Sunday, December 2, 2007

New Year season coming

Light strings lining our streets remind of the approaching New Year season. The 3 good men will soon bring presents to Slovene children; St. Nicholas on December 6th, Santa Claus on December 25th, and Grandpa Frost aka dedek Mraz on December 31st/January 1st. I asked Kay if they have 'dedek Mraz' in the US – she said there is a character called Father New Year or Father Times but that he does not bring presents. Only Santa Claus. We are luckier, aren't we? ;-)
My personal favorite of the 3 has always been dedek Mraz. Imported from Russia (ded Moroz), he is a remnant from the times of Yugoslavia when Christmas and St. Nicholas Day weren't too loudly celebrated due to communist regime. They had been widely celebrated before that and they are today, here and there also during Yugoslavia, but much more quietly. Being a child from this socialist era, dedek Mraz continues to be my hero. Who is yours?
Photo source: http://www.answers.com/topic/ded-moroz

3 comments:

bili said...

Well if we have to choose, than I guess mine would also be Dedek Mraz... I stil remember how he would visit us when we were kids in school and bring us gifts...this big man with ''kučma''-how do you say this in english? ;)

Saša said...

Had to look it up - Wikipedia says 'shapka' (imported from the Russian language), a fur cap common in Russia, China, Korea, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The one with ear flaps is called 'ushanka'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushanka

bili said...

woow what a cool name...it makes sense even...;)