Dear Student
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Prof. Sławomir Kaczmarek, PhD Vice-Rector for Research and Internati onal Relati ons Dear Student, this guide contains important information related to your studies at Kazimierz Wielki University in the forthcoming academic year. Hopefully, you will fi nd this guide helpful in your preparations for your stay in Bydgoszcz. On behalf of Kazimierz Wielki University I would like to extend a warm welcome to you. We all appreciate your interest in our University and hope you share our enthusiasm about your future in Poland. Should you require more information please do not hesitate to contact International Relations Offi ce at: [email protected] [email protected] Please visit our websites: erasmus.ukw.edu.pl studyinbydgoszcz.pl Offi cial name: Republic of Poland Flag: Polish emblem: Capital City: Warszawa (Warsaw) Offi cial language: Polish Population: 38,2 mln (www.poland.gov.pl) Member of: EU, NATO, UN Religion: Roman Catholic Government: Parliamentary republic EU accession: 1 May 2004 Currency: Złoty (PLN) Internet TLD: .pl International calling code: +48 POLAND a (not so much) foreign COUNTRY 10 FACTS ABOUT POLAND Poland is situated in the heart of Europe Poland is situated in the centre of Europe. With the area of 312.683 square kilometres it is the 9th largest country of the continent. It neighbours with Germany in the West, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine in the South and Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia (The Kaliningrad Oblast) in the East. The area of Poland changed throughout the ages: in the 17th century, the Golden Age of Poland, it covered almost 1 million square kilometres, making Poland the largest European country of the time. In the 18th century, because of the Three Partitions, the country politically disappeared from the map of Europe to finally regain its independence in 1918. The geographical location contributes to a moderate climate: with both maritime and continental elements. Although the weather is rather difficult to forecast, you can expect snowy white winters and hot, sunny summers, with a bit of rain from time to time. Poland is a rather monocultural country so every foreign visitor is welcome Poland has a population of 38,2 million people. This figure makes Poland the 8th most populated country in Europe. As far as the gender structure is concerned, for every hundred men, there were 106 women (figures from 2001). Contemporary Poland is almost homogenous ethnically; most of its residents are native Polish. The minorities account for about 3-4 percent of the population; the biggest of them are the Germans, then Belarusians and Ukrainians. Religiously, Poland is predominantly Roman Catholic. Beware! The language Polish economy is one is full of tongue twisters of the fastest developing Polish is an Indo-European language, economies in central belonging to the West-Slavonic Europe group. Most foreigners find it quite difficult to master, probably In the last several years, Poland has because of the inflectional character become the fastest growing economy of the grammar and the fact that in the UE and now has the largest it is full of exceptions. Foreign guests economy in Central Europe. Our also curse the specific spelling country is also the only EU member (consonants like “ś”, “ć”, “ż” or “ź”), that managed to avoid a decline which are part of almost every Polish during the latest 2000s recession. proper noun and surname. Poland’s location is beneficial for Polish has many borrowings business. It is also worth noticing that from other languages, mainly from Poland has a lot of gifted graduates Latin as well as German, Russian who constitute a great human and French. More recently Polish resource base for business. has been borrowing from English. many species that have already Poland is a land died out in other parts of Europe, of natural diversity such as brown bears, grey wolves, beavers, Eurasian Lynx and bisons. Polish artists throughout the centuries used to depict the character of the country’s nature as a melancholic image of blurred, There are many things deserted plains with rows of weeping worth seeing in Poland willows. Indeed Poland is a rather low-lying country. In the north Poland is full of cultural treasures. we have 440 km of Baltic coastline. Its magnificent architecture reflects Beautiful golden sandy beaches one thousand years of historical are highly recommended for holidays. heritage, with plenty of Gothic, The northern “half” of Poland delights Baroque or Art Nouveau buildings, us with its abundance of forests churches, cathedrals, castles, and lakes. and manors. The other half has picturesque Thirteen sites are included mountains too, all along the southern on the UNESCO World Heritage list, border, with the two main among them the historic centres ranges in that part of Europe: of Cracow and Warsaw (the capital), the Carpathians and the Sudetes. the medieval town of Toruń, The