Kozminski University (Warsaw) Spring

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1 Kozminski University (Warsaw) Spring Lau Yan Wah, Victoria (Year 3) Major in Marketing

2 Monthly Activity Log Jan My official exchange study period should be started on mid February but I planned to embark the journey on January so that I can grab every opportunity to explore the world. In other words, January is a month full of trips and experience. My first destination is Berlin and I arrived there on 31 December. Yes, it is the New Year Eve and I can hear the sound of fireworks all day. If you can, I also suggested that you should experience New Year Eve in foreign countries as it will be a remarkable experience, especially when you can buy the fireworks and ignite it with your friends which is not possible in Hong Kong. Also, the joyful atmosphere is also good. Feb Actually my timetable is not really full and I have day offs. However, they are not consecutive and therefore I cannot plan many trips. I have been to Krakow, the most famous city in Poland and I like it more than Warsaw. The salt mine and concentration camp is worth going. Mar We have the Easter holiday on late March and that s why I can finally have a long holiday. I went to Belgium, Netherlands, Austria and Germany. I feel like I am so lucky that I did not spend my holiday in Warsaw. It is because one of my friend told me that everything were closed during Easter as Poland is a Catholic country and they spend their holiday in worshiping. Apr After a chill month, it come the demanding one. In this month, I have a lot of assignment, test and presentation. Just one week after I come back to Poland, I have to do three presentations. April is also a busy month for every student in Warsaw. May The demanding work do not stop in this month and I keep on preparing different presentation, project and final. It is because many course have their final on the last lesson. Many of my courses end this month. After all the final exams, I back to Hong Kong. General Exchange Information Visa Procedures The visa procedure for student to Poland is very fast and easy. First, you have to complete a application form online and book a timeslot to submit the documents. You should bring with you the admission letter from the host university. It is also good to show them your flight

3 ticket and the accommodation proof about your address in Poland. The cost is HKD 600 and I received the visa within a day although the official site said it takes around two weeks. There are some remarks about filling in the online application form. I think this is the most complicated step as you need to provide a lot of information and sometimes the form is difficult to understand. However, please be careful when filled it in as every piece of the information can affect the issue of the visa and your stay. For example, it is better to choose multi entry. Orientation Activities There is an orientation week organized by the ESN. To be honest, I do not have much fun with it as it is all about going to bar and drinking every night though there were some other activities, like ice skating and city hunting. I think the activities are worth joining and you can meet many exchange students from all countries. However, I would suggest you not to buy a bracelet offered by the ESN if you are not that into drinking. It is like a pass to the bar and club but nothing more. After the orientation week, there are still some other activities and you can free feel to join. International Services & Activities I remembered that the ESN have organized an international activity to let students to introduce the culture of their countries. Unfortunately, I did not join and cannot provide further information on this. Besides, the ESN offered a service called ESN card. It is like a Europe student benefit card. After you apply for it, you can enjoy a lot of discount from different companies, like Ryannair. Accommodations Please be awarded that Kozminski do not have its own dormitory for students and you need to rent the accommodation yourself. However, the school will also help with you in finding the proper place to live and they will suggest few links for finding accommodation. Apart from the websites, the school will also send regularly to suggest some good choice for students. If you wanted to interact more with other students, most of us will share a flat with 2 or 3 other students and it is also the cheapest way to live. The accommodation is also acceptable in Poland. If there are no other students exchange with you, do not worry, as you can find people share flat with you easily in the Whatsapp group. Courses Registration The course registration procedure is far easier than the one in ust. Instead of putting everything into shopping cart, you just need to click one button to choose the course though you still need to compete with other exchange students for the limited quota.

4 However, it is good that you can talk to the professor and they can always accept more than the quota. There is one thing you should be awareded. The timetable of the course in Kozminski is not regular and not all of them were started on the first week of school. Therefore, it also made it so complicated to plan your timetable. I advised you put everything in the excel to make it more easy to plan. Otherwise, you may risk crashing the timetable. If you really crashed your timetable unfortunately, you can speak to the professor about the issue a Teaching & Assessment Methods They have the official exam period on mid- June. However, some of the course may have their final exam on lesson, especially for the courses that ended early. However, the professor there is very flexible. If you have some crash on your plan or you want to leave earlier, they always let you to do so and arrange for you. They understand exchange student may have a different plan. Some courses even do not have final exam but presentation or taking attendance. It is really depending. You may check before you choose the courses. I would say most of the courses have group project. Sports & Recreation Facilities I do not see any gym facilities on campus but I believed it is so convenience to find one in your neighborhood. Finance & Banking (including currency / expenses) One thing to remember, it is also good to have a credit card with you, especially the union pay credit card as it can waive the service charge. The reason is that the usage of credit card is so prevalent around Europe. With this, you do not have to afraid of exchanging too much cash or not enough. On the first day of the orientation in the school, some people from the bank will come to you and help you open the bank account. Although it seems that it is free to open the account, you have to be careful and think twice if you really need this service. It is because you have to use your card to pay or withdraw cash from atm five times every month in order to avoid the service charge. In other words, if you do not settle the payment with the card or withdraw cash, you have to pay for it. The second thing is that you have to transfer money from Hong Kong to Poland and this required very high transaction fee. Therefore, my method is to withdraw cash from atm with my bank card in Hong Kong. It is because there is a atm machine called Euronet in which you can use your Hong Kong banking card to withdraw money even though you do not have that currency in the account. But you have to make sure that you have change your setting to allow cash withdrawal from overseas. Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities

5 As I mentioned above, there are a lot of drinking activities for you to social. Besides, you can also meet others during lessons. Health & Safety Poland is a very safe country. But it is better to avoid going out at night. This is true in every place. If you get sick, you can go to any pharmacy shop and they provide medical advice. Food I seldom dine outside but it is the only choice if you want some Asian food. The most difficult time in Warsaw is about food. We have pasta and carbonara and tomato sauce everyday, which is really too much. I wanted to cook Chinese food for myself but we can hardly find the ingredients. You will definitely miss the food in Hong Kong. Transportation The public transport is also convenience. There are trams, bus and metro. I mainly take tram. I wanted to suggest you to buy the 3- month pass. It is very cheap if you take tram to school everyday, which can be brought in every ticket machine and it will directly add to your student card. Climate It is really cold in Poland and I remember the lowest temperature was - 13 degree Celsius. Warsaw is always in white during winter as everywhere is covered by snow. I seldom use umbrella because I get used to it already. Communication Inside the giftpacks from university, there is a phone card. You can register the phone card and top up. It is so convenient and the price is not expensive. Cautionary measures There is an app called International SOS, it can help you in emergency cases. Items to Bring It is so good that the host university will give you a welcoming pack in which you can find the stationery that you need for study and you do not have to bring paper with you as there will be a thick notebook for free and a pen. The most important thing that you should bring with you is the laptop, that is all you need for study. Some other items are listed below: Adaptor Charger Power bank (This is super important as many smart phones will break down when the temperature is too low, e.g. 5 Degree Celsius or below, and you need this to

6 Useful Links and Contacts Kozminski University