International New Year’s Day
International relations department and department of educational work held a New Year’s festival for international students, studying at North Caucasus State Technical University. There are 82 international students in the university. They come from 20 near- and far-abroad countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Palestine, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Nepal etc. In the nearest future this list will be continued by India and China.
“This year we’ve got the largest contingent of international students”, - said the vice-rector for international relations L.R. Alieva. “Our university not only provides training on traditional programmes: bachelor, specialist and master degree. There are also preliminary courses for international students. They study Russian, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and prepare for the entrance exams. Last year we organized the first preliminary courses for foreign citizens. This year all of them became the students of NCSTU. Many international students are newcomers. So it’s the first time that they meet Russia that’s why we not only inform them about educational system of Russia and its migration policy but also make their acquaintance of Russian culture, traditions, habits. We always try to get our foreign students involved in all university concerts, contests and activities. As for New Year, it’s our favourite holiday. Last year we made the first New Year’s festival for our students. Everybody liked it very much. They sent the photos from the festival home, shared their impressions about the Russian New Year’s Day with our Grandfather Frost, snow maiden Snegurochka, gifts, sweets, tea party. By tradition we hold this festival for the second time.”
When all students gathered, they were shown a performance with Grandfather Frost, snow maiden Snegurochka, beautiful girls in national costume and the animal symbol of the next year – hare. There were a lot of contests, songs, jests and prizes. After the festival the students were invited to a tea party. The guys brought their national food: Tajik pilau, Turkmen shurpa, Sudanese magloba etc. The students spoke about the New Year’s traditions in their countries. The Grandfather Frost was also unusual – it was the international student from Sudan, Mohamed Abdalla Elseyb Nadir. Last year he studied at preliminary courses of the university. Today he’s the first year student of Information Technologies and Telecommunications Faculty.
“I’ve been living in Russia for more than a year”, - said Elseyb. I like it here. I like Russian holidays – New Year’s Day, Christmas, Victory Day. During all holidays Russian people are merry and happy. We celebrate the New Year’s Day in our country either. The whole family gathers at festive table at 8-9 pm, at midnight they go out and celebrate the New Year dancing and singing songs till morning. But as opposed to Russia, we don’t receive greetings from our president, we’ve got no Grandfather Frost, no snow maiden and it doesn’t snow in our country. I have a lot of friends among Russian students, every day I meet new people. I also like to study at the university. This is my second New Year’s Eve in Russia, but I think that next New Year’s Day I’ll stay in Russia too.
Mass media department of NCSTU