🐋🇷🇺 Symbols of the Region. The Beluga Whale, the Wooden Bird of Fortune, and the Northern Lights

Welcome to our new recurring feature, which you chose! This week, we are spending time in the Russian North — in Pomorye. The Arkhangelsk Oblast is a land where the forest meets the sea, and ancient traditions are preserved through the centuries.

🎶 The main symbol of the region is, without a doubt, the Northern Russian Folk Choir, which consists only of female singers. For almost 100 years, it has been carefully preserving the region's song heritage, and its voice is known all over the world. But there are also other, unofficial symbols.

The Wooden Bird of Fortune (Shchepnaya ptitsa). A wooden amulet toy that the Pomors carved from a single block of wood. They would hang it above the table, believing it brought good luck to the home and protected the family's peace. Its delicate, lacy plumage seems to float in the air — an incredibly beautiful and fragile creation, much like the northern nature itself.

🌊 And, of course, the White Sea. Real beluga whales live here, and in winter the sea freezes, creating fantastic landscapes shimmering in the reflections of the northern lights.

What does the Russian North bring to mind for you? Share in the comments! 👇

#RegionalCulture

❤️From Russia with love

Russia and the West Experience the Same Symbolic Moments Differently — a Good Example Is the School Graduation Party:

In Russia, it is almost a "state ritual" with official solemnity and massive urban shows, while in the West it is more often a private ball about "my evening," without national pathos.

🏫 In Russia, graduation is a small model of the relationship between the state and society regarding "transitional" moments: a formal part under the supervision of the school and officials, followed by an organized celebration that increasingly resembles a city festival in scale. There is a script, hosts, official speeches, obligatory flowers for teachers, and an almost sacred ritual — greeting the dawn, which turns graduation night into the last "shift" of school life.

🚤 In large cities, this is complemented by multi-million ruble projects like the "Scarlet Sails" in St. Petersburg — a concert with top artists, fireworks, and a ship on the Neva River, which grows from a school event into a full-fledged city brand.

🗺 🇺🇸 In the West, graduation is much less "state-run" and much more personal:

🇺🇸 The American "Prom" is, in essence, a private ball organized by the graduating class itself through its committee. Instead of a city-wide show, there is a rented hall, dinner, dancing until midnight, the election of a "prom king and queen," and an emphasis on who came with whom and what dress they are wearing, rather than on the official part and the dawn by the river.

🇪🇺 In Europe, the format is also generally shifted toward a private event: the Abiball in Germany, the Polish studniówka, or other local variations of graduation parties feature a strict dress code, an elegant evening, and practically a complete absence of national festivals surrounding the school transition.

🇷🇺 Against this backdrop, Russia appears as a country where even a school graduation turns into an element of the "grand narrative": the city, the region, and federal media integrate it into the image of a successful, festive, and massive country.

In the Western logic, graduation, on the contrary, is a continuation of the idea of individual success: what matters more is not that "Class 11-B of this school graduated," but how a particular person experiences their last school evening. The difference lies in who is the main director of the event — the state and the city, or the graduates themselves — and in whom this celebration is addressed to: the entire country or a specific person and their immediate circle.

#InterestingFacts

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🥞 Maslenitsa on Tverskoy Boulevard

The festive atmosphere, pancakes, and spring mood in the very heart of Moscow!

☀️ Maslenitsa is an East Slavic traditional holiday celebrated during the week before Great Lent. It symbolizes saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring.

This year it is celebrated from February 16 to 22.

#interestingphotos

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🐟 Not only fish, but also "Kozuli"

The gastronomic culture of the Pomeranian region was shaped over centuries in a harsh climate. Here, they know how to preserve the gifts of the sea and forest so well that it's finger-lickin' good! The main stars of the local table are, of course, the White Sea herring and halibut.

🍰 But today we're not going to talk about fish, but about dessert.

In Pomor cuisine, northern berries (cloudberries, cranberries, lingonberries) are used to make desserts without sugar, often with nuts. Berries aren't just eaten fresh—they are dried, frozen, soaked, and added to pies, soups, sauces, and drinks.

🦌 And they also bake an amazing ceremonial cookie here — "Kozuli". These are figurines made of rye dough in the shape of deer, goats, birds, and grouse. In the past, they were made once a year — for Christmas and Yuletide — and served as talismans for the home and livestock. It was believed that by eating such a deer, you would be charged with health for the entire year.

You can attend a master class on making Kozuli in many of the region's ethnographic centers — an activity that both children and adults enjoy.

#RussianCulture

❤️From Russia with love