We Celebrate the International Women's Day

March 8th is a popular public holiday in Russia. Originally, the holiday was about equality, women's right to vote and the emancipation of women workers. Today, this day has taken on a different meaning in Russia, namely a celebration of femininity, love and motherhood. Russian women and girls are treated like queens on that day, flowers and other gifts are presented to them, the household is laid down and compliments are generously distributed.

Of course we duly celebrated this day in our school. Thirty students enjoyed Russian delicacies like Russian salad, pickles, mushrooms and Korean-style carrots. And it would not have been a Russian party had it not been for vodka, wine and beer. Toasts in Russian such as "let's drink to our beautiful ladies" have not been missing either.

During the party there was a competition where women and men could write each other compliments on a sheet of paper. Men wrote things like "You have beautiful eyes" or "I like your smile", whereat the women were very creative and wrote things like "you are my star" or very Swiss one - "you are my cheese". Surely we all had a lot of fun!

In the run-up to March 8, we had bought candy boxes for the men, as most of them did not know the Russian public holiday and its custom. The women were delighted to receive a present. It was great that some Russian wives, along with their partners, had attended the celebration. Not only had our students a great opportunity to practice the Russian language actively, but also they experienced a real Russian party mood. The party was so great that some of the students continued partying in a dance club afterwards. What a successful evening!