俄罗斯：妇女节的"烧钱"庆祝传统让男人压力山大
In Russia, Women's Day piles on the pressure for men
In offices across Russia, the countdown to International Women's Day is a whirl of last-minute meetings and dashes for gifts as men race to prepare festivities for their female colleagues.
在俄罗斯各地的办公室,妇女节的临近意味着最后关头的紧急会议和跑来跑去地买礼物,因为俄罗斯男人要争分夺秒地为女同事们准备妇女节的庆祝活动.
"We've sent out loads of emails, we've analysed the market, we've pooled ideas, and we've just got one more meeting ahead of the launch of Operation Women's Day," confided Sergei Krakhmalyev, who works at Rosbank, a major Russian bank.
在罗斯银行（一家俄罗斯大银行）工作的男士谢尔盖•克拉克马尔耶夫透露说："我们会发出大量邮件、分析市场行情、集思广益,甚至还会在妇女节行动日前夕召开会议."
"This year we've decided not to spend money on gifts that are useless, shall we say, but to organise a buffet," he said.
他说："今年我们决定不花钱买没用的礼物了,而是组织一场自助餐活动."
Krakhmalyev, who is in his 40s, works in a team of eight men and 35 women. He calculates that this year's celebration will cost about 25,000 rubles ($430).
现年40多岁的克拉克马尔耶夫在一个包含8名男性和35名女性的团队里工作.他估算今年的妇女节庆祝活动将花费约2.5万卢布（2964元人民币）.
"It's expensive," he says, "but it's a Soviet tradition that I think it's important to keep up."
他说："是挺烧钱的,但这是一项源于苏联时期的传统,我认为保持这一传统很重要."
A public holiday in the Soviet Union since 1965, March 8 is an opportunity for Russian men to "remember the importance of women" in society, he says.
他介绍说,1965年妇女节在前苏联成为公休假日,自那以后,3月8日就成为俄罗斯男人"铭记女人在社会中的重要性"的一个机会.
International Women's Day is also a public holiday, so office celebrations are held the day before.
国际妇女节在现在的俄罗斯也是公休假日,所以办公室的庆祝活动将会提前一天举行.
This year's events are expected to be relatively low-key in comparison to the oil-boom years, when many companies spared no expense.
今年的庆祝活动预期将比石油荣景年代相对低调些,那些年许多公司都是不惜血本地砸钱搞庆祝活动.
"The company used to allocate a big budget for this holiday and took as many as 500 women out to a restaurant," recalled Irina, who works in human resources at a major Russian company.
在一家俄罗斯大公司人力资源部工作的伊莉娜回忆说："公司曾经为这个节日拨出了一大笔经费,请了多达500名女员工下馆子吃饭."
"That was before the 2008 economic crisis," said Irina, 40, who asked not to disclose her surname. "Now the men have a whip-round to buy us flowers and chocolates."
