It was the team of Tündük from Nádudvar (Hajdú-Bihar County) that won the first ever competition for high school students that was held under the title “Honeycomb Toffee and Pomegranate.” The first stage of the event organized by the Representative Office of the Turkic Council in Budapest for high schools students in grades from nine to twelve was held on-line since April. However, in the Final Four, during which the teams came up with high level presentations, the participants were able to compete in person.
For one day the Ybl Villa in Budakeszi út, where the Representative Office usually holds diplomatic events and receptions, teemed with life. This time it was high school students and their accompanying persons who arrived in the fabulously refurbished building in order to decide which team was the best, which students knew the most about the Turkic people. Altogether 36 teams – from Zalaegerszeg to Kézdivásárhely and from Nádudvar to Szigetvár – entered for the competition that was launched in April. The high school students from all around the country reached the Final Four after clearing three rounds. The young people from grades nine to twelve have done a great job. Although a few sides dropped behind, the four in the vanguard fought a very tight battle with one another.
Since the margin among the teams was only 16 points, the Final Four proved to be exceptionally exciting. By performing two tasks, the sides could collect 25-25 points: they had to fill in a quiz and then offer their presentations of ten-fifteen minutes. On the basis of the videos made by the teams, it became obvious that they had thoroughly been studying the culture, the traditions and the every-day life of the Eastern Turkic people, the Azerbaijanis, the Kazakhs, the Kyrgyzs, the Turks, the Uzbeks and other smaller Turkic groups of people. Since the presentation of the inter-active diary on the travels of Ármin Vámbéry and György Almásy turned out to be excellent, the jury had a hard time when it had to score the works of the students. In the end, it was the team of Nádudvar – Tündük – after reaching the Final Four also as the leading side that became the winner. The second place was taken by PA-SA from Pécs. Two special prizes for creativity were also awarded by the jury to the first two teams in the competition.
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Dr. János Hóvári, the Head of the Representative Office underlined the commitment and the expertise of the teams. He expressed his hope that the young people that have participated in the event will be interested in Turkology, the culture, the history and present of the Turkic people in the future too. Besides receiving the valuable prizes, the teams in the Final Four will be able to go camping to Szigetvár for five days in July.
The final results of the competition “Honeycomb Toffee and Pomegranate:”
- Tündük (Nádudvar, Hajdú-Bihar County)
- PA-SA (Pécs)
- Adventurers (Alattyán, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County)
- Csakavajda (Bicske, Fejér County)
The details of the competition can be found on www.turkvetelkedo.hu.
