Graduation!

I graduated last week as Bachelor of Laws! In Poland the process for Bachelors is a bit different than for example in Finland. Apart from my thesis I also needed to have final exam (defence) and answer to some question about my thesis as well as a general question in relation to the department I wrote my thesis to. 3 years of hard work behind but for me these three years mean so much more than just Bachelor degree. These studies were the final reason why I decided to move abroad to Poland.

If I look 3 years back, I was just selling some of my furniture as I already knew I will be moving to Poland. I showed my apartment for the new tenants and packed my stuff to be stored at my parents place. I was excited about moving, but at the same time I had no idea how it would go in reality. Afterwords I have wondered how I had so much courage to change my life so dramatically, but I'm more than happy that I took this opportunity and learned something new also about myself. I'm not sure what were my expectations about Poland and about the studies, but as I look back I was just so excited and maybe also a bit stressed about everything new. When I left Finland I did not know when I would come back, that feeling is even more stronger now. I do not see myself living in Finland at least in the near future. Poland is my home for now, but I could see myself in other countries too. I think that once I left from Finland and survived so well, it is now easier to think that I could live almost anywhere.

These three years have passed so fast and now it is already the time to start something new. I'm so happy that my family has supported me in my decisions, even when I know they would like to see me more often. During these years I have built new friendships, another safety-net apart from the one I have in Finland. What really makes living in Poland so good, are these people. At the same time I feel guilt that I haven't been able to spend that much time with my friends in Finland. Maybe this quote shows my feelings towards these friends: "Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they're always there."

Having coffee with my Erasmus friend during the first semester in Poland. The first semester was about getting to know new people, learning polish and discovering the new city. We had a nice girls trip to Berlin and I made the first contact to Finnish community in Wroclaw.

The second semester my family came to visit Wroclaw, I was so proud to show them around the city. For the first time I experienced the early spring (at least compared to Finland) and the warm weather. The first year of studies was done and I was happy to go to Finland for the summer.

The third semester was studying in cafes and meeting with friends every Wednesday in a jazz bar. Our friend from Finland came to visit us here in Wroclaw and I met many new people.

The forth semester was great! We had a nice weekend in Prague, my sister came to Wroclaw, I met with my brother in Gdansk.... So many great things! I also came more involved with the Finnish community as I became a teacher in the Finnish School in Wroclaw.

The fifth semester started the final year of  LLB. I met with my family in Stockholm, I continued teaching at the Finnish school and I got involved with the Telders moot court. I also started to write my thesis.

The last semester was probably the most stressful and eventful. We had a trip to Ukraine, I visited Finland as a surprise, Telders competition in Warsaw and in the Hague, thesis and finally graduation! 

-Camilla

Telders Moot Court Competition!

January and February were crazy! So many things to do and learn. Now finally all the exams and Telders competition are over for now. However, our team won the Telders national round in Poland and our journey will continue in May in International rounds in Hague! I'm so happy!

Telders is a Moot Court competition, that means simulated court proceedings for students to compete and have experience. First we needed to research our topics. This year the task was related to diplomatic immunity, inviolability of diplomatic premises and a military agreement. We used couple of months just to research everything related to those topics. Every team needs to have 2-4 students and the work must be done for both applicant and  respondent. I have had the honor to work with three great and intelligent girls in my team.

The deadline for the written memorials was in end of January. Our both memorials (applicant and respondent) had 45 pages. Writing the memorials and editing took a lot of time. It was a great feeling when we finally had everything nicely printed and sent to the organizers.

After the written work it was time to concentrate on the oral rounds. We saw each other almost everyday practicing our speeches and getting ready for the questions the judges could ask. Applicant and respondent both have 40 minutes to speak during the oral round. That means that for every speaker there is about 20 minutes.

The national rounds were held in Warsaw 22. February. Our team decided to fly there a day before just to be concentrated to the competition. That was the best decision! The night before the competition we had so much fun and we laughed probably for everything. I really felt that we are a TEAM!

After the oral rounds we were so stressed, it was hard to say who was better. Of course we had a subjective view and I think that at least I'm always more critical towards my own performance. We needed to wait for the results for a long time! I was over analyzing every single detail. Finally after more than a week, we got the results from the oral rounds. We won the orals! And it was a clear win from the points, I don't know why we were so stressed.

However, we still needed to wait for the points from the memorials before we were able to celebrate the win of the whole competition. Finally we received the points from the written work and it is official, WE WON!

