Every year, international students of Penza State University who have distinguished themselves in science, studies, sports, creativity and social life are rewarded with an excursion to one of the Russian cities. In the year of the 130th anniversary of the birth and 100th anniversary of the memory of Sergey Esenin, international students travelled to Ryazan with a visit to the poet's native village Konstantinovo.

In the State Museum-Reserve of S.A. Esenin the students visited his family's estate, the exposition of which took the visitors back to the 20s of the last century, when Sergey Esenin, being already a famous poet, came to his native village. Not far from the estate there is a building of Konstantinovsky school, where students got acquainted with the system of primary public education in Russia at the turn of XIX-XX centuries.

The students also had an opportunity to see with their own eyes the estate of the last Konstantinov landowner Lidia Ivanovna Kashina. To the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth, in 1995, the building housed a museum of the poem ‘Anna Snegina’, which embodied both the image of the ‘house with a mezzanine’ and the image of its mistress. In the mezzanine of the Museum of the poem ‘Anna Snegina’ there was an exhibition ‘You are my Shagane, Shagane!...’, this exposition was timed to the 125th anniversary of Sh.N. Terteryan and the 100th anniversary of the publication of one of the most famous collections of S.A. Esenin ‘Persian Motives’.

International students noted the immense beauty of the ancient village, visiting the bank of the Oka River and walking along the ecological trail ‘Konstantinovsky Podgorye’.

During the further excursion the foreign students got acquainted with the city of Ryazan itself as a place with centuries-old history, architectural monuments and unusual museums. The tour of Ryazan began with its historical centre, the place of foundation of the ancient Russian city - the territory of the Ryazan Kremlin. The white stone Palace of Prince Oleg is the largest building in the historical part of Ryazan. Here foreign students got acquainted with ancient collections of tools, tableware, clothes, jewellery, weapons and interior items.

The peculiarity of this trip was a visit to the Historical Salon ‘Flavour of Time’, on the site of which the first Maximilian Factor shop was opened at the end of the XIX century, later becoming world famous under the name Max Factor. In the historical salon students learnt the history of perfume creation and even became a bit of perfumers themselves and created their own unique cologne at the master class.

‘We are well acquainted with the works of Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov, but only superficially with the works of Sergey Aleksandrovich Esenin. It was great to plunge into the life story of this poet and listen to his poems. We are grateful to the university for the wonderful opportunity to do what we love, be it creative, scientific or sports activities, and at the same time to be among the best international students who are given opportunities to visit Russian cities to expand their horizons!’, - PSU international students noted.

Also with the support of the General Partner of Penza State University Chevalier Group represented by Dr Yuvraj Solanki, trips to Russian cities were organised for Indian students of PSU. The first-year students have already visited the city of Saransk in the Republic of Mordovia, where they got acquainted with the local Mordovian colour and sights: from majestic temples and museums to modern parks and art spaces. In June, the Indian senior students are looking forward to excursion trips to cities such as St Petersburg and Kazan.

Excursion trips of PSU international students to different Russian cities have already become traditional:

‘Every year students who have distinguished themselves in science, studies, sports, creativity and social life are rewarded with excursions to Russian cities. Such trips have become a good tradition for the best international students of PSU, allowing them to get acquainted with the culture of our country and its main attractions', - said Vice-Rector for International Affairs Gleb Sintsov.