Let me invite you to Slava’s jubilee birthday, held in the large conference room of his offices. There are about 25 people sitting at a large T-shaped table, with family at the end. You find a place, and within easy reach are platters of open-faced sandwiches, several types of pirogi, bowls of olives and pickles, and three-tiered trays of fruit. Also within easy reach are bottles of French Bordeaux, Russian vodka, Armenian cognac, various fruit juices, and water. Please help yourself.
Do remember that it is not Russian tradition to sit and sip. There will be plenty of time to drink your drink in response to toasts made throughout the evening.
At a birthday party, what do you give to The Man Who Has Everything? In Russia the answer to that is easy -- flowers. Sviatoslav Anatolyevich (a.k.a. Slava) got bouquet after bouquet of roses, lilies, mums, and more. There were other very Russian gifts: a beautiful sterling silver bowl made specifically for serving caviar, an elaborate tea set, and Russian Orthodox icons. One thoughtful gift was a book about the city of Harbin, the Russian enclave in China where Slava was born. Slava also got a couple of unusual cases for business cards, a keepsake Australian coin of pure silver, a pair of silver champagne flutes, a fancy new cell phone, and several years’ supply of cognac, his favorite drink (one bottle lasts him a year).
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