This past week, I had the chance to attend the On-Arrival Training in Warsaw. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and prepare for the upcoming months in Poland.

On Monday, we all arrived at the hotel and had our first session, where we met each other. In the evening, we were all so exhausted from the journey that we stayed at the hotel and played card games.

Every morning started with a Polish language animation. It was really helpful to learn more Polish words.

On Tuesday, we talked about Solidarity and its presence in each of our projects. Furthermore, we met in smaller groups to talk about our home countries and their problems. In the evening, we went out to explore the Old Town at night.

I think it was very interesting to learn more about different political situations and the positions of each country’s society.

On Wednesday, we started really early. Our task was to learn more about Poland in different fields. I chose the attitude towards LGBTQIA+ people in Poland as my interview topic. We went to the beautiful university library to talk with students about their views. Afterwards, we went to a park and spoke with people of different ages about the attitudes of their generation. That gave us an overall view of the opinions of Polish people. Even though most of them mentioned that Warsaw is a pretty liberal bubble and does not represent the most common opinion in the whole country.

Especially Wednesday was interesting. Talking with Polish people about different topics was a great chance to learn more about the culture and the country itself.

We spent most of Thursday talking about and learning more about the rights and responsibilities of volunteers. It opened my eyes to the impact of ESC projects.

Friday was the last official day. We were so sad to say goodbye after a whole week full of impressions and new experiences.

Article Paula,

European Solidarity Corps volunteer.

On- Arrival Training article from European Solidarity Corps program from 17/10/2025