My Identity, Your Identity

Cultural Exchange Project

Collecting things reminding our country is quite an easy and a difficult thing at the same time. The country has been the centre of the universe and at the same time the most cosy and fascinating nook for all of us. We are sure that after you have seen the place with your own eyes you will get to like it the way we do.

  It’s impossible to send most of the things symbolizing our Belarus. The first thing one sees coming to our country is its nature: its thick green forests called pushchas with their symbol- Belarusian bison.

 

Bisons are very beautiful big animals. Bisons are mammals, they are dangerous animals! Bisons have wool and horns. They eat grass and drink water. The weigh of their body is approximately 550-700 kg. Bisons live in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It lies in Brest region. About 400 bisons live in the Pushcha.  

The white stork is a symbol of Belarus. It’s a large beautiful bird which comes to Belarus  in April and lives here till September. There are a lot of legends and fairy tales about the stork. Some people call our country The Land Beneath White Wings meaning the wings of the white stork.

The cornflower is one of unofficial symbols of Belarus. Many folk songs are devoted to this flower. The pictures of the cornflower are on the world- famous belts from Slutsk. The well-known Belarusian poet Maxim Bogdanovich considers the cornflower the symbol of Belarusian art. The cornflower is also the 

symbol of the International festival Slaviansky Bazar which takes part every summer in Vitebsk.

One can’t but admire Belarusian beautiful lakes with transparent water in them and lots of fish. There are about 10,800 lakes there. Some people call Belarus a «blue-eyed” country.

Architectural monuments are also the symbols of our country. Here is a picture of  Mir Castle. It was constructed in 1506-1510. Though there were hard times during Mir Castle existence the complex of Mir Castle surprises with its architectural harmony, its unity with the nature, rationalism and reasonableness of all defensive constructions, the simplicity and laconism of its forms. Mir Castle is one of the four World Heritage Sites in Belarus.

Nesvizh is one of the oldest towns in Belarus. It was destroyed several times in numerous wars but the remaining nistorical monuments in the town centre show that Nesvizh was a fine example of European urban construction. In this photo thereis the Farny Roman- Catholic Church. Other unique pieces of creative work are Nesvizh Palace, the former residence of the Radzivil family, the Slutskaya Brama, the Town Hall, the House in the market square.

Polotsk is also one of the oldest towns in Belarus. It was first mentioned in the year 862. Polotsk stands on the banks of the Dvina River. The most  remarkable sites of its architectural history are the Sophia Cathedral and Efrosinya Church.

Flax is also considered to be a symbol of Belarus. Belarusian national clothes are made of flax. But not only clothes can be made of flax. Lots of different things are made of it as well. On this photo you can also see the students of our school gathering  flax in the field. While preparing for the cultural exchange progect the students got to know that the birthplace of flax is Asia

 

Preparing for the progect a group of our students visited an exhibition of Belarusian handicrafts. Things made of flax, wood and straw were displayed there. These things were made by the children of our town with the help of their teachers. It takes a lot of patience to make the things.

 

 Belarusians are very fond of music and dancing. One of our national musical instruments is the Belarusian bag-pipe which we call the duda. Compared with the Scottish bad-pipe it has only three pipes. We sent to our friends from Oman some recordings of Belarusian folk music.

… And some symbols of our town.

 

Swan is a bird that is a symbol of our town.  It’s a big white bird that lives on Miory Lake. Swans are known for being devoted to each other. For people they are a symbol of love and faithfulness.

The image of the swan is on the coat of arms of Miory. It is depicted on the waves of the lake. This coat of arms that we send you is made on the flaxen background with straw. Things made of flax and straw also symbolize our country.

  

We also sent to our friends a CD with architectural sites of the country, a CD with a short film about Belarus and a book about Miory – our native town.

 And all these things are only a small part of Belarusian symbols. To know Belarus more it’s better to come and see everything with your own eyes.