As I had really enjoyed my internship abroad in Barcelona the previous semester, I quickly decided to apply again for Erasmus+ funding for an internship in another European country. At the same time, I started looking for an internship, and the International Office of the FHDW helped me with helpful advice and the recommendation of the portal erasmusintern.org portal.

I soon found interesting vacancies on the portal and continued to apply on my own initiative. With the language school CONTACT CJO in Poznanwhich had advertised an internship in the field of marketing, a very pleasant contact was quickly established and the Skype interview was successfully completed.

As I had already had good experiences with the DAAD group insurance in Spain, I decided to continue using it. Due to Poland’s EU membership, no further applications were necessary in advance. The only thing to bear in mind is the difference in currency, as in Poland you don’t pay in euros, but in zloty.

I lived in the Student Depot Polonezwhich was recommended to me in advance by my internship company. Due to the university summer vacation, there are enough rooms available in the hall of residence in July and August and the rent is reduced. I opted for a single room, which was very spacious and well equipped by dormitory standards and offered a wonderful view of the historic city center from the sixth floor.

The city center is very easy to reach on foot from Polonez and with the city bikes from NextBike city bikes. (The NextBike bike is free if you return it to the nearest station within 20 minutes). The streetcar and bus stations are also nearby.

In the dormitory, it was possible to quickly make new international contacts with other ERASMUS interns from Spain, Belarus, Turkey and Pakistan, which made it much easier to settle into the new city. For example, a joint visit to a bar in the old town, which organizes an international quiz every Thursday, where there are tasty prizes for the best and new contacts to be won. Over time, we have not only become very good friends, but also a real little ERASMUS family – a really wonderful experience!

In Poznan, the old town with its market square is the place to be for street music, markets and other events. There are lots of people here at any time of day, but especially in the afternoons and evenings. The town’s landmark and most important daily spectacle can be seen at 12 noon at the town hall: Every day, tourists and onlookers eagerly await the fight of the two billy goats – every Poznan trainee must have seen this at least once.

From Poznan’s main train station, there are good local and long-distance bus and train connections that invite you to explore the country further. This makes it easy to travel in different directions – to cities such as Gdansk, Kraków and Wrocław. Furthermore, the long-distance transport connections and the nearby airport make it easy to travel to and from the city.

The cost of living in Poland is somewhat cheaper than in Germany. Shopping facilities are within easy walking distance everywhere in the center of Poznan and although the stores are generally closed on some Sundays, there is always a small corner store called “Zabka” around the corner to get the necessary little things.

The KONTAKT language school offers language courses, conversation classes, cultural events and workshops in various languages. Young people and adults come there to learn and use a variety of European languages.

My main task was to support the marketing of KONTAKT together with other ERASMUS interns from Spain and Turkey. The aim was to promote the summer courses, workshops and the general offer. This involved a lot of brainstorming and implementation. The focus was on maintaining and revising the entire (media) presence of the language school in order to remain in the memory of customers during the vacation period.

Furthermore, the direct cultural and linguistic exchange with the language students, who mainly come from the Poznan area, was one of my tasks. I had the opportunity to gain many different insights into Polish culture, everyday life and traditions as well as the different views and opinions of the language students in a very short space of time. We argued and debated together, filtered out the differences in our views on political and, above all, economic issues and learned a lot from each other. The conversation lessons and events were generally characterized by a very positive and inquisitive atmosphere.

I also had the opportunity to take part in various language courses and improve my own foreign language skills in English and Spanish. In addition, I quickly got to know the everyday phrases used in Polish, which made it much easier for me to shop in the supermarket, for example, and generally interact with other Poles with whom I had no common language.