While the tree is often already packed up and the Christmas celebrating over by New Year’s here in the U.S., the festive season is just getting started in the Ukraine, according to a Lipscomb student who was born in that former Soviet republic.
Christmas is not celebrated in the Ukraine, but they celebrate New Year’s in a way that seems like a mix of both holidays in the U.S., according to sophomore Nataliya Parahuz, who moved to the U.S. from the Ukraine when she was 12.
While in the Ukraine, Parahuz and her family celebrated the traditional New Year’s by shooting fireworks at midnight.
Every year, the Ukraine president comes on TV and gives a speech to encourage the people for a joyous New Year, just before the bells are rung 12 times, bringing cheers across the country.
After the ringing of the bells, Santa comes and puts presents for the children behind the front door, according to Parahuz.
The presents are opened up that night instead of having to wait until morning.
When her family moved to the States, they celebrated both Christmas on Dec. 25 and Ukrainian New Year’s. “It was awesome getting double presents, but then my parents decided to stop that,” Parahuz said.
“Now we get our presents on Christmas and still celebrate New Year’s the same way we did in the Ukraine, just without the presents.”
I took the 12:00 Old city tour. There is modern city tour at 16:00, too.
The guide was a friendly due with typical Ukrainian pronunciation, that is well understood yet. He brought in good info all the time and kept conversing with the diverse group that we were. Moreover, he helped me plan well the time needed for my return, as I had a flight to catch.
I recommend joining these tours, as you can always have a walk around the sites, but it is much, much better learning more about them by a guide, that has lived there and can bring some personal stories, too.
We discovered with http://www.privatetoursinistanbul.com and we highly suggest to anyone whom would like to visit that site.