Dzien dobry! (Hello)
It’s
hard to believe that it was only a week ago I left Belfast to begin my new
Polish adventure! I already feel like Poznan is my second home.
Marisa,
Brian and I arrived in Poznan airport at 5.30pm and were thankfully met by one
of the Erasmus mentors, Pete. Pete took us to our temporary accommodation, as
our dormitories were not ready to move into, stopping off in Mcdonalds on the
way! We were welcomed by a graffiti covered wall and very noisy neighbours, and
were extremely glad this would only be for one night! Pete was very friendly
and invited us to join him and his friends for drinks in the centre of Poznan.
Although Marisa and Brian declined, as they were tired, I decided I should try
and take every opportunity I could to experience Poznan. Pete brought me to
‘Blue Notes’ bar and introduced me to his Polish friends who were so friendly
and welcoming that I felt very at ease.
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| Meeting my mentor on Saturday |
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| 'Smalec' |
The next morning we moved into our dormitories and were very happy
to discover that they were clean and quiet! My mentor Damian met me at 2pm and
showed me some historic sites around Poznan, such as the ‘Poznan Citadel’ which
is a Museum of Arms. We then went for dinner in a traditional Polish restaurant
and he told me about some polish foods, such as ‘Pierogi’ and ‘Smalec’. I
enjoyed learning a little bit more about the polish food such as ‘Smalec’,
which is bacon, lard and spices with pickles, which was a dish commonly eaten
by the Górale people in the winter as they
could not easily get fresh ingredients.
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| Turkish lunch |
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| Irfan, Mumi and Lut |
On Saturday I met three Turkish guys called Lut, Irfan and Mumi
who invited me to join them for drinks with their Italian, Hungarian and
Slovakian friends! I quickly realised that my assumptions about Turkish men
were wrong, as they were gentlemen who respected me and looked after me like a
sister. This reminded me of a quote I had read somewhere that “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry,
and narrow-mindedness” (Twain,2013). Since meeting them, they have made me many
Turkish meals, we have went bowling and had many interesting discussions about
Islam, Turkish traditions and their language. Irfan could not speak any English
as he was only visiting for a week, however I began teaching him English,
through the use of our ‘translator’ Lut and it has dramatically improved. I
think that meeting them has really forced me to reflect upon some prejudices
and stereotypes that I may not have realised I had previously believed. (GTCNI,
Professional Competence 8, 2007)
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| Tram party friends |
Orientation week began on Monday,
and since then I have met so many people. Some people in particular I had grown
very close to, such as Zane from Latvia. Zane has taught me many things about
Latvian traditions, politics and how Latvia has been affected by the Economic
crisis. I have also made many other friends from Poland, Czech Republic,
Romania, Portugal, Turkey, Spain, France and Germany. We have enjoyed attending
Polish dinners, Bowling, Tram parties and Clubs together which have been very
well organised by the Erasmus mentors. On the other hand, it seems that classes
are not very well organised for the first two weeks, if on at all but I hope
this will be sorted soon enough!
So that has been my first week in
Poznan and I have already had the time of my life!
Until next week,
Do widzenia.
References:
GTCNI(2007) available at, http://epublishbyus.com/ebook/ebook?id=10020354#/52
accessed on 22/02/13
Twain (2013) available at, http://www.marktwainhouse.org/
accessed on 22/02/13
