Week 9: Personal (09/04/12 - 15/04/12)

This week, we had several days off from classes due to the Easter break. I also had my best friend visit me from home and I was eager to show him the sights of Poznan. It was interesting to see his first reaction to being in Poland as I assume that it was similar to mine when I first arrived over two months ago. Although he really enjoyed his stay (no doubt helped by the cheap beer and fantastic company), he said he was surprised that I was happy living here due to the vast language barrier and the notable difference between Polish culture and ours. I surprised myself when I began to explain why the cultures were different and how I was able to inform him of the positives that Poland had to offer. In explaining this, it made me realise the progress I had made from the first day in Poznan and how comfortable I am here. My friend also made a shocking observation when he said “I can’t believe that you understood what he was saying.” He was referring to a conversation (mostly one-sided) I had in Polish with the receptionist in my dormitory. It was the first time I had noticed that my Polish language is developing with every day, maybe not to the standard that our teacher expects of us, but it is still developing. This was compounded when I received my first ‘A’ grade in polish class. Needless to say I was straight on the phone to my girlfriend to tell her the news…………….. She didn’t believe me though!

One of the many old buildings

I introduced my friend to the new friends I have made in Erasmus and was refreshing to hear him asking the same questions I had asked on my arrival. This allowed me to listen to the answers as an outsider and gain an even better understanding of my Erasmus friends. I was able to show him the old buildings around the city which are very impressive lit up at night, and we agreed that you can sense the history that radiated from these buildings.

We were then forced (not really forced) to sing at a karaoke bar and at long last, I was able to unleash my undoubted talent upon Poznan. I feel that the people of Poznan will be forever indebted to me for showing them what a real singing performance looks like.

What a performance

We also had time to squeeze in a visit to watch the local football team (Lech Poznan) play a game. The stadium is only newly built over the past few years and has a capacity of over 40,000 people. However, the stadium was only half full during this game, although the noise made by the supporters surpassed that of stadiums I have been in where there were 80,000 people in attendance. This is testament to the fabulous support the team receives and shows how passionate the supporters are towards sport. The team won 3-1, however, I have the feeling that if they had have been beaten, the support would have been as equally noisy.

My friends stay has been a real boost to me as I can clearly see the progress I have made in understanding the polish people and the language. I felt a sense of pride that I was able to show him around the city and explain the different areas that I have been accustomed to over the past load of weeks. I was also proud to explain the differences between our cultures and this only doused my appetite to learn more about the city and its culture…….. maybe I should have a visitor every week!!!