My Erasmus in Warsaw by Y.

Why did you choose to go to Warsaw, Poland?

Ahhh, Warsaw... where the Erasmus Trinity makes full sense : Liquor, Lust, Life.

Coming from an engineering school, I needed to have some experience abroad and make it fun and unforgettable. I needed it to be special and different from the hard working years that I used to have in the french education system. I wanted to discover another culture, as I am familiar with north African and western European cultures, I wanted to see something new.

I also needed the country to be welcoming for foreigners (or at least a part of it) because Erasmus is about the social experiment, it's not only about studies and classes. I wanted a country where I can make friends from locals and from other nationalities as well. It was important.

I had a friend of mine who made one semester in Warsaw and enjoyed it, the parties, the fun, the possibility to build life-lasting memories and to challenge yourself in a different environment and different culture.

I wanted to make the last year of my studies memorable, I wanted to build new friendships, I wanted to open my eyes wider on the world, I wanted stories to tell my friends and children (well may be not all the stories), I wanted to live the life!

Warsaw was inescapable.

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

My engineering school in France gave me around 140 € / month in one shot around the end of April (btw that was a nice birthday present :D). I needed also to rely on my own savings and help from my parents. I applied also for a grant specific to the city of Paris (100 € / month).

I will get later to the details of my spending, but what you should know at this point is that the cost of life in Warsaw is 4 times less than the cost of life in Paris or London. But here lays a trap : since you're in an affordable "country" you'll find yourself spending as much as usual or even more because in Warsaw, with your usual Paris budget, you can allow yourself to live like a Pacha!

My advice for people is really to be pro-active and look for grants two semesters ahead, so rely on the spontaneous communication of your university, go ask them direct questions, because once you're in the last semester before your Erasmus departure, you'd had already crossed all the important deadlines. ( I learned the hard way when I missed a 500 € / month grant because I didn't go to ask my university if there is any, and when I knew about this grant in March it was already too late as I was leaving for Warsaw in September).

What is the student lifestyle like in Warsaw?

Warsaw is one of the European capitals where there is a huge amount of students, I remember reading that 1 out of 4 inhabitants is a student.

There are many kinds of student in Warsaw. International students and locals. Erasmus students don't belong to any of these two kinds.

International Students are the non-polish students that are regular students in Warsaw, they may speak Polish or no. The big difference, beyond the ability to speak the language, is the limited amount of time that Erasmus student have before they need to get back home.

This notion of limited time is what makes Erasmus student one of a kind. You know that you have maximum two semesters if you're lucky, that's a maximum of 10 months, 300 days without counting the holidays where you'll come back to see your family or the days where you'll be ill... It's easy to understand why Erasmus student don't miss any opportunity to meet with their friends to hit a club, to party at home, go for some sightseeing or even more important to travel.

There is some outstanding monuments and things to see in Warsaw, I recommend to follow the ESN events to enjoy the cultural sightseeing and get some local magazines or follow some pages like Warsaw Insider or Orange Umbrella Free Tower to know what's going on in the city.

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Warsaw location is really great, you're within two hours flight maximum to all the European amazing capitals : Praga, Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Rome, Vilnius... and many more. They are all serviced by some low-cost companies as RyanAir or WizzAir.

Poland is a country that may surprise you, Kraków, Gdańsk, Sopot, Wrocław, are wonderful cities that have some wonders that are waiting to be discovered, there is so much things to say so I will let you Google this : Kraków old town, Kraków Salt mines, Gdańsk beach, Sopot Crooked house, Wrocław gnomes.... All of this is within few hours of the very affordable PolskiBus modern, wifi-equipped and fast buses.

To come back to our topic, Warsaw is a city where you can have the lifestyle you want, it's perfect to try new things as well as keeping some good old habits!

