And there are many of them. So unconsciously I had always considered the reading of Russian classics as something I would do 'when I am retired'.

Yet, retirement age going up all the time and inspired by the course, I decided to make a shortlist, slice it up (meaning: read one or two of these enormous books per year) and voilà, in a few years I will have at least a basic knowledge of the Russian literature.

So here is my shortlist:
1. Dead souls - Gogol
2. Crime and punishment - Dostoyevsky
3. Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
4. War and peace - Tolstoy
5. The master and Margarita - Bulgakov
6. The cherry orchard - Chekhov (drama)
7. Eugene Onegin - Pushkin (poetry)

If you consider that I have already read Anna Karenina and The master and Margarita and that I am currently finalising my reading of Dead souls, it seems perfectly doable to finish this shortlist in a relatively short time period. So off I go. Next on my list: War and peace - a whopper!

Note: I will read these books in Dutch, in case you wonder; if I read them in Russian, I need decades, not years, to finish this shortlist!

Russian movies: good stuff!

First of all: С Рождеством - Merry Christmas!
Having Christmas and New Year already a week behind me, it almost escaped my mind. But yes, in Russia Christmas is celebrated on 7 January because the Russian orthodox church uses the old Julian calendar for religious celebration days. So all my best wishes to everyone who is celebrating today!

Apart from that, what I wanted to share with you today is this: I discovered the Russian movie (yes, better late...) and I am enthusiastic! I am not talking about the American movies and television series based on Russian literature I watched so far (and enjoyed). I am not talking about the 'War and Peace' and 'Doctor Zhivago' movies but about 'the real thing': the Russian spoken and Russian made movie:-) And I must admit: they have 'good stuff'!

So much that I don't have time to write anything more now because my next Russian movie is waiting for me (honestly!). But if you are interested (and are not an expert yourself yet), then follow my discoveries on my I can recommend page. The list will be updated regularly!

Russian food

Yesterday evening we had Christmas party with our Russian class. It was an everyone-brings-some-food-or-drinks party and devoted as we are, we all did our best to bring something 'Russian'. Luckily for me - being everything but a cook - the prefab blinis (little pancakes) have found their way to our mainstream supermarkets. Just as wodka of course. And although the champagne, fish and seafood we brought were most likely not really from Russia, they gave our buffet a Russian touch.

For those interested in Russian food, I can highly recommend the book Culinaria Russia. It is full of interesting information about Russian food and drinks: history, habits, regional specialities, recipes, it is all in the book. So if you always wanted to know what exactly борщ (borscht), квас (kvas) or пельмени (pelmeni) are, then don't hesitate and put this book on your Christmas wish list.

In the meantime, let me whet your appetite by showing these pictures of some закуски (zakuski) and блины (blinis)!

www.ullmann-publishing.com

Culinaria Russia



Noteer alvast in uw 2012 agenda: 'Rusland voor beginners', op Canvas

Het concept: 'In "Rusland voor beginners" verkennen 10 Vlamingen de Russische samenleving in al haar facetten. Ze worden geholpen door Lena De Winne, de van oorsprong Russische echtgenote van Frank De Winne.' (aldus http://www.deredactie.be/)

Busy busy busy

I have been absent here for too long. Life is full of interesting and beautiful things and I tend to get distracted :-)

But I haven't forgotten about Russian. I went to Russian class almost every week (good girl, I am!). We also had a conversation evening in our school, very nicely named (in Dutch): Taalmaatje, which means something like 'language buddy'. Очень интересно! My co-students and me met a nice Ukrainian lady and a nice bilingual Bulgarian lady, who both talked very patiently with us in Russian that evening.

And maybe you remember that last year I did a course of Davidsfonds - Universiteit Vrije Tijd on Russian history. Well, I liked it so much that I of course registered for the new course on Russian literature this year. Also taught in a very captivating manner, this time by Professor Waegemans, another Belgian authority in the field.

Inspired by the course, I started reading 'Dead souls' of Gogol, but I will have to put it aside for a few days now because we have a Russian test next week - just a matter of priorities :-)

'Back in the USSR': meer van dat!

Hé, de documentairereeks Back in the USSR zit er al op. Slechts vier afleveringen. Maar dan wel vier goeie. Geen gezwets en samen haring eten en vodka drinken, maar duidende, vrij objectieve journalistiek waar een mens nog wat van opsteekt.
En Canvas heeft al een opvolger geprogrammeerd: 'Last days of the USSR', documentaire van Jean-Charles Deniau en Sergey Kostin. Ben benieuwd.

Show me the beauty!

While I was adding a book to my I can recommend page yesterday, I wondered why certain books or dvd's did not make it to my shortlist. I had a quick look at the unfortunate ones and concluded that a lot of them have in common that they focus on the dark side of Russia.


