Participants of the INRTU Project "Student Guide" Conducted a Tour of Irkutsk for Students of Nanjing University
As part of the INRTU project "Student Guide," a tour of Irkutsk's sites was held on July 18 for the participants of the expedition "Baikal, the Pearl of the World." Students from Nanjing University (China) visited the historic center of the capital of Eastern Siberia.
The project "Student Guide" is implemented by the School of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication of INRTU with the funds from the Rosmolodezh grant.
The tour was conducted by students Nikita Pinyagin (STEb-23-1) and Ivan Zarubin (ETEKb-23-1), who introduced the guests to the beauty of wooden architecture in the 130th historical quarter. The INRTU students showcased their guide skills and demonstrated their knowledge of Irkutsk’s history at a high level. Their enthusiasm, openness and willingness to communicate with the guests made the trip exciting and interesting.
The tour was accompanied by Alexandra Kereshun, Associate Professor at the School of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication and an associate professor at the Department of Foreign Languages N1. She taught the students as part of the "Student Guide" project.
“It is endlessly fascinating to me to watch the development of our young tour guides. They already had experience with bus tours, but this time the tour's specifics were the large number of people. For the first time, the students worked with a group of 32 tourists. Despite their anxiety, they coped excellently and gained invaluable experience.
The importance of our project was once again confirmed and manifested in the genuine interest of the Chinese students in what the guides, their peers, were sharing with them.
I can confidently recommend Nikita Pinyagin and Ivan Zarubin for participation in events of such scale. I thank the organizers of the expedition for their trust and hope for further cooperation with various departments of our university," commented Alexandra Kereshun.
Guide Ivan Zarubin notes that throughout the route, Chinese students asked many questions:
“The main impression for me was the happy smiles on the faces of the listeners after the tour."
According to Nikita Pinyagin, he previously led groups of 2-6 people, so immediately 32 tourists were like "passing through uncharted territory" for him.
“Students from Nanjing University are doing geological practice at Baikal, so Irkutsk was a transit point for them. The guys listened attentively to us when Ivan and I took turns talking about the most significant sights of Irkutsk. The students were not shy to ask questions and also took photos of everything around. Overall, it was an incredibly cool experience," said Nikita Pinyagin.
Professor Zhong Yunchang from Nanjing University spoke very warmly about the tour:
“Volunteers from Irkutsk Technical University helped Chinese students discover the city of Irkutsk and feel it. The study group was imbued with the faith and culture that the church carries, saw the heroic history at the square near the Eternal Flame. Our guys learned about the history of the city through monuments to Russian historical figures on the banks of the Angara River."
Information and photos provided by Alexandra Kereshun
