Claire in Poland!

Dzién dobry! I just hit the two-month mark in my semester abroad in Wrocław, Poland.

It's pronounced "Vroht-swav"

Wroclaw, Breslau, Vratislav…it has multiple names and a rich history. It’s a beautiful, formerly German city, now in a country that I knew very little about before coming here.

When I first announced that I’d be spending my semester abroad in Poland, the only reactions I got were confused looks and people asking why I would want to go here. Well, the initial reason I chose Poland was because the concentration of my studies (History and International Relations) is primarily on Eastern Europe; I also thought that since I knew almost nothing about Poland, it would be really interesting. But before I arrived, I had a hard time finding anyone who had come here to study before—most of the people I knew who had studied abroad had gone to England or Wales, so I really had no idea what to expect. That mystery both appealed to me and scared me.

Before coming to Poland, I’d already experienced culture shock once before in my life—I spent a month in Russia this past summer—from new settings and language barriers. Very few people in Poland speak English, but apart from the cranky doormen in our dormitories, most people are happy to help.

           

The transition period here was a little tough because some of the university employees, and much of the administration in our dorms, don’t speak any English. We all had to figure out how public transportation worked, to move into the dorms and sign paperwork, and to find the office to pick up the extremely essential “legitymacja” (a student ID that allows us to enter the dorms—just like a Spartan Card).

Luckily, the University of Wrocław offers a free introductory course for the Polish language, two weeks before the semester starts—and it was a lifesaver. The best decision I made in the beginning was to take this class. At first I felt scared and lost in a city where I knew no one, but during this class I met people from all over the world, many of whom have become the close friends that I spend much of my time with and will hopefully keep in touch with for years to come. At the beginning, everyone is new, and everyone sticks together to figure things out, especially in a country like Poland where nothing ever goes quite as planned. I use the Polish that I’ve learned on a daily basis and hope to improve throughout my stay; the language is one of the most important things I’d like to take away from this experience.

Zamek-Ksiaz

Another great thing about Wrocław is that the location is ideal—I’m just three hours away from major cities like Prague, Berlin and Krakow.

A sign in Krakow

Wrocław is definitely a college town, meaning that apart from clubbing and going to bars, there’s not too much else to do on the weekends. Transportation here, and in most of Eastern Europe, is so easy and cheap that it’s no problem to take a bus or train just a few hours away on the weekend, so when the mood strikes and we feel like seeing historical sights or just a new setting, we can just get tickets to wherever we want to go. Poland, and the rest of Central/Eastern Europe, is so full of history, especially the legacy of the 20^th century.

My first trip out of Poland was Berlin, Germany

Rynek (Main Square) in Kraków, Poland 

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Coming to Poland to study was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made; I was really nervous before I arrived, but since I got here I haven’t questioned my decision for a second. Poland is a beautiful country and I’m glad that I gave it a chance despite being worried about the lack of information I had beforehand.  The culture and language is so different here, so it was a big hurdle to overcome. It can be confusing and just plain scary at times. But despite these problems that I wouldn’t have faced if I had picked somewhere that English was widely spoken, this was a great way to fully immerse myself and get the most out of my study abroad experience. That’s why I would recommend to anyone who’s up for a challenge to pick somewhere like Poland, where you know you might be getting in over your head—I can promise that the language skills and independence that you pick up along the way are well worth it. And the people you meet along the way will help make it the biggest adventure of your life.

Claire Daniels
University of Wroclaw
Wroclaw, Poland