Week 2: Monday 15th - Sunday 21st February 2010

This week it became really obvious to me that there are a lot of students in Poznan! All of a sudden the student population had 'landed' to begin their second semester of classes and they are everywhere! Having been here for a week myself, by Monday I was hoping to get the academic side of my stay here finalised but it wasn't possible just yet! Most of the classes in the university had started but this wasn't the case for me! Whilst here I'm going to take classes in AMU-PIE, the 'faculty' which provides subjects in many of the other faculties in English, I'll be learning the Polish language and I'll spend some time in a school placement, something which is yet to be arranged. For now, however, I am still acting like a tourist here and so went for a bit of a walk around the city.
At midday I saw the 'lucky goats' on the city hall which people crowd to watch every day at this time. Later on my mentor and I, accompanied by another Erasmus student from Turkey, went in to town to buy some posters to brighten up my room and I spent the evening with my Polish flatmates and neighbours as I often do. I am constantly exposed to the language with them and we watch a lot of things which are in English with Polish subtitles, or vice versa, which is really helpful in encouraging my own development in the language.

On Tuesday morning I went back to Park Cytadela which I had been to with the Spaniards, only this time it was with my next door neighbour in halls, a Polish guy called Radek. In the afternooon there was a meeting for all the Erasmus students of the semester where I got to see how many people had come to Poznan just like myself and the variety of places they had come from. I am the only person from the UK and the meeting confirmed my suspicion that most of the students are from Spain and Turkey although they come from almost every country in the EU. In the evening I spent my time with students representing many of these countries: Ramazan (Turkey), Anna (Germany), Asta (Lithuania), Cristian (Spain) and Magda & Dominika (Poland). By Wednesday I had finally met the Erasmus Coordinator in my faculty of Education although little was finalised in terms of my academic life here. There are vending machines here that sell ready-to-eat microchips (the fastest form of food I've ever seen!) so I just had to try them!

I finally went to a class on Thursday morning. Statistics is taught in English but there were only two students in the class! I believe there will be more next week but classes here do generally seem to be a little smaller than we are used to. I was happy to find out it's only a five minute walk from my dorm. :-) Later on in the day I had another class, Environmental Sociology, which I think is going to be really interesting. It's really nice for me here being the native English speaker in an environment where the common language is usually English and in classes it's much easier for me than for the rest who, although most speak English well, have to try to understand some very specific vocabulary. I have to be thankful that I can listen in class without having to translate everything like the rest do!

After class I got to know some more spanish girls better. Ina, Gema and I headed to one of the (3) big shopping centres here - Stady Browar and stopped to enjoy a really delicious white chocolate mocha before doing some grocery shopping in the first supermarket which made me feel at home because I could actually buy things which were familiar to me! Back at the flat I watched a film with the other guys, something which seems to have become a bit of a routine for us.

On Friday morning I went with a Polish friend to her faculty (which is much more modern than my own) and I experienced a Polish 'hamburger' which I was unable to eat without a knife and fork because it was HUGE! By now I know at least one person who will be worrying that all I'm eating here is fast food...which is certainly not the case! Having never really cooked anything in my entire life, in the evening I made a proper dinner with 'good-old potatoes and veg'. I was beginning to miss potatoes so my roommate, who is teaching me how to cook from scratch (!), walked me through the process. Since then I've also branched out to 'spaghetti bolognese' so my culinary skills are definitely improving, slowly but surely!

My weekend was quiet enough, however on Saturday my flatmates took me to Lake Malta, a giant man-made lake here in the city. Right now it is completely frozen, as are the rivers. It was a beautiful day, though, and I got some great pictures! There is also a ski slope here which I would love to have a go on sometime before it melts! My roommate made me a Polish dish comprising of frankfurter sausages, vegetables and pancakes ... an interesting combination! Later that evening I went out with a friend, Anna, and it was great to get to know more about her and her culture back home in Germany. Sunday was very similar to last week, as I'm sure it always will be! I went back to the International Church (once I could find the door!...I was a little late) and after stayed for a Polish church where I get everything translated into English through a great little headset device tuned in to a particular frequency. In the afternoon I met Ania to go to small group which makes me feel so at home. Little things like taking off your shoes at the door, sitting at a TABLE drinking tea & eating cheescake and getting a lift home in a car make me feel like I actually know some people here and that makes you feel so at home. It's also really nice to spend time with older people instead of being with students all the time! I enjoy the variety of people and continue to be surprised and pleased by the time and effort people have invested in me and their willingness to look after me so far here in Poland.