ESN UG Gdańsk

This month’s Section in the Spotlight is coming from Poland and is one part of the Tri-City universities Sopot, Gdynia and Gdańsk and it is: ESN UG Gdańsk. The ESN team here had a more or less fresh start as most of the active members graduated last semester or went for their exchange semester. So now the team consists of many motivated Newbies, who take care of the many activities the ESN section offers. They even get help from people, who can do an internship in the section. These interns are either Polish students or exchange students. Recently they also managed to get more recognition by the university authorities and were even given an office. To motivate their members they go on teambuilding and integration weekends and just spend some nice time together, either alone or with their “neighbors” from ESN Gdańsk.

They usually start their semester with a typical Polish evening, to give the exchange students the opportunity to get to know their new home. They eat and drink Polish dishes, enjoy typical Polish Folk dances and can even listen to Polish music. Then they continue the integration with an Open Run, a treasure hunt, in the old town of Gdańsk. Later the exchange students even get the chance to “Get to know Pomerania”, which means they are introduced to the history and they visit Westerplatte (the place where the Second World War begun), the concentration camp in Stutthof and the upside-down house in Szymbark. Each Monday the ESN team meets up with their students, to play games, have teambuilding events, play quizzes and watch movies together, so that the students do not lose the contact or feel alone. Tuesday the already quite famous ERASMUS parties take place and nowadays the even have to find another club, as there are always too many students coming. The students love the themes of the parties, like Polish Party, 70s&80s Party, Hawaii Party or even Wear-an-IKEA-bag-Party. J If you’re sportive, you also have your fair share of activities with ESN UG Gdańsk. As Christmas is approaching soon, they will also have a Christmas evening, where they bake gingerbread, make Christmas tree decorations and even go into the woods to cut their own Christmas tree. Then they have Christmas dinner together and sing carols. To finish their semester, the ESN team organizes a huge farewell party. In the winter semester it is a Carnival Casino Party where everybody dresses up in the '20s style and can play roulette, Black Jack, poker and more and later on, they can spend their play money on gadgets.

ESN UG Gdańsk is also very much involved in the national level of ESN Poland. They organize and take part in the National Events and even have a National Board member. The project they are most involved in is the international Social Erasmus project. They collect toys and other small gifts with and from the exchange students and then go to orphanages and give them to the children. The team also prepares international lessons in schools, to give children the opportunity to get to know exchange students from other countries. Another great activity is the “Field of hopes”, where people plant daffodils (the symbol of new life) together with hospices in autumn and then give away the flowers in spring and collect donations for the hospices. There will be an “ERASMUS flower-bed” in the hospice and the section is helping to plant, to give out the flowers and to help collecting the donations.

At the end of each academic year ESN UG Gdańsk and ESN Gdańsk organize an Oscar Gala farewell party. Everyone has to dress up in gowns and suits, as if they were attending the Oscar gala and then the sections give the “Oscar awards” to their exchange students. The categories are for example: The best Polish speaking Erasmus', 'The best cooking Erasmus', 'The most creative Erasmus' or 'The best couple'. At the gala, they also show a film or a presentation about the whole year they have spend together, which is a nice reminder and a wonderful memory for the exchange students, who have to home.