OFFICIAL: World Cup 2018 logo unveiled in Moscow

The official emblem of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has been unveiled by the cosmonauts at the International Space Station. The logo was then projected onto the iconic Bolshoi Theater building in the heart of Russian capital, Moscow.

The ceremony was broadcast live during the popular Evening Urgant television talk show, which was attended by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Italian football great Fabio Cannavaro and Russia's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko.

Blatter stated "To creatively capture the essence of this remarkable historic moment inspiration was drawn from both Russia's rich artistic tradition and its history of bold achievement and innovation," he said. "I hope that fans around the world will appreciate and love the Russia 2018 emblem.”

664 billion rubles ($15.6 billion), half of which are federal budget funds, are to be allocated for the World Cup project through 2018.

Russian Holidays

     The Russian government recognizes about 9 official holidays, and by official holidays I mean that all government offices and most stores are closed. New Years day (January 1st)  is probably the most celebrated and anticipated holiday in Russia. It is usually celebrated with friends, lots of traditional food, champagne, beer and vodka. It is common to exchange gifts and put up a tree for this holiday, so I suppose it is very similar to the American Christmas. Russians do also celebrate Christmas, but not on the 25th of December. They celebrate on January 7th. Also, Christmas is seen as much more of a sacred Christian holiday, filled with church services and other religious activities. 

Russians celebrate the New Year in 2012- Moscow


Other popular holidays include День защитника Отечества (defender of the fatherland day), Flag day, Spring and Labor day, International Woman's day, Unity day, Russia day, and Victory day. 

Hannah's blog post unit 4

History in the making... or any way I find it pretty interesting.... Anyway last year there was a famous Japanese pop star, Sho Sakurai, who traveled to Russia as part of a program they do yearly called "24 hour TV" and he was able to interview Mikhail Gorbachev. When he arrived Gorbachev took his preassigned notes and asked for them to simply sit and talk. And so for 30 minutes the pair sat and held a serious conversation about nuclear disarmament and poverty. At the end of the interview Gorbachev complimented the young idol telling him “I’m glad to see a surefooted young person like you.” He was pleased to know there were such good young people and that the youth of our time can change the world if we set out minds to it. I actually watched the interview and found it quite touching because after his discussion the idol went and actually did a short documentary on poverty in Romania.