Multinational meeting with Polish culture of Christmas time at KUT

On December 9, 2021, a Seasonal meeting for multinational group of foreign students of Kielce University of Technology. It was an integration meeting and it aimed at making the international regular students and Erasmus+ exchange students familiar with Polish culture, customs and traditions of the holiday Christmas period.

The meeting was organized by the employees of the Department of Staff Development and International Cooperation and was attended by the authorities of the University, the Rector Prof. Zbigniew Koruba and the Vice Rectors, Prof. Izabela Krzysztofik, Prof. Artur Maciag, Prof. Marek Iwański, Prof. Włodzimierz Makieła. Among others there were the representatives of the partner University of Kuala Lumpur, faculty Erasmus+ coordinators, a music group representing the VI Comprehensive Secondary School in Kielce. Our regular international students from Algieria, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Congo, Morocco, Rwanda, Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Tunesia as well as the Erasmus+ exchange students from partner universities of Italy, Spain and Turkey participated in the meeting in a big number.

The main assumption of the event was to familiarize students with aspects of Polish culture in an easy and attractive way, which was achieved through a short presentation on Polish Christmas traditions and customs presented by the Head of the Department of Staff Development and International Cooperation, Ms Anna Kasztelewicz. The students from Italy and Spain also shared their knowledge of their countries Christmas traditions. Everyone was very impressed by the vocal performance of the talented students from the secondary school, who made everybody feel the Christmas atmosphere by presenting beautiful singing programme.

The main attraction and a surprise at the same time was the visit of Santa Clause, who customary gave gifts to everyone. Finally the students had a chance to try Polish traditional Christmas Eve dishes. Everyone seemed to have great time, as they were saying it was fantastic meeting that let them understand Poland and Polish people much better. Thanking for the invitation, the students emphasized that they liked the form of the meeting very much, and at the same time they gained knowledge that would help them understand the reality around them even better in a completely new place for them.

We do hope that thanks to such meetings our international students will feel much more integrated with academic community of Kielce University of Technology.