Week two (20/02/12 – 26/02/12): Personal experiences

 To begin our week DarÓma and I decided to make ourselves feel more at home by decorating and cleaning our room. After the shock of having no kettle, oven, microwave, or toaster, we are now very comfortable with our new surroundings. This week we got the practical aspects of our stay in Poznan sorted; paying for all of our accommodation, food shopping and getting my student card (as I couldn’t get mine last week.) We also managed to wash our first batch of laundry, which is something neither of us was accustomed to doing at home, (to our shame).  On Tuesday evening we were introduced to: Truita de potates and pá amb tomáquet which is Catalan for potato omelette and bread with tomato. We are planning to make traditional foods every week with our Erasmus friends, so we will need to find some ingredients for stew!

We had been having a few difficulties organising our classes, (meaning we had none!) which we have finally got sorted with some help from Laurence and Margaret. The two classes we managed to organise this week were not quite what I had been expecting, to say the least. Polish lessons terrified me! The three of us are constantly confused and clearly have no clue what is being said. I found myself understanding why people are asking me to slow down when I speak. It has taken us six hours to learn all the ways to say “hello, my name is...” However, I will be practising this week, so hopefully I will be able to type something in Polish by next week, as I know I will not have an opportunity like this again. “Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.”  (Brown, R. M., 1988:155)
Our other courses, “Teaching Strategies in Early Childhood Education” and “Education in Poland,” have been combined and involve us looking into other countries methods for teaching and visiting Polish schools to see how they differ from schools in Northern Ireland.  After attending this class I felt much happier as the professor is very helpful and I know I will learn a new perspective of how to teach from being in the class.

WROCLAW



Hot chocolate and Polish cheese cake

Over the weekend we headed off to Wroclaw, which is two hours south of Poznan, with fourteen other girls and Michael (I didn’t hear him complaining!) DarÓma and I had been very proud of ourselves after being able to ask for the very complicated tickets, (in Polish) correctly. Wroclaw seemed very big in comparison to Poznan (after us thinking it was huge compared to Belfast!) It is filled with streets of beautiful, old buildings, which have a modern interior. Due to the weather being ridiculously cold we had to find shelter in coffee shops, where I discovered so many delicious treats I will make the most of while I am here! (I just hope I don’t arrive home five stone heavier too). The weekend was also a great opportunity to build on our relationships with the other Erasmus students. From being involved in the Spirit of Enniskillen at home, I find it very interesting to hear about other countries conflicts in comparison to ours in Northern Ireland. My friend Aina, has been teaching me about Catalan, which has its own difficulties and benefits with being a part of Spain. Michael, Aina and I got to travel first class on the way home! I can’t say it was very different but we enjoyed it nonetheless! Overall, it was a great way to end the week.  

Reference

Brown, R. M. (1988) Starting from Scratch: A different kind of writer’s manual, Bantam Books, USA.

Week one (14/02/12 – 19/02/12) Cultural insights

I have always enjoyed travelling and exploring new cultures, however, sitting on the plane preparing myself to adjust to a whole new way of living was a little daunting.  Although I was apprehensive, I still had a lot of excitement for what lay ahead.
Now after being in Poznań for nearly a week I have began to find my bearings and adapt to my new home. I have found the people in Poland to be very friendly and welcoming. The Erasmus students especially are very willing to include you in their conversations and social activities. DarÓma, Michael and I are three of 70 young people who have come to Poznań as part of the Erasmus programme, (other countries being; Italy, Spain, Hungary, Turkey, Holland etc) I have really enjoyed spending time with our new friends as they are much more laid back and willing to explore, something I hope to get better at as more time passes.

Focusing on the culture of the university, the young people like their nightlife! Our mentor informed us that Polish student’s work very hard, having up to 14 exams at the end of just one semester but like to party as well. Erasmus students have less of a work load but we have found it difficult to work out classes due to the language barrier and multiple locations of the classes! It has made me appreciate Stranmillis because it is easier to get around.

FAT THURSDAYS

On the last Thursday before lent, Poland celebrates “Fat Thursday” with a unique tradition. Similar to our Pancake Tuesday, Fat Thursday is a day for consuming paczki, which are jam-filled doughnuts. Our Erasmus mentor told us that Polish people will try to eat as many doughnuts as possible on this day and some have competitions to see who can eat the most. I researched this online and found that the competitor to beat is Piotr Frackowiak, who can eat ten paczki doughnuts in four minutes and twelve seconds! Unfortunately, none of us could come close to this record but we enjoyed eating them nonetheless!
STARY RYNEK

The oldest surviving description of Poznań, (which can be seen when you enter the city) is: ‘Posnania elegans Poloniae civitas,’ which means, ‘Poznań, a beautiful city in Poland.’ I think this is a great portrayal of the area Stary Rynek, the Old Market Square. Within this area there are plenty of shops and tourist attractions, however, the squares dominant building is the Renaissance Town Hall. Unfortunately we missed seeing the chimes, (two metal goats which appear on the tower and ram their heads together) at twelve o’clock, but we have more opportunities to witness this! There are a number of fountains inside the Square: The Rococo Proserpine’s Foundation and the foundations of Apollo, Neptune and Mars. I had been particularly excited about visiting Stary Rynek because it is something you would never find in Belfast – the architecture or the range of colourful buildings. Before travelling to Poland for Erasmus, I found that some of my friend’s impressions of the country were that it would be dull and poorer than the likes of Northern Ireland; however, walking into this Old Market Square contradicts all of these opinions. Exploring this area made me happy about making the decision to live in Poznań for the next four months!

Anna