I’m Elif Karakuş, an Erasmus intern from Turkey. Before coming to Karvina, I was not sure how my time here would be and had lots of questions. After arrival, I was greeted by our buddy, and from that time on, I never felt alone in the process. Whether it was to adapt to the environment or the internship, I was always supported by my buddy, our Erasmus coordinator, and our friends.

When comes to Karvina, is a small town in Czechia, with lots of advantages. Logistically, it is located very close to the Polish border, and there are lots of transportation opportunities such as trains and buses to travel within the city, as well as going to other cities around Karvina. The social environment is very rich with lots of students from different cultures. I had the chance to make good friends, with whom I attended social events, and traveled around Europe. 

The internship has been really nice where I was given a variety of tasks to complete, which were chosen according to my skills. Our Erasmus coordinator, miss Matkova has been very kind and helpful from the application process to the internship process. 

So overall, I’m happy that I chose Karvina as my Erasmus destination. My experience here has been a nice one where I was able to grow as a person, and feel that I had the chance to develop many skills from social skills to language skills.

I am Burak Bayram, an Erasmus+ Intern from Turkey. I am here in Karvina for an Industrial Engineering internship. At the beginning of my experience, I was absolutely excited about my Erasmus+ mobility but besides that, also thought about Karvina as being a small town and its limited activities. Whereas I really enjoy my life in Karvina based on the student activities, possibilities, support, and help from the coordinator and the buddies. Also, there are always arranging some trips carried out by Erasmus buddies which are really good events for socializing and having fun with international students. When it comes to the effective location of Karvina in Czechia, it provides a convenience of having some quick trips to Poland because it is on the border between Czechia and Poland.

Besides all of these social events and possibilities, my internship experience is really valuable for me because it provides me a lot of competencies to practice in. To give some examples of my duties in the internship, they are generally aimed to develop an international agenda in collaboration with the International Relations Office. It entails working with international students and learning about student exchange programs in general. It is an opportunity to test social skills, as well as communication. Within the framework of programs like Erasmus+, support students and faculty mobility. Also, the internships include the organizing of events and trips for students. So overall, it is an internship with multidisciplinary tasks involved.

The traineeship is also expected to give chance to work on communication and teamwork abilities and learn how universities operate internationally. Also, involves learning about management skills, as well as organizational skills, and how to apply the theoretical skills that were learned, into practice.

Overall, I rather enjoy my experience here in Karvina both in the way of social life with my international and local friends, and in the way of career life.

My experience started when the university informed me that I could contact my buddy for any question I have; his help was very helpful. I kept asking him various things, I had so many questions and he helped me in the best possible way. When I arrived the first day he came and picked me up from the train station helped me contact to find my room. This move was so hospitable and so sweet. The next morning it happened to be women's day and he brought flowers. All this acceptance made me very happy. So that's my life in Karvina. In the same week, we made two very beautiful excursions, got to know each other better, and had an amazing time. 

After that, the lessons started. The university has a very good infrastructure and our professors welcomed us in the best way. There are many places in the Czech Republic that you can visit, my favorite one is of course Prague. A beautiful city, with culture and beauty. Everyday life is very beautiful because all the international friends and the local students are very friendly and we have made very nice company. I am satisfied with my whole life here!

I am Rubén, an Erasmus student from A Coruña, Spain. I am studying Business Administration at the School of Business Administration in Karviná for the summer semester. In the residence, there is a very good atmosphere. There is a block of international students and a block of Czech students. Thanks to the Czech volunteer students, the adaptation to the residence and to the university has been very simple.Thanks also to the geographical location, Karvina gives you the opportunity to travel to different places by train, in my case I have already visited Prague, Brno, Katowice, Krakow, and Oslo. So far the experience has been incredible, with the opportunity to get to know different cultures and practice English.

My experience in the Czech Republic is about discovering wonderful historical places, about beautiful intercultural evenings and the most important thing is about the people which I met here. Amazingly, we are so different and at the same time interesting to study and spend quality time together.

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to study in the Czech Republic in my last master's semester. I've been feeling at home here for over a month now. It is a quiet and pleasant atmosphere to study and spend some free time here. I have special respect and appreciation for the professors at Silesian University- School of Business Administration in Karvina. They are so open-minded and friendly with Erasmus students. I like the fact that the classes are interactive, and every opinion of the student is heard and understood by the teachers. I think that it matters a lot.

I don't want to think how will be the end of my experience in the Czech Republic, I am just trying to enjoy every moment I live here.