POLAND III

3rd Blog: The 'unfamiliar' becomes 'familiar'

When I was researching Poland before I left for Warsaw, I did some research on the internet about safety in the country, especially at night, differences in public regulations and Polish culture in general. I noticed that Poland is quite similar to Germany. In Warsaw, I always felt safe both during the day and at night, and I never heard from others that they felt different. Except for the fact that it is forbidden to drink alcohol in public, the same rules apply in day-to-day life as in Germany. And culturally, Germany and Poland also have a lot in common. For example, Polish cuisine in reminded me of my grandmother's cooking. But it was to be expected that the differences between the two neighbouring countries would quite small.

However, I must admit that there were also several differences that were unfamiliar to me and that I would not have expected. I remember our first official day at the university. I had arranged to go to the university together with a Spanish student I had met at a party the day before. The previous evening, we had planned to be at the university 15 minutes before the official start of the introductory event to avoid making a bad impression on the first day. So, we took the tram to the university and during the tram we chatted and got off one stop too late. In the end this cost us our 15 min buffer. To our surprise, we were still the first students there and the university staff was still busy organising the event. From Germany and Liechtenstein, I was used to being on time and felt guilty every time I was two minutes late. Having spent my previous semester in Madrid, this unpunctuality and calmness had reminded me a lot of the Spanish mentality. For this reason, I was already a bit used to the fact that people in other countries have a different understanding of time and punctuality. However, I was a little surprised to find this again in Poland.

Furthermore, the obligation to wear a mask at the university and on public transport was not really taken seriously. In the university there was an obligation to wear a mask, but this was not really enforced and therefore many students often walked around without a mask. I observed the same in the underground, trams and buses in Warsaw. And in contrast to Germany, where all bars and discos were closed, in Warsaw everything was surprisingly open. This caused the Corona case numbers to skyrocket, which led the Polish government to ban clubs from opening in January. Initially, this came as a shock to us students, but the owners simply kept their clubs open. It was really unfamiliar to me that anything like this was possible. On the one hand, I was glad to have the opportunity to go out a few more times. On the other hand, I thought it was impudent of the owners to simply leave their bars and clubs open and on the other hand, it was surprising and irresponsible of the governments and the police not to check them.

Such behaviour was so unfamiliar to me, and I could never imagine it in Germany or Liechtenstein. However, I have noticed with myself that you get used to such behaviour quite quickly and that it affects you rapidly. I was able to observe this for myself after I had once forgotten my mask and I had taken the tram without a mask. I would have never behaved like that in Germany. And even if I reflect on the behaviour of the students of the university, the other people going out and myself, it probably wasn't right to go to bars and clubs that were supposed to be closed. However, it is of course difficult to voluntarily give up partying during an Erasmus semester. You simply justify your own wrong behaviour with the misbehaviour of others. This showed me how quickly the 'unfamiliar' can become 'familiar' and how quickly social pressure and convenience can make you trade your values for your own pleasure. This made me think a lot about the German past, the current conflicts regarding the Ukraine and especially about myself.

Howwever, I must admit that there were also several differences that were unfamiliar to me and that I would not have expected. I remember our first official day at the university. I had arranged to go to the university together with a Spanish student I had met at a party the day before. The previous evening, we had planned to be at the university 15 minutes before the official start of the introductory event to avoid making a bad impression on the first day. So, we took the tram to the university and during the tram we chatted and got off one stop too late. In the end this cost us our 15 min buffer. To our surprise, we were still the first students there and the university staff was still busy organising the event. From Germany and Liechtenstein, I was used to being on time and felt guilty every time I was two minutes late. Having spent my previous semester in Madrid, this unpunctuality and calmness had reminded me a lot of the Spanish mentality. For this reason, I was already a bit used to the fact that people in other countries have a different understanding of time and punctuality. However, I was a little surprised to find this again in Poland.