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So today I have decided that I will post the exchange evaluation that I will be emailing through to my home university in Otago. It is about my time in Poland, but I thought it may be interesting for you guys to have a read! I heard that New Zealand was pretty hot yesterday - sounds awesome! Only twenty-two days now until I'm home losers xxx
Exchange Evaluation
If you're reading this, you're already half way towards making the best decision of your life
Warsaw is probably one of the last places that an Otago student would consider for a university exchange, but it is honestly one of the best experiences I have had in my entire life! When I first applied for an exchange I had my heart set on Prague, so admittedly I was quite disappointed when I found out I had been offered a place for Warsaw. But now that I have spent a semester here I can promise you that it could possibly be the best six months of your life so far! The living cost is ridiculously cheap, you will meet people from all corners of the world, and you have great access to visit heaps of different countries throughout Europe!
Accommodation
There are two ways you can deal with accommodation on your exchange in Warsaw. I think the best way, especially as a student outside the European Union, is to stay in the dormitory called Sabinki. It's about five minutes' walk from the university and from a metro stop. It only costs about $35 a week to live there which also covers internet and power! The only issue is that it is very basic - you share a room with someone else, there are four showers per floor and the kitchens are simple. But! Don't let this put you off, because I've had so much fun living here and it is perfect for parties and meeting people! Each floor has a room which can be hired out for parties, and because it is so close to the metro stop it is easy to get to the clubs. I think the only major issue is that the central heating can be quite overwhelming here, especially because in comparison to New Zealand buildings!
The alternative is to rent an apartment - but I've heard that this can get pretty costly, and requires a lot more effort to sort out.
If you choose Sabinki, be prepared to pay for the full fee at the start. I think it was about 1800zl for the semester, plus 150zl for the deposit.
Money Matters
Firstly, in Poland the currency is zloty (pronounced zwoty). When we arrived $1 equalled around 2.6zl.
Secondly, doing an exchange to Poland is ridiculously cheap. Seriously I think that out of all the exchange possibilities with Otago it's the cheapest place you could study! Like I said before, accommodation is really cheap. But not only that, everything from eating at restaurants, public transport, etc is super cheap in comparison to New Zealand. For example you can use your student card as a transport ticket, and you pay about 125zl (NZ$50) for 90 days unlimited use of metro, tram and buses. This runs out towards the end of your exchange but then you can pay just 50zl for one month to keep you going until you leave! I also think that with your student card you can get really good discounts on trains around Poland (maybe up to 50%?)
Eating out is also very cheap. Throughout the first month I probably cooked only one meal because eating out was easier and totally affordable! For example, a really good quality and super filling meal at the Hard Rock café with a drink and tip is just 50zl ($20). But you can also go to more local restaurants and pay no more than $10 for a good meal out. Something that is pretty popular is a Czech restaurant one metro stop from the university. Every Monday lots of students go because they have a really amazing deal. Just 15zl (around $6.5), for a starters of bread and dips, a large breaded schnitzel, plate of fries, plate of shredded vinegar covered cabbage (tastes better than it sounds I promise!), and a shot of alcohol to finish off (apparently to help with digestion). You can also get a litre of beer for just 8zl ($3).
Course Load
When I asked previous Otago students who went on exchange here how they found the work load, they always told me it was ridiculously easy and they are right. Most of the courses just have one 100 minute class a week - some mark your attendance, but even if they don't its still good to show up because some teachers mark up your exam just because they remember your face well from classes. Most of my classes were quite small, with no more than eight students. Usually the full marks come the final exam, which again is pretty easy - Mine were usually a couple of multiple choice or short answer questions. However some classes may require you to do some internal work such as a presentation or a two-page essay.
The grading system is different from Otago. The scale is from 1 to 5. A 3 is a pass, a 4 is about the equivalent of a B, and a 5 is an A. It is really easy to pass classes, but a bit more difficult to get a higher grade unless you specify to the lecturers you're looking to get better!
Transportation
I started to talk about transport before, but I can go in to more detail. So in Warsaw the public transport includes trams, metros, buses and taxis. There is only one metro line, but from the metro stops you can catch buses or trams elsewhere. The city centre is just two metro stops away and only takes about five minutes to get there! Taxis are pretty cheap - when you go to the clubs to town a taxi back to Sabinki is normally around the 20/30zl mark ($7.50-$12.50)! So when you divide this between four people it's ridiculously cheap! My biggest warning is that be careful when using public transport because I've heard about a few people getting pickpocketed!
