At the end of December, the Research Library of Tomsk State University hosted a Speak Dating marathon in nine languages and the traditional celebration of the Cool Contrasts Clubs New Year Fest. The events were devoted to the upcoming winter holidays and attracted over 110 people fr om different universities of Tomsk and citizens of the city who came to talk about winter games, leisure time and New Year traditions of different countries.
– This year, the community of our language clubs faced new interesting challenges. We started to learn the languages, traditions and modern history of Mongolia, Pakistan and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. We added the flags of these countries so that the participants could choose them to indicate the languages they speak, – said Sebastjan Jemec, the Speak Dating moderator, a librarian at the International Resource Center and a lecturer at the Faculty of Foreign Languages. – Our fest united people from different parts of the world. There were students who saw snow for the first time!
According to Fateh Derghal, the French club moderator and a master student at the TSU Biological Institute, the ten rounds of the language marathon turned from a simple meeting into a real celebration of diversity and amity. Changing partners, the participants tried to communicate in different languages and overcome cultural barriers.
The marathon resulted in a celebration of the Cool Contrasts Clubs New Year Fest. Each club had its own creative space and tried to show its uniqueness: there were workshops for the participants wh ere they could try to write Chinese characters, make a holiday card “auf Deutsch” in a “mountain hut”, learn about Italian and Latin American cuisines, play board games and many other interesting activities.
Final meeting of TSU Speaking Clubs at the Research Library – Cool Contrasts Clubs New Year Fest
– The Russian speaking club prepared a quiz “New Year in Russia” and a language game “Say it in Russian” for the international students. There were also traditional treats and fortune telling. And, of course, there were Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, and the participants could make photos with them, added Valentina Manashova, a club moderator and a teaching assistant at the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language.
For the French club workshop, Nataliia Ermakova, its coordinator and a librarian at the International Resource Center, baked gingerbread cookies and the participants had the opportunity to decorate them “à la française”.
– Our club’s regular members, students from the French-speaking countries and other guests gathered around our table. They decorated the gingerbreads with icing of different colors and sprinkles, joked and laughed, showed each other their cookies: snowmen, Christmas trees, stars, snowflakes, Nataliia said. – At the same time, we discussed the New Year traditions of our home countries and played the Uno board game.
The ancient tradition of smashing a piñata to celebrate Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries has already become a tradition at such events organized by the participants of TSU speaking clubs.
– Cheerful music, touching Christmas songs and laughter – all it created a bright, warm, almost magical atmosphere, said Fateh Dergal, describing the general mood. – In such moments of communication, national differences are blurred, distances between countries are reduced thus reminding everyone that even when people are far from home, they always find a way to unite.
The organizers and all the participants of the festive event would like to thank Li Yu, a master student of the Institute of Economics and Management, for creative photos.
Text: TSU Research Library