Meeting New Year in Russian
It happened to be our 10th meeting of the new year. We always had plans, either a party or a trip abroad, but we landed permanently after the arrival of our 1st baby four and a half years ago. However, that did not prevent us from celebrating the arrival of each new year since and we festively gathered a couple or two of friends, I cooked a very pretentious dinner, decorated the living room and our gourmet holiday table with candles and we devoured the food with much laughter until the early morning hours.
The tradition was broken last year: after we bid the guests good bye at 4:00AM, my water broke. Our baby girl arrived on January 1st. I was a bit disappointed by her looks, but a nurse kindly reminded us about the benefits of a plastic surgery. I have to admit that within a few months I totally reconsidered and am still wondering where are those commercial casting people?!
As for our friends, they selfishly disregarded our lonely situation and decided to get a divorce. So, this year it was just us: my husband and I. We were eagerly waiting for our kids to go to sleep and have an evening to ourselves, parked on the sofa with the trays full of Russian style new year food: baked mayo-mustard chicken and “Olivie” salad, which is basically a potato salad , but that makes it sound vernacular, whereas for each Russian it is an official symbol of the New Year. That and the smell of mandarins. Boiled potatoes, eggs, pickles, diced chicken meat, sweet pees and much mayonnaise. Yes, in Russian it screams holiday! You can also add onions, which will add a crunch and a new year kiss memorable. We also bought “Ant Hill” & “Natasha” cakes: do you notice romantic tendencies in relation to food in the Russian culture? My husband also found an almond champagne in Trader Joes, recommended cordially. Needless to explain that we’re very Americanized to opt to accompany “Olivie” with a lady’s drink instead of the traditional bottle of vodka. Usually celebration is held with an abundant amounts of alcohol and on occasion might be also followed by possible fist fighting, throwing up, heavy hangover and an episodic amnesia of the whole event causing an allure which builds up an anticipation for the next year celebrations.
To much surprise we discovered a Russian TV channel on our cable. We haven’t see Russian programs for about 8 years and it remained as nostalgic memory and a source of many jokes. New Year is one of the major holidays widely celebrated, every self respected Russian star dreams of singing another star’s songs in the new arrangement in a long New Year concert, including much stand up comedy and music.
We started watching “New Year’s Olivie” ( told you, the salad is legendary) at 6:00PM. It was fun rediscovering the music, the comedy, old stars with the new faces or teeth. At about 10:15PM we recalled that NBC and ABC will run the New Year’s party, a much coveted gig for Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly. Well, mazl tov, what a pearl of entertainment!
I wondered who cared to watch the show for two hours starring the crowd of unknown people who decided to make an idiotic choice to meet the New Year by standing for hours on the streets of New York or Los Angeles in dripping rain, hideous hats and the indispensable new year accessory 2010 glasses, which were much needed after 10:00PM in rain. My concern was families with little kids at 11:00PM waiting for a ball dropping in New York or a… messiah coming in Los Angeles . Mine go to bed at 9:00PM, why aren’t yours? How romantic is it to be proposed to and kissed while bumping with the plush ugly Dr. Seuss hats in dripping rain by a guy dressed like a clown on the camping trip gone bad? The guy decided to get spontaneous and proposed to a completely unsurprised girl, who was most definitely thinking: he better have a better one coming and with a ring!
The highlight was the performance of Black Eye Peas and Fergie’s legs. On that note, please go see “Nine”, you’re welcome! Jennifer Lopez was the second and the last highlight of the rainy festivities. How little is left for her to enjoy if the inspiration for a song now is her little Vuitton shoes. I’m looking forward to the next single “My Sparkly Fendi Bag” and a ballad “My Blue Balenciaga”.
My husband and I successfully finished the whole bottle of almond champagne by the time Jennifer and Mr. Lopez, dressed like a stage worker next to the sparkly diva of a wife were bidding good byes with Ryan Seacrest leaving us with the wishes of a happy new year. For non drinkers as we are we have established a definite new family record: no, not watching TV for hours (oh, and if there is such a record, we’d beat it, hands down!), but the whole bottle of champagne! We thanked each other for our healthy kids, congratulated each other on the 1st birthday of our beautiful daughter and wished for a better year. We did the same last year…oh, well…they say in Russian: hope is the last to die. S novim godom!