Week 2: Cultural (20/02/12 - 26/02/12)

Mam na imie ......

After spending nearly two weeks in Poznan, I am only now beginning to grasp how different the culture is compared to back home in Belfast.

I will begin by getting the difficult one out of the way…… LANGUAGE!!!

The Polish language is slowly becoming my nemesis. We have enrolled for two seperate three hour classes a week, and after completing six hours so far, we are still struggling to say “My name is.” I kid you not, this language is crazy!

This struggle to adapt to the language is only magnified by the fact that very little people in Poznan speak English. Even the people who work at reception in our dormitory cannot speak English. We have been managing to communicate with the age old classic of ‘pointing’ if we want something and the trusty ‘shrug of the shoulders’ when we don’t understand (which is quite often). With this being the case, we really appreciate the fact that the other Erasmus students are in the same situation and we try to help each other out.  However, I am determined to try and master the language and hopefully in a few weeks you will be reading about the fact that I can speak fluent Polish….. slightly optimistic I know, but I hope to at least be able to order my food in Polish!    

Tasty, but don't ask me what it is!

     Polish food is very different than back home with a lot of cabbage, coleslaw, cabbage, potatoes and cabbage being served. It has been  interesting and mostly enjoyable experimenting with these different plates. When I order in a restaurant, the menus are in Polish so I have devised a crafty trick of randomly pointing out to something on the menu and waiting anxiously and hoping that I have ordered something tasty. As well as Polish food, we are also being introduced to different recipes from around the world. We have planned to get our Erasmus friends to cook meals from their countries. Aina (from Catalonia) made us a delicious dish of Spanish Tortillas and tomato bread, and I think we are planning to make some Irish stew if we ever get around to buying the ingredients.

View from our hostel in Wroclaw

We had an opportunity this week to experience the Polish culture outside Poznan. We took a trip south to the city of Wroclaw (I think it’s pronounced Vrrocwov – see what I mean about the language!).

Wroclaw is a beautiful city with a stunning mix of modern and old architecture. I was asked by another Erasmus student if Belfast was a beautiful city, and I could only say “Yes, some parts of Belfast are.” It made me think about the fact that I don’t really appreciate my home city, as the more I thought about it, our city is one with a fascinating history and deserves to be given more respect and appreciation by its inhabitants.

Enjoying the view

Padlocks on 'Lock Bridge'

We only stayed in Wroclaw for one night, and it was a shame as there was still so much we had to see. 

Having said this, we still managed to see some beautiful churches, buildings, the university and the ‘Lock Bridge,’ which is a small bridge which is covered in padlocks. This tradition comes about when a couple get married and they would go to the bridge and place a padlock on to secure their love.

The people in Wroclaw are pretty similar to those in Poznan. They seem to always be focusing on getting somewhere rather than taking a step back and relaxing. A good example is when we are getting on and off the trams. It doesn’t really matter if you were there in the line first, the people will push past you to get on first. We have slowly been getting used to this and have realised that if we hesitate, we will be brushed aside without a second thought.

Apart from our trip, we have FINALLY got our classes sorted and our timetable doesn’t look too bad as we do not have to start at 8am like most other students. 

The week ahead looks to be less interesting as our first two in Poznan as we don’t have any trips planned and will be concentrating on our studies. I feel that this could be a good thing though, as maybe by the end of the week we will feel more like citizens of Poznan rather than tourists.
Till next week,
Czesc!