Our adventure in Eskişehir began with a very long journey to Turkey through Berlin and Istanbul. On Monday, we were greeted by a delicious breakfast and one of our Turkish tutors who took us to a partner school in Seyitgazi.
There, greeted by the school head, we had the opportunity to meet the rest of the great teaching staff and students. They showed us what their learning and working at a medical school looks like on a daily basis. We saw demonstration classes and laboratory equipment. The second part of the day was devoted to interviews. Thanks to the employees of the Turkish Employment Agency, the students learned the rules of applying for a given position and were able to see what the interview looks like thanks to simulated scenes arranged by guests and students.
The second day was equally busy. We met with representatives of local authorities responsible for education and security in the region, we talked about education systems in our countries, checking what unites us. Later in the day, the students came to the fore, who presented their conclusions excellently after surveys determining what roles students take in each school in the Belbin group. This is not all! Damla Mustu from the University of Anadolu conducted workshops on the potential of the human mind, creative solutions and unconventional thinking, in which everyone participated with great enthusiasm. It was an amazing lesson of ingenuity, but also a good way to test your English in practice, because students worked in international teams.The third day was marked by great medicine! We visited a public hospital in Eskişehir. We were shown around its interiors, we were told what public medical care looks like and what successes the doctors from this particular institution can boast of. The hospital, which was built only a year and a half ago, was really impressive.
It was not without culture! After the hospital corridors, it was time to explore the historic old town. An amazing experience for us was also meeting with well-known Turks and Turks at the Wax Museum. Thanks to the stories of our friends from Turkey, we were able to learn more about the history of this country and look at the people who shaped it. That day couldn’t have had a better ending than at the local Locanta restaurant, where we tried a real kebab and listened to traditional live music.
Acibadem is a private hospital, whose nooks we visited on the fourth day. This was the next chapter of our medical adventure, and it was really interesting, because we not only saw corridors and rooms for patients, but we were also allowed into the doctor’s office, waiting rooms and laboratories.
We rested in the wonderful city zoo, admiring the animals on the catwalks, as well as aquatic creatures in the oceanarium. We had the unique opportunity to ride the historic cable car around the park, whose focal point was a fairytale castle.
Our Turkish partners have prepared a big surprise for us at the Medical University. In addition to watching amazing phantoms, helping students learn about the human body and perform the first practical exercises, we had the opportunity to visit the anatomy laboratory, where every day, on huge silver tables, the bodies of people who decided to devote them to science after death were examined. A real treat for fans of horror stories were two skeletons, entirely made of human bones.
The closing of this day was an interesting workshop on partner / mutual learning in a group, which proved to students that it is worth sharing knowledge and cooperating in solving problems and challenges. The last day was a summary of the trip and planning the next one. The students had fun until the fall, dancing and singing, playing football and having a good time talking.
What will we remember from this trip? Certainly snow, because we have not seen this in Poland this year, and Turkey welcomed us with three-day white down. Definitely worth remembering are all the interesting places that we visited. It was a really great lesson of respect, acceptance
and international cooperation, and an inspirational English lesson. We are looking forward to the next trips and wholeheartedly recommend the adventure offered by Erasmus + to everyone!