highest peak is Rysy (2499m) the Wieliczka Salt Mine in the range of the Tatras. There and the Castle of the Teutonic are still many places hardly touched Order in Malbork. by the civilization, e.g. the Bieszczady It is difficult to be bored in Poland, Mountains, the plains along especially during the summer the Biebrza River, or the ancient season, with plenty of festivals all woodland of Białowieża, over the country. Some of them with the diversity of plants, birds have already gained an international and animals. Poland can boast reputation. Polish cuisine has much Polish savoir vivre – to offer, (but forget about nothing to worry about counting calories) The rules of behaviour are pretty Although you can find McDonald’s, much the same as the rules in other pizza, sushi and Chinese bars European countries. They are everywhere around the country, based on general kindness towards Poles still prefer eating traditional strangers and the respect to women home meals. Traditional dishes are and elderly people. We greet each rather fat but most of them are other by shaking hands or nodding, really worth trying. You just have saying “Hi” or “Good morning”, to try pierogi (dumplings filled sometimes kissing on the cheek. with cabbage and mushrooms, meat Travelling by public transport, or cheese), or bigos (a stew based it is expected that a young person on sauerkraut, mushrooms and meat). should give up their seat Another specifically Polish specialty for an elderly passenger person. is oscypek, a chunk of smoked cheese Tips in restaurants amount to about made of salted sheep’s milk, which 10 percent of the bill. originates from Tatra Mountains Polish men are considered very region. Most foreigners love popular gallant, following some old-fashioned Polish sweets, like Ptasie mleczko, rules like kissing a woman Krówki or pączki. Polish beer on a hand while greeting or letting is appreciated worldwide for its taste a woman go first through and refinement. the doorway. THE MOST POPULAR STEREOTYPES ABOUT POLAND Poland is a land of frost among the elderly people, that if you and polar bears. wake up in the morning and nothing This stereotype probably originates hurts at all, you are probably from the misleading similarity dead). The tendency to complain of words: Poland/Pole and North seems to have originated under Pole/polar. Actually winter the communist system, when life in Poland lasts about three months was hard and there were hardly any with the average temperature opportunities for people to develop of -6 to 0 Celsius. This is a temperature or succeed. On the other hand, range more suitable for brown bears Poles defi nitely laugh at themselves which do inhabit the mountainous even in the most diffi cult situations regions, but are rather reluctant and have a great sense of humour, to come out of their dens. so there is a balance between complaining and joy. Polish people do not speak any foreign languages at all. Polish people drink too much Although only 8 percent of Poles alcohol. admit they know foreign languages, A custom of drinking vodka the situation is not as bad as it seems. is deeply rooted in Polish culture. Most young people know some It always accompanied diff erent English and are able to communicate. celebrations. In fact today most People from the older generations people prefer drinking beer and wine, usually speak a bit of German and the consumption rate does not or Russian once an obligatory foreign seem to be higher than in other language in Polish schools. European countries. Nowadays it is almost impossible to get a good job without some Polish people are intolerant. knowledge of one European Many centuries ago Poland was language, which is why learning a multinational country where languages has become fashionable lots of diff erent ethnic minorities and language schools are thriving. lived together. Unfortunately the country became more and more Poles do always complain. homogeneous, and today we have It is pretty hard to deny that people to learn once again how to cooperate in Poland always fi nd something with others. The stereotype to complain about. We generally however concerns mostly the older complain about everything: generations. The majority of young the weather, salaries, high prices, people are open to diff erent cultures, unemployment, the government, cosmopolitan and much more mobile and fi nally – health (there is a saying than their parents. PUBLIC HOLIDAYS Polish people love to celebrate. Apart from birthdays, we also celebrate the name day, which some people consider even more important than birthday. Most calendars contain the names of the holidays to be celebrated each day. The most important national holidays are: the anniversary of the restoration of independence in 1918 (11 November) and the passing of the Poland’s fi rst Constitution of 1791 (3 May), which conveniently combines with International Labor Day – 1 May into extremely long weekends (depending on which day of the week it falls on).