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!!!