The dinners took place in the hall of the University of Lodz Training and Conference Centre, where students from all over the world – from European countries to Asia, Africa and America – sat together at traditionally set tables.
Borscht with ravioli? Dumplings? Or maybe kutia? We're exploring Polish traditions.
The meeting was opened by the UniLodz Vice-Rector for Internationalisation of Science and Education, dr hab. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, who welcomed all the present students:
Christmas time is an amazing time of year… regardless of the weather. After all, who cares when there's so much goodness and beauty around us today? It feels wonderful to be with you and to be able to share a piece of Polish tradition with you. Use this time to talk, get to know each other and celebrate each other's company
– said Prof. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek.
The meeting wouldn't have been complete without a dose of knowledge about Christmas traditions in Poland. Piotr Rembowski and Aleksandra Kwiatkowska from the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź shared interesting Polish holiday traditions. They concluded their presentation with a short quiz. There were prizes and plenty of laughter.
It's not just tradition…
Christmas dinners have been incredibly popular among international students for many years. To ensure that every interested student can participate, they are organised in two rounds. Today, the University of Lodz has nearly 2,600 students from nearly 90 countries, united by our values – courage, commitment, cooperation, respect and curiosity, and in this case, curiosity about Polish tradition! For these two days, we all sit down at one table, after all…
… UniLodz unites us.
Gatherings such as Christmas dinners are not only an ideal opportunity to learn about Polish Christmas traditions, but above all, they provide an opportunity to meet, often for the first time, in such large groups with colleagues from other countries, to make new acquaintances and even friendships, and to meet the university's authorities.
Source: Centre for Brand Communications, University of Lodz
Photos: Maciej Andrzejewski
