Maslenitsa week for international students: meeting, playing and feasting

Maslenitsa is a celebration that demonstrates Russian traditions better than anything else does. According to these traditions people spend the Maslenitsa week baking pancakes, visiting each other, playing games and burning Maslenitsa dummy that symbolizes end of the winter. International students who study the Russian language in VSUES and get acquainted with the Russian culture are traditionally involved into Maslenitsa celebrations.

In the framework of the cultural events program the International Relations Department of VSUES organized a visit to the complex “Russkaya Gornitsa” where international students got familiar with the Russian Maslenitsa entertainments.  

Students were met with traditional bread and salt. They saw a Maslenitsa dummy on a wooden sledge. They also participated in a wedding costume show during which two students from the USA - Alson Smith and Ian Blear acted as a bride and a groom. The students learned Russian wedding customs and exchanged gifts. And, of course, the international students were treated to traditional Maslenitsa food - pancakes with honey and sour cream.

Next step of the cultural trip led the students to a nearby city Ussuriysk, where they visited historic landscape park “Izumrudnaya Dolina” with exhibits of ancient Russian architecture. The international students visited a fair with various master classes, tasted herbal tea, watched puppetry and participated in the ancient Russian amusements. The day ended with a joyful walk-around and burning of a Maslenitsa dummy. It is no doubt that the Maslenitsa celebration will be one of the brightest memories for the international students.