The 5th year student majoring in Philology (035) of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Yana Kharchenko successfully completed her studies during the spring semester of the academic year 2023/2024 under the Erasmus+ Credit Mobility Programme at Vilnius University of Applied Sciences.
Master student of Poltava Polytechnic told us more about her stay in Lithuania:
“As I was studying at the Faculty of Education in Lithuania, in April I did an internship at the Ukrainian school Gravitas Schola, built in 2022 specifically for children who were forced to move to Vilnius due to the full-scale invasion. It was my first experience of working with students in a school, so I was a little nervous before starting my internship. However, as soon as I crossed the threshold of the school, I realised that there was no reason for this, because the teachers and staff always supported me and helped me with advice. It is interesting that both Ukrainian and Lithuanian teachers work at this school. And in primary school, there are 2 head teachers (from Ukraine and Lithuania). Also, lessons in primary school are bilingual, which allows students to learn Ukrainian and Lithuanian from an early age. This was the first time I tried to teach lessons to students, working mainly with the first grade. All the students tried very hard and were actively working during the lessons.
Vilnius is especially beautiful in spring, as it is warmer, greener and you can see more people on the streets. At the end of April, I had the opportunity to admire the cherry blossoms in the city’s famous park. It seemed like the whole of Vilnius had gathered there to take photos and enjoy the atmosphere! In addition, with the onset of warm weather, Vilnius offers a hot air balloon ride over the city. So every evening you can watch the balloons flying over the houses.
On 16 March, Lithuania celebrated St Patrick’s Day. Local residents wore green clothes and themed hats. A concert of music bands was held near the Vilnelė River, and the river itself was painted green with eco-paint.
At the end of May, we visited Riga, the capital of Latvia, together with other students. The city impresses with the beauty of its architecture. It was extremely interesting to see the colourful postcard houses with our own eyes. The “old town” is especially beautiful. As for me, life in Riga is a little more active, Vilnius is more peaceful. The celebration of Latvia’s Independence Day, which is celebrated on 4 May, made an unforgettable impression on me. A solemn parade was held in the city centre, where I saw the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and his wife.
During my stay in Vilnius, I also attended several basketball games of the local BC Wolves team. Basketball is the main sport in Lithuania, so you can see a lot of fans at basketball games.
On 1 June, the capital hosted a festival of Lithuanian pink soup šaltibarščiai (the soup is based on kefir and beetroot). Everyone could go down an inflatable foam slide, buy souvenirs from local producers and taste the traditional soup. I also took part in setting two national records: 1) 1000 people tasted pink soup at the same time; 2) the record for the longest table with pink soup. It was very atmospheric and fun! It was a pleasure to join such an event! There were also many concerts and various photo zones set up to celebrate the holiday.
At the end of the academic semester, the coordinators of our university organised an outdoor picnic for the students. It was a great opportunity to share our impressions of staying in Lithuania and thank the university for the warm welcome.
I also visited Klaipeda, the largest port in Lithuania. As the city is located by the Baltic Sea, you can see a wide variety of ships, vessels and ferries. The style of the buildings combines features of German and Lithuanian architecture. Although Klaipeda is smaller than Vilnius, everyone will find something for themselves here. I also visited the Klaipeda Castle Museum and the Clock Museum.
On 20 June, a concert by Ukrainian rap singer Alyona Alyona took place in Vilnius. The atmosphere was incredible. The performance began with a thank you to Lithuania for its continued support of Ukraine. The singer performed her most famous tracks, including the song Teresa & Maria, with which she and Jerry Heil represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
Alyona Alyona also thanked our defenders for their heroic deeds. An unexpected surprise was the appearance on stage of Monika Liu, the Lithuanian representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, who performed the song Dai Boh together with the Ukrainian singer. After the concert, Alyona Alyona took pictures with everyone and left autographs as a memento.
I also had the opportunity to support the Ukrainian national football team at Euro 2024 by watching the match between Slovakia and Ukraine (1:2) in the fan zone together with other fans. It was exciting to plunge into the football atmosphere and enjoy the match.
I am grateful to Poltava Polytechnic and Vilnius University of Applied Sciences for the invaluable experience! I am grateful to the Coordinator of International Activities of Poltava Polytechnic, Anna Pavelieva, and the Project Manager of the International Relations and Projects Department of Vilnius University of Applied Sciences, Sophio Tabatadze, for their help and support!” – says the student.
Earlier, an architectural master’s student completed her studies at the Estonian University of Natural Sciences, four Polytechnic students completed their studies under the Erasmus+ academic mobility programme at the Romanian university “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad, and a Polytechnic student became a participant in the Polish-Ukrainian youth exchange under the Erasmus+ programme in Motycz Leśny near Lublin, future translators studied practical cases of integrating EU youth goals by joining the Erasmus+ project in Turkey, Polytechnic students in Poland studied youth approaches to developing environmental projects at the regional and national levels, and student translators took part in an Erasmus+ youth exchange in Italy and studied how children’s games can teach teamwork, creativity, self-reflection, and social integration; a philology student, Diana Abbasova took part in the Erasmus+ youth worker mobility project in Turkey; a second-year student of 035 Philology, Alina Alieksieieva took part in the Erasmus+ youth exchange in Spain, dedicated to the impact of social media on young people, a student of Poltava Polytechnic became a participant of the grant programme “Study Tours to Poland”, students of Polytechnic took part in a youth exchange dedicated to discrimination and gender inequality, studied the preservation of natural resources and economic growth of young people through a healthy lifestyle, a student-translator became a participant of a youth project against discrimination, xenophobia and bullying, Polytechnic students took part in the Erasmus+ project dedicated to the development of environmental awareness among Europeans and held a charity auction; philology students learned practical skills in the field of ecology and environmental protection, considered the problem of alcohol addiction and methods of combating it, raised awareness of cultural diversity, and studied the problem of migrants and internally displaced persons.
It should be noted that students of Poltava Polytechnic have the opportunity to study abroad under the grant programmes of credit academic mobility for a semester or a whole academic year at the leading universities of Austria, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, and the Czech Republic.
For more information about the current academic mobility programmes, please contact the International Relations Department (room 320-F, interoffice@nupp.edu.ua) or the Coordinator of International Cooperation of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” – Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation Anna Kostiantynivna Pavelieva (room 310-C, email: kunsite.zi@gmail.com, phone: +3-8-(095)-91-08-192).
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