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

Absolutely, You have to get rid of the stereotype about Warsaw. This city has a lot to offer, it's a big European capital, Yes they have clean water, electricity and internet here also. More seriously, although I made my Erasmus in Warsaw University of Technology, I will recommend the city for students who want to enjoy their time in a different country with affordable prices and learn a lot about themselves and Europe in general. You will find a lot of expats and foreigners here, of course it's not yet as cosmopolitan as Paris or London, but you'll be amazed by the number of foreigners that you may meet here.

For the universities, you have to realize that some things here are still done the old way. Prepare yourself to go ask for the information directly and make your own time table when trying to avoid classes that overlap. I found it to be tough at the moment, but it's things like this that opens your mind.

The lectures are not mandatory for many of them, once again you need to get to know some local students because the professors don't bother themselves with changing the exam subject every year. If you manage to get the subjects of last year, you can make the most of your Erasmus while getting good grades as well. If with all of this you don't manage to validate, (shame on you ) you have to realize the power of the sentence: "Professor, I am Erasmus. " and make good use of it.

What is the food like?

Smacznego!

Food is great. You have to try the famous Pierogi, which are some kind of big Ravioli that are filled with meat, spinach, salmon, cheese or even mushrooms. I would recommend also trying Golonka and Kotlet schabowy, and as dessert you can try Sernik. I am forgetting a lot of nice plates here, but I am sure that you will not spend few months in Poland without enjoying these.

Poles make some very good soups as well. It's easy to understand when you know that in Poland there is no Lunch. Yes, breakfast is quite consistent, then comes Dinner around 3 or 4 pm and around 6 is supper. If you want to taste some Polish food that you cannot find in all restaurants, I recommend getting invited by a polish family for Christmas. You are sure to try some food specific to the region where you're invited or even specific to the family.

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Na Zdrowie!

I cannot skip to the next question without talking about drinks.

First in Warsaw and Poland in general, sparkling water is very popular, so you need to learn the word Niegazowana ( means still) in order to get your usual water. For those of you who want to try some local bears, I recommend going to some pub and you will find a lot of unpasteurized beers and some flavoured beers that are delicious. Honey beer is a must.

For wine, I will skip this part, having lived in France, I will for sure be subjective here.

And the best for last : Wódka. Poland is where the best vodka ever is made and with affordable prices. You can have a bottle of the finest Belvedere or Chopin Vodka with only 17 €. Żubrówka is a very popular vodka, it's good quality and it's less than 10€ the bottle. Soplica with nuts flavor is also a must. The finest polish vodkas are not only easy to drink, but they give no hangover or almost. If you don't want to spend a lot on alcohol, you can find some Vodka's with only 5€ the bottle. One important thing : make sure you drink like polish people do. I recommend you to watch the locals. Make some Polish friends that will show you how it's done, believe me, when in Warsaw, do as the Poles do.

Last but not least, if you have some polish friends that are not from Warsaw, you may get to try Bimber, it's a strong homemade liquor (70%) that you can find in some celebrations like weddings.

PS: cigarettes, for you smokers, cigarettes are cheap here, 3€ the pack even inside the clubs, and you can smoke almost everywhere. Of course you have to avoid public places (yes, bus stops are public places) but you can smoke on the dance floor of many clubs, and many restaurants have large smoking areas.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Warsaw?

To find accommodation in Warsaw, you may proceed in three possible ways.

First, you can apply for a dorm. For this you may need the help of a previous Erasmus student or your Erasmus mentor (a local student that ESN get you in order to help you make your first steps in your new life). Dorms are far from the standards of Paris for example. The rooms are small, often overloaded and lack comfort and intimacy. It's cheap (you can manage to get a room for less than 100 € a month ) and it's a great way to meet locals and make a lot of friends.

The second option is to look for a flat with the help of an agency, I will not make any advertisement here for some agency as I didn't use them, mainly because they charge a fee that goes up to one month of rent and there are some of them that use foreigners lack of knowledge to make them pay expensive rents or make them sign something without visiting it first. The main plus about this is that you are almost sure to get a place to sleep before you arrive in Warsaw, you are sure to save time and effort looking for a flat matching your criteria before your visit it.

