A couple spends hours walking through a city park or along a river embankment in freezing temperatures. The romance is found in the endurance of the cold and the shared warmth of a single cup of takeaway coffee.
In September, every Russian campus is surrounded by golden berezy (birch trees). This is the "courtship phase." Couples walk laps around the park, drinking cheap beer from a plastic bottle, kicking through wet leaves. The autumnal decay foreshadows the winter hardship. A romantic storyline often peaks here during "First of September" (Knowledge Day) when first-year students meet, believing the next five years will be eternal. Russian College Sex Party