I really appreciate this experience and this journey we have had so far. I'm thankful for my amazing team and our coaches. Next chapter of Telders starts from Netherlands, I can not wait!

-Camilla

Trip to Ukraine!

My squad for the trip! 

Last weekend, the last weekend of February was the first weekend this year that I was able to relax. January and February were full of studying and working. My boyfriend had a dancing competition with his partner in Ukraine and I decided to go with them. We had a nice small group going to Lviv. The competition was on Saturday and we wanted to stay for Sunday as well to go sightseeing. Saturday was a great start for the weekend as my favorite dancing pair won the competition! ;) After the competition we went for dinner to this amazing meat restaurant. The theme of the restaurant was torture but the food was nothing like torture, it was delicious! After the dinner we decided to stay in the city center for drinks.

Lviv is something very different from Poland or Wroclaw. Everything seemed to be old: buildings, cars, everything. The roads were in such a bad condition that I felt like jumping and hitting my head in the bus. Nobody was speaking English in there, I tried to communicate in English, Polish and showing by gestures and then I got understood. I wouldn't have survived without knowing any Polish. However, I really enjoyed the city. It was something different from the places I have visited before.

On Sunday we were walking around the city. We ended up eating in a restaurant that was very nationalist, we needed to say some password in the door before getting in (Ukraine first or something like that), people were singing nationalistic songs and the decor was Ukrainian military oriented.

On the way back from Ukraine we spent 6,5 hours in the Ukraine-Polish border. The bus was full of people, there were no extra places and the air was very bad. It was interesting to see what everybody needed to do to get in to the area of the European Union.

I came sick during our trip, so this week has been mostly resting. I wanted to go out so bad and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. I hope next week will also be as sunny and warm!

-Camilla

Autumn colors!

This Sunday I decided to go for a long walk around the city as I wanted to take some autumn pictures. I have to admit, that I fall in love with Wroclaw every time I go out. I always find something new for me and something beautiful. While I was walking I felt so happy! I fully don't  know why, but I was relaxed and saw other people so happy. I saw at least 5 wedding couples taking pictures in Hala Stulecia and in the park next to it. I saw families feeding ducks, couples walking hand in hand, dogs playing in the park, everybody was enjoying the beautiful weather and the amazing colors the nature gave us. Here are some of the pictures from yesterday ;)

I stared from the Museum narodowe. The walls are so beautiful during the autumn as all the leafs are in different colors. 

I walked though the park next to the museum. I passed Panorama and climbed to a small hill next to it. 

View from the hill towards the other side of the river, Katedra.

Next I took a tram to Hala Stulecia :)

So beautiful path next to Hala stulecia and the fountain. 

From the park next to Hala stulecia, I followed a path that didn't go anywhere, just to this beautiful tree.

Autumn wonderland!

I know that in Finland it is already more gray and even some snow! I hope you still like my autumn pics! :) We are having a long weekend as tomorrow is the All Saints' Day. We will visit the biggest cemetery and feel the atmosphere. Now we will go and get some candles for tomorrow! 

-Camilla

First week @Uni!

The first week at the University is over! It feels weird that all my friends from Finland have already studied for a month and I just started. Even when only one week of this semester is over, I feel exhausted. During the summer I was not using English in such a high level that University requires, the autumn started at the same time as the Uni (it has been raining and colder than before), maybe for that reason I also got a flue. Enough reasons to be exhausted? :D

During the first week we needed to choose a supervisor for our thesis. I was stressed about this decision as I felt it will define my next year. I changed my mind the evening before and now I feel confident about my choice. Now starts stressing about the real work related to the thesis!

The first week at the Uni was also great as I was able to see my friends and spend some more time with them. I was already missing the coffee and lunch breaks. I think loveat noticed we are back :D After the classes it was nice to be able to say "see you tomorrow". Friday afternoon I spend maybe 4 hours just talking with my friend and enjoying our desserts. We went to Dinette just in time for their lunch menu and we saw this  pumpkin and salted caramel (pumpkin cream + salted caramel and juniper ice cream + apple gel + sea buckthorn jelly + apple and bison grass cake + hazelnuts oil powder) We needed to have it and it was delicious! I feel lucky as everything is so cheap here, for the dessert and homemade lemonade just 6 euros!

Now for the weekend the plan is only to relax. Not to do anything, just hope that next week I wouldn't feel this sick anymore. Sleeping, movies, good food... Reality may come back next week ;)

Happy Sunday! :)
-Camilla

It is still holiday!

