Uveřejněné zprávy z praxí neprošly ani jazykovou ani textovou úpravou. Proto, prosím, omluvte chybějící „hacky a carky“, stylistické a gramatické nedokonalosti textů.
Zdeněk Machala, CTU Prague,
ročník 5About the country
Location of the place
Cracow is located in the south-east of Poland, close to the border with Czech Republic
City
Cracow is quite small and it is easy to get around. It has about 750 thousand people and 250 thousand students.
Surroundings (possible trips, ...)
Close to the city are the Auschwitz concentration camp, Wieliczka salt mines, Ojcow national park and Zakopane in Tatra mountains. It is also possible to visit other cities such as Warsaw or even Gdansk.
Employer
Employer
AGH University of Science and Technology - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics
Work description
I was assigned to technology department of the university and was supposed to do some CNC machining. I got the requested part from a student team and had the help of the employees there. Since I already had experience with this, it was nothing new really. The university in my experience does not have many concrete tasks for you to do They were not sure what I could do and had to figure all that on the go. They were however very kind and supportive and I got to also see a lot in the workplace, just did not get any new experience.
Salary (sufficient for local conditions?)
Since the accompodation was paid for by the university, the salary was ok to survive but definitely not sufficient for doing some trips and enjoying the stay. Poland is quite cheap tho so it is not a big problem.
Language requirements
I mostly spoke english both at work and with other interns but some people at the university did not speak english so we spoke czech-polish.
Accommodation (price, who provided it)
The accomdation was provided by the AGH university in student dorms. There were up to 3 people per room and up to 10 sharing a bathroom (3+3+2+2). The room allocation seems to be random, I switched my room to live with other interns. There is one kitchen per floor and AGH IAESTE provided me with kitchen utensils.
Social life
Meeting IAESTE members (pick-up at the airport, organized events...)
The local IAESTE group was amazing. They picked me up at the train station, got me sorted out with my ID card, bus pass and all other important stuff. They also provided me with all the necessary kitchen utensils so didnt have to buy anything. During my stay they organized loads of events during the week and on the weekends there were always trips to other polish or even other european cities.
Meeting other foreign students
There were around 20 international students in Krakow during my stay and I also met many more polish people. The interns were from all around the world - from Equador to India. I also switched my room to live with some of them.
Sport and culture
There is a student gym and a pool on the campus but you need a swimming cap and weird swimsuits for the pool. There are some climbing gyms in Krakow but they are not the best.
If you are a fan of history there are many walking tours and museums to go to. There is also a picture by Leonardo da Vinci that you can see.
If you are a fan of history there are many walking tours and museums to go to. There is also a picture by Leonardo da Vinci that you can see.
Food, local specialties
The food in Poland is very good, although sometimes simialar to czech food. What I liked most are different kinds of pierogi, their local soups and the fact that they give you salad with every meal. If you work at AGH, I can recommend the diner at the energy department, other student canteens are pretty bad.
Other information
Possibilites to communicate with the Czech Republic
It's like being home.
Recommendations for students who will go to the same place
Switch rooms if your roommates suck, plan that you won't be working that hard and will have spare time, be prepared to speak polish, do not go for too long (most of the interns will be staying 4-6 weeks), go at the end of june to get the most organized trips.
What not to forget with you
It is better to take a long LAN cable, there is no wifi at the dorm and you only get a short one usually. What I did was to buy a polish SIM card just for data and make a hotspot. Internet is insanely cheap in Poland
Benefits of the internship
For me it was mainly about meeting new people and seeing new places. The work part was not as beneficial.
Cooperation with IAESTE in the foreign country
They were great and helped us with anything.
Overall experience with IAESTE
The work experience itself was not what I was expecting. The paperwork was also very tedious and it took a long time to confirm everything. Overall the people were very helpful and I am grateful for having this oppurtunity.
Student's website
--
Employer's webiste
https://www.agh.edu.pl/
Other useful links
--
Other comments
--