University of Silesia in Katowice

If you don’t know what you should do with your life – go on an Erasmus trip 🙂

It may sound a bit corny and far-fetched, but in fact, it is the best advice I can give to students and doctoral students who are just starting their “adult” life (for those more experienced, I just hope you’ll have lots of fun). Erasmus is learning, both in an academic and professional sense.

But most of all it is learning to live: to handle changing circumstances without the support of family and friends living next door when faced with a myriad of different events and emotions. It’s learning to see the world not only from your own perspective but from the perspective of the people you meet there. It is a school of tolerance, diversity, being open-minded and ready to embrace change, as well as dealing with problems you encounter. Erasmus is getting to know foreign cultures, tastes, customs, ways of life, and education systems, learning about countries known to us from the Internet and TV, learning about their museums, parks, and works of art. Experiencing first-hand the things that no network is capable of showing us.

Finally, it is getting to know oneself. It’s the best way of self-discovery that you can get. After all, can anything test a person better than jumping in at the deep end? You don’t know if you can manage it, if you’re capable of communicating, dealing with formalities, registering at a dormitory, passing the semester, buying dinner, meeting people. Will you be able to handle unexpected situations that pop up along the way (they always do!)? Will you adapt to the environmental and cultural conditions (because some things can be quite a surprise)?

And then you take that leap, you GO and… It turns out you can do EVERYTHING!

If you want it, you can do it – only your attitude will determine how well you will do. If you are afraid to go alone, convince a friend or a colleague to go with you – it’s always much easier together. Don’t give up on your trip and your dreams just because you are afraid. You can do it, you’ll come back stronger. I guarantee it!

***

4th year of studies, summer semester, February 2009. Instead of getting ready for a lecture, I’m packing for an Erasmus trip. A semester in Braga, Portugal awaits. My new university will be Universidade do Minho, Faculty of Physics. Together with Adam, a friend who is going with me, we will be taken under the wing of the charming and helpful Professor Maria Gomes, the head of the department. We will also be assigned research supervisors, Sofia and Sergey, who will help us adapt and carry out our scientific research on BaTiO3 electroceramics. Contrary to our concerns, the research will go well. But that’s days away, now the tickets, the airport…

• …and information from the university that unfortunately they haven’t managed to arrange dormitory rooms for us (we don’t have any left, deal with it)…
• …and the flight got delayed so that instead of having over an hour to change planes in Frankfurt we have 30 minutes (and the gate is all the way on the other side of the airport)…
• …then an inevitable late boarding for Porto (many thanks to the Lufthansa captain who waited 20 minutes for us instead of leaving!)…
• …and as it turns out, our luggage is not in Porto 🙂

A lovely start, isn’t it?

But things don’t get much easier later on. The dormitory resembles a prison cell, the staff at the temporary campus don’t speak English, there’s no hot water, and the luggage, which was supposed to be there at 7 a.m. arrives at 1 p.m, after 3 phone calls. And it’s a miracle that it arrived at all! And that we got a room in the dormitory, which the supervisor arranged for us! And that Sergey picked us up from the airport…
We’ll stay there for 3 nights and then we’ll move to a fancy Lloyd Braga dormitory (double rooms with bathrooms).

Nightmare? NOT AT ALL!
A character-building experience!
If we can manage so many things in 48 hours, we can handle anything! We can surely learn, work independently, do research, meet other Erasmus students, take the Portuguese course we signed up for, and adapt to the local day-to-day culture – the Portuguese “mañana”, meaning tomorrow, take it easy. No results today? Mañana. You will have them tomorrow. Maybe 🙂

In addition, a shocker – young people do not speak English. Not a word. You can’t communicate with local young people and students. A disaster (after some time, it turns out that the older residents know the language of Shakespeare and you can chat with them).

Another difference – the “eating time”. Usually between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. or 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. No one is working, everyone heads out to eat. You can go with them or… no soup for you! When the eating time is over, the restaurants close, and even if you are starving to death on their doorstep – you won’t go in! You’ll have to wait until 6-7 p.m. for them to reopen for supper. There is no siesta like in Spain, but you do get a break. By the way, this break means that work and university classes don’t finish at 5 p.m. but at 7 p.m. or even 8 p.m. And in the mornings, few people start university activities before 9 a.m. Bars rarely open before 10 p.m., clubs only after midnight. It’s a different lifestyle – you’ll either love it or hate it. We are not at home – so we have to fall in love with it!

Lots of other experiences, getting to know each other, spending time with students from other countries. Independent trips to neighbouring cities or countries – personally, in Portugal I had a chance to visit not only Braga but also Porto, Fatima, and Geres National Park. In addition, I made a quick trip with a cheap airline to Spain (Madrid and Segovia, which I wanted to visit for many years). Would I get such an opportunity in Poland? NOPE!

Erasmus is not something that can be described in a few sentences.
It is a multitude of experiences, situations, new acquaintances, discoveries, sometimes less pleasant moments – but during which the locals will definitely not leave you on your own. It is a school of life in the wider world. You cannot simply forget it. It stays with you forever.

Not sure if this is for you? Just take a look at the pictures and then tell me you don’t want to go!