Erasmus Experience in Lublin, Poland by Mghnn

Why did you choose to go to Lublin, Poland?

I wanted to go in a country the most radically different of mine possible (I'm from France), so in the choices I had, Poland was one of the options within my university so I chose Poland. Inside Poland, there was only UMCS where I could stay the whole year, so that is why I arrive in Lublin.

When I check information about the city in internet, I was really excited to go there because they presented the city as an important and influential point of culture, with a lot of events and places to go out, discover people, art, sports, etc. But in fact, when I arrived there, after the EILC courses (which was perfect by the way) I had to admit it was not what I expected. It is true that there are a lot of festivals (theater, cinema, music) but it's not really for young student culture and everything was in Polish, Ukrainian or Russian, nothing with subtitles for the cinema for example. All the booklets, leaflets (which are really scarce) were also in Polish and really difficult to find.

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How long is the scholarship? How much money do you receive to help you with living costs?

I think this question is useless because we all had different scholarship. It depends on your country, your city/ department/ region, your home university and your social classes. For France, the CROUS say that if you have the French scholarship (la bourse du Crous normale qu'on peut avoir même lorsqu'on étudie en France), you can have the scholarship for Mobility of the Government, which is 400€ per month. Be aware, don't believe it because it's impossible and I have never heard that someone had this. For my part, I received 1200€ in total for one semester, so for 5 months and in the end of September 2013 (so after the exchange) I received 450€ more.

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What is the student lifestyle like in Lublin?

In Lublin, there are mainly nightclubs to go out for the whole night. The entrance is really cheap between 5 and 15PLN, but these nightclubs are like everywhere in the world I think: commercial music, discopol (you have to discover it, look for the band Weekend on Youtube), etc. It was nice for some nights but I'm from a part of France where we are used to listen small concerts inside pubs, to go in pubs, meet people in the street. It's not the culture of Lublin, neither Krakow and Warsaw. In UMCS campus there are some really nice pubs, with sometimes great music, I think Opium Café and Opium Scena but they are always full.

Would you recommend the city and the University of Lublin to other students?

I think Lublin could be a great place to go, but I prefer the second semester rather than the first one if you can't do both. There is a lot of student's festival in May, and people are more open to meet foreigners when the sun arrives. For my part, I didn't really like my experience there, but I think it was a lot because of the University programme of my Study Department. I was supposed to study Graphic Design there, in the Fine Arts Department, but there were no courses of Graphic Design, all the lessons were in Polish, the studios were busy or not practicable. And I was the only one in this situation, so it was really difficult to change anything. I spend most of my time in Polish lessons, and other languages. So finally, I went back home after 6 months (the end of the first semester) because I was really loosing my time there and got depressed.

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What is the food like?

The food is very traditional, Pierogis, Zurek, Nalesniki, etc., but you can find almost everything in the supermarket. There are a lot of: E. Leclerc, Tesco, Delikatesy, Jabka, Biedronka, Lidl, etc. Regarding prices Biedronka is the cheapest and Tesco is open 24h the day, every day.

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Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Lublin?

First I had a private flat really expensive for Lublin (1100PLN per month without the bills), then I changed and I went to the "private dorms" in UMCS campus. I paid there 570PLN (approx. 140€) per month within bills and Internet. I had my private room, in a flat with 4 other people, plus 2 common bathrooms and a common kitchen. It's a great compromise between private flat and student dorms (where you have to share your room with 2 or 3 people), but they are also buildings with only students, a lot of Erasmus, so it's not the best place to work and keep concentrated.

How much does it cost to live in Lublin?

Around 500€ per month, all included.

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Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available in the University?

Polish is difficult for English, French, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Italian speakers for example. But for people from eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, etc. ) it was really easy to learn and understand. I think it was also quite difficult for Germans.

I took the EILC courses. They were really helpful. And during the semester I followed the Polish courses in UMCS. I could speak a few and understand a lot at the end. I was also living only with polish people.

What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Lublin from your city?

I get there by train. But it's long (28h) and not economical at the end. For Christmas, I came back home with Ryanair for 36€ Warsaw-Paris/Paris-Warsaw, but I had to pay also a train to go to Warsaw (20PLN from Lublin) and then shuttle and train to go to Rennes, my hometown, and it was without checked baggage. I came back definitively to France by Airfrance plain because there is a special student discount if you go directly on Airfrance website. I paid 98€ for the ticket, with 12kg + an accessory (computer, camera) of cabin luggage and 23kg of checked baggage. I arrived at the CDG airport in Paris, and I took a train directly to the airport. It was the fastest and cheapest way (10h approx. )

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Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Lublin?

The name of the place change every 10 months there so I cannot tell you but we often went to Opium Scena (nightpub), Dwa Pietra (nightclub with electronic music, dubstep, sometimes dirtyrock, rap). I know people who went each week to Shine or Cream. But there is not a lot of different places, the city is really small, so you can all discover very quickly. I loved Dom Kultury, which makes a lot of concerts, it's really pretty inside and the music is great.

• To have a tea a coffee or breakfast: Cafe Heca, Kawiarna Kawka, Cafe Vélo.
• To have a beer: Cafe Lulu, Księgarnia Pub, Coyote, Opium Cafe, etc.

And for eating? Can you recommend some good restaurants in Lublin?

I don't remember the names, but again, the city is really small, so you can almost try each of them. In UMCS campus there is a restaurant that makes traditional food and pizza. The Zureck is the best I ate in all Poland

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What good cultural sites are there to visit?

Around Lublin there is Zamosc, Kazimierz Dolny.

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Inside Rynek old market square, Stare Miasto the old town are really beautiful. The white castle, the chapel inside, Czmentarz (the cemetery) specially the 1st November. Magdanek, the concentration camp in the border of the city. The artificial lake, in winter it's completely frozen. There is also a artificial slope for ski and snowboard. The botanical garden. The old printing house in the old town. Chatka Zaka near UMCS campus.

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Is there any other advice that you could give to future students who are going to Lublin?

Don't expect too much of the city, save money to travel a lot.

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