Kayla Magan

Jagiellonian University, Poland

When I sat down to write this all I could think of were these cliché things about study abroad and I didn’t want to write another piece full of expressions like that.

So here’s a real piece about life in Krakow, Poland.

It’s hard.

Some days all I can think about is going home. I miss the familiarity of Keene and my friends there. I miss my family and my room and my “normal life” back home.

But those days are becoming less frequent and now most days I love being here. Poland is a truly beautiful place to live and it is rich with history and culture.

Speaking of culture, culture shock hit me hard when I first arrived. I was jet-lagged and sleepless from a rough flight and I was thrust into this entirely new environment.

I had never been outside of the United States before now.

The language was the first barrier I encountered and it was overwhelming. On top of that, the dorm I am living in isn’t even comparable to anything at Keene. The worst dorm on campus is still better than where I am now. It is an adjustment to share a room smaller than my bedroom at home with two other people, so the living situation made it harder for me to adjust to being here.

I chose to come to Poland because I am a Holocaust and Genocide Studies major. I wanted to be able to travel to the very places events happened and where history I learned about in class occurred. I wanted to experience the places I read about in person. This past weekend I was able to do just that. Our program took us to Warsaw for three days.

Last semester at Keene State College, I took a class about the Warsaw Ghetto and have wanted to go to Warsaw since then.It was incredible to walk along the route where the ghetto wall used to be and see old buildings that escaped the destruction the Nazis left behind. To walk where the Jews walked, and to be in that same place, was a powerful experience. I cannot wait to travel to more places like Warsaw.

Contributed photo / Kayla Magan

Auschwitz is also on my list of places to go and I know that will be an even more powerful experience.

Life in Krakow is at a much slower pace than any other city I’ve been to.

My classes take place about a mile from the dorm and the Main Square is about a mile and half walk, but I enjoy walking everywhere. I do a good amount of walking each day and I will no longer complain about the walk from Randall to the DC after this semester.

I’ve become accustomed to hearing Polish wherever I go that when someone walks by speaking English it surprises me. Polish is unlike any language I’ve heard before, especially considering I studied Spanish in high school.

I’m slowly learning more and more words, such as dzienkuje [thank you] and przeprazasam [excuse me]. I’ve also learned a lot through my Polish language class over the past month and a half but it is still the hardest barrier to cross here.

I feel like I fit in and I know my way around; I have my favorite places to eat and shop but the second I open my mouth and speak English I feel like an outsider.

The Poles do not like to speak much English if they don’t have to.

The past couple weeks I’ve done some traveling to other cities in Europe.

I recently returned from Budapest where I spent five days during my Easter break. A few weeks prior I spent the weekend in Vienna.

Being able to travel to these historic and beautiful cities has been incredible.

It makes me wonder why we don’t travel more within our own country. That’s something that studying abroad has made me want to do when I return.

It’s been nice to be on a long bus ride back from a weekend trip and think about Krakow as somewhere familiar to return to.

What was once an unknown and overwhelming place has become like home to me. It’s been just 46 days but it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer.

Krakow is truly a beautiful place to be.

I know the sad days will still happen and sometimes it’s okay to feel that way.

There’s so much pressure to have this life-changing experience every day and love every minute.

But that’s not how it is. At least not for me.

But I do love it here and I wouldn’t want to be living anywhere else for the next three months.