If you're looking to travel outside of Warsaw, I'm sure you can get a discount on trains with your student card. There are also a number of cheap bus companies such as LuxExpress to the Baltic Countries, and Polskibus to places like Austria, Germany and Czech Republic.
Weather
I came to Warsaw during the winter semester. Strangely enough, it was warm pretty much throughout most of my exchange. But this was apparently very unusual. In fact it didn't even snow once until one weekend in the middle of December. This melted quickly and the average temperature was about -1c until mid-January. Just before our exam period, the average temperature dropped to about 15c and the snow outside turned absolutely solid! But surprisingly 15c doesn't feel that cold. In fact I think a windy 5c day in Dunedin is far, far, far worse! As long as you buy a bulky warm coat and don't stay outside for long, it is totally survivable and really pretty! I didn't bring a big coat with me, I just bought one in Warsaw. I think it cost around the same for what you would expect to pay in Dunedin though.
What I do think you should be prepared for is the darkness if you are here during the winter period! Throughout most of my time in Warsaw it is almost dark by 3pm, and it can feel really depressing. Especially because most of the buildings in Warsaw are grey, it makes the city feel really gloomy! So make sure you make the most of the daylight otherwise it can make you feel quite down.
Eating
As I mentioned before, eating out is really cheap in Poland! If you want to cook your meals, that is obviously even cheaper. The only issue is that the supermarket is quite far - either you catch I think tram 19 to Galeria Mokotow for Carrefour, or the metro stop to Kabaty for the Tesco, or any trams to zloty tarasy in the city centre where there is a medium sized supermarket! But be prepared to buy all your cooking equipment when you first arrive because the kitchens here have nothing but one microwave, one oven, four gas stoves (you need matches!), and sinks. I split the cost with some other exchange students, but if you can contact some former exchange students who can leave their stuff behind that'll save you quite a bit of money and time!
Something else that might be of interest is typical Polish food! This involves things like pierogi (dumplings) that can be filled with a variety of different things such as cabbage, mushrooms, meat, or potato. They taste really good! And you can also buy them for just 5zl in the shop at the bottom of the dormitory (yes, there is a little shop in here filled with the essentials!). Soup is also very popular - broccoli, tomato, beetroot, etc.! Sauerkraut and cabbage is popular too! These things probably all sound really gross to you (they did to me at first), but trust me it is deliciouuuuuuuuus!
Oh, also a post-town kebab is only 8zl ($3.50) :)
I should also mention about drinking in Poland :) Alcohol is REALLY cheap. It will blow your mind! A good quality 500ml of vodka is about 35zl ($13.50). But you can easily get bottles of vodka for under $8! But I think the best thing about alcohol here is that you can afford to try lots of different kinds! For example there's a really good drink called Soplica which comes in different flavours such as cherry, pear, hazelnut and so on. Cherry is my favourite! Beer is also big here and again comes in a variety of different flavours such as apple, honey, giner and raspberry! I would recommend trying hot beer - I know it sounds rank but it's actually delicious (if you're on exchange, BE OPEN MINDED). So definitely use this as an opportunity to (sensibly) test things you haven't had before which you definitely couldn't afford in New Zealand!
Things to Do
· Clubs - There are heaps of clubs in Warsaw! You get the opportunity to check some of the best ones during Orientation Week. Each night the university exchange hosts show you a different club - and there are lots of really good deals on drinks! Some bars you can pay 10zl for four shots! Others you can buy bottles of vodka which is really cheap if you all divide it between a group. During Orientation week we were at a club and they brought the bottle of vodka out to us in a bucket with ice and fireworks! And it is totally affordable for us with foreign currencies so it's a really fun experience. Another popular place is Park Klub. It's about ten/fifteen minutes walks from Sabinki and is a really popular student club. Every Wednesday you can pay 10zl for entry and get unlimited access to free beer until I think either 12am or 1am! Be warned, the beer is terrible - but that's what you get if it's free!
