《Russia ABCs: a book about the people and places of Russia》

"Privyet!" This is the Russian saying of "Hi". Russia is the biggest country of the world! It is both in Asia and Europe. There are almost 145 million people in Russia, ranks 8th in the world population. Now, welcome to learn about Russia!

A, is for alphabet: Russia people use Cyrillic, not English alphabet. It have 33 letters. Some letters are like English, but sound different. How would you like to try saying it? I certainly don't know how!

B, is for ballet: Russia is the home of two famous ballet companies in the world. One is the Bolshoi Ballet and the other is the Kirov Ballet. They train children to become world-known. It's very hard to get into these schools. They pick one out of one hundred! (I think so) If you are good at ballet, you can try to get a position. But, it's hard!

C, is for czar: Czars were like kings in Russia, but the czars didn't rule very well. They lived with riches when normal people starve. So the people forced the czar to give up his crown. Well, I certainly wouldn't want to be a czar! Even though they are super, super rich. (shutter,shutter)

D, is for doll: You must have heard the Russian nesting dolls, right? It's almost the most famous thing in Russia! Almost every travler who went to Russia brought a nesting doll as a souvenir. The hollow wooden dolls are hand painted and if you open one, you would find another inside. I have to admit, it's fun and pretty cool.

E, is for Europe: The Europe side of Russia is acually pretty small. But three-fourth of the people lives there. Because the Asia side is too cold. But it is full of oil and coal. so the Asia side isn't so bad afterall! What a relief!

F, is for flag: The flag of the country is the most important thing in the country, so let's learn about Russian flag! It's designed by Czar Peter the Great. (I guess that was why he was so great!) It's a three striped flag. Top is white, middle is blue, and bottom is red. White means kindness, Blue means loyalty, Red means courage.

G, is for Grandfather Frost: Grandfather Frost is like Santa Claus, but he gives gifts on New Year's Day. He drives a sleigh with horses insted of reindeers. He has a snow maiden to help him. I'm thinking to celebrate Russian New Year so I can get presents on both Chrismas and New Year, and red envelope filled with money in both New Year and Spring Festival!