Erasmus+ internship in Prague – an unforgettable experience

Lea Jeriček and Benjamin Podlogar, second-year master's students in Polymer Technology, gained valuable experience at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague in the Department of Polymers from September to December. We invite you to read about their impressions.

We had always wanted to visit Prague and were delighted to be able to combine two things within the Erasmus+ program – gaining invaluable work experience and exploring this wonderful city. We turned to Erasmus coordinator Sara Jeseničnik for advice, and she helped us establish contact with the University of Prague. This was followed by several online meetings with mentors, who gave us a very warm welcome.

From September to December 2024, we did an internship at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, in the Department of Polymers. We were most surprised by the size of the faculty itself – our department was only a small part of it, but it was still larger than our entire faculty in Slovenia. Here, there was more emphasis on the chemical composition of polymers than on technological processing. Lea worked on rubber recycling, which was completely new to us, while Benjamin worked on electrically conductive polymer membranes.

The work itself was quite varied, as we had the opportunity to work with devices we had never encountered before, such as the Mooney viscometer, RPA, and SEM. Despite our initial caution, we quickly got used to the new equipment. In addition, we also used many classic devices that we were already familiar with from our faculty, such as FTIR, DSC, TGA, and tensile tests.

We lived in a student dormitory, which was about 35–45 minutes away from the faculty by public transport. Most of the residents were students from our faculty, including quite a few Erasmus students. The rooms were organized so that two rooms shared a bathroom and refrigerator, and about 20 rooms shared a kitchen. Despite the large number of residents, the kitchen in our part was almost always clean. We shared a room and a bathroom with Erasmus students from Croatia and Poland. The accommodation was organized so that students from similar countries or cultures were housed together in common areas, which made us feel at home.

We visiting students had excellent support – volunteers took care of us and were always available via a WhatsApp group. Whenever we had a question or problem, both Czech and Erasmus students came to our aid. In addition, they organized various events for us, such as parties and active weekends. On the first day, we had an "Ice Breaking Party," where we got to know each other better through icebreaker games. The second week, we had a get-to-know-you weekend, where we were randomly divided into groups and competed against each other. The most interesting were the cultural evenings, where two or three countries presented themselves – they talked about interesting facts, sights, and prepared traditional dishes. One of the most entertaining parts was translating proverbs literally into English and then figuring out their meaning (e.g., "He who digs a pit for others will fall into it himself"). Active weekends were mostly organized in neighboring countries, but we rarely attended them, as we preferred to use the weekends to explore Prague, which offered a wealth of sights.

During this time, we met many students, mostly from Europe, but also some from other continents. Most of the time we didn't miss Slovenia, but on Fridays, when we saw Czech students with suitcases and backpacks returning home for the weekend, we were overcome with homesickness. Nevertheless, we knew that we would be going home in December and would never be able to return to our "Erasmus days."

At the end of December, we returned home to Slovenia from our Erasmus+ mobility program in Prague, where we made many new friends, whom we will be happy to use for both business and tourism opportunities. Only now that we are home have we truly realized that we have friends all over the world—we shared unforgettable moments with them, which we experienced as strangers in a city that was initially unfamiliar to us.

Erasmus+ has further broadened our horizons. We have learned about many new cultures and have already agreed on summer visits around Europe, and next year we are also planning trips to other continents.

The Czech Republic also surprised us. Prague was an extremely tidy city with well-organized and affordable public transport. Traffic jams were not an obstacle—public transport ran smoothly at any time of day, so there was no need to leave early. We were also impressed by the care and respect shown towards animals. People walked their dogs everywhere – on the subway, in shops, even professors at the university had their dogs with them. We thought this was wonderful and wished that Slovenia would also be more open to animals.

Another culture shock we experienced was the prices in restaurants. Beer was surprisingly cheap compared to Slovenian prices, while coffee was very expensive—in restaurants, it was even more expensive than beer. Prices in shops were similar to those in Slovenia, but we were surprised by the poorer quality of meat.

We are very happy that we decided to have this experience, which we warmly recommend to everyone – even those who may not be very confident in their use of English. We found out firsthand that the language barrier is smaller than it seems at first glance, as Erasmus students come from different backgrounds and have different levels of knowledge. It is important to be open to communication and not be afraid to try new things in a new environment."

Lea Jeriček and Benjamin Podlogar, 2nd year of the Master's program in Polymer Technology