俄罗斯：妇女节的“烧钱”庆祝传统让男人压力山大

妇女节在俄罗斯是个盛大的节日，不但全国人民都可以放假，连休4天，男同事还要负责给女同事准备礼物和庆祝活动。在女同胞们欢欣鼓舞的同时，俄罗斯的男人们却进入了紧张的“备战”状态，不少男人还抱怨过妇女节太“烧钱”。

In offices across Russia, the countdown to International Women's Day is a whirl of last-minute meetings and dashes for gifts as men race to prepare festivities for their female colleagues.

在俄罗斯各地的办公室，妇女节的临近意味着最后关头的紧急会议和跑来跑去地买礼物，因为俄罗斯男人要争分夺秒地为女同事们准备妇女节的庆祝活动。

"We've sent out loads of emails, we've analysed the market, we've pooled ideas, and we've just got one more meeting ahead of the launch of Operation Women's Day," confided Sergei Krakhmalyev, who works at Rosbank, a major Russian bank.

在罗斯银行 "This year we've decided not to spend money on gifts that are useless, shall we say, but to organise a buffet," he said.

他说：“今年我们决定不花钱买没用的礼物了，而是组织一场自助餐活动。”

Krakhmalyev, who is in his 40s, works in a team of eight men and 35 women. He calculates that this year's celebration will cost about 25,000 rubles ($430).

现年40多岁的克拉克马尔耶夫在一个包含8名男性和35名女性的团队里工作。他估算今年的妇女节庆祝活动将花费约2.5万卢布 "It's expensive," he says, "but it's a Soviet tradition that I think it's important to keep up."

他说：“是挺烧钱的，但这是一项源于苏联时期的传统，我认为保持这一传统很重要。”

A public holiday in the Soviet Union since 1965, March 8 is an opportunity for Russian men to "remember the importance of women" in society, he says.

他介绍说，1965年妇女节在前苏联成为公休假日，自那以后，3月8日就成为俄罗斯男人“铭记女人在社会中的重要性”的一个机会。

International Women's Day is also a public holiday, so office celebrations are held the day before.

国际妇女节在现在的俄罗斯也是公休假日，所以办公室的庆祝活动将会提前一天举行。

This year's events are expected to be relatively low-key in comparison to the oil-boom years, when many companies spared no expense.

今年的庆祝活动预期将比石油荣景年代相对低调些，那些年许多公司都是不惜血本地砸钱搞庆祝活动。

"The company used to allocate a big budget for this holiday and took as many as 500 women out to a restaurant," recalled Irina, who works in human resources at a major Russian company.

在一家俄罗斯大公司人力资源部工作的伊莉娜回忆说：“公司曾经为这个节日拨出了一大笔经费，请了多达500名女员工下馆子吃饭。”

"That was before the 2008 economic crisis," said Irina, 40, who asked not to disclose her surname. "Now the men have a whip-round to buy us flowers and chocolates."

40岁的伊莉娜说：“那是在2008年经济危机之前，现在男人们只要凑钱给女同事买鲜花和巧克力就可以了。”伊莉娜请求不要透露自己的姓氏。

Nevertheless the holiday "cheers up the atmosphere in the team," she said.

不过，她表示，这个节日还是会“让团队的气氛高昂起来”。

In Russia, it is also widely seen as a counterpart to the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland, on February 23, which is nominally for those who served in the army but is considered the male equivalent.

在俄罗斯，妇女节还被普遍视为和祖国保卫者日 In offices, this holiday is often an occasion for celebrations that take an unreconstructed approach to gender roles.

在办公室，祖国保卫者日就是庆祝旧时代性别角色的一个时机。

"This year we organised a fake army recruitment drive" for the defender holiday, Irina said. "We gave our colleagues a medical and some of us were dressed up as sexy nurses."

伊莉娜说：“今年我们为庆祝祖国保卫者日组织了一场假征兵动员活动，我们给男同事们做医疗护理，而我们当中的一些女同事打扮成了性感的护士。”

"Now the men are under pressure. They have to try to do better than us, even if we know that's impossible," she added with a smile.

