Cheburashka

Before I go to bed I thought I would write a bit about Cheburashka.

During one of my many tea breaks, Pasha-the-DSV mentioned "Cheburashka". Wondering what this was, I googled it and found out a lot about this lovely little creature who is such an integral part of Russian culture.

Cheburashka is a little animal who was found in a crate of oranges by a shopkeeper. When he got out of the box, he was very clumsy as he had travelled a long way and eaten a lot of oranges. So he fell off the table and the shopkeeper decided to give him this name, which effectively means "little tumbling one" (although I do realise that now somehow sounds like something you would associate with teepees!).

I have found one of the episodes on youtube, although I would like to see the first three. I have been watching this one a lot, to practice my Russian (can I manage the level of a 5-year-old??) and understand this national obsession a bit more.

The original animations came out in the 1970s, but the one I have seen is surprisingly ironic about everything being broken, etc. Or maybe that's just my post-Soviet perspective. Anyway, this is what generations of Russians have grown up with, and they name a lot of things after him, if they look in any way like his head, or simply as an affectionate term. Also he was used as the Russian mascot at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

He has 2 friends, Gena the accordion-playing crocodile, and Shapocliack, a crazy old lady.

This is the kind of thing I would never have found out by just visiting as a tourist...:-)