Western Christmas in Moscow
Martine Self
January 28, 2006
Just a few years ago when I first moved here, back in 1998, I revelled in the refreshing lack of festive season celebrations. The process in England, which is where I’d come from, had managed to turn me off this annual event big time.
There, I noticed, as soon as the summer outdoor furniture and garden displays were removed on September 1, officially the start of autumn, in crept the Christmas decorations and foodstuffs. Thus we were subjected to a barrage of ‘shove-it-down-your-throat-whether-you-like-it-or-not’ marketing. By November, the magazines marked for publication in December were out on the streets, and surprise, surprise, full of nauseatingly prescriptive articles on how to find the perfect outfit for the big day, how to dress your table and your tree perfectly for the big day, how to avoid conflict with your relatives with whom you would be sharing the big day, just what presents you should be buying them and so on, and so on. Television lifestyle programmes would do their bit to pile on the pressure.
In clone towns around the country, Christmas lights would be switched on starting mid-November and shops would start various in-your-face campaigns to lure the shoppers in to spend their hard earned cash. You get the picture – the festive season was one great big bore by the time 1 December rolled round.
Not in Moscow though. There was no mention of Novy God (New Year) until, bless his cotton socks, Yuriy Luzhkov, the master of Moscow otherwise known as the mayor, decreed (I love it when he decrees things, reminds me of Roman emperors) that the city shall be decorated for the festive season from 1 December. That gave us a good month to properly build up a head of steam and concentrate on the celebrations without overkill.
Now I notice, to my great chagrin, the festive frenzy is starting to leach in from the West. Take my local Auchan supermarket for example, no doubt their French merchandisers decided that by mid-November, it was okay to start selling baubles for the yolka (Christmas tree) and other decorations, strategically positioned near appropriate gifts for the shopper’s nearest and dearest.
Before we know it, the annual round will start 1 November and who knows, even earlier, given the consumerist frenzy Moscow finds itself in these days. The only thing for it, is to move east, where no doubt time still has to catch up.
There, I noticed, as soon as the summer outdoor furniture and garden displays were removed on September 1, officially the start of autumn, in crept the Christmas decorations and foodstuffs. Thus we were subjected to a barrage of ‘shove-it-down-your-throat-whether-you-like-it-or-not’ marketing. By November, the magazines marked for publication in December were out on the streets, and surprise, surprise, full of nauseatingly prescriptive articles on how to find the perfect outfit for the big day, how to dress your table and your tree perfectly for the big day, how to avoid conflict with your relatives with whom you would be sharing the big day, just what presents you should be buying them and so on, and so on. Television lifestyle programmes would do their bit to pile on the pressure.
In clone towns around the country, Christmas lights would be switched on starting mid-November and shops would start various in-your-face campaigns to lure the shoppers in to spend their hard earned cash. You get the picture – the festive season was one great big bore by the time 1 December rolled round.
Not in Moscow though. There was no mention of Novy God (New Year) until, bless his cotton socks, Yuriy Luzhkov, the master of Moscow otherwise known as the mayor, decreed (I love it when he decrees things, reminds me of Roman emperors) that the city shall be decorated for the festive season from 1 December. That gave us a good month to properly build up a head of steam and concentrate on the celebrations without overkill.
Now I notice, to my great chagrin, the festive frenzy is starting to leach in from the West. Take my local Auchan supermarket for example, no doubt their French merchandisers decided that by mid-November, it was okay to start selling baubles for the yolka (Christmas tree) and other decorations, strategically positioned near appropriate gifts for the shopper’s nearest and dearest.
Before we know it, the annual round will start 1 November and who knows, even earlier, given the consumerist frenzy Moscow finds itself in these days. The only thing for it, is to move east, where no doubt time still has to catch up.
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