From March 11th to 13th we have been on meetings with the Resident Affairs and Foreigner Help Desk, Students and Immigrants representatives. Basically we ran through several topics about Lublin’s Universities, careers and what have get their attention in Lublin for a place to study and live. Nice time with all of them!

In the morning, the team headed to some famous places near by the Old Town. We went to the tourism service office to get information about the Underground route but the tour service is available in the afternoon only in this season. We got all the information need in the Tourism Office. We got maps, directions and recommendations. All materials and souvenirs were available in several languages.

We have visited the Cathedral. It is incredible! A beautiful church!

Then we tried a small Jesuit church. It was closed but a gentleman inside saw us at the door and invited us to enter. A father walks us through the church and then I saw a beautiful pipe organ and I asked if the organ is still working. He said, yes it is working. Would you like to try? I said yes, for sure. I would love to try and then I had my first experience in playing a real pipe organ in Lublin. It was amazing!

We also visited the Trinitrarian Tower  near by the Cathedral. Great view of the City. A must view place to go.

Despite a personal interest in finding information about master degrees offerings in Lublin I have planned a visit at University Maria Curie-Skolodowska University as part of the First Impression Project that my team is up to.

At a glance I started looking in the website and I watched a very cool video called “Your Step toward Success”.

As my background is in Information Technology area I have picked up the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science first.  At the Institute’s page I tried to switch from polish to english but it was not available. All the information was in polish which could not be a huge problem if you do have plans to stay here to complete your master degree but could be difficult for short duration offerings that can attract people from other countries.

Therefore, there is a very nice effort in place called the Polish Language and Culture Centre which organizes study programs and courses of the Polish language and culture for foreign visitors and students of Polish origin. Its main function is to establish a bridge between Eastern and Western cultures.

A couple of minutes later I walked from the Business Link Office to the UMCS campus. I have arrived at the campus by 2:00 PM and tried to find the main administration office just looking the plaques.  After 15 minutes walking I found the administrative building but I was not able to find the main office.

 

15 minutes later I have decided to ask for direction. I talked with a person that was studying homeland security.  I said that I was looking for the admin office in order to get information about master degree offerings and how to enroll. He has started the course in November, 2014. He was new at the University and he did not know where to go too and then he talked to a security person whom has informed that we had have to go to the 15^th floor. I have not noticed easy access for blind people. Due to the ongoing maintenance even short distances could be a journey to handicap students.

As the whole building was under maintenance the lift was not working and we walked until the 15^th floor by foot. When we reached the 14^th we saw the passage was blocked. We headed back to the first floor and then I have decided to go to the IT Institute.

Same problem in there. No informative panels or plaques about the administrative offices. Again I asked for assistance and a student walked me though the main entrance in order to find the directions as well to translate the information from a front lady desk.

The IT Institute is located in a brand new building and we took the lift. As I spent too much time in finding the correct place to go I just arrived late. I have reached the offices but all of them were closed. It was almost 03:00 PM. I talked to 5 people and most of them were very nice, polite as well willing to help me. I will try again another day!