I marked my 3-month period here in Poland over the last week, and time has truly gone by so fast. I’m staying in Krakow, and it is definitely one of the best cities I have been to. It has a population of around 1 million people, but it doesn’t give off the metropolitan vibes, as it is full of historical buildings! The people living in Krakow are also amazing, from people at school to my host family, etc.
My host family has been so amazing so far! My family consists of my host mom, and my 2 host sisters who are 20 and 13 years old. They love to take me to different places, and to try new things! And since my older host sister and I go to school in the same area and start at similar times, we would always go together by train so it really gave us an opportunity to bond together! My younger host sister and I have a lot in common, which also allowed us to bond together. She invited me to go to a concert with her in Warsaw, and it was really nice! I got to meet 2 other girls who were my age and were very kind, and it was nice to get to see the city! With my host family, we have travelled to Zakopane a few times, and we are planning to visit Vienna later this week to see the Christmas market, which I’m very excited to see.
School has also gone really well. At first it was a little bit of a struggle due to the schedules changing everyday and having 6-8 classes. In Canada, the schedule was always the same, and students had the same 4 classes a day. Fortunately, I start everyday at the same time so that has been really helpful. My class was very welcoming on the first day, and I’m apart of a friend group consisting of 7 other people. My friends are very helpful, especially when it comes to translating what the teacher is saying and telling other teachers that I’m an exchange student so I would not understand the topic. I also got to go on a class trip to Wroclaw, and we got to see a bunch of different museums, the main square, and even a few castles! I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to coming back.
It is really nice to also have Doroti staying in Krakow, since her and I share a lot of interests, we got along very well from the beginning of our exchange! We hangout a lot after school, and it is so much fun being around her. Our Rotary Club has also been very kind and supportive towards us. We have attended 3 meetings so far, and I’m in contact with my YEC a fair bit. She has been very helpful, when it came to inviting Doroti and I to Rotary meetings, to helping me with anything if I needed it, and she loves to involve us in different activities! We were supposed to attend a Cooking workshop/competition arranged with the Rotary Club of Katowice. But unfortunately it got cancelled last minute.
In conclusion, these 3 months have been the best of my entire life! I’m beyond grateful to have the opportunity to come to Poland, and I would definitely recommend Poland to any exchange student! I will provide pictures I have taken so far of my exchange.
