Past tense

Depending on the gender of the subject, if the verb is regular, it gets "l", "la", "li", or "lo" ending.  For example: The verb pisatj - писать  (to write, and make sure to put the stress on the "a" the last syllable, because if you stress the first syllable, the "i", then the word becomes to pee ): malchik pisal - мальчик писал  (boy wrote (or peed, if you stress the i)), devochka pisala -  девочка писала  (girl wrote), oblako pisalo - облако писало  (cloud wrote).  oni pisali - они писали  (they wrote).  This is the way to make past tense for most things, most of the time.

Russian Christmas happens twice a year

Everyone in Russia celebrates the New Year, which is the really big holiday that everyone agrees on. As far as Christmas goes: modern Russians celebrate the Western Christmas on December the 25th, but most of the Russian Christians celebrate the Christmas on January 7th. So, for some Russian families Jesus is born twice.
So don't forget to send your Russian friends three cards: for Western Christmas, for New Years, and for the 'real' Christmas.
To wish a Merry Christmas say, "S rozhdestvom hristovim" or simply "s rozhdestvom"
In Russian it is written like this: "с рождеством христовым"
To wish a happy new year say, "S novim godom" (" С новым годом ")

May 1st - Первое Мая (Pervoye Maya)

A Labor Day, an official holiday. We didn't have school on May 1st, but we were expected to march in the parade for a while, at least a couple of hours, before we could sneak away. I guess, schools and some businesses, like banks, are still closed on May 1st. But now kids probably don't have to participate in the parade. I watched a part of the big parade in Moscow in the Red Square on our tiny black and white tv. My favorite part was when they drove the huge missiles across the square; each missile as big as the truck bed it was on. Seeing them made me feel all warm and fuzzy.