March 8th will mark INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY in Russia and around the world. The focus of the celebration around the world varies in different regions. The primary aspect of Women’s Day is to express appreciation and love towards women. Men and boys usually buy flowers, candy, and stuffed animals for those they love or friends. It is generally a day of the celebration and appreciation of women in every man’s life. 

The origin of International Women’s Day started in 1911 in several Central European countries. The idea of International Women’s Day from the beginning was to have a day to acknowledge women in everyday life, along to raise awareness of the political and social blockades women faced in everyday life and society in that time.

March 8, Park 300-Letiya (300 years St Petersburg's Anniversary Park)

Have a great experience by coming to Park 300-Letiya on March 8th to light up the sky! Come and light a floating lamp into the sky; make a wish, and it will come true. Let’s all get together and illuminate the night sky with bright colors of our lamps with the bright colors of St. Petersburg in the background. This is a very beautiful and romantic spectacle that we will do ourselves.

The little bear like character, which is loved by many all around the world, is one of Russia’s international symbols of recognition. CHEBURASHKA (Russian: Чебурашка) was originally a cartoon character in the Soviet Union entertaining children and even adults. Cheburashka since the fall of the Soviet Union has grown to worldwide popularity status as that little bear like animal with big ears. Eduard Uspensky first made up the cute little animal in 1966, in his children’s literature books. Soon after this in 1969, the first Cheburashka film was made. Soon after this, Cheburashka became an instant favorite of children all over the Soviet Union. Even to this date, adults and children alike can relate or remember songs that were featured in the cartoon series.

On March 4th, Russians will take to the polls to decide the leader of their country for the next six years. The presidential elections in the Russian Federation have been the subject of speculation over the past few months, sweeping the headlines over the world, as protesters have been trying to imitate the recent successes in the Arab Spring type protests for change. The political situation that leads up to the election on Sunday is much more difficult to understand than the average person thinks. Russia is a country in which can find only five prominent candidates for the presidential election. The strong Vladimir Putin, communist Gennady Zyuganov, loud spoken Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Sergey Mironov, and billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, all are in the race for president of the Russian Federation.

There will be two speed-dating parties on March 4th. The locations will be at bar XXXX, and the second at the Luxury Café. It is a great chance to meet beautiful girls and interesting young people, who all gather to meet, chat, and maybe meet their soul mate. The participants are the same number of girls and guys, so no one will be ignored. It is a great chance to meet new people, have a great time, or maybe meet the love of your life.

The USHANKA can be translated to a furry winter hat with earflaps. Men and women in Russia often wear the ushanka. The Ushanka got its name because of the hat having its ear-flaps being able to be tied on top of the hat or let down to the sides. 

When wearing the ushanka, one has several different options on how to wear it. The freedom to let the earflaps cover your ears from the harsh Russian winter proves to be helpful in the long run. The classical style of having the earflaps tied on top the hat can be seen in the old Soviet Union movies, thus, making the ushanka famous worldwide.

The Igora ski resort will host the biggest snowboarding tour in Eastern Europe, the QUICKSILVER NEW STAR tour. This year’s competition has received a four star rating from the series “World Tour Ticket To Ride,” which is a sign of quality and status. The rating is also provided by the most recent visits by the most respected snowboarders on the tour and around the world. The main slope at the Igora resort is highlighted by its challenging slope style-track, with maximum visibility, made by the best shapers and builders of slopes in the world. 

Hugh Laurie, the star of “Doctor House”, is coming to St. Petersburg with his band.

British actor Hugh Laurie, star of the TV series “Doctor House”, will come to St. Petersburg on June 24th with a performance of his debut album “Let Them Talk.” The performance will take place at October Concert Hall (BKZ Oktyabr'sky). 

Laurie was first to arrive in Russia to present his first album, which he recorded with his band last year. Laurie, who is the vocalist and keyboardist in the group, is scheduled to perform in eight major European cities on his tour. Before coming to Russia on June 24th, Laurie will play in Kiev on June 20th, and in Minsk on June 22nd. Warner Music Company released the debut blues album. Within a week after the record was released, the record appeared on the British national music charts, as well as in Billboard magazine.

Just like any other country, Russian names have full names and their short equivalents. So one may hear sometimes something like “Hey Dima, come over here”, and wonder, “Who is Dima”? But in fact, this is just a short name for Dmitry or Dimitry (pronounced with the letter “i” as it is difficult for an English speaking person to pronouce Russian consonant clusters) . 

So it is very common to call your friends or acquaintances by their short names in Russia. This makes you sound less formal and means that you are on familiar terms with the person you are addressing by his/her short name. In fact, this is not just common but is almost an unwritten rule to address your friends by either their nicknames or their short names.

The deepest aquarium in Russia, "Planet Neptune", opened yesterday, Feb 17th, 2012, in St. Petersburg. The depth of the new tank is the height of a three-storey house, and a new exhibition “The Road to the Ocean”, will include more than 1200 species of reef dwelling fish and crustaceans. As reported in an interview, the new exhibition includes the most numerous inhabitants of the steep reef slopes from the Indian and western Pacific oceans. They are extremely voracious, so three times a day they must be fed large amounts of food.