8 weird student traditions from around the world - Lifehacker

1. Piano flight

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the most famous and prestigious universities in the world. Due to the intense study, students do not have much time for fun, but future engineers and mathematicians know how to amaze. Once a year they throw pianos off the roof of the dormitory - usually they receive a broken instrument as a gift and do not spoil the thing on purpose.

This tradition appearedDrop kicks in November 1972. Legend has it that the idea came from MIT student Charlie Bruno. Together with his dorm mates, he was thinking about what to do with the old piano. Someone suggested throwing the instrument out of the window, but, alas, the rules of residence forbade throwing anything out of there. But the resourceful Bruno discoveredJust Drop It: Baker House Piano Dropthat the rules do not say anything about the roof. No sooner said than done: the piano went flying.

Now this ritual is carried out in the spring, it coincides with the last day when students can exclude from their schedule for the spring semester classes that they change their minds to attend without penalties.

2. Falling TV

Russian students have a worthy answer to the entertainers from Massachusetts. For example, in Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Electronics, holidays are celebrated on a grand scale. On Radio Day, old TVs, monitors and radios fly from the windows of the hostel.

The founders of the tradition are consideredMonitors and TVs - to smithereens: on Radio Day in Tomsk there will be an anniversary equipment reset students of the radio engineering faculty, and it all began on May 7, 1988. First, it is effective. Secondly... No, seriously, do you need any more reasons? In fact, the idea is simple: progress does not stand still, therefore, one must say goodbye to old equipment easily and without regrets.

3. Anti-stress scream

Do you remember this feeling when you are already spinning from studying? I want to give up everything and just scream from powerlessness and fatigue. By the way, a good way to relieve tension, Swedish students have long adopted it.

In Uppsala, there is the Flogsta district, most of its inhabitants are students from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Every evening, the area is filled with wild screams. This is the norm, students relieve stress in this way: they open a window at 22:00 and scream until they get bored. The ritual, which appeared sometime in the 1970s, even receivedFlogsta scream the name "Flogsta Creek".

4. Chocolate mascot

During the session, even notorious skeptics begin to believe in signs. Some do not wash their heads before the exam, so as not to wash away the knowledge, others enter the classroom strictly with their left foot - there is no intelligible explanation, it is just necessary. But Japanese students stock up on sweets - and not at all in order to seize jitters.

The name of the KitKat chocolate bar sounds similarKit Kats Could Help You Pass Your Next Test to the phrase kitto katsu - something like "you will definitely do it." As a result, the chocolate bar turned into a talisman: if you take it with you to the exam, then excellent grades are guaranteed.

5. Bandaging of monuments

At the presentation of diplomas, students of medical universities vow to honestly fulfill their medical duty, to protect and develop the noble traditions of medicine. And also a real doctor will never refuse to help those in need. Even if the sufferers did not ask for anything like that, and indeed they are not people, but monuments. The oath is above all.

Probably, Moscow medical students are guided by approximately the same considerations when they leave after graduationWonderful doctor and great surgeon: where monuments to outstanding doctors are erected in the capital to bandage monuments to Pirogov and Sechenov. If the bandages run out, toilet paper is used. And sometimes the monuments are dressed up in medical gowns and hats.

6. Finding a frog

The University of Salamanca in Spain is one of the oldest in Europe. The façade of his building is decorated with bizarre stone carvings, the details of which can be looked at for hours. Some do so, but admiration for the fine work of architects has nothing to do with it.

Somewhere among the decorative elements a frog lurked. Those who can find her will have no problems with their studiesUniversity of Salamanca - at least the students believe it. There is, however, one but: the time spent looking for the frog could be used with greater benefit. But don't break the same tradition!

7. Meeting the "parents"

The first weeks in college are stressful, but in Scotland, newcomers are treated literally with maternal care. At St Andrews University, every freshman is assignedTraditions “Parents” from among the senior students who teach him the mind-mind and introduce him to the peculiarities of university life.

Of course, the mentors need to be thanked somehow. Previously, the "kids" brought the "parents" a pound of raisins, and the senior students gave them a letter of thanks in Latin in return. And those who forgot about the gift were bathed in the fountain. Nowadays you won't surprise anyone with raisins, so they usually give a bottle of wine. And instead of swimming for freshmen, they arrange a grandiose foam battle.

8. Walking the dragon

It would seem, what is the connection between architecture, dragons and St. Patrick's Day? The most direct. At the beginning of the 20th century, Cornell architecture students university thoughtfulDragon daythat it would be nice for them to have their own holiday. It was decided to combine it with St. Patrick's Day, which, according to legends, drove the snakes out of Ireland.

Snakes have grown over time, and traditions have changed. Somewhere from the 1950s, a procession with a giant dragon made by freshmen has become an obligatory part of the holiday. Hence the modern name of the celebration - Dragon Day. The date has also shifted - now the holiday is arranged before spring break at the end of March.