In February we participated in Erasmus+ exchange. Most of us were already friends, so we hoped we would all get accepted. And surely enough we all did!! There were a few people we didn’t know at all, but nothing a 10 hour ride by train to Poland can’t fix. Four of us started our journey at Nitra train station. From there we travelled to Nové Zámky, where we joined with the rest of the group.
It was only the beginning of a very long time of sitting in a train, what we thought would be spent by looking out of the window. But it wasn’t like that at all, we immediately started getting to know each other, playing games and talking about our lives. Obviously there were a few challenges along the way… Since we booked the tickets a bit too late we didn’t have seats next to each other (this is a reminder to get your tickets in advance!). Thankfully people were kind enough to switch seats with us so we could stay together. But enough of this never ending train ride, let’s talk about the Erasmus experience itself.
Imagine arriving at a new station with no idea where your hostel is. It can be quite daunting. We were the first to check in. People from other countries started arriving soon and we immediately started getting to know each other. We checked out our rooms and the lovely space of the Inpro training room. Those of us who had already got to know each other on the train had the disadvantage of hearing the information about us several times that day.
We didn't even unpack and already went to dinner, which was very much needed after not eating the whole day. Then we had completely free time. We got into groups of people who seemed likeable and explored the city of Rzeszów and got to know each other better. The next morning, the first official day of the project began.
The first two days were all about learning about each other and deepening our friendship by doing amazing energizers, working in teams, learning about our cultures, taking photos and overall learning about the cinematic world. In the evenings we had free time which we always spent with our friends from other countries by exploring the city even more.
The third and fourth day were all about filming our own movies, so we chose our groups and bit by bit started putting all our ideas together.
Soon enough we started the filming process in which we learned a lot about filming, scene arrangement, editing and even acting. By the end of the fourth day each group had their own short movie which they presented to others.
On the fifth day after breakfast we received our youthpasses and after that, we completed one more exercise, where we analyzed how we can communicate and learn in collective. Afterwards we wrote each other small goodbye messages and the official program came to an end.
However the day was still going on. We started to pack our things and then headed out to say goodbye to the beautiful town Rzeszów and spend time with our new friends. Next morning the time of departure had come. We said our last goodbyes and got on our train back home where we were still reliving our happy memories from the past week.