Jakub helped host the Polish stand at the 黑料正能量鈥檚 Festival of Cultures, where they shared food, language and traditions with students from across the world
My name is Jakub, and I am a second-year student in the School of Computing, Mathematics and Physics, and I am also an International Student Ambassador.
This year I attended the Festival of Cultures, where staff and students volunteer to host stalls representing their culture, which can include traditional dishes, artefacts and clothing.
This is the first year that the Festival of Cultures has had a Polish stand, so it was a privilege to help host the stand alongside a fellow student and two staff members from our Global Team.
Why I wanted to be involved
I wanted to be involved because the experience of being able to plan, support and co-host our new stand gave me a great opportunity to practice my Polish, speak with my co-hosts and share a part of Polish culture. I was able to reconnect with my language and share a side of my identity with other students, even though I had grown up in the UK.
Planning and preparing the stand
A few months before the Festival of Cultures, I received an email from a colleague in the Global Team to ask me whether I would like to take part in co-hosting a Polish stand. I still remember the day I received this email and the smile that it put on my face!
Over time, our group had a few meetings (all in Polish!), in which we discussed what food and items we would like to include at our stand to best represent Poland, its culture and food; and do so in a fun and welcoming way. We needed to keep in mind that it was our (and the University鈥檚!) first time hosting a Polish stand, so we needed to make a great impression, and I think we did.
The day itself
Meeting with my fellow co-hosts and taking in the amazing smell of our delicious food brought a joyous smile to my face. We came in an hour or so before our exhibition officially opened, and this turned out to be perfect timing for us, as we had finished preparing when visitors started to come in and explore.
Our preparation consisted of laying out many different dishes, including pierogi (Polish dumplings), krokiety (croquettes with mushrooms and cabbage), lots of traditional sausages, oscypki (traditional Polish smoked cheese) as well as og贸rki (pickles). We also had lots of sweet and savoury treats like traditional sweets, chocolate waffles, Delicje (arguably a heartier version of Jaffa Cakes!) and paluszki (pencil-sized breadsticks).
Our stand was incredibly popular, and it brought both me and my co-hosts such pleasure and delight to be able to share our culture and food with fellow students, staff members and members of the public.
It was extremely rewarding to see so many people interested in our culture, and we really enjoyed talking to visitors about Poland, the origins of our food, our geography and places to visit, and even teaching them a few Polish words!
We were worried that we would run out of food at some point, however, we luckily had enough food to last us, and leaving with little-to-no food meant two things for us: people enjoyed our food; and we had less to carry back home!
Exploring other stands and the evening performance
As our stand was well-staffed, we took it in turns to also explore and visit other stands at the Festival of Cultures. The Czechoslovakian Society led a stand about the Czech Republic and Slovakia, they had games such as matching different names of items against pictures, and finding cities on maps of each country.
We also explored food from other countries as well, including the Bangladeshi, Dominican Republic and Kenyan stands. I must admit that some food was a little too spicy for me, but it was still incredibly tasty and is something that I will undoubtedly look forward to at next year鈥檚 Festival of Cultures.
I also attended the Festival of Cultures' evening performances and was speechless as to how much global and incredible talent we have at our University. The dancing, singing, performances, and choreography were incredible.
I felt so privileged to have been able to watch and learn from so many talented fellow students, many of which I probably walk past on my way to University on a daily basis!
Nevertheless, I must say that UoP鈥檚 Festival of Cultures would not have been possible without the help, support, extensive planning and tireless work of many teams around the University, including our Global Team and my fellow International Student Ambassadors.
Taking part in the Festival of Cultures was one of the most enjoyable parts of the year for me. This was a great opportunity to celebrate and share Polish culture, meet students from different backgrounds, and experience the welcoming international community at the 黑料正能量.