API Kraków, Poland (Fall 2018)

ORIENTATION
The first weekend, API provided seminars for blending in with the Polish population, provided meals, and made efforts to get SIM cards activated.I think the most prominent error I found with the orientation was its length. It was about three days long and it was the immediate weekend following my arrival, which meant I had about half a day or less to settle in. I usually maintain a "go with the flow" attitude, but it's hard to do that when you are jet-lagged and in the midst of experiencing many new cultural behaviors (as well as the new faces of my colleagues in the API group). I partook in each orientation activity so I could understand Poland better. Looking back, orientation provided me with important advice I could not find online, yet my independent travels to about six cities in Poland helped me to understand the culture the most through my experiences.

On our excursion to Budapest, I asked about their orientation and was shocked that it lasted two weeks. (Maybe they included their two week intensive period?) I understand that the education systems work differently and that the size of the cities may determine how long an orientation lasts, but I do think a longer orientation for Poland would be helpful to students, especially those who have never traveled abroad. All information provided was helpful and I think that with a couple more days students could adjust to the city without feeling rushed.

Alternatively, this setup does push students to discover the culture on their own (with the option of asking the RD for advice) which is important for taking in the culture rather than trying to maintain a lifestyle of comfort that mirrors a person's home country. Had our orientation been two weeks long, I feel that my colleagues and I may have become too comfortable with purely interacting with each other rather than interacting with the people in Kraków.

I think that transportation around the city could be covered a little more extensively, but the app Jakdojade helped my colleagues and me a lot.

LIVING CONDITIONS AND FOOD OPTIONS
I honestly have never lived as well as I did in Poland. The living situation was very spacious with three bedrooms (usually 2 with balconies), 1 full bathroom, a kitchen/dining room, and a front lobby area. The rooms had a bed, desk and chairs, two closets, a dresser, and two outlets along with a surge charger. I only plugged in 2-3 things at a time to prevent blowing fuses. The kitchen could have either a gas or electric stove and usually there was an oven. My flat did not have an oven so I just asked the students next door to use theirs. There was a fridge, a freezer, and a lot of cooking equipment. The washer was in the bathroom, and there were drying racks in the lobby closet--no dryer since they use too much energy.

Next to the building I lived in there was a market (Nowy Kleparsz) across the street or you can walk less than 10 minutes to Stary Kleparsz. There are other markets that can be reached by tram and the żabka stores (convenience stores) are abundant. My flatmates and I also found the Lewiatan stores to be a good place for food. There were students who decided to eat at a new place every meal and they were able to walk or take a tram to those places. Concerning classes, you can walk (about 15 minutes) or take a tram part way to classes for IPHSS.

The apartment is in a safe place, although I found all of Poland to be safe. There is a highway next to the complex so it can be slightly noisy, but other than the occasional horse-driven carriage the noise is not noticeable, especially at night.

RESIDENT DIRECTOR
My RD was wonderful. I could always contact him about anything (i.e. registering for non-program courses, figuring out the fuse box at 10 pm, activating my data for my SIM card, travel advice for friends or relatives who were visiting, even helping me to get an item mailed from an excursion city when I had run out of time to buy the item). I was impressed by his diligence to help me with even some of the most bizarre requests. I do know that some of my colleagues had some troubles, but I think that if you have patience, plan accordingly (a.k.a. work ahead), and maintain an attitude of acceptance for what can be done then acquiring help is no problem. In the instances where I could not get a problem solved the way I would have liked my RD worked with me to find a new solution. For instance, my non-program science course was canceled and I had to find a new course the same day. It was extremely stressful and I was unsure about how accepting my RD would be about this registration change. He was empathetic, understanding that I could not have helped this situation, and he helped me register promptly for a different course.

CLASSES
Classes can be once or twice a week. For Polish language, the two-week intensive met about 3 hours every weekday morning, but the language course during the semester met twice a week (2 hours each session). Most of my classes met once a week for 1.5-2 hours, although I did have a history course that was 3 hours.

I think most of my group took 3-5 classes, but you can take more if you would like. Also, API allows students to take courses outside of Humanities and Social Sciences (IPHSS) as long as you have at least 2 IPHSS courses. Your site director will help with this process if you want to take courses outside the department.

All of my professors taught differently using powerpoints, taking field trips, speaking to the class with or without visuals, having student demonstrations or presentations, or using lesson books. I only had to buy books for language courses.

Just in case you are interested in taking any of the classes I took, and have questions, I have them listed here: Polish Cinema, Polish Language Breakthrough A2 + Intensive Course, History of Polish Culture, Poland in Europe in the 21st Century, Polish Literature in the 21st Century, Tropical Ecology.

ACADEMIC RIGOR
I study at a small, private school (Wilkes University) and my courses are rigorous especially since I am a biology major. The courses here are much easier and do not require as much effort (equivalent to my general education courses at home). I am accustomed to math, chemistry, and science courses with one or two electives (i.e. English, art history, music). This made it somewhat difficult to gauge how much effort was appropriate for each assignment. I didn't want to spend loads of time on something that might not even be graded and then spend little time on a project that was graded. To best judge this, you must talk directly to the instructors. It was challenging to change from a classroom setting of STEM courses with instructors that explained how natural systems work or how to complete calculations based on repetition and memorization (and some intuition or critical thinking). In Poland, my courses were more open to opinions and debate; they were also in topics that I had not been exposed to at all or had not been exposed to for at least two years. Although I could only complete one semester abroad, I think a year would be better to truly adjust to this type of learning. As a biology student, my critical thinking skills have been more developed by Jagiellonian University.