As my time in Poznan continues, I am able to see how my views on the people here and their culture, are constantly changing due to the new situations I am in each week and the new people I encounter. My ‘Intercultural workshop’ class emphasised the importance of being able to make the most of my Erasmus experience. We discussed how as Erasmus students we must move out of what is comfortable to us in order to be able to fully experience other cultures and fully understand them. Nanda and Warms (2011:73) explore the idea that, ‘culture is not easy to define’ as it is, ‘so much a part of our being that it is sometimes difficult to think about.’ This class has given me a renewed enthusiasm to embrace the Polish culture but also to explore my own identity and the different layers within this.This week I have continued with Polish language lessons, which are the bane of my life here in Poznan! I just cannot seem to grasp the complex cases, genders, word endings and spellings, never mind the pronunciation! My class consists of students from Italy, Mexico, Spain, Latvia, Austria and Nigeria. Many of these students seem to be finding the Polish language much easier to pick up than us, possibly due to the fact that they have a better understanding of languages in general, as more emphasis is placed on learning new languages in their cultures and their schools than in the United Kingdom. To further emphasise the contrast, I have been somewhat shocked by how eager people on the Erasmus programme and the university lecturers are to improve their English. The lecturers constantly tell us how nervous our presence as native English speakers makes them and ask us for help when explaining concepts. The other students are just as keen to learn from us and practise their English. I find this quite opposite to the culture in Northern Ireland, where most people don’t bother making an effort to learn a second language.
I am enjoying the diversity of the Erasmus group, as I am getting to know people from other countries and not only learn about what their culture is like, but also hear their thoughts and opinions on the culture that I am used to in Northern Ireland. One area I have found interesting and enjoyed discussing both in class and outside of it this week is the age at which children begin school. Many of my classmates seemed shocked by how young children are when they start primary school in the UK, a full three years younger than in many other countries such as Latvia. This week I was also able to learn more about the attitudes of teachers and students in countries such as Poland and Turkey. One lecturer explained that group work seldom happens in these countries due to the emphasis placed on competition. Teachers do not share their resources or help each other and students cannot work in groups as they strive towards individual success. I am interested in learning more about other cultural differences like this and focusing on them in a more professional sense.
On Sunday Anna and I attended Poznan International Church which I found to be a welcome change from the usual Erasmus style events. From first impressions, it seems to be a very multi-cultural church and I enjoyed meeting many people from America, Canada, China and South Africa. After this we visited Stary Rynek (the old square) with some Erasmus and Polish students, where we stumbled upon a market for the Poznan Kasimir Festival, which only happens once a year. This was a lovely end to the week as we were able to experience some typical Polish folk dances as well as sample some more Polish food. Poznan Kasimir Festival
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| Soaking up the culture... |
Nanda, S. and Warms, R. (2011) Cultural Anthropology, Cengage Learning: Belmont.
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