"Tired of Poland — I'm going to Germany." A Belarusian lives in one country but goes to classes in another every day

For the seventh month, the Belarusian woman has been studying and living between Poland and Germany. More precisely, she lives in Poland and studies at a university in Germany. The student told "Zerkalo" how this is possible.

Journalists spoke with Yauheniya at the end of September, during her last weeks of summer holidays: her academic year at the German university starts on October 12.

"I studied here for an exchange semester in spring and summer," she briefly explains. "I applied again, and they gave me the opportunity to stay for another half year."

Zhenya is 21 years old and from Brest. For several years, the Belarusian woman has lived in Poland, where she enrolled in a university in the south of the country. In her first month of classes, she heard about the Erasmus program and decided she was interested in it.

"I want to study in an international context and polish my English, so I applied on my Polish university's website to participate in Erasmus."

She did this in the autumn of 2025, when she was in her second year. For the application form, she chose three institutions from the list of European educational institutions that her faculty cooperates with. The institutions had to be ranked by priority, starting with the one she most wanted to attend. She added a certificate confirming her English level B2 and waited.

For two weeks, she "googled" — reading about each university. She studied their programs, information about lecturers, and even prices in local stores. She needed to understand if she could financially afford life in another country.

"It was then that the idea came to approach the choice not only academically but also practically. I am in Poland under international protection and want to get citizenship faster. For this, I need to stay in the country for at least seven years," she explains. "I started thinking about how to not lose months of stay due to studying abroad. That's how the option of finding a university in a border city came up."

The list included two universities that she liked and that fit the idea. Both were in Germany: one in Frankfurt (Oder), the other in Görlitz. The first interested her more.

"In Görlitz, from what I read, it's quite depressing. It's in Saxony, I thought it was such a 'forgotten' region. And the city itself is smaller than Frankfurt, and it takes longer to get to Berlin from there," the interlocutor explains why she put this place in second position. "Third, I wrote down a university in Spain. I decided: if they don't take me into either of the other two, I'll go there. At least I'll relax (laughs). It's an experience either way. Many Poles go on exchange to Spain or Italy because they want to relax."

"At the university, many people are surprised when they find out I commute from Słubice: 'What are you doing there?'"

Yauheniya received the "You are accepted" letter about a month later. She was invited for a semester to the European University Viadrina, located in Frankfurt (Oder). Classes began in April.

Павялічыць

"On my home university's website, a curator was assigned to me, who, like in kindergarten, explained that I could live in Poland or Germany. This had to be indicated in the application," the interlocutor recounts. "I chose the first. Next, I had to specify: do I want to move into a dormitory or rent an apartment?"

In spring, Yauheniya moved from southern Poland to the east — to the city of Słubice. It's about one and a half kilometers from Frankfurt (Oder). Here, she was allocated a room in a student dormitory. It houses students from Collegium Polonicum — a joint educational center of European University Viadrina and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Павялічыць

"Most students from Poland stay on the German side. And those who come to intern on Erasmus at European University Viadrina from other countries get German visas and must live in Germany. So we have enough places," the Belarusian woman explains. "At the university, many people are surprised when they find out I commute from Słubice: 'What are you doing there?' I have to explain."

At the same time, it's faster for the girl to get to classes from Poland than for those living in dorms in Germany. Only a 20-minute walk. And the cost of her apartment is "objectively cheaper."

"My scholarship is 940 euros (3.2 thousand rubles). I pay 840 zlotys (658 rubles) for the dorm, and on the German side, as far as I know, the price starts from 250 euros (858 rubles). And in private accommodation, it's 450 (1.5 thousand rubles)," she shares her observations. "Yes, they have better renovations, and ours is 'hello, 2000s', but still, it seems disproportionate to me."

Павялічыць

The block where the Belarusian woman lives is like an apartment. Here, everyone has their own room with a shower and toilet, but the kitchen is shared.

"As far as I understand, the apartment is designed for six people, but there are only three of us here," the interlocutor elaborates. "In the German dorm I visited, four people lived in a block, but they had a shared bathroom and such a small kitchen. You simply couldn't turn around. A two-burner stove and some mini-bar, not a refrigerator! And we have three large ones."

