How I presented Russia at the WOW Fair.

"Have you ever been in Russia?" This question was the most interesting and surprising for me when I presented my country at the 2011 Windows of the World fair (WOW): believe it or not, but some people didn't expect me to be from Russia because of my appearance.
"In reality, I'm from Russia", I said with a big smile beaming on my swarthy face.
"You don't look like a Russian!"
"It only means that there is ethnic diversity in Russia," I replied.
Another question that puzzled me a little bit came when I showed Russian currency: Why does Russia have so beautiful currency?

Because ... .

It was my answer. To tell the truth, I was pleased to listen to it :-)
Whatever I showed to American people - the photos of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, pictures of my university, Russian national symbols, magazines, newspapers - everything was met with a big interest and curiosity. That was very encouraging. Later I showed them a book containing Russian proverbs and their English equivalents.



Annually held at the Tennessee Tech campus the WOW festival brings together almost all international students of the TTU. Actually, it is observed with presenting different countries, dancing, cooking the food and so on. Foreign students just share their culture and traditions.

The WOW festival was well-organized. All participants of the festival (including me) were given stamps of their home countries. Attendants had something like travel and cultural passports containing the maps of the world. And we had to stamp these passports which meant that people knew about countries a lot .
It was very nice to hear from people that "The Russian symbol is so cool !".



There were a lot of kids at the festival and I showed them some Russian cartoons (the Russian counterpart of "Tom & Jerry" cartoon where a wolf and a rabbit were the main characters instead of a mouse and a cat).

Actually, I tried to focus on cultural similarities between Russia and the United States. Everybody was surprised by the fact that Russia had a lot of cultural similarities with the United States. In addition, some people didn't expect Moscow to have more than 600 different churches, including orthodox, protestant, catholic ones, mosques and Buddhist temples.

So it goes!

Balmorhea Mood ...

Balmorhea is a very interesting American group from Texas. The genre they play is сlassical and experimental music. Their compositions are pretty awesome. One of them exactly reflects my mood at the moment.




http://balmorheamusic.com/home-tmp

Summing up ...

Photo by Alexander Solomonov (c)

One year in the United States is almost over. Next week I will come back to Russia. In four days I will sitting in the Boing-767 jet and flying 7772 kilometers above the ground during 15 hours.

Well, the study in U.S. was pretty valuable indeed. Besides very nice academic experience at Tennessee Tech University, I found a lot of new friends from all over the world as a result of this. It's safe to say that, now, wherever I would travel I will find at least one-three friends almost in every part if this gorgeous world. ...

... Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Serbia, Montenegro, Canada, Columbia, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa-Rica, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Pakistan, Malawi, South Africa, Australia and so on.

The amount of my foreign friends on Facebook has increased from 120 to 380 since my arrival to the United States which is very encouraging. Never ever did I find myself in question that it will be otherwise.

Now, when I have to leave, there is uncertainty in my head. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to seeing all my Russian friends and Moscow, my university and some professors. On the other hand, I will be missing the United States, Tennessee Tech University and my new friends, particularly.

From now onward, I'm going to write in this blog more frequently. It will be a kind of remembrance notes from a foreign student who got familiar with details of American life in the end.

International Students at Tennessee Tech: 1 Year in the United States

PHOTO STORY by Pavel Koshkin

1. International students Elvin Mammadov (Azerbaijan), Oleg Volosovich (Ukraine) and Akjamlal Artykova (Turkmenistan) are enjoying the first day at the TTU campus. They came to the campus as exchange students, the participants of the Global UGRAD program, sponsored by U.S. Department of State and administrated by International Exchange and Research Board (IREX).


2. American students are meeting international students with hospitality. Jeremy Lowe from the United States is greeting Akjamal Artykova from Turkmenistan.


3. What brings together international students is the food. They are talking about their backgrounds and home countries in the Tennessee Tech’s cafeteria. Left-Right: Akjamal Atrykova (Turkmenustan), Milan Lakicevic(Montenegro) and Monish Patel (Canada)



4. Charles Wilkerson, the director of Tech’s International Students Office, is responsible for students recruitment. About five times per year he goes to different countries to recruit international students from China, Japan, India, Malasya, South Korea, United Arabian Emirates.


5. The study and preparation to exams require from international students a lot of time. Elvin Mammadov from Azerbaijan is preparing for his classes.


6. What international students like most is the weekend which gives them an opportunity to communicate and to know each other better. Left-Right: Oleg Volosovich (Ukraine ), Katharina Klippel (Germany), Bok Kyun Choi (South Korea), Noman Sajjad (Pakistan)


7. Steve Ngwira from Malawi is the resident assistant in the Ms Cooper Residence Hall which brings together Tech’s International Students. He is responsible for the the 4-th floor. Every time he is very helpful and responsive.


8. International students are decorating Ms Cooper Residence Hall on the eve of Halloween. Some of them celebrated this holiday for the first time. In the first picture is Fabian Leiprecht from Germany. In the second picture is Akjamal Artykova from Turkmenistan.





9. Community service: Elvin Mammadov from Azerbaijan volunteered to help at the Cookeville Children’s Museum.


Senad Ibraimoski from Serbia also likes to help as a volunteer, especially at such events like the 2010 Fall Fun Fest.


10. Country Presentation:
Elvin Mammadov is presenting his home country in Cookeville’s Avery Trace Middle School and at the Windows of the World International Fair that brings together all international students studying at Tennessee Tech.




11. WOW (Windows of the World Festival). Preparation.



The 2011 WOW Fair is in full swing.







Russia at the 2011 WOW Fair



12. After this wonderful American experience all exchange students (including me) have to go back to their home countries. Everybody is a little bit sad. In the picture is Elvin Mammadov (front) and Salma Aman from Pakistan (background).



P. S. As a result of communication with international students their American counterparts are exposed. They are much more interested in world cultures. In the picture is William Sheckler