From “két jó barát” to “dwa bratanki” – My year of volunteering in Poland

When I first arrived in Poland, I remember going to the shop to buy some food for myself. I put my luggage down and set out on the adventure. Only to be surrounded by an ocean of culture shocks. Feeling like a celebrity when every single car stopped for me at the crosswalk, standing in front of a Kwiatomat like Alice arriving in Wonderland. 

Sziasztok, my name is Alexa, a volunteer from Hungary, and in this post, I will share the stories of my year here in Poland. 

First experiences in a new country

I visited Poland once before in 2023, during a VET (Vocational Education in Training) project, where my classmates and I spent 2 weeks in Rzeszów. It was a valuable experience in both cultural exchange and educational matters. 2 weeks, however, were hardly enough to feel what Poland was truly like. We had programs which allowed us to look into the history of the city, but also took up most of our time. We didn’t have much interaction with the locals, so I longed to come back. Because of these, I decided to take a trip once again and volunteer here in Poland for a year.

My time here started with a little detour. Before starting volunteering, I spent 3 weeks in the lovely little city of Krosno. There, I got the taste of Polish culture and Polish people. It was a magical and peaceful time in the more natural side of Poland. 

Stepping foot in the Big City, Rzeszów

After 3 weeks, I had to say goodbye, as the lights of the big city were waiting for me. The people of Rzeszów often say that Rzeszów is actually a smaller city. However, for me, a Hungarian from an actually small city, Rzeszów was surprisingly big. Rzeszów has the same number of residents as the second-largest city in Hungary. 

For me, coming from a city of 27 thousand, living here was a little strange. Having everything within walking distance and having all the opportunities to have all that I could want to do was a strange feeling, but I loved it nonetheless. I made many friends and built a good life for myself in Poland. I got the opportunity to see many beautiful places and cities all around Poland. 

So.. what did I do?

During volunteering, I got the chance to interact with young people of many different backgrounds and age groups. With the other volunteers of the organisation, we went to many schools in the Podkarpackie region. We told them all about our home countries, played games, and had some amazing conversations. I myself, who never thought that they were good with children, felt more comfortable interacting with students time after time. We held and were invited to lots of different events, where we got to represent INPRO, our countries, and the European Union as official European Solidarity Corps volunteers. 

We hosted and facilitated multiple projects throughout the year. These included short-term volunteers, students, and young people coming for professional development activities, Erasmus+ VET projects and youth exchanges.

We worked together on more than just our events. We prepared all the materials we used for workshops, including presentations and cards. We spent hours researching to make sure we presented the best that we could to the public. I had the task of maintaining our website, as well as posting blog articles just like this one. 

A joyful and memorable experience 

My year here was and is still amazing. I love this little corner of the world and my life that I got to share with the people I met along the way. I look back on my time here, joyful that I took the leap to be part of this experience. I am super thankful for all the opportunities I had, and all the things I got to be a part of. If anyone is thinking about volunteering, I absolutely recommend it. It changed my life for the better.

Nem a viszontlátásra, csak a legközelebbi találkozásig,

with love from Hungary

-Alexa