It is my impression that it is in - especially among (mostly male) correspondents, journalists, photographers - to show anything but the beauty of Russia.

I am certainly not going to plead that we should ignore the problems there are in Russia (as well as we shouldn't ignore the problems in any other country). I understand people do freeze or drink themselves to death, there is prostitution, maffia, a huge gap between the poor and the rich.

But showing only the poverty and misery doesn't give a correct image either. It leads to situations where people wonder why on earth I am interested in Russia as it is such a grey, cold, poor country. And isn't that a missed opportunity?

On the same square...

GUU3QDXDKHE5

Graphic designers: don't mirror the R!

True, the Я gives you the idea that you are reading Russian.
It is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.
It even is a Russian word, meaning 'I'.

Я люблю тебя.
I love you.

BUT you pronounce it as 'ya'.

Wild Yaussia.
Doesn't make sense, does it?

The version I have at home.
It is perfectly clear that it is about Russia.
No need to try to emphasise this
by - wrongly - using the Я.

If you really want to replace the R by the Russian equivalent, it becomes:
Wild Pussia
which is probably not what you had in mind either.


Suggestion: find a catchy title and stick to that!

Hermitage Amsterdam

Last weekend, I went to my beloved Hermitage in Amsterdam. The current exhibition is on Art of the Russian Orthodox Church. Though not so much into religion (I just have seen too much catholicism in my youth, I'm afraid), I realised you cannot want to learn about the Russian culture and ignore their religion. So, off I went.

I am not going to tell you all about the orthodox religion here for three good reasons: I am not an expert, we already have wikipedia, and you should go to the exhibition of course :-) But I want to share that I was struck by the way the church has been used during history. Not unique for Russia of course, but still. If you go to the exhibition, watch the short video they show on the history of the church and you will find out how, already in the 20th century alone, one day you could be welcomed with open arms for your religion and the other day you had to attend masses secretively; one day there were cathedrals, churches and monasteries in all their 'splendour and glory' and the other day they were burnt down again. This as a teaser to make you go to the current exhibition...

Concerning the upcoming exhibitions: Hermitage Amsterdam can welcome me again in about a year, for the Siberia exhibition. I will skip the next one on Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens, my compatriots; although of course everyone unfamiliar with them should go and find out about these fabulous Flemish painters (as of 17 September, for all info: www.hermitage.nl).

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum

Let's do something else, I thought, it doesn't always have to be Russian and Russia. So I went to the Tutankhamun exhibition here in Brussels. Does the exhibition start with the Rosetta stone. Well, a replica of the Rosetta stone actually because the whole exhibition was made up of replicas but they compensate this by bringing it all very gripping so the exhibition is definitely worth a visit. But for the original Rosetta stone you will have to go to the British Museum in London.


Anyway, thanks to the Rosetta stone, only found in 1799, they finally managed to decipher the hieroglyphs. Because the same text was inscribed three times on this stone: in hieroglyphs, in the demotic or Egyptian script and in the Ancient Greek script. The latter was still known in 1799 and so they managed to 'crack the code'. Fascinating, isn't it?

Hieroglyphic alphabet decoder

So, with the hieroglyphic alphabet decoder (another hebbeding), you can manage to read f.i. the names Cleopatra and Ptolemy. An eagle stands for an A, a lion for an L, etc.



And isn't this what we do when we study Russian? Transposing the Cyrillic alphabet to our Latin one: a 'p' is an 'r', an 'н' reads as an 'n'. That's what I love most about Russian, the deciphering. Back to where we started...

Russian children's books - Моя первая книга о ...

Among my trophies from Saint Petersburg is a children's book Моя первая книга о России.

Russian children's book
bought in Belgium

I had already bought a few children's books in a Russian shop here in Belgium. They had this most adorable, slightly outdated look. Somehow I thought the supermarket was just offering its stock from the '60s. Reminding me of the Tiny books I devoured as a kid.
Note 1: Tiny, aka Martine in French, Debbie in English;
Note 2: I was NOT born in the '60s, I repeat: NOT born in the '60s; it's just that the series went on for ages, even my daughters are reading Tiny now.

Tiny helps mother (1963)

But no no, the style is still 'in'. Proof is my newly acquainted book. Printed in 2011.

I bought it in the Prisma supermarket right next to our hotel in Saint Petersburg. For 158p 40коп! If I want to piss off my classmates, I can just take this book and show off :-) The only thing I regret myself is that I did not buy more of these books. Because Моя первая книга ... is a series, so you have it also on dinosaurs, history, art, animals, the cosmos,...


