Day Three. Excursions and the Teams' Artistic Presentations

After the theoretical round, the participants had a day packed with excursions — with a trip to the mountains and a deep dive into Russia’s cultural diversity.

The programme kicked off with a visit to the interactive My Russia ethnological park. For the international students, it was a chance to take a mini-journey across Russia without leaving the venue.

The route ran along the picturesque Mzymta River. The ethnological park is home to themed pavilions, each revealing the character of a particular region: from the Caucasus and Suzdal to Moscow, St Petersburg, Tatarstan, Siberia and Buryatia. Every corner has its own atmosphere and its own symbols. In the Moscow pavilion you can see a replica of the Kremlin wall, in the Buryatia area a traditional-style Buddhist temple, and in the Russian North pavilions examples of wooden architecture.

For the students, the park was not only an educational venue but also a great spot for vivid photos. Girls from different countries happily tried on kokoshniks, while at the Streletsky Courtyard anyone could get a feel for the art of archery.

"The excursion turned out to be really interesting. I love how one place manages to reflect the character and culture of so many regions at once. And of course, events like this give you a chance to get closer to guys from different countries. Yes, we use different technologies, but the main thing is that you just want to talk, to get to know each other. As I got older, I decided I wanted to become a mining engineer. That’s largely connected to where I come from, to our local mentality. I don’t think I want to live in a megacity — this kind of work, connected with nature, is closer to me," shared William Mbiliti, a participant from Zambia.

After the excursion, the teams went up into the mountains by cable car, where breathtaking panoramas of nature opened up before the participants. The participants saw the Mountain Olympic Village — a space built specially for the 2014 Winter Olympics. This is where athletes, coaches and official delegations lived during the Games. Notably, tomorrow the participants will head back up here — to take part in the practical round of the Olympiad, rightly considered the most spectacular stage of the competition.

In the evening, the teams had another highlight — the teams' presentation evening. In a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, young people from different countries shared their traditions, hobbies and cultural features.

For Tsikhan Karneyenka from Serbia, geography has become a family affair. His grandmother is a geographer and teacher who has spent years preparing participants and winners of international Olympiads. And although Tsikhan himself started out as a maths olympiad competitor, geography turned out to be a related and very fascinating science. It intertwines hard facts with cultural insights.

"We prepared for this event: we rehearsed the traditional Kolo dance, made a presentation about national dishes and worked out a story about our traditions. And then one of the theoretical round tasks asked about Serbian cuisine — and I immediately thought how closely geography intertwines with cultural studies. So it turns out that knowing traditions and dishes can unexpectedly come in handy even at the highest-level Olympiad," shared Tsikhan.