Polish-German students exchange in Gdańsk

From 15.10.-20.10.2023, students from SLO took part together with young people from Germany, from the Hansa-Gymnasium Stralsund, in a week-long Polish-German youth exchange entitled ‘Gdansk and Stralsund - a common history. The project participants lived in the House of Reconciliation and Meetings in Gdansk, where activities took place in Polish-German groups. The various workshops were aimed at introducing Polish and German students to the impact of the Solidarity movement on events in Poland, Germany but also Europe as a whole. During one of these, students watched the film ‘Von Solidarność zur Freiheit - From Solidarity to Freedom’. This was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the events that have taken place and are taking place in contemporary Europe. During our stay in Gdansk, we visited the European Solidarity Centre, the Amber Museum, the National Museum, the Herder Centre and climbed the observation tower of St. Mary's Basilica. In Oliwa Cathedral we listened to a beautiful organ concert and admired the beauty of nature in the Oliwa Garden. The meeting of young people from Lębork and Stralsund in Gdansk was also a great opportunity to converse in German and English, make new friends and have a lot of fun bringing together German and Polish students. We started each day of our stay with a language warm-up and integration games, and ended with dancing and fun. In Polish-German groups we visited Gdansk and Sopot, and discovered the most interesting sights of beautiful Gdansk. We also went bowling and did some shopping at the Forum shopping centre. Both Polish and German students exchanged small presents.

Many thanks to the DMK in Gdansk and Father Piotr Pliszka for inviting us to the project. Big thank you also to Father Bartek, Kuba, Patrycja and of course fantastic cooks for delicious food (lecker!). It was a fantastic experience.