International Integration Day

On April 23, students participating in Erasmus+ took part in an Integrational Day meeting. The event was held by students from University of Rzeszów.

This project, which is organized here by us – and I think that we can name this as ‘project’, it started in March – is first and foremost a students’ project. We as Polish in a kind of a concerned group interested in multiculturalism thought that we should show Polish culture to the Erasmus’ students. But also, we wanted them to feel comfortable in Poland. We realise that some of those students come from cultures much different than ours, so this kind of an integration would be recommended. As host students, we can admit that we hoped for the project to gain attention, but that attention went beyond our expectations. Today we are at an event at which students introduce their countries via presentations, bring along traditional food and we also plan some games and dances, so there’s so much to do.

Marlena Bryska, co-organizer of the meeting 

Students who attended the meeting come from Italy, France, Romania, Slovakia and also from Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. They felt very positive about Rzeszów. 

The city of Rzeszów is very nice, actually. I met a lot of very nice people – Polish people, but also from other countries. I made good friends, and the experience is very nice. The studies are good, the teachers are great – all the professors, and I really like it. I really like that I chose Poland to come.

Edward, Romania

Rzeszów is a really nice city, it’s very calm. I can really concentrate on my studies. The professors are really nice, they’re so helpful. Even if I miss the classes, they send me homework. But I still think people here are a little bit distant and introverted, so I couldn’t talk properly with a Polish student unfortunately. Here it is a little bit different. With students in Kyrgyzstan we can communicate easily, because we are from one nation. But here, where we are from different nations, different cultures, maybe that’s why we can’t communicate as easily. Actually, I’m a very flexible person, so I adapt really quickly and easily. It’s not my first Erasmus program, I was also in Germany with an exchange program and even there I adapted so quickly, even if it was my first time going abroad. So that’s why coming here wasn’t that difficult, so I adapt so quickly.

Kanaiym, Kyrgyzstan

After living in Rzeszów for a few months my experiences are pretty calm, because I mostly took long walks around the city, which definitely is a thing in the season. Rzeszów is really pretty. Walking near the river and seeing the flowers, the parks. You have very large green areas and you can see the skyscrapers near the river. It’s a pretty place to spend time or to have picnics like at the artificial beach or at the lake – in which I hope I can swim in May.

Serena, Italy

Interviewed students highly recommend student exchange programmes like Erasmus+, which is shown by the fact that it is not their first project like this.

Participating in an Erasmus program was my dream from an early age. In high school I already was planning to apply for the Erasmus program and now I got the chance, so I applied, and I’m here. Of course I strongly recommend participating in an Erasmus+, because going on Erasmus is going out of your comfort zone. I always like to motivate others to go out of their comfort zone, because it is the way to develop yourself, to become the best version of yourself.

Kanaiym, Kyrgyzstan

As an Erasmus student it is my first time, but it’s not my first time being in an Erasmus project. I’ve been in a brief Erasmus project in Lisbon, it was about World War II and the regimes that were in Europe during World War II. But this is the first Erasmus study that I have made. When it comes to Italy, I would recommend to the Polish people smaller, safer cities like Siena or Padua, and the south of Italy is pretty safe, despite what people think. For someone who would go to Erasmus to Matera, which is very near my city, or to Bari, I would recommend seeing the Cathedral, to try the typical food and to go hiking in our area, because our region is pretty good for hiking and speleology hiking.

Serena, Italy

It is my first time participating in a program as a student but I was also on an Erasmus in high school. I would recommend going for an exchange. It is one of the greatest opportunities to have during university, so if you go you meet a lot of people, you make friends, make connections. It’s a really nice opportunity to have.

Edward, Romania

Everyone was delighted by the Integrational meeting. There was so much fun during the games and the presentations were very interesting. Participants could learn about other countries, something more than just a short note in the schoolbook. The students could also see traditional Polish clothing and dances than to the Resovia Saltans’ members and also experience music played on the traditional Kirghiz instrument. The performance was a pleasure to the ears as well as for the eyes. There is no such meeting without traditional food made by the students. The real stars of the event were delicious Turkish cookies, which disappeared very quickly. 

The integrational Meeting came off very well in my opinion. The atmosphere here is great. But the difficulties are inevitable. There is no situation, when everything is going according to plan, which is sometimes positive if someone likes some more adrenaline. Of course we know that the students – Polish and foreign ones – study different majors, some very ambitious, so finding the right time and place to meet for such a group of people was a challenge, but we succeeded. And that was the biggest problem. The rest was solved on their own. When the students confirmed their presence, everything went easily. 

Marlena Brzyska, co-organizer of the meeting

The integration was really nice. I can see other cultures as well and meet a lot of people that don’t usually come to the events, so it was my first time to meet them. I learned some things about other cultures, maybe not even from Europe, but outside of the continent. I tried some food and it was delicious.

Edward, Romania

After the exchange, I want to visit Rzeszów once more. I also want to move to Poland, because my boyfriend lives here. I like the culture, the food and the people. Poland gives different vibes than Slovakia – I just prefer Poland more. My grandma is from Poland and maybe that’s why I feel so good here. 

Sara, Slovakia

The meeting was so good, I really enjoyed it. The presentations were so good, everybody was so prepared and the food was amazing. I really enjoyed it and thank you for organizing this Integration Day.

Kanaiym, Kirgyzstan