5 Student Traditions from Different Countries

Just like any branch of society, students have their own traditions and customs they cherish. Due to cultural differences, these traditions vary from country to country. Here are the most interesting ones.

The Scream

When it all gets too much and studying puts you at your wit’s end, Swedish students offer a great way to relieve your tension – just let it all out in a form of a primal scream. Usually late at night, students would open their dorm windows and just scream into the void. Once this ritual begins, more and more students join from their windows, and for those who are not familiar with this tradition, it might sound like a scene from a horror movie.

Burning Ribbons

Portuguese students have a special way of celebrating the end of their studying and it involves burning ribbons. However, this is only a part of a massive festival. This tradition goes back in time and has evolved into an 8-day celebration that is common for quite some Portuguese universities. It starts at midnight in May and signals a week free of studying and full of festivities for graduates and locals alike.

Dressing up a Monument

Manneken Pis is not the only monument that enjoys dressing up – the swordsman in front of the University of Wroclaw is annually put in a ridiculous attire before the graduation night. When it comes to Polish students, they seem to be pros in having fun because they celebrate the ending of finals before the finals even begin. Drinking, dancing, and simply having fun outside probably puts them in the right mood to pass all exams.

The Goose Girl

The fact that German students have a lot of drinking traditions won’t surprise anyone. But there is one tradition that is something of an oddity. Besides drinking, Germans seem to also enjoy kissing and a statue of a goose girl has been subjected to it too many times. Students showed so much passion that eventually the poor girl began to collapse. As a result, police has to step in and made the students who desired to kiss the girl pay a fee. Eventually, the statue had to be taken down and preserved in the museum while a replica was put instead of it. Nevertheless, the tradition is still alive.

The Equator

As it’s obvious from the name, the Equator is the holiday that marks the middle of college years. Since it’s celebrated in post-Soviet countries, the party falls on the beginning of the second semester of the third academic year. Despite the tradition being widely spread, there are no certain rules what kind of festivities are expected. Usually, students decide for themselves and they can spend it only with the closest friends or have a party that involves the whole department.

Even though students from all over the world are different, they all have one thing in common – they like having fun. Maybe some of these traditions will inspire you to spice up your college life.