University of Silesia in Katowice

Bird’s Milk to zeppelins

Let me start with the fact that Kaunas is a very cosy and charming city. Even though it is the second largest city in Lithuania, it does not feel crowded or rushed. Life goes on along Liberty Avenue which runs through the city, connecting its new part with the old one. The promenade is closed to traffic, and along it there are plenty of different restaurants offering cuisines from around the world that will satisfy both gluttons and sophisticated gourmets.

VMU

Vytautas Magnus University, or the slightly more difficult to pronounce Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas in Lithuanian, is housed in several modern-looking buildings, mostly in the centre of Kaunas. Its history goes back 100 turbulent years. The patron of the University is Prince Witold, cousin of the Polish king, Władysław Jagiełło. He is an important figure for both Lithuania and Poland, as he was the commander of the Lithuanian army during the Battle of Grunwald. His statue, located along the main avenue, is one of the attractions of the city.

An event with a strong USil group

But let’s move on to the event itself — International Staff Week 2023. It began with the participants getting familiarised with the culture of Lithuania, which, unlike the language, is not so exotic for us, but nevertheless still very interesting. In addition to local group folk dances accompanied by music and wine tasting, the participants had the opportunity to try specialties from about 35 countries, such as Argentina, the Philippines, Kenya and Thailand. It turned out that the University of Silesia had a really strong representation of over 15 people, who prepared a wide range of our specialties: starting with sausage and highlander cheese, through Ptasie Mleczko and “Kopalnioki” sweets, ending with sour cucumbers and alcohol. Ptasie Mleczko was a hit, while participants from Ukraine supported us with their own alcohol snacks. We helped those interested in choosing our snacks in picking the ones most suitable for their liking, and there was a lot to choose from.

To Vilnius!

The event schedule, apart from educational and social pros, included a trip around the rainy on that day Kaunas and the capital of Lithuania – Vilnius. In addition to international attractions, the most important monument of the capital for us was the Gate of Dawn, known from the Invocation from “Pan Tadeusz” by Adam Mickiewicz, which school students used to learn by heart. In addition to intellectual and cultural nourishment, we also visited a restaurant famous for its delicious local cuisine.

Obligatory integration

Apart from the duties resulting from the trip, we had a lot of time to integrate with people from all over the world, as well as in our own USil circle. I especially remember pleasant conversations over fried bread, potato pancakes and zeppelins about scientific and non-scientific passions, about dreams, the future, aliens, life after death and everything else until late at night. Conversations filled with kindness and tolerance of our differences and worldviews.

Our evening meetings with philologists and IT specialists were a pleasant culmination of each day, broadening horizons and tightening friendships.