What were the factors that influenced their decision to cross the globe, turn their lives upside down and begin studies in Poland? Many of us will claim, that studying itself isn’t easy and going to uni on a different continent – that’s just wild. It is at this point, that the problems arise – the spiciest Zahir isn’t spicy at all and the nearest Auchan is slowly running out of rice. How to overcome these difficulties and get accustomed to living in a new environment? The representatives of Indonesian students at our university give us the necessary answers.
The Nicolaus Copernicus University has 14625 students, 234 of whom are foreigners. Each one of them has extraordinary stories to tell about their home country, culture and studying experience. Things that seem natural to us might not be so natural for the foreign students. After all, how many times have you complained that the spicy ketchup isn’t that spicy?
Ary, a student from Indonesia, shares his opinion on that topic:
However, there are some Polish tastes that our foreigners students were sincerely impressed by. The existence of pierogi is undoubtedly one of the biggest advantages of living in Poland and Hendra, an Indonesian student, definitely appreciates that fact:
But enough about food – as it turns out, the weather can also cause a lot of trouble. Polish winters can reach -20 degrees, which often turns out to be a nightmare for the foreign students.
Naya and Syifa, students from Indonesia, share their own experience in this field:
And how do our foreign students deal with the language barrier? We learn that there are many ways to overcome this problem – from Google Translator, to scanning product names with a special application, to stopping random people in the supermarket and asking them for translation. However, the inhabitants of Toruń aren’t willing to help too often and this situation is decribed by Artesia, an Indonesian student:
Blending into a different foreign culture may be hard or even scary and finding oneself in a new place is always quite a challenge. At the same time, however, moving to another country is an extraordinary stimulus to leave one’s comfort zone, change the perspective and choose one’s path. Even more extraordinary is the fact that Toruń has a different meaning for each student – some of us will call it home, some of us – an adventure, while the others will describe it as the capital of gingerbread.
And finally, let’s listen to the Ary’s words that will best summarize our talk about Toruń:
[pictures: Artesia Rastania, Syifa Hasanah, Hendra Adhigoena Prakarsa]
[graphics: Tobiasz Troczyński]