Snow, parade, football, friends: what foreigners appreciate in Tomsk

TOMSK, Aug 8 – RIA Tomsk. Foreign students submitted more than 1100 applications for admission to Tomsk State University (TSU), from them about 170 are from countries of the far abroad. What students from warm countries think about Siberian weather, why they are impressed by Victory Day and how they arrange their life in Tomsk – in a review of RIA Tomsk.

Account for hundreds

In total, the admissions committee of TSU received 1105 applications at the beginning of August. As RIA Tomsk was told in the press service of the university, among the far abroad countries the leader in persons interested to study - is China: 71 citizens will enter State University.

Students from Vietnam, Mongolia, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Spain, Czech Republic, Iraq, Serbia, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, the USA, Brazil, Palestine, Zambia, Laos, Colombia, India, Tunisia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Great Britain, Algeria, Italy, Poland, France, Zimbabwe, Latvia are also intending to arrive to Tomsk for education.

For the first time entrants from Afghanistan, Chile, Comoros, El Salvador, Venezuela, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Senegal, Ghana, Panama and South Africa are entering TSU. As a result of the last academic year, the number of foreign students in TSU has already exceeded two thousand, almost 500 of them - are from countries of the far abroad.

Ice melts between us

Coming to Tomsk, many students tell about living in Siberia and studying at TSU on personal pages in social networks, in their blogs. And some of them are very popular.

For example, Indonesian Turah Parthayan, a student of Institute of Economics and Management of TSU, has more than 253,000 subscribers on the YouTube channel. It can be said that this is the main "popularizer" of TSU in the Asian world from students (he is writing his in the native language). His video about the extreme minus 37 degrees in Tomsk has collected more than 2.5 million views! In this story - children's delight from snow, from the way how the boiled water splashed out from a mug is frozen in the air ...

Almost half a million people watched Parthayan's video about life in the dormitory of TSU, where he was surprised at the order in the room of Russian girls, living plants and the richness of the clothes.

From football to opera

The architecture of Tomsk and the University conquers all students, and albums in social networks are full of photos of the main building.

Frenchwoman Claire Guese train at TSU to be a geographer and tirelessly knew the Tomsk region. Together with other foreign students, they went to Talovsky bowls, went to concerts, attended home games of FC Tom.

"News from my everyday life: I was at the Tomsk Tom football team's play, a great atmosphere! But the main thing - we had the first snow! It was perfect, we regret that it only lasted one day. Then we went to the Russian opera, "Iolanta", then we were on the famous "Nutcracker". In short, my daily life is - with international meetings and cultural events!" - wrote Claire.

"Play in snow as in sand"

The weather does not frighten, but rather attracts foreigners to Tomsk. In the photos of the Vietnamese Phonekeo Vinavath, who ended the department of international relations of the Faculty of History, there is a lot of snow and "snow" entertainment: skis, skates, sledding.

And also - wooden architecture and the Siberian beauty.

The Siberian climate is pleasant even to islanders: the student of Faculty of Journalism Hilesha Humphreys from the exotic country of Antigua and Barbuda writes about herself in the section for foreign students of the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation:

"When I chose the country (for study), I read about the culture of Russia and realized that I want to get education here. And I came to Tomsk, because the TSU - is one of the best universities in the country. I like it very much, I like to walk around Novosobornaya Square. It's especially beautiful when it's snowing, it's a real miracle for me. Before that, I only saw snow on photos or in TV shows".

Hilesha, who never left the Caribbean Region, now admits:

"Perhaps there is nothing in the world that I would like more than snow. I now play in snow, as before in the sand. And I feel almost at home, with just a little correction for temperature and clothes. I got a lot of friends - both Russian and foreign students. It allows not to feel lonely and enjoy all the benefits of student life which are given by this university".

Magic of Tomsk

The Egyptian Omar Lebda, who has already been trained for a year in Software Engineering educational programme at TSU, also emphasizes the special friendship between students in Tomsk:

"Just imagine, an 18-year-old guy who, instead of studying engineering in Egypt, decided to master computer science in another country, of which language he had no idea. That's when I realized how are amazing the people around me! A variety of interesting actions and quests (organized by TSU), through which I managed to learn a lot about the city and about the Russian culture, creates an incredible atmosphere of friendship and love".

One of Omar's strong impressions from Tomsk - is the Victory Day Parade: "I really love the show with the soldiers on the street, I also enjoy fireworks".

A classmate of Omar Ali Rahim, who came to study at TSU from Iraq, conducted a report from the procession of students of TSU in honor of the 140th anniversary of the university: "It was a hot day with many feelings. The "Snow Kingdom" planet and the magic of Tomsk gathers minds from all over the world in one place. I wish the best for my university, I'm happy to be here!".