The third way is to rely on yourself and maybe your Erasmus Mentor to help you search. Of course for this option you need to get ready to stay few days in a hostel or at some couch-surfer's. Gumtree is the most popular website for this kind of experience, get some help of your mentor to decipher the website and call the landlords that are not fluent in English. Usually there are plenty of ads there and it's quick to find a place to stay. The negative point of this choice is that you should invest time and energy and to be available to visit flats before you sign.

Here is what I did, thanks to my mentor.

Before my departure to Warsaw, I planned to spend one month in the dorm to get to know people and make friends before moving out to some place more comfortable and cosy. So I tried to learn some useful sentences in polish to impress Poles and get along with them. Then I moved out to an individual studio flat in the city centre. I wanted a studio flat because I wanted the full control of the place where I live, I was partying a lot and inviting a lot of friends for warm-up drinks before parties, after parties, and Fifa 13 games Sunday afternoon, I wanted also to be able to host whoever I want from my visiting friends and to be able to play my music as loud as I wanted. My plan worked because avoided me the panic of the first few days where you're in a hurry to find some place where to sleep and also made me save money on the hostel/hotel accommodation, the agency commissions and avoid high prices of rent in September and October. It made me also feel independent but surrounded with friends who visited me regularly.

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How much does it cost to live in Warsaw?

Warsaw is a big capital, but the cost of living is really cheap compared to Paris. Not to mention the student discounts everywhere.

Here is an expenses breakdown for one month.

• Accommodation : 450 € ( for a fully equipped 30 m² studio flat 5 min walking to the central railway station all bills included + internet)
• Phone : 15 € monthly with the mobile operator Play (it depends on personal use, communication in Poland are rather cheap)
• Food : 150 €
• Transport : 10 € (Public transport card with student discount)
• Entertainment (clubs, travels, going out): 500 €

Again this is a personal breakdown. Here is something to help you make your computation.

• Accommodation : 200 - 250 € for an equipped room in a shared flat downtown
• Price of food : connect on the website and check the prices. Polish products are good and quiet affordable, so buy Polish
• Entertainment:
• cinema tickets : 7 €
• Entrance to clubs : free - 5€ max, on average it's 2 - 3 €
• Drinks in clubs : 2, 5€ on average for pint of beer, but there are many student clubs that offer open beer till 1 am. Monday and Tuesday Remont, Wednesday Park, Thursday Medyk. Shots : 1 to 2 € the shot of regular vodka. Vodka Martini : 5 - 9 € depending on the place. Price of a bottle of vodka in a club : 50 - 70 €. Cigarettes in the club : 4 - 5 €
• Taxis: it's 0, 30 € / km in the day or 0, 70 € in the night, I recommend calling Glob Taxi 19668 who have very cheap fares.
• Travels : for travels organised by ESN it's around 100 € for a weekend with accommodation and entrance to some clubs and a touristic activity. for tickets of PolskiBus (the quickest way to travel around Poland ) it's around 50 € to travel to Wrocław and come back example.

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

You may find Polish language quiet tough if you don't come from Eastern Europe. Pronunciation needs exercising although I found it not as difficult as people say, but this is for sure due to my mastery of Arabic. Grammar is difficult though, you should forget the logic that applies to Latin languages or to English. The grammar of Polish is different from what you may have seen until now.

Due to its nature, Poles will be impressed if you manage to learn some polish and try to speak. It's the best way to show interest in their culture and country, believe me, just the reactions and the friendly welcoming deserves all the time spent exercising your pronunciation or grammar.