她笑着补充说：“现在男人们有压力了。他们不得不努力赶超我们，尽管我们知道他们不可能做得比我们好。”

- Bonanza for florists -

花商的好运日

Some men, however, including Vitaly Konyayev, a project manager in the southern Russian city of Saratov, find it hard to get into the holiday spirit.

然而，也有些男性，包括俄罗斯南部城市萨拉托夫的一个项目经理维塔利•孔雅耶夫，难以让自己进入节日情绪。

"This year my colleagues didn't give me anything for February 23, so they can whistle for a gift on March 8," he said.

他说：“今年2月23日我的女同事们什么也没给我，所以3月8日那天她们也休想得到礼物。”

The March 8 holiday "only means something if you give flowers to a woman you love and respect -- not those you are forced to rub along with at work," he said.

他说，“如果你送花给你心爱和尊敬的女人，而不是你被迫在职场打交道的女人”，3月8日这个节日“才有意义”。

He complained that he had to pay almost 1,000 rubles for a bunch of flowers for the holiday, which brings a bonanza for florists.

他抱怨说，他得花费近1000卢布为妇女节买一束鲜花，让花商从中得益。

Flower prices often double ahead of the March 8 holiday -- and orders double as well, said Florence Gervais d'Aldin, a French flower grower and importer who has worked in Russia for more than 20 years.

花商热维斯•德•阿尔丁说，鲜花价格通常在3月8日前夕都会成倍上涨，订单也会成倍增加。阿尔丁是一名来自法国的花农和进口商，已经在俄罗斯做了20多年生意了。

Her business, which specialises in scented roses, sells more than 8,000 roses on March 7 and 8, compared with her usual sales of 600 per day.

她主要经营有香味的玫瑰，平时的日销售量为600朵，而在3月7日和8日这两天，可以卖掉超8000朵。

"It's a day for mothers, for sweethearts, for colleagues, all together," Gervais d'Aldin said, with its popularity "far higher" than that of St Valentine's Day, on February 14.

阿尔丁说：“这是属于母亲、爱人、女同事和所有其他女性的节日”。她还说道，这个节日的受欢迎度比2月14日情人节“还要高得多”。

- Starting young -

从小培养妇女节庆祝传统

The stress of organising a celebration for female counterparts starts early, with boys in elementary school expected to throw celebrations for the girls in their class.

为女同胞们组织庆祝活动的压力从小就开始了，小学男生就要开始为班里的女同学庆祝节日。

Sasha Kuznetsov, 11, has put together a programme of cakes, balloons, greeting cards and even a concert.

11岁的萨沙•库兹涅佐夫为女同学准备了蛋糕、气球、贺卡甚至音乐会等一系列节目。

"I think this holiday should exist, but it shouldn't be celebrated in such a pompous way," he said.

他说：“我认为这个节日应该存在，但不应该如此大张旗鼓地庆祝。”

"In any case, soon it will be pointless because women's rights will be respected," he added.

他补充说：“无论如何，很快这个节日也将失去它的意义，因为女性的权利将得到尊重。”

For foreigners working in Russia, the full-on approach is a culture shock, said Samuel, a French national working for Sberbank, the country's biggest lender.

对于在俄罗斯工作的外来员工而言，比如塞缪尔，这种火力全开的庆祝方式真是个文化冲击。塞缪尔是在俄罗斯最大的商业银行俄罗斯联邦储蓄银行工作的法国人。

"Russians get used to this holiday from childhood, but for us, it's always a bit strange," he said.

他说：“俄罗斯人打小就习惯这样庆祝这个节日，而对我们而言，总归有点奇怪。”

He found himself designated a "volunteer" to organise this year's celebrations, a role that he said requires "endless meetings and spreadsheets". Last year, the party ended up costing more than 150,000 rubles.

今年他被指派为组织妇女节庆祝活动的“志愿者”，据他表示这个角色需要“没完没了的开会和制作电子表格”。去年，妇女节庆祝派对花掉了超15万卢布。

"For my Russian colleagues, it's a time to make a gesture," he said. "Even if it is often corny and some things would make a French woman scream."

他说：“对我的俄罗斯同事而言，这是做出表示的时刻。尽管这些庆祝活动通常很老土，有些节目还会让一个法国女人尖叫。”