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It’s the packed hair salons with windows framed by steamy edges that first catches my eye. Scurrying past in the bitter cold, the obvious warmth and friendly chatter about the upcoming year past makes many, even the hair-impaired like myself, long for a reason to enter.
The darkness of Russia’s long, wintry days is deep but as the calendar pulls closer to the end of the year, apartment after apartment hangs curtains of twinkling lights. In the way lighting bugs appear, disappear and then reappear on hot, summer nights, so too the lights tug at your peripheral vision.
No one in Russia wants a warm New Year’s Eve and as more snow falls and the drifts pile higher, the mood rises. New Year’s 2021 was a wonderfully white celebration.
Having been in Russia for over 26 years, it took me 20 to begrudgingly give them their due when it comes to New Year’s. The past two years of COVID have led me to say unequivocally: No one does New Year’s like they do in Russia!
