Hi everyone!
I am Christel McCombie and I have just finished my 3rd year at the University of Strathclyde studying Marketing and Human Resource Management.
For those like me who are not familiar with Polish, the title of this blog translates as “hello” to us English speakers, and despite the rather deceiving title “Collins Easy Learning Polish” audio CD’s, Polish is a very colourful and complex language that I am currently trying to master as you have probably guessed; Poland is the country where I will be spending my summer in the city of Krakow, working with Tesco in the Personnel department.
It feels like just yesterday I was sitting at the networking event, meeting my fellow interns and eagerly listening to the testimonies of former Saltire interns, and now in 11 days time I will be fortunate enough to be jetting off to this amazing country and living my own Saltire experience.
Thus far my preparation has consisted of researching a few key areas for my Polish adventure, which I believe are essential.
Firstly, as I have previously mentioned, has been the Polish language. This has consisted of much confusion and mispronunciation, and extreme relief at having conquered the phrase, “where is the supermarket?” (One which will undoubtedly be necessary) although the bewildered looks I received from the Polish nationals I practiced my newly acquired lingo on, may be an indication that this may still need some fine tuning!
Secondly I have been familiarising myself with Polish culture, Polish business and social etiquette and customs and researching day trips for the weekends as I want to explore as much of this city as I can during my stay. Fortunately due to this rather unusual and much appreciated spell of beautiful Scottish weather, I have also been able to brace myself for the heat, which I have been told to expect. Of course this has meant sunbathing and breaking in my new summer wardrobe!
Which leads me to one of the most crucial area of research covered to date; the luggage allowance. This discovery has been just as nerve racking as finding out my exam results!
Mostly however I have spent my time talking to others about what I can expect from my internship and the experience I hope I will gain from this amazing opportunity, and of course the Saltire Foundation which has made has made this all possible. Whether it has been for University Newsletters, relatives, friends or even strangers, everyone is interested to hear about a foundation which provides such fantastic internships and there are those who are interested in participating next year. On that note I would like to say thank you so far to those at the foundation who have organised the internships and wish all the other interns all the best for the summer!
Looking forward to reading how you are all getting on. Good luck.
Do zobaczenia
Christel