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On December 20, Speak dating, a marathon of communication in nine languages, and Cool Contrasts Clubs New Year Fest, the annual final meeting of language clubs, took place in the TSU Research Library. They were dedicated to the upcoming winter holidays. 110 students of Tomsk universities and Tomsk residents gathered to discuss winter joys, leisure activities and New Year traditions of different countries.

«This year, our language clubs community was enriched by new clubs. 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 as well so that the participants could choose them to indicate the languages they speak,» commented 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!»

This is how Fateh Derghal, the French club moderator and a master student at the TSU Biological Institute, described it: 10 rounds of the languages 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.

Then there was Cool Contrasts Clubs New Year Fest, accompanied by cheerful music. Each club had its own creative space and tried to show its uniqueness: there were workshops for the participants where they could try to write Chinese characters, make a holiday card «auf Deutsch» in the «mountain hut», learn about Italian and Latin American cuisines, play board games and many other interesting activities.

«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 students could make souvenir 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 curator and a librarian at the International Resource Center, baked gingerbread cookies and the club’s 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. Someone asked why we celebrate Christmas on different days. After tea with cookies, we played the board game Uno».

The ancient tradition of smashing a piñata to celebrate Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries was also observed.

«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, and everyone is reminded that even when people are far from home, they always find a way to unite».

The organizers and all the participants of the festive evening would like to thank the IEM master student Li Yu for the creative photos.

All photos