It feels weird that the summer is almost gone. I should get ready for the next school year and that starts with shopping! The feeling when you have a new wonderful notebook and you feel happy to use it. I haven't found that yet. I don't want to find that yet as then the next semester starts to feel more real. I don't want to start stressing about my Bachelor thesis (even that I'm stressing about it now)....











I will allow myself one more week without thinking anything related to the uni! (That is about the time that we still have summer holiday :D) Last summer days without work or uni, just relaxing and taking some time for myself. I hope my last holiday week will be full of great days, warm weather and no stress! Now I want to buy strawberries and raspberries to get the last taste of summer 2016!

-Camilla

Back in Poland!

I arrived to Poland about a week ago. It feels great to be here! This is like a second summer for me as it is still so warm compared to Finland. Sometimes even too hot! Even when I have been here only for a week, a lot has happened. I met a new friend and had to say good bye for another. We even had a small trip to Poznan already.

-Camilla

Summer!

Finally I could say that summer started for me! On Wednesday I had my last exam at the Uni and now I'm free to go to Finland! Yay! My travel will start today with the train to Gdansk. I hope I will be able to sit in the train as all the seats were already fully booked. It would be awful start, 6 hours in the train with all my luggage without a place to sit! Crossing my fingers and hoping for the best... After the train, I will still need to spend the night in Gdansk as the flight will leave early on the next morning. And then finally I will be in Finland!!!

Edit: I upgraded my ticket to first class so I got a seat in the train! :D 

Quality time before leaving :)

I will get to Finland in perfect time as in Friday there is Juhannus (mid-summer) and I will be able to enjoy the Finnish summer, sauna, lake and summer cottage. I will tell you later more about Juhannus and add some pictures how we celebrated it!

It got extremely hot here, but I know I will miss this kind of weather in Finland! 

I still want to say good bye for the summer for all my friends from Poland (specially for those I was not able to do that in person!!). I hope everybody will have perfect summer! This has been amazing school year, I have got so many great new friends and had so much fun with the old friends too! I can not believe I have already been in Poland for two years. Time flies so fast that I'm not able to follow.

While telling best wishes for the summer to my friends in Poland, I can not wait to see my family and friends in Finland! Now it is only matter of days that I will be able to meet everybody! For the first week I'm planning to stay in the summer cottage enjoying the nature and beauty of Finland, call me after that and lets meet! :)

-Camilla

Culture!

Hey, due to the limited time cause of the exams I will just briefly tell you what I have been up to. Yesterday I went to opera! Carmen was played at the Wroclaw stadium. It was a great show, I can not remember the last time I went to opera (if ever?) :o I didn't understand a word, but I was enjoying the visual part, music and everything else. The show was different than a regular opera as there were even horses as part of the show (good reason to have it in the stadium :D)

Earlier this week we had a surprise baby shower for my friend. The surprise was successful and it was great to spend time with other Finns. Great food, massage and company! :)

-Camilla

What I like in Poland? 2.Manners!

Now I will continue my series about things that I like in Poland. Generally all Polish people have very good manners. Everybody is telling you good morning or good evening. Neighbors, shop staff, everybody you know, strangers if they will ask your help, everybody! And it is not only to say good morning, but the way of speaking is very polite in general: to say thank you many times for example. Polish language is more formal than English or Finnish, they are using Mr and Mrs while talking. I know that also in Finland people are greeting each other, but there is a huge difference for example how people greet the shop staff or their neighbors.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128745475@N07/18968422444/

If all the seats in tram are taken and an older person comes to the tram, he will have a seat for sure as the younger ones are giving their seats. Seats are not only given for older persons but also for adults with small kids, pregnant women, to people who have some kind of injury and so on..... I know this happens in Finland too, but here it is more visible as it happens almost during every tram ride (specially during traffic hours).

In Poland if somebody sneezes, everybody is saying "bless you". Teacher is saying it to the students during classes, of course your friends are using it and I have even heard it in public place where somebody is just yelling it, it seems to be somehow automatic for everybody. People are also using it in Finland but it is not automatic for almost anybody.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97481684@N08/13397331035/

Men are holding the doors for women and carrying everything (sometimes it is too much: I don't understand why a guy needs to carry small purse for the woman :D). But if we are talking about shopping bags or bigger bags, men are carrying those. For me this carrying is weird as I feel bad if I'm not carrying almost anything and my boyfriend is carrying everything, it could be more equal. But I think that guys want to do it cause all the other guys are doing it so that they wouldn't look like assholes if they wouldn't do it.

