There is still so much more

I’ve always been interested in other cultures and languages growing up with a Ukrainian Grandparent and I continued I studied French and German at school and I’m studying French at University now. Studying both French and German I’ve visited both France and Germany and plan to go to Vienna in the new year. 

I’ve had the opportunity to visit a wide variety of countries. I organised a trip to Redon, France to see my French exchange independently and I was able to visit many parts of Normandy. Through this visit I was able to develop my French skills with both speaking but also culturally cooking traditional French dishes with my French exchange’s family. 

With friends in my German A-level class we independently organised a trip to Berlin, Germany to practise our German. During the trip I learned more about German culture and history through visiting museums such as the Alte Nationalgalerie, visiting the Berlin Wall and talking to Germans where we were staying.  

With family I have also been to places such as Aviemore, Scotland and Lucca, Italy.

This was my first time being in Warsaw and Poland in general and I loved every minute! The transport was really easy to use and reliable which is very different from the UK! I got to try lots of new foods as well although with my Ukrainian héritage a lot of foods were very similar so whilst I was always trying new things it still felt familiar and comforting. It was really lovely to be able to meet loads of new people and talk to them about their own experiences growing up in Poland and their views and opinions of the UK too. I would definitely love to come back to Poland and maybe visit somewhere else too like Krakow or Gdańsk.

Being from England I think the importance of languages and communication isn’t emphasised enough however through the trips I’ve been on so far I hope to learn more and be able to communicate more with different people from all over the world and build connections despite languages barriers. Even though I really haven’t seen much of the world yet I hope to travel more and keep progressing in life through these connections.