KIU international students from India, China, Colombia, and Venezuela studying at KIU visited the island town of Sviyazhsk to celebrate the East Slavic traditional holiday.

The 1st and 2nd year students went on an exciting student trip to join the mass festivities dedicated to saying goodbye to winter and welcoming spring.

It is not the first trip for many students. Despite the wide range of retreats that KIU provides for students, Maslenitsa is one of the favorite national holidays for international students.

The trip was guided by Ekaterina Nikitina, Head of the Department of International Relations, Yulia Smirnova, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Language and Linguistics, and Angelina Kuzmina, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Russian Language and Linguistics. Our students were given a guided tour of the island of Sviyazhsk, which revealed the island's importance in the history of Russia.

The complex of events included visiting the Museum of Wood, which made a great impression on our students. The atmosphere of museum was full of antiquity, authenticity and mystery thanks to the playing of the musical instrument "hang".

Our international students had a chance to taste pancakes with different toppings, try themselves as archers, participate in folk competitions such as in tug-of-war and lifting a barbell made of oak rings.

KIU's international students were particularly impressed by the fire show followed by the burning of a tall Maslenitsa effigy.