Christmas in Poland

Christmas – in Poland celebration starts since 24^th of December, it’s cool, cause in Ukraine we celebrate firstly New Year. Orthodox Christmas are later – 6^th January – which is as well important. We call it “New Year According to Gregorian Calendar” In Poland kids get their gifts on 24^th, in Ukraine it’s 31^st of December. And of course the old man who gives presents is дедушка мороз (Santa Clause) literally I can translate is as “freeze grandpa” ? Or something like that. What I like is food. My mom cooks according to Polish traditions, so 12 meals, kompot (to drink), borscht with small uszka (small dumplings), poppy seed roll (that translation I found), carp fish, sour cabbage with peas and some others. One traditional thing is that you leave one additional plate on your table for “unexpected guest”. It’s a symbol of acceptance I guess… If somebody comes, even the stranger, he is welcome. And at midnight you go to church for Pasterka to celebrate baby Jesus birth.

Students Associations

I need to mention some associations as I belong to one of them. It’s a great, when you have less and less classes, cause you gain time for yourself. If you have some free time and you want to spend it usefully, join some student association! It’s so worth it! At our University we have some – Paneuropa, NZS, AIESEC, ESN and others. You do some projects, you have new, grate, ambitious friends, you learn some skills which are impossible to take out of books! You are getting used to manage your time, which is one of the most necessary skill nowadays.

My association is not one of the UE Associations – however we’re all connected. We do combined projects, many students from UE are our members. To say it briefly it’s “Forum Młodych Regionalnej Izby Gospodarczej w Katowicach” (not that short, but briefly). It’s a Youth Association (by Chamber of Commerce In Katowice). We conduct very useful projects – based on our needs and always combined with some economical issues. Why is it great? Cause you come up with that you want to do – if you want to go with voluntary project or conference, training, you just do it. And you always know that your team helps you, some of you would be really engaged. As an effect, you do something that you’re proud of, you learn how to lead, how to listen, how to be a part of the team. And you know that does it mean to conduct the project from the beginning till the end. You see the final stage and it makes you feel wonderful. I am a big proponent of youth associations, and I’ve met so many people that now I can rely on. So if somebody is considering joining associations – just join, join, join! (and then enjoy) J

Berlin, Berlin

Living in Europe and having a permission to travel is an advantage, which people underestimate. So I’ve just came back, couple days ago, from Berlin, really great city. I spoke to my Finish friend and she told me how lucky I am to live in Central Europe. If I want to visit Berlin, I go (it takes7 hours by train), if I want to visit Vienna or Prague, I go (it takes c.a. 5 hours). If I want to go to Paris, Italy, Spain, I take a cheap flight from our airport Katowice-Pyrzowice. And it’s true! Europe is beautiful and for those who live in Poland, it’s even more than welcoming! So my last trip was in Berlin. I was surprised, when I was cheap prices in some stores. If somebody wants to go there, don’t take any food with you, cause Lidl in Berlin is cheaper than Lidl in Poland! And I really recommend to take free walking tour – it takes 3 hours and guides are great. They know everything about Berlin and Germany! Don’t forget to go to Reichstag (Parliament) – it’s totally free. And I loved Deutsches Historisches Museum (4 EUR) but so worth to go. And if you check some prices in restaurants, it turns out, that it’s not that expensive – so don’t be afraid to walk in! To say briefly – Berlin is stunning.

Plus, it’s been kind of Erasmus Reunion in Berlin – so I like this city even more!  

Thesis…

Here it comes again. Writing master’s thesis. As my experience tells me, it will be long way to finish it. What I want to mention, I like our new library. Some books one’s can take with, but some are available only inside the library. Actually it’s really cozy in there, so I felt almost like at home. Calm, nice, warm and many, many books around! In Poland you write thesis after every graduation. Bachelor’s thesis after first three years and master’s after another two. If you have a little bit much more free time during last year of studying, it’s cause you need to write papers. Anyway it’s very well organized (I mean bibliography, tutors help, time for writing). So the only thing you need to fight is your laziness!!! Yeap, it’s hard… :)

Our library!!!