There are a lot of ways to learn the language... Polish people are proud of their culture and especially about their language. You will find a lot of books and software that can make you learn Polish. During my Erasmus, I was attending 4h of classes a week offered by Politechnika for free. I think even if I had to pay for it, I will do it, because not only language classes are by far the funniest classes in my opinion, but it gives you also unique insight on the polish culture and it's a one life chance to learn the language in the country where it's spoken. You should realize the chance to go out from the lecture and try to apply what you had just learned.

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

The plane is my preferred: 2h15 minutes in the air and you're there. I guess there are low cost airlines to Warsaw from all around Europe. Trains in Poland are awful especially during holidays, so if you're living in one of the neighbouring countries you must know that buses are more often better.

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

Warsaw is for sure one of the best cities for clubbing. Good quality drinks with affordable prices, nice crowd, good variety in clubs and all kind of music and style. There are Posh clubs as well as hipster clubs, student clubs or clubs for a more senior crowd.

Here is my selection for you.

• Hipster night. You may start your night with some warm-up drinks in Pawilony (entrance from 22 Nowy Świat) before hitting some club. Drinks in Pawilony are rather cheap and you're sure to meet a lot of young people and locals as well as a lot of erasmus students. Pawilony has a nice alternative atmosphere and is ideal for a small bar tour before going to Jerozolima who used to be a hospital but is now one of the most frequented alternative place in Warsaw. You'll find a crowd in their early twenties and if you like spicing things up with some alcohol alternative stuff it's the place to be. Powiększenie is also a great Hipster place.
• My preferred night-out. I will start the night in a bar; for example if I am with a bunch of guys we will hit Pijalnia first, it's in Nowy Świat, every kind of drink it 1 € which makes it ideal for students (it's literally packed in the weekends). After this I will go to Przekaski Zakaski, it's known to be the best vodka bar in Warsaw. Food is 2 € and drinks 1 €. It's also packed during the weekends. For something more calm as a warm up, I will suggest going to Lemon bar, and not Lemon club, because the bar is excellent but the club sucks, I cannot understand how those two very different places can have the same owner : Lemon club is rather shabby, but the bar is excellent, it's posh and not very crowded, people here are in their late twenties. My favourite bar is Mariotts bar, it's in the top of the Mariotts hotel tour so it offers the best view on Warsaw ever! In the same kind there is Paparazzi bar, it's more a pub than a bar, prices here are rather expensive compared to the rest of the city, but it has the advantage of being in Mazowiecka street where all the clubs are.
• Clubs. Speaking about clubs, my favorite and by far is Opera club, a posh club but not too much, the crowd is dressed well, girls are looking great, the decoration of the club is just amazing. There are a lot of places to get isolated and speak. The music is my favorite style (House, House-Progressive ) with some live instruments playing over...it's really exquisite! Foksal XVIII is now the new place to be in Warsaw, I went there couple of times, it's quiet small but you will have good time here. In Mazowiecka street I prefer to go, in this order, to Organza, to Bank club or to Enklawa. Usually you can find some famous polish people here.
• Miscellaneous. Hybrydy, especially Wednesday night; Remont for open beer Mondays and Tuesdays; Park Club for open beer Wednesday; Medyk for open beer Thursday. Capitol club Fridays and Saturdays, the music here is great, the crowd in their early twenties but it's so loud that you can barely hear yourself even when shouting.
• Ladies Nights ( free entrance for the ladies and usually 60% of girls in the beginning of the night). Tuesday : Enklawa, Wedsnesday : Hybrydy.
• For Sheesha lovers : one place Sheesha lounge which is next to Lemon Bar.

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

There are many good restaurants in Warsaw that deliver good quality food with decent prices. But my favorite one is rather posh, it's Delicja Polska. The decoration, the service and the quality of food are outstanding.

For sushi amateurs, like myself, I recommend to try Oto Sushi on Nowy Świat. I went to eat there and had sushi delivered to my place many times, how do we say delicious in Japanese?

