Prepare your livers for Russia Week

Many of you will have already seen the paper Russian dolls hanging on various noticeboards and shop windows, loitering with no intent and boasting the words “What’s Inside?”. Well, that is the question: what is inside Russia Week 2012? 

The Russian Society has been working tirelessly to bring together this vast event. There is enigma, controversy and misunderstanding surrounding anything that even mentions Russia. Don’t argue; we all know what goes through your heads when someone so much as dares to mention Putin. Russia Week 2012 is not about presidential elections, foreign policy or dogmatic ideologies.  Russia is a country which has so much more to it, than the depictions you see in Western newspapers. It is a country of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, elite sportsmen, wonderful cuisine, prominent philosophers, Tchaikovsky, ballet, opera, heart-warming cinema, architecture, military heroes, small chocolates worth trading your soul for, and a rich history spanning almost 1200 years. 

There will be ample events to enjoy, which I guarantee will appeal to every student in St Andrews. Among other things, the Russian Society has prepared the following:

• Lectures by leading professors in the field, such as Andrew Graham Dixon, Bridgett Kendall, and Angus Roxburgh.

• Dreamworks’ Anastasia screening in the cinema. 

• Food tasting allowing you to sample the most exquisite dishes Russia has to offer. 

• An enormous Vodka Party which guarantees a repeat of Raisin Weekend. 

• And for those who simply must raise the topic of politics, there will be a series of debates with journalists who interviewed Vladimir Putin. 

For more information visit the Facebook page.