Reward

It’s my 5^th year at UE Katowice, so I don’t have that many classes. That’s great! On the beginning, I remember it was hard. School every day, sometimes from 8.00 a.m. till 7 p.m. but now I have only two classes. Which means that I have plenty of time to enjoy the real student life. If somebody ask me whether it’s hard at UE, I can say it depends. For example I did exchange last year in Austria, so I got extra ECTS points. I had to pass all exams in Austrian School (which gave me 36 ECTS) and then I had to pass exams at my school (30 ECTS) – all in one semester. Because of that surplus, now I don’t have many classes, which is a great reward! UE Katowice help you to keep balanced about the classes. If you have to work very hard for the semester or year, later on you’ll definitely have much more free time. That’s what I had during my 3^rd year. I had only few classes, so I could work. Now, on my 5^th year the situation is the same, so I spend some savings (that I earned 2 years ago) and I can travel and enjoy my student life!!!

Roots!

Donetsk - Donbass Arena

I just came back from Donetsk – 2 hours ago. It’s funny how you forget some differences. In Ukraine as well as in Russia you don’t fasten your seatbelts. When my cousin picked me up from the airport in Donetsk, I automatically fastened my belts. He was staring at me with a grimace at his face and asked “what are you doing? Don’t forget – you’re home!” And when my friend picked me up today from Katowcie-Pyrzowece, of course I forgot to fasten that belt. And in Donetsk every car (99%) has tinted windows. In Poland I think it’s forbidden. Every time I’m home I feel so happy, but now Poland is my second home. So when I left the plane in Katowice I had the same nice feeling as when I left it in Donetsk and saw my cousin waiting for me. 

Beer in Poland vs. beer in Ukraine

After last party, I started to think about basic differences between beer in Poland and Ukraine. First of all there are no differences in beer, more differences are about “drinking beer culture”. About basic beer types (or brands): in Poland I love Lech and Tyskie Gronie, in Ukraine I always buy my favorite Obolon (Оболонь) and Bile (Біле). So about drinking culture – in Ukraine we drink beer and combine it with eating shrimps, or dried squid. I think that the most wonderful thing to combine with a beer is dried fish called таранка – the only name I found  in English as in German and Polish is “Stockfish”. Best thing to do on the seaside is to drink your favorite beer and eat таранка. In Poland I’ve noticed that we use as a snack (my friends) potato chips, peanuts, small pretzels. Common snack for both cultures are chips. The only difference that can occur is taste. In Ukraine I sometimes choose crab chips. In Poland I love onion chips, or new spicy taste – wasabi chips. One thing I know – both countries have many great beer brands and Ukrainian as well as Polish people love beer!!!

Beautiful places of Russia part 2

What I want to describe in part 2 is Inta. Small city in Komi Republic. I’ll start from train. When there are longer stops you can jump out and buy pirozkhi (пирожки) – my favorite with cowberries and apples. There will definitely be some local sellers. It’s their only income – to wait until train stops and some people buy their products. So every time we buy homemade fir oil – great for every disease. Don’t buy mulberry (морошка) – it looks cute, like yellow raspberry, but taste is very weak. Of course that’s the point – to taste as much as possible in new places, especially fruits, vegetables. Anyway, after 3 days in train (with short change in Moscow) I am in Inta. City is small, people are nice. Kids use skis to “go for a walk”. When it’s (at least) -25 you can see Aurora Borealis – something beautiful. Snow is everywhere, but for example in summer it can be extremely warm and place is full of mosquitoes. Nature is stunning! That’s one of those things that makes me want to go back there again and again. And the only thing that I’ll never understand is Komi language. It’s complicated. My grand mom was the only person who spoke it. Komi language is an Uralic language (from Ural-Altaic languages family), different from Russian, Polish, English, German etc. Alphabet is the same (with some new letters), and that’s the only similarity. Most of people when hear word “Russia” thinks of Kremlin, Putin, vodka and Siberian bears. The truth is that it’s a great country, different from others and every part of Russia is specific – wild and wonderful. So after Moscow and St. Petersburg – all other places wait for you.