-Camilla

What I like in Poland? 1.Pharmacy!

I decided to start a series of posts where I will tell you about the things that I like in Poland. Maybe later I will do the same about things that I don't like ;) I wanted to start with Pharmacy as I have quite resent experience.

In Poland some of the Pharmacy's are open 24/7 and you can buy basic medicine also from shops and kiosks. If you will get a headache in the middle of the night and you don't have any painkillers, it is not a problem. In Finland Pharmacy's are not generally open 24/7 and you can not buy any medicine from normal shops. While living in Finland I needed to carry medicine that I thought I would need and buy everything beforehand. That was ok, as I didn't know any other possibility. But now I need to admit that the Polish policy is good for me and I got used to it.

After the last winter semester we went for a small holiday to the Czech Republic (or Czechia :D) and I got a headache around 8pm in the evening. I forgot to take painkillers with us from Poland but we were thinking that is not a problem as painkillers are available everywhere. It was a problem! Painkillers were not sold in any regular shops and all the Pharmacy's were closed. We were trying to find something for over an hour and asking people if they know any place where we could buy painkillers. Eventually I was asking from some other tourists if they would have any painkillers and if I could buy one from them. These lovely French girls helped me out and the evening was saved! This experience got me really to appreciate the Polish way! But now on I will for sure remember to take painkillers with me everywhere!

Pictures from Prague :)

-Camilla

International and European law!

Finally it is time to tell more about my studies. This is my second year in the University of Wroclaw studying international and European law. After the third year I will be Bachelor of Laws and I will continue my studies in the field. International and European law may seem to be something not understandable if you don't know what does it mean, so maybe it is better to open what does it mean and what do we actually study. We study public and private international law, for example right now we are having classes about dispute settlement. From European Union law we are right now having classes about judicial protection. Our classes are not only concentrated to international law, but also to national laws by comparing them. (I should be preparing for my part of criminal law presentation that is comparative work while I'm writing this... :D) Generally when we are talking about specific national law it is easier for the professors to talk about Poland as an example from continental law countries.

What I was expecting from my studies?
I was expecting that I would get everything that I will need for international legal career. I didn't want  to study any specific national law as I don't know from where I fill find myself after 10 years or so. I was expecting that we should learn some legal acts by heart but luckily we don't need to remember a specific number of a certain article. We need to remember the content in general and we need to know how to interpret it. In general my expectations about the studies are met and I feel that it gives me a great future.

What do I think about my study group?
Before I met my group I was hoping that there would be a lot foreign students that I wouldn't be the only one speaking only English. In the end, I'm the only foreign student from European Union. Rest of the foreign students come for example from India or Azerbaijan. I feel more connected with the Polish students and after the beginning I haven't felt outside as they are always speaking English with me. I also learn more and more Polish so it is not a problem if somebody is sometimes speaking Polish.
Our group is very small. Together we have about 30 students but there might be some classes that only 5 students show up. We are not having our classes in these huge lecture halls but in smaller class rooms and sometimes even in the professors office if there is only few people coming. In the beginning I was hoping that our group would be bigger but now I love it that we are able to have closer relations with the professors when there is only few of us (compared to 100 students in a lecture hall). It is easy to ask questions and present opinions.

What is the level of English?
Many people have asked me how well the professors are speaking English. In general I'm satisfied but some of the professors can not speak English in the level that I was hoping. In our faculty it is not such a big problem but for example in my language classes I was disappointed when my class is supposed to be in English but then the English is only rarely used. Also in the physical education the teachers were not speaking English at all. The majority of other stuff in the University other than professors are not speaking English, that is why we have for example in the student office a couple of named persons to take care of our things. Still I feel better if my Polish friends will company me to the student office as I never know when the English speaking once are there.

What has been weird in the University?
There are some things that have been weird for me in the University probably because I have never before studied in the University and because the Polish education system is new to me. What surprised me is, that we needed to have obligatory physical education. I have never heard in Finland that something like this would be obligatory in the University level. Other thing is that our classes have been very late during this semester. For example on Mondays I start at 1pm and finish at 8:30pm. Our studies shouldn't be evening studies but still our schedule seems so.

The weather is so great now that I didn't want to spend the day inside doing my school stuff. Solution, I brought everything to our balcony and now I'm here! :D

-Camilla