We met at the University of Economics Katowice (UE Katowice).
For those who planned ahead and booked an airbnb close to the university it was a short walk. However for Beau, who didn’t possess as much foresight, it was a hefty walk. Nonetheless, we usually arrived on time.
It started off with an introduction to our Polish teammates for the project. Each team consisted of 2 Belgian IT students and 2 Polish finance students. To break the ice, each nationality took turns laughing at how the other party attempted to pronounce their names, and made some small talk.
After the initial introductions we received some short history lessons on Poland, UE Katowice, Belgium, and the collaboration between the universities. The lecturers used the opportunity to introduce themselves and their respective roles.
Finally, the professors informed us on the true nature of the project. We were introduced to Patryk, who is an alumni of UE and now runs a quickly growing logistics company.
He challenged each group with automating a business process present in his company. He presented 4 weak processes that were costing him money, time, and manpower. It was our goal to try and find a solution.
In the evening the university held a cultural food/drink exchange. Before we partook in the Polish delicacies (mostly vodka), the dancing group of the university performed traditional national dances, which included high pitched screams from the women to grab the viewers’ attention.
Unfortunately, due to airport security, we couldn’t bring Belgium’s greatest cultural staple from home: beer. However, we did find some Belgian beers in the Polish chain store ‘zabka’. Our table consisted of chocolate, Cuberdons, waffles, gin, Jules de stroopere cookies…
The polish table was filled with (a lot of) vodka, meat and other traditional Polish foods.
To say the least, we had a blast sharing food and drinks.
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