When you are about to join an Erasmus+ project, you usually have a few questions in mind: What kind of people will I meet? How will the days pass? Will I really be able to connect with people from different countries?

For me, the answers to these questions came during the 10 days I spent in Malacky, Slovakia. By the end of this journey, I had not only seen a new country. I had shared the same environment with people I had never met before, discovered different cultures up close and collected memories with people I would probably never encounter in my everyday life.

A small city on the map, a big place in memory

Getting to Malacky was not the easiest part of the journey. After a long and tiring trip, the first thing I felt when we arrived was exhaustion. But as the days went by, the city began to take on a different meaning for us.

The streets that felt unfamiliar at first became places where we walked as a group, talked and created memories. There is a real difference between visiting a city as a tourist and living there for a few days. Malacky became that kind of place for me.

More than “Where are you from?”

The first two days of the project were mostly about getting to know one another and connecting as a group. At first, there were the usual questions: “What’s your name?”, “Where are you from?”, “How old are you?” But in Erasmus+ projects, these questions quickly lead to something more.

After a while, you stop talking only about your country and start talking about yourself. You speak about what you like, your daily life, youth work in your country, music, food and sometimes completely unrelated topics.

I think this is exactly where friendships begin. Someone you saw on the first day only as a participant from another country becomes, a few days later, a friend you eat with, join activities with and talk to in the evenings.

Hearing one topic through different countries

The main focus of the project was to think about young people’s mental health and share experiences with one another. During group work at the school, we worked in teams with participants from different countries. When discussing a topic, everyone gave examples from their own country and personal experience.

This was very interesting for me. The same issue can appear in different ways in different countries. But sometimes, surprisingly, we also realize that we experience very similar things.

From school to the park: a change of setting helped

After spending several project days in group activities at school, the activities we held in the park created a different atmosphere. Moving from an indoor space to the open air helped us take part in the activities more comfortably.

While we worked on the tasks given as part of the project, we also had the chance to talk with our friends. Sometimes what stays in mind is not only the activity itself, but the conversations before and after it. For me, the park day was a little like that.

Cultural nights: how many countries can you visit in one evening?

Cultural nights have a special place in Erasmus+ projects. Because on those evenings, you do not only eat. You listen to a country’s music, learn its dances, hear about its traditions and see how people from that country tell their own culture.

The Polish cultural night was especially memorable for me. I learned much more about Poland than I had known before. I discovered their culture, traditions and many details of daily life through the participants’ own stories.

The most enjoyable form of creating together

Towards the end of the project, we also began more creative activities. Making Reels was one of them. Preparing a video together, finding ideas, deciding who would do what and laughing together at the final result was one of the most enjoyable parts of the project.

People who were trying to learn each other’s names on the first day were filming videos together by the last days. That showed how quickly time had passed. The initial shyness had been replaced by more relaxed communication.

Not every experience has to be perfect

Of course, not everything was perfect throughout the project. Some participants were sometimes more distant, which was not easy for me. After all, we had all come from different countries to meet new people and have new experiences.

Still, being in the same environment with different people showed me that this too is part of the experience. Not everyone can be equally social, communicate in the same way or carry the same energy. What matters is being able to create your own space for communication among differences.

What remained after 10 days

When the project came to an end and I looked back, I realized that I had experienced much more than I had imagined at the beginning. I saw a new country, discovered a new city, met people from different nationalities and learned more about Polish culture.

I worked, created, had fun and collected new memories. Perhaps the most beautiful part was that people who were complete strangers at the beginning became part of my daily life within just a few days.

When I went to Malacky, I did not know what was waiting for me there. When I returned, I had new photos on my phone, new memories in my mind and many new people added to my life.