By Ikha
Następny przystanek : Kraków Główny
Hello! I am very happy to greet you all from Kraków, Poland’s most entrancing city.
Well, if you were not born Polish or do not understand Polish maybe you are wondering what “Następny przystanek” means. But you would automatically understand when you are travelling in Poland and using public transportation like a bus or tram. Yes! It means “Next Stop”.
Exploring Old Town
Since my flat location is very close to the Kraków’s central station, Kraków Głowny is my next stop after arriving at the Airport. The day after I arrived, I met a friend from Spain and we hung out around Kraków’s old town. I fell head over heels with this entire medieval town, and couldn’t stop admiring the charm and beauty of the Main Market Square, St. Mary’s Basilica Church, and Wawel Castle . I remember, I always made my friend laugh because I said "amazing" almost every minute.
St. Mary’s Basilica adjacent to Main Market Square
Wawel Castle
Every challenge leads to learning
Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions S.A. Poland
I started my internship at Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A. on 3rd July 2017. On the first day, I joined an interesting presentation about the company and had safety induction. Then, I was introduced to the colleagues with whom I am working during this internship. I am quite happy because all co-workers are very kind, friendly, and approachable. Since the beginning of this internship program, my supervisor briefed me about the project they were currently working on and gave me specific tasks related to it. It was quite challenging for me because I hadn't done that kind of engineering tasks before or in my previous job.
In my first month, I've already accomplished several assignments which require engineering analysis skill, thoroughness, and perseverance. I've done case studies and calculations, prepared engineering document lists, and checked process data, drawings, and related documents. I am lucky that I have an eager and excellent supervisor, from whom I can learn a lot. He also excels at delegating tasks, and is very supportive if I get problems with the assigned tasks. Previously I had worked in the field of engineering design, but the project that I handled is basically oil and gas projects. Here I'm gaining tangible experience and skills in the field of petrochemicals. This is really a great stepping-stone for my career.
Exploring the food culture
One of my favorite moments during this internship is lunch break. It might be short sometimes but it's always sweet because I have lunch mates with whom I can relax and sharing our daily life stories or even our cultures. My lunch mates are always excited when they introduced me the hearty traditional Polish cuisines such as Pierogi, Zapiekanka, Zurek, Gołąbki, and Schabowy Kotlet. We also had a fun pot luck together in pantry. I cooked Rendang, it’s kind of Indonesian’s beef curry, and my friend cooked Polish cuisines. Unfortunately, I forgot to capture this moment because we were already hungry. Next time I will take some pictures.
Rendang, Indonesien cuisine
Zapiekanka, Polish street food
Having this internship in a such a global company like Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions S.A, staying in a magical city like Kraków, making new friends and hanging out with lovely people from many countries are really beyond my expectation. The Blind Applying campaign is the perfect bridge to cross over to invaluable experiences and adventures. Therefore, I’d like to encourage everyone to participate. And don’t be discouraged because of the high number of applicants. It’s always worth a try.
I still have many stories, you'll hear about them in the next post. See you again. 😊