"A German policeman thought I was a schoolgirl, asked for documents"

In Germany, Yauheniya is interning in the same specialty as in Poland. Classes are held in English, and the girl creates her own schedule: she chooses lectures based on her home university's curriculum. All of this is not random, but so that later, when she graduates and receives her diploma, the courses and their number will be credited.

Павялічыць

"Most often, I schedule my classes from 9:00 AM (earlier is possible, but I'm not functional at that time) to 4:00 PM," she describes her schedule. "On a typical day, I have three lectures — two before 12:00 PM, one after. From 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM, there's a lunch break at the university, and no classes at all for anyone. Everyone gathers in the canteen and has a good time. Food, by the way, is very cheap — for three euros (ten rubles) you can eat well. This is less than it was at my Polish university, where lunch cost about 30 zlotys (23 rubles). Students didn't eat there, only professors (laughs)."

After lectures, the Belarusian student's course plan is very student-like. Sometimes, the girl attends additional German language courses. Sometimes, she works on academic projects with other students in a co-working space or travels to Berlin with friends. By train, it's about an hour from Frankfurt (Oder) to the German capital.

"I try to get home around six or seven in the evening to cook a proper meal and study. We usually have a lot of reading assigned. About 60 pages per lecture, and three such courses a week. This takes a lot of time," the interlocutor shares her schedule. "Plus, I try to organize everything so that I maintain a normal sleep schedule."

Павялічыць

Yauheniya usually travels to and from Germany on foot, less often by bus. In the morning, she says, many residents of Słubice rush to the other side of the border for work, so it's easy to get stuck in a "traffic jam" on the bridge and be late for classes.

"And I wouldn't want that," the Belarusian woman smiles. "Besides, border guards often check passengers on the bus."

Павялічыць

Yauheniya spends most of the day on the German side. And in Poland, she jokes, she only sleeps. And although sitting in a cafe in Słubice is cheaper than in Frankfurt (Oder), she and her friends go to establishments in Germany.

"Słubice, it's like Maladziečna. To be honest, there's not much to do here specifically," the Belarusian woman muses. "Generally, when you find yourself on the German side, you immediately notice it. There are fewer gray buildings and ugly advertisements. The community in Poland is more homogeneous; in Germany, you constantly encounter refugees, migrants, and you also feel freer even in simple things. If you look different or wear unusual clothes, people won't stare too much. Here, people are accustomed to diversity and more relaxed. And I'm not even talking about Berlin. That's a whole different world."

Nevertheless, the Belarusian woman always immediately exchanges part of her scholarship for zlotys, because she mostly buys groceries on the Polish side. It's cheaper that way.

"In Germany, I only buy certain local things: I like their sausages more, and pastries," Yauheniya lists. "It's more advantageous to buy cosmetics here — you can find good deals (especially in Berlin), and electronics — there are discounts for students. Germans, by the way, often go to our city for cigarettes. They're cheaper here, and there are even special stores. In Słubice, you can pay with euros in many stores. They'll give you change in zlotys. But they convert them at such a rate!"

Another point that surprises the girl no less than the exchange rate in local shops is the language issue. In half a year, Zhenya met only one person who spoke a "mix." This was a guy of Polish origin who had lived in Germany since birth.

"I thought everyone here spoke two languages. But no," she shares her observations. "In general, from constantly switching between languages, my head sometimes experiences a collapse, because sometimes in a day I speak Polish, English, German (I'm still A2), Belarusian, and Russian. Sometimes I walk into a store in Frankfurt: 'Dzień dobry!' The cashier looks at me, and I'm like: 'Damn, Entschuldigung' (Excuse me). Locals react normally to this, they might laugh or show interest. The latter you usually catch from guys who make kebabs in Germany. They like Polish. They are even bigger polyglots than all of us combined. At a basic level, they might speak ten languages."

Unlike them, Zhenya is no longer surprised by the difference between the two countries. The Belarusian has gotten used to it.

She has another half year of living between countries ahead of her. After that, the girl will return to her home university in southern Poland. She says she cannot extend the program for a third semester.

"But I really like this experience: I get tired of Poland — I go to Germany, or vice versa. It expands my freedom of action," she muses. "Although I talked more with Germans, they are closer to me in mentality. I feel lighter in their multicultural community. And in general, I now have a very diverse circle of communication, with people from all continents."

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