local sellers

citiy center and kids going for a ski walking

Coat of Arms of Inta

typical cottage

snow pavement - it was as long as me (160 cm) - March

Beautiful places of Russia (part 1)

For me Russia is not wild, and when my friends ask me about some stuff that is weird for them for me is normal. One difference is how people act in trains. Yes, in Russia (Ukraine as well) you drink. It's normal. When the train wheels start to work, in first 10 minutes everyone starts to eat. Polish people ask me why? First of all – for example journey from (lets take Katowice) to Inta (my grand-mom’s place) takes 3 days. So you eat, cause it's just a regular day of your live. Second reason is that our trains are horrible. I mean it – horrible! And when you buy a ticket for a random place in your wagon-lit, you don't have your couchette, you see almost half of passengers. When you sleep, somebody will certainly catch on your lag, or you'll hear some drunk guys singing. And main meal for the trip is: hard-boiled eggs, chicken, tomatoes, jacket potatoes and salt. It's the base! So you eat a lot to kill the stress connected with this journey. 

About those beautiful places: nature is stunning, cities are great. For those, who have never been to Russia I'd say, start discover Russia from Moscow and St. Petesrburg. I've never been to St. Petersburg – shame on me, but Moscow is wonderful. Even when it's your third or fourth time - it's still wonderful. Below is a picture from Kremlin. You can spend unforgettable days in there. Just be very careful in currency exchange offices – they will cozen you for sure! And don’t drink coffee close to city center – you can pay too much and get a horrible coffee. And remember, Russia is Russia and Moscow is completely different than every other place in Russia. But it is certainly worth to go there!

Kremlin from the inside

Kremlin (Mausoleum)

St. Basil's Cathedral

Some little changes

I love Silesia - because it's changing to better. In Katowice I see lots of new buildings growing everywhere. Yes, for now it does look creepy. And maybe it's not very convenient for pedestrians who see streets digged out. But once the job is done, it will look nice! It means that city is growing, changing. For instance big opening for new Train Station last week! I'm curious, how it looks. And, what's great, our University has a new library, which looks awesome. I'm not the one who loves sitting all day in library all surrounded by books, but that library really atracts students. I'm sure that Katowice will look pretty cool soon. Sometimes changes are good, sometimes not. But those changes make me feel secure for the place I live. I miss my hometown, I miss Ukraine, but it's great that I am where I am.

For those who want to spend a nice weekend in Vienna and don't have plans for Sunday evening. My favourite restaurant "all you can eat"!!! EBI - Asian food. And remember to check a cheap bus from Katowice to Vienna, so you can save some cash! :D

Saturday, my favourite day - I can sleep till midday. Yesterday my friends decided to go to a nice pub, which is located in Sosnowiec, city I live in. And I tried to learn how to play billards. Well, it's a very popular  entertainment especially for guys. So, of course, girls lost... But we loved the game, so now it's a new plan for me - to find some new cool places, where I can play billards.

Introduction

That's my first post so I need to introduce, in case if somebody asks about „the name” of my blog. I'm Hanna (actually Макатуха Анна Игоревна) and I'll try to write my first blog ever.

Russian (tradition) says about my Russian roots. My mom is Russian, so everything in our home is connected with Russia: food, Russian TV, language that we use. With Ukrainian (passion) is a little bit different – of course my dad is Ukrainian, but I was born in Ukraine, and I spent a careless childhood in two lovely places. Firs is Donieck – city I was born in, one of my favourite places on the world. Second is a small village – Mohyliv, my grandparents place.

I have been learning/studying in Poland since I was 10, so I got used to everything in this country and I treat Poland as my native land. Now I'm studying in University of Economics in Katowice and to be honest, I never had a doubt that I would not like that school. It's actually perfect!

So here I am: half Russian, half Ukrainian, living in Poland and writing this blog in English!