I have been in Poland for exactly two months and 4 days, and so far they have been the most adventurous months of my life.
I arrived to Katowice airport, since Tychy is my host city, on the 16th of August. My first host family was there waiting for me with, one sister’s friend, the club’s officer with his wife and children, Ariel (exchanger from Brazil) and her host sister. I was really nervous and excited but most of all, I was extremely tired after the 15 hour flight.
I spent five days in my city with, my awesome first host family who showed me around, some friends and relatives and then I went to Bydgoszcz. The following 10 days I would found myself in a language camp with 60 other exchangers from all over the world. I was so happy to finally meet all of them.
During this camp we stayed at Zawisza Hotel where we had polish lessons during the morning and sometimes in the afternoon, some recreation activities, and at night we had a little free time before going to bed. Some days we did not have Polish lessons, instead we took little trips to the Malbork Castle, The Polish Army Museum, Brda River, and so on. It was an amazing opportunity to get to know all the other exchangers and have fun with them before our next meeting in September.
On the 31st of August, we went back home, and the following day we had our first school day. It was a big new experience for me, because I’ve never been new somewhere. In Argentina I had always attended the same school since kindergarten, same hockey club for eight years, same English institute for ten years. Being new for the first time in a new school, in a new country, with a completely unknown language for me, was quite hard, but after some weeks went bye it became better and has continued getting better day by day. At the beginning it was difficult to make friends because, in my opinion, they were a little afraid and embarrassed to talk to me. The only way for us to communicate with one another is in English, and I think they felt that their English was not good enough to keep a conversation with me. I told them that English is also not my first language and I too make mistakes all the time, so it became easier and even funnier.
In September we had another Rotary meeting in Toruń for three days where we had the opportunity to do some sightseeing around the city, which is beautiful by the way. We went to a museum, played games, made our own gingerbread in Piernika Museum, and took a boat ride on the Vistula River. It was awesome to finally see all my friends again, because I had missed them so much.
I had the opportunity to visit some beautiful places with my family, other exchangers and the school. I have visited, Skrzynek, Zamek Bobolice, Zamek Lipowiec , Energylandia, Cieszyn and Wrocław. Wrocław has been my favourite so far.
I’m so happy to have this amazing experience, in this beautiful country. Although, of course, I have days in which I miss my family and friends back home so much. Each day here is getting better and better. About the language, I do not have much to tell. It is hard I cannot lie, but I’m doing my best to learn it. I really want to be as fluent as possible by the end of my exchange year.
About my daily life. I almost never take the wrong bus anymore, and if I do, I know how to return home, which is big progress for me. I already got used to the food and some traditions and I’m working on getting used to the weather which is much more different than the weather back home, and I feel really comfortable with my host family. I love them so much, they treat me like a real daughter and always make me feel at home. Although I don’t have as many friends as I did back in Argentina, which is hard, the friends I do have here are great!
So what can I say? I’m extremely happy and I if the rest of my exchange year will be like this or better, then I can’t wait for what’s coming!
