Culture Café: Georgia

Why did we gather so many students after exhaustive, sometimes boring classes in one place? Culture Café: Georgia, held on the 7^th of February, without a doubt was the most attended CC (ESN HSE Moscow hopes that this fact will inspire other students to present their countries as well). It was prepared by HSE exchange student Beso Shengelia and his Georgian friends. They did everything possible to show the beauty of this fantastic ancient country, Georgia! What is more, we are grateful to HSE students especially from the Chamber of Nationalities, specifically Maggie Sulkhanishvili, for taking part in our event.

We started with a brief of Georgian history and some basic geographical facts. Georgia is a country, which accepts on equal terms, religions in the world such as: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. People from all walks of life are received with extraordinary hospitality by Georgians.

Afterwards we learned some useful phrases, which help make us more welcoming guests. Some of us even tried to repeat them.

Do you know the main Georgian book that teaches every new generation things as Love, Friendship, Heroism and Loyalty? It’s called “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” written between A.D. 1180–1205/07.

We also discussed nightlife in Tbilisi and Georgia in general. Have you ever heard about nightclub Bassiani? It’s the largest techno nightclub in Georgia and rated among the best in the world.

If you are going to Georgia in August, don’t miss the chance to witness the thrilling and breathtaking electronic music festival in Anaklia called GEM Fest. The first festival took place in 2015 and over the years has become more and more popular among the youth.

Moreover, Georgia is famous for wonderful people. Do you know how difficult it is to win sumo tournament if you are not Japanese? It’s hard to imagine, but Levan Gorgadze managed to win the maiden grand sumo tournament in January this year. Also, Georgian singer Natia Todua won The Voice of Germany in 2017.

As you can see, Georgia is not only a fantastic place because of its wine. Of course, we talked a little about it. Be careful while travelling around in Georgia: there is a tradition that “if you start drinking wine from the horn, you should drink it to the end”.

Thanks to Beso and Maggie, everyone had the opportunity to see Georgian traditional pair dance and even tried some moves as well.

In conclusion, it is nice to see so many students from different countries excited to learn something new about Georgia and its treasures. After such presentation it’s easy to fall in love with Georgia and make a decision to go there immediately without hesitation to see everything with your own eyes.

 
Author: Anastasia Ozerova

Editor: Irina Klimova

Proofreader: Antwi Wilfred Oliver Maximus