There are as well some restaurants that were very popular among erasmus students, for example U Szwejka in Plac Konstytucji. Meals in U Szwejka are copious, tasty and with very good prices; definitely one of my favorites. I recommend also to try Zapiecek, it's a polish chain specialized in Pierogi that tries to capture a polish characteristic ambiance. All my visiting friends who I took there were satiated and satisfied.

What good cultural sites are there to visit?

For cultural sites I would recommend first to do the cultural activities organised by ESN, I advice you to follow all the sections on facebook since this will allow you to enlarge your social circle.

By the way, old town with the Royal Castle and the market square, you can stop there to eat in some restaurant or enjoy a fresh beer in the market square in summer, or a hot warming drink in winter. You can walk in Krakowie Przedmieście street to experience the most beautiful street of Warsaw and the many monuments that are alongside this street.

Łazienki Park is one of the most beautiful parks I've seen in my life, it's also beautiful in winter, there are a lot of friendly animals there as well, which gives a walk there always a cute unpredictable side. There are a lot of things to see in the park, but the must is the Belvedere Castle.

Palac Kultury is the monument which became a symbol of Warsaw, it's 30 floors High and the view from there is nice but not worth coming back. Wilanow Palace is also a great place to see, you can admire the palace.

Warsaw insurrection museum is very important in order to understand the historical resistance of Poles and the impact of WW II on the city and on Poland in general.

You can also enjoy going taking part of some touristic guided tours. You can always find free ones out there.

I highly recommend to go to visit other cities such as Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Auschwitz, they all have historical value and they are all rich of things to see. Try to experience also the wild nature of Poland, you can, for example, go see the legendary Żubr in the forest near Belorussian borders.

As all big capitals, there are always events going on in Warsaw, you have just to make the effort to get the information. Follow the main sources of information and once again, ask the locals, they will always teach you a lot.

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

Here are some pieces of advice that will help you with your stay in Poland.

• Money: I advice you to open a bank account at Alior Bank. Alior Bank because it gives you the possibility to have an account in Euro and in Złoty (the local currency). With one click you can have your money in Euro converted to Złoty with the best rate of the market. Not even conversion at currency exchange office cannot compete with that. Speaking about Currency Exchange offices, I advice you not to do it in the airport. Go to the city and you'll for sure find some of them that gives good rate (there is one in Aleja Jerozolimska next to the tram stop DH Smyk).
• Phone: There are many mobile operators in Poland. 99% of erasmus students including myself have been using Play. It offers cheap communication, good coverage, and the possibility to use all the functionalities of your smartphone without having to engage a contract.
• Internet : If you're in a flat where there is no internet, you can for example subscribe with Vectra, it was the Internet service provider that I used because they offer contracts of 8 or 9 months. 3G internet is really expensive so avoid it.
• Transport : Warsaw offers a good transport network during the night. There are buses that can take you everywhere. There are tramways also all around the city during the day. The metro is also good and it stops pretty late in the weekends ( 2 or 3am ). Once you get your student card, you can use it as a transport card as well because you can recharge it in any automatic terminal in the metro or tramway (sometimes even the bus). It allows you to have 50% discount and pay only 30 € for 90 days membership.
• Accommodation : The perfect choice will be to have a studio / shared flat (no more than 3 ppl) next to some metro stop because it avoids the traffic jams delays every morning. If you want to be close to where things happen I highly recommend the district Środmieście or the Old Town. In this district there is almost all the clubs ( Mazowiecka street ), all the good addresses plus you will not have to wait for a night bus during winter or pay an expensive taxi fair. In addition to this it's quiet safe area. Needless to say that it's better to have mixed flat with both genders or at least with different nationalities. Don't forget that Erasmus is about opening your mind!

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Erasmus is ephemeral. You should make this your motto, you have 9 months to make the most of it and be reborn. So go there and challenge your comfort zone. If a day goes without you making something new, something amazing, something positive, something great, consider it lost!

Powodzenia !