Bunchland

How international families are celebrating Easter

Peep dioramas and creepy chocolate bunnies are fun and all, but the really awesome Easter traditions happen across the globe. We swept over five countries to give you a run down of the coolest family Easter customs we could find: some sinister, some delicious, some shocking. Rooted in folklore, these celebratory activities will inspire you to think outside the basket this Easter.

RUSSIA

In Russia, Easter eggs are painted blood red and people crack them open with their fingernails. Some parts of the country also partake of the pussy willow beating tradition à la Ukraine. After these slightly sinister activities, they bake a tall cake called a kulich and frost it with flowers and sprinkles! Often the kulich is carried to the church and blessed by a priest before the family scarfs it. The kulich lasts up to seven days, which is ideal because Russians party for the whole week. Kulich goes great with paskha, a dish made mostly of cheese and formed into the shape of a pyramid. Its white colour symbolizes purity. We reckon eating a pyramid of cheese may have you feeling not so pure afterward, but it’s all about symbolism right?  Read more...

Park Slope kids attend school in Russia

Clifford J. Levy’s story in this week’s New York Times Magazine is fascinating. When the Times placed him in Moscow, he and his wife had to find a school for their three kids. Rather than finding spaces for them in an international school with the kids of other foreign correspondents and dignitaries and such, Levy wanted his kids to get more out of living in Russia.

They chose Novaya Gumanitarnaya Shkola, or, the New Humanitarian School, which was all Russian, all the time. And, just like an ignorant North American might assume, the kids were ranked, with rankings displayed for the whole school to see. Why this school?

“It promised an enlightened and innovative interpretation of the classic Soviet education — all the rigor, without the suffocating conformity. Moscow progressives! Maybe the transition wouldn’t be too rocky.  Read more...

Because how else can you study Yetis without an official Yeti Institute?

Will we ever get proof of the snowy white bigfoot-like creature believed (by some) to inhabit the Himalayas? Now, nothing’s been confirmed, but Kemerovo State University just might start researching the abominable snowman.

This is probably a really excellent use of academic funds, but we’re not sure what sort of research would go on and what this research is meant to accomplish; ice cave excavations? Footprint analysis? And should researchers find the Yeti, then what? Affixing stars to the tops of Christmas trees takes but a minute. (Kidding, obviously we’re waiting for the Gorillas in the Mist-esque Yeti movie)

The Kemerovo Region in Western Siberia, which uses supposed Yeti sightings to boost tourism, will reach a final decision after this year’s scheduled International Yeti Conference. (To talk about Yetis, not to be confused with a conference run by Yetis)  Read more...