Exchange student
Yagodnoe Trip: A Chance to Strengthen Ties Between Russian and Exchange Students
You are in another country, so different from your hometown. Deep down, you know you are a little bit afraid about everything. You are out of your comfort zone even with the most ordinary actions in your routine. At ITMO University, thankfully, there is an organization which aims to help exchange students: the Buddy System. It is composed of Russian students from the University who, amongst other things, are responsible for arranging and preparing an amazing event: the journey to Yagodnoe. This place is a property of ITMO University and there are cozy houses, many facilities and beautiful landscapes, with no phone service. A perfect environment for students to better understand each other and enjoy nature.
The journey started on the 9th of November, at 10 in the morning. The bus was early and we could leave very quickly. Everyone was excited and talkative. There was some music as well, just like the old times in primary or secondary school excursions. On the way, we could see outside changing dramatically: from metropolis to huge trees and much higher vegetation density.
As soon as we arrived, we received keys to our houses. We had two hours to arrange ourselves before the next activity began. I stayed at the buddies' house and, due to that, I had the chance to get to know them. We had a nice conversation while we ate and I could know Russian people even better.
It was two o'clock when the outdoor activity started: it was a team building competition. Since I come from a tropical country, I was very cold but, at the same time, I wanted very badly to win the contest. Listening to the rules, I realized we had to play some Russian games. Personally, I found them very funny, since they were creative and unexpected for me. For example, one of the games consisted of transporting team members using bedsheets. Another one was essentially bowling with a frisbee; and with a chair between the player and the pins. All in all, it was a very laughable situation and I almost didn’t feel the cold in the end.
Even though my team wasn’t the winner of the competition, I was glad to have participated in it. There aren’t many opportunities to interact and try some fun and unusual games, after all. Once you’re over 20 years old, the chances to play like a child become scarce and it is very easy to be habituated to some kind of automatic and lifeless routine. Furthermore, by not being able to use phones, people actually interacted and looked in each others eyes, which once again made me feel very nostalgic of my own childhood.
After the winners were announced and given prizes, we were able to decide what to do among a lot of different activities: to play "Poker", "Mafia" and other card games; to watch stand-up videos; to play basketball or football outside; or even go back to our houses and eat some great food and chat with friends. What made me particularly satisfied was the freedom we had to decide what to do; as a reserved person, I know how upsetting it is to do something against one’s will. And since there were a lot of options of things to do, I am certain that no one was left behind.
After watching a comedy video and then playing "Mafia", I decided to go to some friends' house. There I talked about lots of different topics and I dare to say I felt connected to them. We talked a lot about our different backgrounds and our pasts in our different countries. All of us had little surprises and cultural shocks and this is something that I believe to be especially enriching: to suddenly realise some of our misjudgements and, at the same time, to understand how close we can be to each other.
Of course, sooner or later, we would have some reason to get together again with the other groups, from which we were split. While everyone was having their own kind of fun, buddies were organizing a lovely party, that would happen at 9 in the night. It was remarkable to get to the place where we had watched videos and played card games a little while before it turned into a totally different environment, with colorful lights and loud and exoctic music. It was totally a multicultural event in the sense that we danced to lots of different Russian music — which, to be honest, I didn’t quite know how to dance accordingly — and from other countries, too. There was also a moment when the DJ played "Dança Kuduro", the Brazilian version of a latin american song. Then, I told that to some people next to me and they were pretty shocked, since it was a very common music for Russian children about a decade ago. I, for my part, was glad to know that my country was somehow popular in such a distant place.
Not later than 11 o’clock, there was a bonfire lit by some of the buddies. To say the least, I was excited. There, I joked that I had never experienced being near to a bonfire out of necessity, as it was a gelid weather in my point of view. This was another opportunity for us to interact and, of course, to literally warm up. I had the impression that it looked like those camping sites recurring in movies. In my mind, that was exactly the kind of inaccessible experience I had never imagined could actually occur, since I understood that, in cold places, camping could not be as close to those portrayed in the sometimes fanciful and overly made-up movie world. Yet, yes, I was there and it was happening! I was so glad to get to know that place, with that specific gentle and warm people that I had the joy to be accompanied by.
At the end, I was astonished with the fact that we could do so many different things in only one day. As far as I can tell, the initial objectives of the trip were completely achieved. I say that because I felt closer and more included either in the exchange students' group and in the Buddies' group, since I talked a lot with various people there. It was an invaluable experience in a breathtaking place.
The next day, we arranged our belongings and left. We got back to Saint Petersburg but still felt vividly that we were so much different from who we were before our journey.