The unknown Wroclaw

Probably, when you'll see that name among all the Erasmus destinations, you'll think that they probably wrote it wrong (wait to see the rest of the Polish words).

Wroclaw was my Erasmus destination during the academic year 2015/2016 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. When I had to choose the destination and I started to elucidate at home, I had a lot of doubts, but finally I decided to go there... I picked Wroclaw and stop thinking about what I had done. In fact, it was done, no possibilities of change. I was going to live in Poland for 6 months. A new language I've never heard before and that sounds easier than it really is; a new life, alone, far away from home, family and friends... and the most important thing: with more than 1000 (yep, you read it correctly, more than 1000 Erasmus students) that were going to be in the same situation as me. As soon as I started to be in contact with the coordinators of my university in Poland (Politechnika Wroclawska) I realised that English was not a problem for them, which relieved me a lot.

Then the red tape arrived to my peaceful life.

THE RED TAPE: Learning agreement, a subject-validation arrangement between universities that is going to drive you crazy as hell. And guess what about the language? Everything was in Polish. No matches between subjects, ETCs, validations, schedules... a mess. But if you really want to live the Erasmus experience, you are going to do the impossible and you'll success for sure. In my case it was my last year at university, so in Spain I only had optional subjects to choose, and it was easier for me, because I could adapt the schedule with the most interesting subjects for me as I wanted. But anyway, don't think it was that easy for me!

Once I had everything done, bureaucratic things were accepted in both countries. Everything was done, or I believed that.

Finally the day arrived, it was September 13th and I had to take the flight. More or less three hours of flight full of nerves, sweat and uncertainty: What was going to happen with me? Was I going to adapt myself right to my new life? Was I going to make new friends? Was everything going to be okay? Was going to be everything as in Spain? What was I going to do when I arrive there? A lot of questions and no answers in that moment.

The last thing you should be worried about is if you are going to make new friends. I'm going to tell you something: even the less sociable person is going to make new friends (my own experience). You have to think that people is in the same situation as you are, everything is new for them also, and at the beginning everyone is very kind. Step by step you'll find your mates and your group of friends, feeling more comfortable and becoming part of the Erasmus environment.

In my case, I had a buddy, a kind of mate that was going to show me everything and help me with all the matters during my Erasmus period. My advice to you is that if you have the choice to pick a buddy, pick it. Alan came to the airport to pick me up and showed me everything about the city, public transport, pedestrian laws (they may change a lot between countries! ), advice about where to eat, things about university,... I was scared as hell, and my English was a full shit at this moment. I was really shy and I didn't know how to escape. My buddy Alan was really friendly all the time and we invited him to have dinner with us, in order to know something more about the country and the Polish people.

Sun was rising up and a new day coming up. It was sunny (sun that you'll miss during winter, but you'll hate during spring) and we had a new city to walk around and discover.

Wroclaw is really beautiful, amazing. Since the moment we went out from the hostel (Pasaz Niepolda, you'll know) the charm of the city filled our bodies and let us do up with the summer weather, the sunny streets full of people, the young spirit and the colour of the life in there.

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Rynek (like the main square of the city) has a lot of different coloured houses that put you over and you only want to have breakfast sitting on there all the mornings for the rest of your life, with the sun, the music of the street and just seeing people walking around. We went to find the university and the dormitories, and we got lost. Very kindly, everyone we asked for information in English, tried to answer us in English or if not, tried to communicate with us by the way we could understand what they wanted to say. I have to tell you that we could understand a pair of old Polish ladies perfectly: signals is an universal language. I also have to tell you that there is a kind of topic or legend with the gnomes, you are going to see them along the whole city, even at university or shopping centre. You'll want to have a count of them and keep discovering more and more.

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Well, we arrived to the university and I fell in love. We arrived to the dormitories, and not so. Five or six communist buildings made of sheet metal, that (really) needed a full change sitting by random in a kind of green piece of ground in the suburbs of the city. DON'T allow get yourself carried away by the appearances, I said the first time that I was not going to live there, and I finally spent the best year of my life. The well-known Tx are full of Erasmus students not only from Europe, but from the whole world. My roommates were a Spanish girl and a Chinese one during the first semester and two girls form India during the second one. Don't be afraid of living with people from a different culture.

Related to the university matter, if you have the chance to be a "member" of ESN community, don't hesitate. It's a kind of students net-work that organises trips, escapes, activities,... and used to be cheaper than organised by yourself or your group of friends. For example, they organised for us a lot of activities for the weekend, as Football Soccer, ice skating, football championships,... and the entrance was cheaper than going alone.

