Fake traditions It was a real story that a scientist who study folklore spent a few hours writing fairy tales that he considered as a folk ancient stories. An old man in a wooden house in an almost abandoned village have dictated the stories to the scientist. Everything have seemed fine until the old man said: 'now I'm tired, come here a week later so I can compose some new stories for you'. The disappointing truth is that most of the so called national traditions are invented not very long ago. Some of them are invented by accident, some by not very pedantic scientists, some by nationalistic politicians, but most of them, I'm afraid, are simply made for tourists by smart marketologists. Anyway you are always welcome in Russia to drink vodka, play balalaika, ride troyka, and (which is more important) to buy as much matryoshka as you can carry.