RSU's Traditional Speed Friending Event Bridges Gaps Between Local and International Students

On 5 March, local and international students from Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) said goodbye to winter and hello to the new semester by making new friends in the University's traditional Speed Friending event.

Around 40 students gathered in the hospitable RSU Student House in the Riga Old Town. From the local students it was both freshmen and students in higher courses that attended the event, while most of the international students were in their first semester at RSU and had only been in Riga for a little over a month. They all shared the desire to make new contacts and get to know one another, as there is not really enough time or opportunities for this in everyday life.

A handshake game helped to break the ice - each student had to shake someone else's hand and say their name and a fun fact about themselves. Moving on to the next participant, they now had to present themselves having taken on the previous person’s identity. At the end of the game, some of the participants had come full circle and managed to get their own identities back! Next, students were divided into groups and had to recreate images projected on a screen. In the groups, they had to take on the roles of characters from paintings and cinema, and finally also RSU alumni. The room filled with laughter.

After the warm-up, participants had refreshments and enjoyed each other's company until the main event started. Students were then paired up to get to know one another in more depth. Pairs were switched out every three minutes during the next hour. The atmosphere was relaxed and fun, and whenever it was time to switch partners, the students were amazed that time had passed so quickly.

Aloïse Mathilde Catherine Weill is a 1st-semester student from France. She found out about the event on Instagram.

‘I was worried there wouldn't be anyone here, but a lot of people showed up! I was pleased at how many countries were represented, including Latvia.’

After the in-depth speed friending exercise, the students were invited to stay in their places and reveal two true and one false fact about themselves to the person sitting opposite who had to guess which was which. Towards the end of the evening, the participants actively continued their conversations and exchanged contacts, planning future meet ups.

Aleksandra Brante and Madara Ķeze came to the event together. They are both in their 4th-semester of Medicine studies. ‘We met people from so many countries! That was really fun.

It takes a while to get over the language barrier, which is why these events are so good. It’s not always easy to break out your everyday routine and dare approach someone in the hallways.’

The new international students, who started their studies at the beginning of February this year, found this event particularly valuable as it helped them to get to know the local students and thus settle into their new home in Riga more quickly.

David Charles Francis Blanchard from Germany is also in his 1st-semester of Medical studies. He came to the event specifically to meet some Latvian students, as he had so far mostly only met other international students.

‘I was very happy to meet some Latvian students here.

The people all seemed really nice. I’d say the evening was very successful.’

The RSU International Department has been organising this event twice a year in cooperation with the International Student Association (ISA) and the Student Union (Studējošo pašpārvalde, SP). The speed friending event has been held at the beginning of each semester since September 2016.