Моя первая книга ... is what we call in Dutch a 'hebbeding' (meaning: thing to have, which is exactly what it has to express - 'I WANT THIS!' and on top of that, it sounds very cute, which is rare for Dutch words). Admire and enjoy!

Моя первая книга о России

Inner page of Моя первая книга о России

Saint Petersburg - the do's and don'ts

DO:

- go to Saint Petersburg: this city is a pearl!
- leave the center of Saint Petersburg and go to Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo,...
- go during the White Nights (although Saint Petersburg during winter has probably also its charms)
- make a boat trip in the evening
- try Russian food
- go to a ballet
- go to the Russian museum, not only to the Hermitage (Russian museum = Russian art)
- go to Cafe Singer if you love books

DON'T:
- underestimate the distances; Saint Petersburg is a city of almost 5 million inhabitants (compared to 11 million inhabitants in my country (!) Belgium)
- go to Peterhof on 12 June, Russia day
- think the customs and passport control people will make sure you get back the correct forms
- shout at the customs and passport control people
- leave your keys in your suitcase in case your suitcase doesn't arrive
- think your tickets for the ballet will be delivered in your hotel in time even if you ordered a month in advance

The Russian Club - Русский клуб

Last week was interesting.

I discovered recently there exists this 'Russian club' in my workplace (I already mentioned I work in this big international organisation). Everyone of our organisation who speaks Russian - or tries to speak it, ahem - is welcome to join the Russian club to have lunch together, every Thursday in our canteen. So I decided to go for it and have my first real conversation in Russian. Without exaggerating: I was empty and exhausted afterwards. But it was a good exercise. Just what I needed.

Another good thing about this Russian club is that they forward you information on activities in Russian or related to Russia. For instance, they organise a trip to the Hermitage Amsterdam soon (one of my favourite musea).

And on that same Thursday, in the evening, we had this visit of one of the last surviving relatives of Pushkin and his wife in our school. Everyone interested was welcome. Again an encounter with kindred spirits...

Russia day in Belgium (12 June)

We are the lucky ones, being in Saint Petersburg on 12 June but those staying in Belgium can celebrate as well:

http://www.eu-ru-festival.com/

or

http://www.bfro.be/ru/randevu-s-rossiej.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=552&vID=4

Laatste nabestaande van Poesjkin op bezoek in onze school

http://www.cvomj.be/

Studying Russian in 2011

So, what is going to happen in 2011? I wil become 40 - hm. And I will treat myself on a trip to Saint Petersburg!!!
I am completely thrilled. With two little kids, I haven't seen many cities the last few years. Well, I made it to Krakow and London when I had only one daughter. But after the second, more mummy-oriented, daughter had entered our lives, my husband was less eager to take care of them both for a whole long weekend. Luckily, the Hermitage Amsterdam (from Belgium, good for a one-day trip) was there to comfort me a little. But now that they will become 5 and 3 years old, it is time to spread my wings again :-) So I had been looking for flights and hotels already, when suddenly the idea of going to Saint Petersburg was also raised during our Russian course. Our teacher took initiative and we have now an offer in our hands for a full trip, all in, for a group of 20 people. Fingers crossed we find enough participants and then, off we go...!!!

Hahahaaaa....

A sigh of relief, including some triumph as well! The first test of this schoolyear is behind me and it went okay. It is not going to be the test of my life but it will be sufficient to continue. I have the excuse of not having had much time to study the last few days (new job, ill kids). Do I need an excuse? Anyway, this is not the place to analyse my procrastrination behaviour. And certainly not the time. Right now, I want to just enjoy the fact that I can now lay back for a while. Hahahaaa. And enjoy other stuff...
For instance: a course on Russian history. In four Saturday mornings, we are guided through Russian history. (For the Belgians: organised by Davidsfonds, taught by Wim Coudenys, very well done!!).
And also: the book 'Montagne Russe' by Pieter Waterdrinker (also for the Dutch-speaking among us, short stories).
And even: hanging in the sofa and be braindead. It can be sooooo gooood.

Ballets Russes

Last week I bought a dvd about the 'Ballets Russes' for no price. It turned out to be a captivating, interesting documentary. These are the moments that my heartrate goes a bit quicker, that I know that this is what really makes me tick. Beautiful and interesting things. I want to go to the theatre more, I want to watch more dvd's, I want to read more, I want to see, know and enjoy.

Those 'Ballets Russes' people had a different lifestyle. They had a passion. They did everything for it. Ballet was their life. Sometimes - during the world wars for instance - they were hardly paid for it. And now, more than half a century later, they still teach, write, perform about ballet and dance. They all seemed happy and satisfied, those 80- or 90-year old people, looking back at their early years. I hope I can say the same in 50 years.

DVD: Ballets russes - by Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine, 2008