Most information you can find in a TRAINEE BOOKLET. Here you can find some general information which may be useful for you! We recommend also to look for information about Poland in Wikipedia –

COST OF LIVING

The costs of living (and therefore the salary) in Poland depend on the city. The salary paid by the host institution usually covers basic living expenses (although this will be a bit "tight budget"), including lodging, urban transport and food (it's cheaper if you prepare meals by yourself or arrange university canteen).

You should be prepared to cover all non-obligatory, extra expenses such as traveling in and outside Poland, participating in IAESTE events and other entertainment.

Please make sure that you will have enough money (in cash or on your bank account) for the time before your receive your first salary, usually four weeks (maybe a few days more).

Accommodation rent is paid in advance at the beginning of each month.

Major credit cards, i.e. Visa, EuroCard - MasterCard, Maestro, are accepted in cash dispensers (ATMs) but they are not very common in rural areas. Credit cards are accepted in supermarkets, shopping centres and travel offices, but please remember that small shops and groceries usually take ONLY cash.

Average prices:

• Bread (0,5 kg) 1,20 - 2,50 PLN
• Butter 2,00 - 3,50 PLN
• Milk (1 litre) 2,00~2,50 PLN
• Coca-Cola (0,33litre) 2,00 PLN
• Beer in pub (0,5 litre) 4,00~8,00 PLN
• Beer in supermarket (0,5 litre) 2,00 - 3,00 PLN
• Big Mac 5,50 PLN

For up-to-date currency rate go to: http://www.nbp.pl/kursy/ratesa.html

WEATHER

The weather in POLAND is diverse and changeable. Climate depends on continental influence from middle of Eurasia or on maritime influences from the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes there are beautiful and warm holidays, whereas sometimes it can get chilly and damp.

In one season, the first month can be hot and the other - wet. Warm summer days can get stifling, but also scorching with temperatures rising up to 35°C. Unfortunately, it is possible to experience various types of damp weather in the summertime as well. You can observe drizzles changing in to showers or long-lasting downpours.

Frequently, it can be raining cats and dogs and as a result floods may occur in many parts of Poland. Storms and thunderstorms are also features of Polish climate As temperatures can vary from 10°C to 35°C it is really hard to predict what clothes will be needed.

That is why it is advisable to pack rain coat and umbrella, warm sweater and trousers, as well as T-shirts, short skirts or shorts and sandals.

TRAVELLING

We hope that traveling around Poland will bring you a lot of pleasure! Your stay and training wouldn't be complete without visiting the most beautiful and famous places in our country. We are able to provide you with all information about places worth seeing (also ask your Local Committee about the events that are planned), but unfortunately we cannot cover costs of your trips.

By train

The most popular way of traveling around Poland is by train. Unfortunately ISIC Card holders do not have any special discount for tickets, and you have to pay full price.

We strongly recommend asking members of our Local Committee for help with organization of trips - it is far more convenient and much faster.

IC and EC, EN and EX are more expensive than regular trains. There are fees for reservation of the seats and special charges for the sleeping places as well. If you are interested in traveling, we can try to contact you with other IAESTE committees, not only in Poland, but also abroad. It might be really useful especially while reducing the cost of accommodation.

You can find also some information on Polish Railway Website: http://rozklad.pkp.pl/bin/query.exe/en

By bus

If you don't like trains, you can travel around Poland by bus as well. But of course it is less comfortable than train. The ticket prices for bus are lower than for train. For discounts and special offers you should ask at the counter.

There is a National Bus Network (PKS) or a private-owned (Polski Express, www.polskiexpress.pl)

By plane

In Poland there are twelve airports: Warszawa, Kraków, Gdańsk, Katowice, Wrocław, Szczecin, Poznań, Łódź, Zielona Góra, Rzeszów, Bydgoszcz and Szczytno (http://www.polish-airports.com). The largest one is in the capital (Frederick Chopin's airport) and if you are entering Poland by plane, you will probably land in Warsaw. Domestic connections are rather expensive, but you can fly to larger Polish cities quite fast, safely and comfortably.

Polish National Airlines LOT: www.lot.pl

List of cheap airlines flying to/from Poland http://www.whichbudget.com/?lang=en

By car

We suggest not to come to Poland by car.

If you are bent on coming here by car, you need:

• insurance against accidents (full service) – international liability insurance, so-called 'Green Card' is obligatory;
• insurance against theft.

