Pictures with my colleages at Magam, Poland

These are some pics of me and my great colleages and friends from the Polish company - Magam, where I had my first AIESEC internship. They were taken during our dinner at "The Mexican" restaurant organized for me and Ariana (the Romanian intern and my colleage, too):

Gosia and Ariana + small cocktails "Margarita" ;)

Ariana and me

Malgosia, Gosia, Ariana, me and Monika

Malgosia, Gosia, Ariana and Monika

Me, Marcin (my boss), Robert and Piotr

It was a great night at all as I realized that my colleages from the Marketing department are true party animals ;)))

Photos: Victor Tomov

The differences between Poland and Bulgaria

This is just my personal comparison between the different realities in Poland and Bulgaria, but especially Łódź and Varna as these are the places I have observed the most:

1. The architecture:
- gates on almost every street inside which the bars, the parkings and the entrance of the buildings are located - this is very useful and positive for the big crowded cities;
- gothic catholic styles with tall decorated buildings and sharp edges;
- all the churches and cathedrals have unique symbols on the top of their towers;

2. The drinking habbits:
- most of the Polish girls drink beer with sweet juice and straw;
- there are Polish beers with fruit flavours;
- the Poles are stronger in drinking than Bulgarians - not an even average drinker gets almost drunk from 400 ml 40 deggrees wodka!

3. Manifestation of the people's marginalisation on public places:
- on the streets of the Polish cities very often drunk people no matter of the gender or age can be seen walking dizzy with a bottle in hand, crawling and trying to establish contacts with the tourists for change or cigarettes;
- Polish drunk people can be found on the streets during the whole day;

4. The green spaces:
- all the artificial lakes in the Polish parks are full of ducks;
- in the Polish cities there are lot of small parks with names and similar structure;

5. The language:
- alot of similar or same words but with completely different meanings which can make very funny or confusing situations;

6. The food:
- the yogurt;
- the products for the traditional dishes;
- the white brined cheese;

7. The climate:
- in the beginning of August when the rain falls the temperatures are around 10 deggrees and the people can wear very warm clothes;
- more cloudy and cold days in Poland than in Bulgaria;

8. The working time of the shops:
- almost all small shops or even bars in Poland are closed on Sunday or late Saturday;
- only the plenty of alcohol stores are open 7 days per week in the Polish cities :)

9. The public transportation:
- it's very good that in the big Polish cities there are schedules of the transport lines (trams, buses, trolleys) and if there is a change the number of the line is marked in red to warn the citizens;
- the roads in Poland, especially the intercity ones are better than in Bulgaria;
- the ticket prices in Poland are higher than in Bulgaria but the quality of the long distance bus trips is lower as there is only one big Polish bus company - PKS, which decreases the competition;

10. The bars:
- self-serving style in almost all the bars in Poland - everyone goes to the barplot to order, pay and bring the drink to the table which safes time regarding the bill but makes the plot crowded with a queu :)
- the small pizza in Poland is 30 cm served with sauces for free :)
- the Karaoke bars are not presented at all in Poland - there are only Karaoke nights in some bars where the microphone is one and the songs are sung in front of the audience;
- the prices of the drinks in the Polish bars are higher than in Bulgaria - especially for beer and cocktails;

11. The religion:
- as Catholics the Poles are far more religious than Bulgarians;
- the main religious holidays are slightly different;
- the cementaries (especially the Jewish ones) are tourist attraction in some of the big cities - there is an entrance fee for visiting them;

These are the main differences between Poland and Bulgaria in my point of view. I must say that the people are very similar as mentality and this helped me alot to adapt quickly in the new environment. And last but not the least - the Polish girls are also very beautiful! :)

Victor Tomov

New friendships with AIESEC interns

Since I'm here in Łódź, I haven't met sooo many people from AIESEC. I'm quite happy that I got to know with interns from Romania - 2 girls + 1 boy, and China - 1 boy and 2 girls. It's a bit funny that I'm probably the first Bulgarian intern especially in LC Łódź so my role is very important - to show the culture and to shake the worldview of the locals demostrating how close are our languages :)

When I arrived in Poland there were in my LC around 3 interns:
- a boy from China who is popular rock singer in the Mainland of the coutry;
- a sweet Chineese girl who adores gofrys (gofretti) and has the strangest English accent I've ever experienced;
- a Romanian girl from Bucuresti;

The next day my colleage in Magam arrived in the train station - the second girl from Romania with the "beer-branded" name Ariana! I went to pick her up and then to accompany her to the flat. I realized how lucky she is, finally then! She should live in the central street in a flat with the other Romanian intern and the VPX! What else can a person need ;)

Few days after, our double-welcome party was done in a quite small, cosy and relaxing atmosphere when I met also some friends with Polish origin with whom we still hang out during our weekends. All the time when we are together partying I realize how much can a Polish person drink, even a high alcoholic stuff. One of my friends said once that he is not a strong drinker regarding the Polish standards, coooz he could fall down "only" from 500 ml of wodka! Wow, bring me the Russians, please! :))) Here everyone says that the Polish people are average drinkers far away from Ukrainians and Russians. Could be, could be! ;) Btw, the tosts are very popular while drinking with friends.

After my release from the hospital having already grown beard I met the second Chineese intern here - a Cantoneese girl. I immediately informed her about my usual look in order not to scary her from the beggining, hehehe :) Later on, we had the chance to travel accross Łódź exploring the different tram and bus lines, mainly to her company and back. I felt so good taking care of her and being somehow "second AIESEC budy".

Regarding the communication breakdowns I had here, for sure the funniest ever are the ones with the other Chineese girl. All the time when we speak she needs I to clarify or repeat what I have said and then say it on her own way to prove she's got it! After "hundreds" of attempts I'm on my way to give up teaching her the Polish pronounciation. It seems quite impossible! :) But, I think she's not a regular example coz the other interns from this part of the world speak good. It depends of the region, probably, but it's still sweet to listen to her :)) I'm lovin' it!

The third Romanian intern I got to know is a boy coming from LC Galati. He's great guy and after 2 weeks stay in Poland he is back to Romania and Bulgaria for 3 weeks for a business trip with his manager! Of course, I prepared for him a long list of foods to try that are traditional for Bulgaria. I hope he will like boza but we'll see later ;)

Finally, on the last party I met one guy that has a lot of friends who formed a football team - amateur one. They will call me for their games every weekend from now on. So, I'll have the chance not to forget what's to be a goal-keeper ;) It's a surprise for me that here most of the boys I got to know are not interested in football or even volleyball. But I'm happy that I met some exceptions ;)))

I hope that I'll meet the other Bulgarian interns in Poland - Titi from my LC who is in Olsztyn, and Mimka - from AIESEC Plovdiv, who is in Krakow. And I won't forget about Mimi - our lovely LC member that will stay for 1 year Erasmus study in Warszawa. Around my trips accross Poland I expect to meet a lot of new interesting people and make some strong friendships as well :)

Victor Tomov