Culture of Ukraine

Ukraine is a country with a well-defined national identity, but also an assortment of strong culturally-identified ethnic groups. Ukrainians make up nearly three quarters of the population, and Russians comprise twenty-two percent. Also represented are Belarusians, Moldovans, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Poles, Jews, Greeks and others.

Religion is also practiced throughout the country—Orthodox Christianity and Uniat(e) are the two most widely practised religions; Protestantism and Judaism are also well represented. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the largest in the country. Faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the second largest, practice Orthodox rites but are united with the Roman Catholic Church.

Ukraine has seven universities throughout the country.

Ukrainian traditions are also practised outside of Ukraine's borders by the people of the diaspora.

Ukrainians generally carry themselves in a very civilized manner. Men always hold the door open for a woman when she enters a building, stand up when a woman enters the room, and, if there is a shortage of seats, will give up their seats to the women. In rural areas men will sometimes kiss a woman's hand, but this is starting to go out of fashion.

Some rules to rememeber in Ukraine include:

- Never shake hands over a threshold - Never put a bottle on the corner of a table - Always bring an odd number of flowers to a house - Women should never sit on cement - When passing through the aisles of a theatre, always face the people sitting down - When eating dinner as a guest in someone's home, try not to leave early

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Food

Main article: Ukrainian cuisine

Cultural food is an important part to the Ukrainian culture. Special foods are used at Easter as well as Christmas, that are not made at any other time of the year. The most well known foods are: borshch (a vegetable soup, usually with beets), holobtsi (cabbage rolls), varenyky (often called perogies), and pyrohy (a fried, dessert version of verenyky).

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Christmas Traditions

Main article: Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper

At Christmas time there is a custom on the night of Christmas Eve to have a twelve-course meal, symbolic of the twelve apostles. This meal is both meatless and dairyless. It usually consists of a few fish dishes (baked fish, pickled herring), verenyky, holobtsi, kolach (round braided bread), kutya (cooked wheat with poppy seeds, and honey or sugar, only made in the Christmas season), some mushroom dishes, and garlic, as well as a few other ingredients.

There are also symbolic accompaniments to the meal. The meal starts in the evening, as soon as the first evening star is seen, representing the star that the wise men followed to reach Jesus. There is also a candle in the window to show that anyone wandering the street that doesn't have a place to go is welcome to join the family for the evening and celebrate. As the meal is supposed to be just a family affair, for the night the guest is considered an honorary family member. The use of wheat is also important. There is usually a sheaf of wheat placed in the corner near the table, to remind the family of the ancestors that have passed on, and to symbolise their presence at the table. Also wheat is placed under the tablecloth and under the table. Also, an extra plate is set at the table for Jesus.

Carols are also an important part of the Christmas tradition. Some carols reach back into pre-Christian times. The most widely recognised Ukrainian carol is the New Year's carol "Shchedryk", adopted in the west as the Carol of the Bells. Christmas carols are a tradition that the entire family participates in. In addition, one is only allowed to sing these carols during the Christmas season, and never at any other time.

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See also

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References