In Poland, the speed limit is 50 km/h in towns and villages and 90 km/h on ordinary roads. Everyone in a car must have their seat belts fastened while driving. It is also obligatory to use loud-speaking system or hands-free set when using mobile phone.

Petrol cost approx.: 4.3 PLN per litre unlead

CURRENCY

The currency used in Poland is Zloty (PLN).

Banks in Poland are open on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.; some banks are open until 4:00 p.m.

Money exchange is possible in many places, e.g. ATMs, banks, hotels, exchange offices ('kantor') or even at some post offices.

1 zloty (PLN) = 100 groszy (gr)

At the moment there are issued:

Coins: 1 gr, 2 gr, 5 gr, 10 gr, 20 gr, 50 gr, 1 zl, 2 zl, 5 zl. Banknotes: 10 zl, 20 zl, 50 zl, 100 zl, 200 zl.

LANGUAGE

The official language of IAESTE Exchange Program in Poland is English. Generally nobody expects that a foreign student would speak Polish. Knowledge of other languages, if it is necessary or useful for trainee is always determined in Form 0.

There will be a person who will be able to communicate and work with you in the language chosen by company and appearing in your training offer. Please keep in mind that in many places in Poland e.g. in shops, buses or cinemas, it is very likely to meet non - English speaking people, so having a dictionary or book with common Polish phrases may be useful.

Polish language belongs to western Slavic language family (as well as Czech, Slovak and some others, southern Slavic languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Byelorussian and Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian and Slovenian). All citizens of Poland speak Polish and for almost 98% it is a mother tongue.

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

During the three summer months: July, August and September there is only one public holiday: August 15 (Catholic Holiday).

The academic year at Polish Universities usually starts on 1st of October and finishes at the end of June. Summer holidays are from the beginning of July until the end of September. Within July - August there are no regular university studies or exams, whereas September is dedicated to those who failed their exams in June.

We suggest finishing your training a few days before October when the dormitory is peaceful and empty. At the very beginning of July entrance exams take place, so one part of the dormitory is occupied by the candidates.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Police, emergency 997

Fire Brigade 998

Ambulance, emergency 999

If you use mobile phone please call 112 in case of emergency!

IAESTE Local Committee will arrange accommodation in a student dormitory. However, if you would like to arrange lodging by yourself - you can but please inform us in advance. Otherwise, if you do not inform us you may be asked to cover cost of lodging for the period that has been reserved for you!

The standard of dormitories differ from city to city. If you would like to find out more, please visit LC's websites or contact them directly (of course only when you get acceptance!).

Regardless of which dormitory you will stay in, there are general rules that you should obey during your stay there:

• students should clean their rooms themselves, 
• all students sharing the room are responsible for common area and common equipment,
• it is essential to leave rooms in the same condition as they were found.
  
  

You can come to Poland by plane, train, car or ferry.

Member of IAESTE Local Committee will pick you up from the airport, train or bus station. Let us know in advance your arrival date and time. Once you arrive, just look for the person with IAESTE logo.

If your arrival time and place happened to change (they are different than those declared to IAESTE Local Committee) and nobody will be waiting for you, use a telephone to reach the IAESTE member (make sure you ask for a mobile number, of summer reception team’ person before you arrive, in one of your e-mails).

Extremely important note!

Before you leave your country you are requested to let us know how, when and where you will arrive in Poland. We need following information:

• 
  exact time and date of your arrival,
• place of arrival (airport, train station, bus station etc),
• flight or train number.
  
  If you do not provide us with this information, we will be unable to pick you up and arrange the accommodation for you.
  
  The best way to inform us is to send an e-mail.
  
  

First of all make sure that you had returned the confirmation of the Acceptance Form (N5b) to your IAESTE National Secretary within two weeks (the sooner, the better). Based on the data included in the form, we have to prepare the accommodation for you.

You have agreed to work at company or institute for a certain period of time. This period may not be changed without the agreement of the employer and IAESTE.

You cannot expect the company to give you a different occupation from the one mentioned in the offer. In some cases, the exact type of work may only be determined after the official responsible has had a talk with you once you have arrived.

In Poland we work 40 hours per week usually from 8:00 or 9:00 A.M. You have to be prepared to receive the salary latest in the end of the month. Therefore you are asked to bring with you amount of money to cover your expenses during first month (estimated cost of living including lodging may be different for each city, so please checked the amount which is declared in your offer – form 0).

Download: Booklet 2007.pdf