Ordinarily, this kind of news might not merit a full post. But after another excruciating bus ride into New York City with some clod who had to broadcast every detail of his business over his cell phone, I find what the Alexandrinsky Theater has done worthy of applause.

The Alexandrinsky, located in St. Petersburg, is Russia's oldest theater. I think this is where I saw a production of Lucia di Lamermoor (Italian opera, but sung in Russian) on my trip to the city in 1982, but I no longer have the playbill. What makes... more

I like to sneak in a bit of Russian culture whenever I can, especially things that give my kids some bragging rights. And so it is that this Friday, March 9, we will be celebrating Yuri Gagarin's birthday. My kids love learning about space, and have been planning (plotting?) for a trip to the Kennedy Space Center for the last six months.

Gagarin, who would have been 73 this Friday, became the world's first astronaut on April 12, 1961. That was one month ahead... more

So my son wound up picking Black Geese: A Baba Yaga Story From Russia for his fairy tale book report. It is a quintessentially Russian story, but its subject matter makes it seem like the last book you would ever want to read to a child adopted from Russia.

The basic story of Baba Yaga--and... more

If you didn't catch a performance of the Russian-American Kids’ Circus in February, you're in luck: They've got shows in March too. They're going to be at the Franklin Opera House in Franklin, N.H. on Saturday, March 10, at noon and 2 p.m., and at the Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, N.Y. on Sunday, March 18, with shows at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Here's... more

I loved reading Rebecca's recent stories of the feast she prepared for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Not just for the menu, but for the fact that she pulled it all together by shopping at an Asian supermarket. I love ethnic grocery stores and I think they are an uncelebrated resource for those of us raising kids born in other countries.

When I lived in New York City, I could run out to the Russian supermarkets like White Acacia in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, to stock... more

This month, my older son's class has to write a book report on a fairy tale. And as luck (and an obsessive mother) would have it, we have several Russian fairy tales to choose from.

There is How Much Land Does a Man Need?, a 2001 adaptation of short story by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It is a classic tale of a man who, after years of building a life through hard work, succumbs to the temptation... more

Sandra over at the International Adoption Blog took a look last week at International Mother Languages Day, a commemoration set up by UNESCO in 1999. It's an interesting post to read if you love languages the way I do, but also because of what she brings out about Russia at the end.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize that there were a lot of languages in Russia besides Russian. I don’t... more

One of the worst things about being a French major was having to read Proust. But I've been thinking some lately about the food and memory issues raised by Remembrance Of Things Past because of the foods my children, who were adopted from Russia, gravitate to.

In my house, we seem to always have on hand inordinate quantities of potatoes, beets and cucumbers--the staples of the Russian diet. If it is summer when you travel to your child's orphanage, look at what's growing in the garden plots: potatoes, beets and cucumbers. When... more

When you are leaving the orphanage with your toddler, one of the last things you will likely hear from the staff is a friendly reminder not to change his or her diet too fast. But maybe you were at the orphanage during feeding time and saw the grayish-brown porridge they served the children. Maybe you came away thinking, I can't change this diet fast enough.

But there are two good reasons for heeding that dietary reminder. The first is something you've probably experienced in your travels: If your stomach isn't used to a particular kind of food,... more

In my earlier post on Russian art and music around the United States in February, I mentioned a high-definition broadcast of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on Feb. 24. It's an interesting program and I thought it was worth a bit more ink (to use an antiquated term from my profession).

Between now and April 28, the Met will be streaming live Saturday matinee performances of six operas to theaters around the... more