Setting aside my first experiences with university and dormitory, I'll talk about the food: don't stop trying new meals even if you are "bad/special eaters". Polish people are fans of cauliflower, beetroot, broccoli cooked in all the possible ways, but they cook it really good. They love cheese and meat with different sauces. Fish dishes are more difficult to find, and more expensive too. I have to tell you that I don't know about anyone who died because of hunger. The most typical food is Zurek, and even if it seems to be weird for you, my advice to you is to try it.

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Okay, i'll talk about that, I know you are expecting that. I'm going to talk about the party! Go to Wroclaw. Think that is a big city, full of young people, moreover is one of the cities with more students of Poland, just like Salamanca or Santiago de Compostela in Spain (Unfortunately I don't know comparisons in other countries). In addition, there are more than 1000 Erasmus students that choose this city as destination. Are you still thinking about it? There are available parties 24/7. Really? Still? Drinks are super cheap, and the most common drink is Vodka (My recommendation is Zubruwka, if you are a real lover of vodka, or Soplica if you are not, because it has too many flavours, not just the "white" one) and beer (almost all the beers are quite good, but be conscious about the percentage of alcohol, because there are beers for homeless people with 14-15%). You don't have to be worried about that matter.

Regarding travelling. Everyone wants to make some trips during their Erasmus experience. Poland is quite close to everywhere, and public transport is cheap and safe. You also have the possibility to rent a car, which is not a bad idea. As bus company I suggest you Polskibus, sometimes trips are like 0. 25€ (1 pln). In my case I travelled to Germany, along whole Poland, Belarus and Czech Republic, I wanted to go to more places, but I didn't have time enough. In order to move around the city, you won't find any problems by walking, bicycle, tram or bus, there are a lot or everything during all the day and Wroclaw is a flat city, so you don't have to be worried.

Another important matter is the weather. You are going to live in two different seasons, not four: infernal hot and cold. As infernal hot I mean that you should put in your package at least one short and a lot of t-shirts, because when spring is coming you are going to feel it, and if you don't bring those clothes with you, you'll have to buy them there, and then bring back to your country (think about it, I didn't hahaha). Regarding to the the cold, be more concerned with the rain: Wroclaw is a southern city of Poland and the medium temperature during winter is 0 degrees, but there are also days of f**** cold. During my winter in Poland only 3-4 days in the beginning of January: temperature oscillated between -17 and -23ºC. Nice. Don't forget to bring with you a good feather coat.

The blinds. Polish people doesn't know what the hell is a blind. If you are going to Poland during the first semester don't pay attention to this section, keep reading, but if you are going for the second one, you'll be pissed off if you are not used to live with the sun entering to your room at 4 am. The sun is covered by the clouds during the early morning and for the rest of the day. Nice. But you'll get used to, don't worry.

Important word: JUWENALIA.

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Juwenalia is a kind of free festival for students which is celebrated in Tx dormitory during May. The dormitory is crowded and full of people, parades, stages, activities, BBQ,... It's amazing, and if you are going to live in Wroclaw just for the first semester you'll want to go back in order to enjoy Juwenalia with your mates that are still living there. In addition, when warm weather arrives the mood of the whole city changes, festivities, concerts, all the terraces of the bars,... and the Island (Wyspa Slodowa). You'll know about the island.

The coin. I'm glad to introduce you the Zloty and the change to euros is quite simple: 1 euro - 4 zloty. Almost everything is cheaper than in Spain (I think is the same with most of rest of the countries), except the fruit. Be aware with the fruit: sometimes fruit is sold by units, not by kilograms. I realised about that when i lived there for 4 months (Congrats Ana! ).

I think you should realised that I wrote at the beginning of the post that I was going to live in Poland just for six months, but then I said I lived there for a year. Why? I'm not lying to you, I just realised after I lived there for two months that I didn't want to be there for six months, I wanted to stay there for all the year, and by this time, the best moments were still on the way.

Polish people, generally arevery friendly and kind, but as everywhere, there are also exceptions. I have to advise you that there are two days per year when probably your Erasmus coordinator is going to send you an e-mail saying that is "dangerous" to go out and is better to stay at home. One of these days is the "Poland Day", and the other one was random, I don't remember the date. There are people, in Poland and everywhere, that are "a little bit" radical and during these days become crazy. Also during my stay in Poland the "problem" with Syrian refugees arised because they had to cross Poland in order to arrive to Germany, and there were lots of people that didn't want to allow that and went out in order to complain. I NEVER had any problem with anybody, either knew anyone who had.

Guys, I hope this last thing is not pulling you back, you are going to live the best experience of your life, bring with you people and unforgettable vibes (I still feel goosebumps on my skin), know new cultures, open and free your mind, and most important of all of that enrich yourself, personally and spiritually. Go out of your bubble, and live the adventure, because you only Erasmus once.

If you have any questions or want to ask me anything, please write down my e-mail [email protected] and contact me. I hope this would be useful for you, and that there would be a lot of you who I'd encouraged to go to Wroclaw!

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