ENG In March 2017 I applied for studying abroad via the ERASMUS+ programme. One month later, I was informed about the positive response to my application, which meant that I would be studying in Poland for one semester in the city of Toruń. Several reasons made me choose Toruń. First of all, I had never been in Poland and travel was a great opportunity to make this real. Second of all, I was aware of cultural similarities between Poles and Croats – the same religion, the similar language, the same origins and so on. Finally, I had got a really good impression about their university (Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika – UMK later). They seemed to be really neat and well organized about WEB page updating, informing and receiving incoming students. I came to Poland in September 2017. Toruń seemed great at night because I arrived really late. Those massive Gothic buildings impressed me on first sight. If you have concerns about your orientation and adaptation to city – do not worry – every ERASMUS+ student gets his/her mentor in their receiving city – so did I! She helped me a lot and she was always available. I got a room in a freshly renovated dormitory which was fantastic. I must admit that I had really great luck with accommodation. The dormitory is positioned 5-minutes’ walk from two faculties which I attended (humanities and language) and 6-minutes’ walk from the city center (the Old town, that part with Gothic buildings :) ). I was positioned about 25-minutes’ walk from the UMK, but it is so easy to manage with effective public transport – new trams and buses. As a city which was Nicolaus Copernicus’ birthplace, the strongest factors of the city are – tourism and UMK. UMK is on the official list of 1000 best universities in Europe (and in the top 5 universities in Poland) and you get an impression that everything works for the UMK. Infrastructure like you would never see at a Croatian university – new faculty buildings, sport center with a pool, football and basketball fields, gym and so on. Since I come from a city which has around 100 000 inhabitants (which makes it the fourth largest in Croatia), I was amazed by Poles who find Toruń as a small town (it has around 200 000 inhabitants which makes it 16th largest city in Poland). Since the UMK is one of the greatest advantages, it makes Toruń perfect for students. First of all, it has many hotels, hostels, nightclubs, pubs, bars and so on. Second of all, every student gets a student authorization (like an Identity Card) which confirms you are a student there. With this card almost everything is subsidized: tickets for public transport (trains for the whole of Poland included), snacks and even drinks in pubs, bars and nightclubs (and it is seriously subsidized – around 50%) which makes your life there cheaper and easier. Frankly, I enjoyed studying there. So many good people from other countries (my best friends were from Turkey, Romania and Poland) and so many good events by the ESN (Erasmus Student Network) like a trip to Gdańsk, various kinds of parties etc. Since I study philosophy and English language and literature, my curriculum there was terrific – the amount of classes were halved in comparison with Croatia and I had the same number of subjects, thus I had much more free time for relaxing and better concentration on classes. To sum things up, I would recommend you not just Toruń, but the ERASMUS+ programme as a whole . If you are considering Toruń – do not consider anymore, take it! I am sure you will not come back disappointed. I didn’t. :) Ivan Vranješ HR U ožujku 2017. godine prijavio sam se za studiranje putem programa ERASMUS+. Mjesec dana kasnije informiran sam o pozitivnom rješenju za moju aplikaciju. Značilo je to da ću jedan semestar studirati u Poljskoj, u gradu Toruńu. Nekoliko razloga me nagnalo da izaberem Toruń. Prije svega, nikada nisam bio u Poljskoj i mobilnost je bila izvrsna prilika učiniti to stvarnim. Kao drugo, bio sam svjestan kulturalnih sličnosti između Poljaka i Hrvata - ista religija, sličan jezik, isti korijeni i drugo. Napokon, dobio sam zbilja dobar dojam o njihovom sveučilištu (Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika - kasnije UMK). Činili su se zaista uredni i dobro organizirani oko ažuriranja WEB stranice, informiranja i primanja dolazećih studenata. Došao sam u Poljsku u rujnu 2017. godine. Toruń se činio izvrsnim noću jer sam stigao vrlo kasno. Masivne gotičke zgrade su me impresionirale na prvi pogled. Ukoliko imate strah oko orijentacije i adaptacije na grad - ne brinite - svaki ERSMUS+ student dobije svog mentora u gradu-domaćinu - kao i ja! Mentorica mi je puno pomogla i uvijek je bila dostupna. Dobio sam sobu u svježe renoviranom studentskom domu koji je bio fantastičan. Moram priznati da sam imao veliku sreću sa smještajem. Dom je bio smješten na 5 minuta šetnje od dva fakulteta koja sam tamo pohađao (humanistički i jezični) i 6 minuta šetnje od centra grada (Stari grad, taj dio s gotičkim zgradama :)). Bio sam smješten 25 minuta šetnje od UMK-a, ali brzo i lako se moglo doći učinkovitim javnim prijevozom - novim tramvajima i autobusima. Kao grad koji je rodno mjesto Nikole Kopernika, najjači aduti grada su - turizam i UMK. UMK je na službenoj listi 1000 najboljih sveučilišta Europe (i u najboljih 5 sveučilišta u Poljskoj) i imate dojam da je u gradu sve podređeno sveučilištu. Infrastrukturu kao tamo ne biste nikad vidjeli na hrvatskom sveučilištu - nove fakultetske zgrade, sportski centar s bazenom, nogometnim i košarkaškim igralištem, teretanom i drugim sadržajima. Budući da dolazim iz grada koji ima oko 100 000 stanovnika (što ga čini četvrtim najvećim u Hrvatskoj), bio sam zapanjen Poljacima koji Toruń smatraju gradićem (ima 200 000 stanovnika što ga čini šesnaestim najvećim u Poljskoj). Kako je UMK jedna od najvećih prednosti, Toruń je grad savršen za studente. Naime, ima nebrojeno puno hostela, hotela, noćnih klubova, pabova, barova i drugog. Kao drugo, svaki student dobije studentsku legitimaciju (u obliku kartice) koja potvrđuje da ste tamošnji student. Tom karticom gotovo sve je subvencionirano: karte za javni prijevoz (vlakovi širom Poljske uključeni), obroci te čak pića u pabovima, barovima i noćnim klubovima (i to je čak subvencionirano u velikom postotoku - oko 50%) što čini život jeftinijim i lakšim. Iskreno, uživao sam studirajući tamo. Toliko dobrih ljudi iz drugih zemalja (moji najbolji prijatelji su bili iz Turske, Rumunjske i Poljske) i toliko odličnih događanja organiziranih od strane ESN-a (Erasmus Student Network) kao put u Gdańsk, različite vrste zabava i drugog. Budući da studiram filozofiju i engleski jezik i književnost, kurikulum mi je bio odličan - količina satnice mi je bila prepolovljena u usporedbi s hrvatskom, a imao sam jednak broj kolegija, stoga sam imao više slobodnog vremena za opuštanje i bolju koncentraciju na predavanjima. Sumirajući sve navedeno, toplo bih preporučio ne samo Toruń, nego ERASMUS+ program uopće. Ako razmatrate Toruń - prekinite s time i uzmite to! Siguran sam da se nećete vratiti razočarani. Ja nisam. :) Ivan Vranješ
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