Coffee, Cakes and Quizzes: party report
Not so long ago, on April 17th, the International Students Office together with AEGEE-Moskva, the European Students’ Forum representatives, threw a coffee party for the HSE international students. The meeting took place at Jeffrey’s Coffee in Maroseyka St, founded not coincidentally by the HSE alumni. We decided to organize the meeting on the eve of the Easter holidays and the upcoming exams, not only as a laid-back evening, filled with coffee, sofas, and engaging conversation to let our international students and their Russian buddies relax and have a chat, but also as a gathering with an informative purpose.
Under the gaze of the coffeehouse’s totem – Elk Jeffrey – within the boundaries of just one cozy living-room our colleagues from AEGEE-Moskva unraveled a fascinating cultural entertainment program aimed at encouraging an active dialogue between the students and the AEGEE reps on a wide variety of topics, including Moscow and its particulars. They focused on breaking the infamous stereotypes about Russia, as well as the students’ home countries. A group that gathered in the coffeehouse’s exquisite and comfy living-room, representing countries such as the USA, Japan, Korea, Belgium, France and others, took part in a range of activities: the “How to survive in Moscow” master class, quizzes about Moscow and its history, team-building games and energizers, and watched amusing and inquisitive presentations and videos about peculiarities of the Russian mentality.
{coffee aroma, sweet cakes, and lovely conversation}
The evening reached its peak with the Mythbusters game. Be it «Do all the French eat frogs?», «The Japanese are crazy about anime» or «All Koreans listen to ‘Gangnam Style’», the students showed incredible resilience and passion while breaking the myths about their homeland but also managed to bombard each other with questions and funny stories, turning the discussion into a heated but fun experience. The evening was crowned with a themed photoshoot that allowed the students to act as the Russian folklore characters.
{Between Belgium and France}
{‘Ivanushka’ and ‘Tsarevna’: a fairytale of friendship}
«Everyone is so nice», commented one of our Japanese students with a bit of surprise. Indeed, the coffee party went smoothly and in a relaxing and friendly atmosphere, with every participant ready to share their impressions and knowledge as well as to eagerly listen to their peers. Not to mention the amazingly fun and also very educational program by our friends at AEGEE-Moskva earning rave comments and lots of happy smiles! It was a great start for our cooperation with AEGEE and, hopefully, one of many events to treat our international students! See you again!
To be continued…
photos © AEGEE-Moskva