· Opportunities (academic) - the university here is a business school so they have lots of cool events really often. It is common to go in to the main university building and have the whole auditorium filled up for some event where they are giving out lots of food! Some cool things I got to do was take up invitations to see conferences and talks with the Latvian president, director of an academy of diplomacy, a former U.S. Secretary of State, the Indian ambassador to Poland and so on!
Places to Visit
Warsaw isn't the most touristy area. Most of it was wiped out during World War II, and the rebuild by the Soviets wasn't the prettiest job. The main things you can do is visit the Palace of Science and Culture, look at the local museums such as the Uprising Museum, there is a Wilanow Palace and the Old Town is quite stunning! One of my favourite places in Warsaw is Lazienki Park. Its twenty minutes' walk from Sabinki and is one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen! It also has lots of crazy squirrels that run up to you and you can feed them acorns out of your hands! There are also peacocks, ducks, and then during the winter you can see deer too.
Ah also Nowy Swiat is a place I'd recommend you should check out too. It's a really long street near the centre of town that's really beautiful and has heaps of nice shops and coffee stores and clubs along it! If you catch the metro to centrum, you can change to a tram or just walk there in ten minutes!
However one of the real highlights of doing your exchange in Warsaw is that the living cost is so cheap it leaves you with heaps of leftover money if you manage it properly. And because Poland is in Europe, you can get really good access to cheap flights. Ryanair operates from Warsaw Modlin airport, which is about one hour away by bus - the bus usually costs about 30zl, picks you up from the city centre and takes you straight to the airport (www.modlinbus.pl is the weblink I think). It also has free wifi on it! Some of the flights I managed to grab with Ryanair included a 1zl flight to Stockholm, 9zl to Budapest and 12zl flight to Rome. Be prepared that some of the airports may be quite far from the city though. Another good airline is Wizzair! Also Poland's position in Europe gives you really good access to some different but interesting countries. For example, I visited the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), and Slovakia - which are places people usually wouldn't bother going to! I really would have LOVED to go to Ukraine but I ran out of time and have now promise myself I will come back to Europe during a summer to visit Ukraine and the Balkan countries.
The university also organises trips to different cities around Poland. The trip to Krakow at the start of the semester is an absolute must. We went at the end of October, and the trip involved seeing Auschwitz-Birkenau, a tram party, the famous Salt Mine, and club crawls. Because it's at the start of the semester it's a really good opportunity to meet fellow exchangers! But I know there's also trips to Poznan and Gdansk.
Tips
· Withdrawing money - is expensive. I'm with Westpac and apparently Deutsche Bank removes the $8 charge to withdraw overseas, but every single time I've withdrawn money from any ATM there's an $8 charge plus another $3 or so charge for converting money. So if you withdraw money, you may as well take out like 800zl to make it worth the cost.
· Sim card - I would recommend getting a Play sim card. When you arrive the university give you a free Heyah sim card, but for us Play worked better. I don't really understand how the plans work but basically you can top up by getting a voucher at a supermarket or small corner shop, or you can top up online. I have probably topped up about 200zl in total, including using my credit when I was in other European countries! So it's pretty cheap!
· Zero exams - You have the option of sitting your exams early! You can do them either in December before the Christmas break or in the week before the official exam period in the middle of January. Of course it depends on how relaxed your lecturer is, but if you can, I'd definitely recommend spreading your exams out between the official exam period and zero exams! Otherwise you could end up with nine exams within just a few days (and no one wants that!).
· One thing Matt struggled with is that Europeans are total weirdos when it comes to flip flops. Seriously at the start of our exchange it was always like 15c to 25c, but all the Europeans were already wrapped up in their winter jackets and scarves. Matt still wore his flip flops, and all the time people would stare and make comments about it. Even during class one time the lecturer stopped mid-sentence to tell everyone how impressed he was that it was September/October and someone was still wearing flip flops. I think Matt was probably known as the guy who always wore shorts and flip flops, but seriously, we had to explain over and over that this was normal behaviour in New Zealand and than people wear flip flops all year round regardless of the weather or temperature. And actually Europeans were the weirdos for wrapping up so much when it was still so warm.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]
I'm more than happy to answer any questions - I remember that planning my exchange was extremely nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time :) And that I had heaaaps of questions!
- comments
Mum You sound sooooo grown up lady!!!! What happened to the nervous wee girl who left here? So glad it all worked out for you, and so proud of what you have achieved. See you soon!!!!