Stefanie Dziadkiewicz is currently in her penultimate year of a Business/Law degree at Victoria University. Stefanie did AIM Overseas’ International Law and Human Rights course in the Czech Republic in January this year. Stefanie took some time out between exams to speak to us about her time living and studying in Eastern Europe:
Hi Stefanie! Tell us why you chose this program.
I chose this program as it appealed to me to knock out a subject overseas and I thought that three weeks in Europe was just perfect – and then I spent a month afterwards travelling around Europe, which was awesome!
What was a typical day like for you during the program?
We got up at about 7.30-8 most days. We had classes from Monday to Thursday from 9 until 12.15, with a short break in-between. I was fortunate enough to share my room with a lovely girl from the University of Canberra and we’ve become really good friends since. We started walking around the local neighbourhood a couple of times a week to burn those eastern European calories! We were fortunate enough to have a little supermarket across the road so we would go and buy some fresh pastries before class.
After class, everyone met in the cafeteria – we all got along really, really well – and we’d discuss the afternoon activities together. Then we’d do some shopping, we’d go to the ballet, go ice-skating… Brno’s a great town with lots to explore and so much to do!
Every Tuesday, Masaryk University planned some activities for us: for example we visited the Ombudsman’s office and the Constitutional Court. The university also planned some traditional Czech dinners for us a couple of times a week, which was really cool.
Thursday nights always consisted of packing because every Friday, Saturday and Sunday we had our weekends away, which were just amazing! [As part of the program, the host university organises weekend trips away for AIM Overseas students] On our first weekend, we went to Prague; the second weekend we went to Budapest; then the third weekend we went to Vienna to visit the United Nations, which was a definitely highlight for me.
Why was it a highlight for you?
I love the United Nations and just love the organization as a whole. We did a tour and we had some lectures on human trafficking and it was just amazing to see the organization from an internal perspective. I’ve been to the United Nations in New York before so I wanted to see even more, I guess!
How was doing this program different to learning about the same things in a classroom in Australia?
It was totally different! We had three fantastic lecturers who were so knowledgeable and very, very experienced in all of their fields. I found the content really interesting. We had lectures as we do back home in Australia but I just found the content to be so much more interesting and coming from a more worldly perspective with respect to topics such as genocide and human rights, instead of presenting only an Australian perspective. It wasn’t all just textbooks and lecture notes – we engaged in really interesting discussions and I found it to be a very open environment.
What was it like living in the Czech Republic?
We lived in Brno for the 3 weeks and I absolutely loved it! It felt like home to us; whenever we came back from our weekends away it was like returning to our comfort zone.
We lived on campus – literally about 3 to 4 minutes walk from where the Law faculty was. I was really impressed with the student residence and where we were living – it was a 12 or 13 storey building with all these Masaryk University students. There was a pizza place downstairs as well where we’d all congregate. I had always wanted to live on campus so it was my dream come true I guess!
Do you have any funny anecdotes from your trip?
I wasn’t actually there but I heard about this happening to one of the girls in the group: she was on a tram in Brno and she was commenting on how cute another passenger’s dog was; she was saying that she wanted to buy the dog and asked another student jokingly about how to say in Czech, "How much is your puppy?" The owner of the puppy then turned around and said in English, "She's not for sale." Everyone had a joke about how it should be assumed that lots of people speak English in the Czech Republic.
Do you have any travel advice or tips about living in Brno for future students?
I would tell students to seize everyone opportunity! As soon as class is over, maximise your day. Study, of course, but really maximise your time in Eastern Europe. It’s just such a fantastic opportunity and I would highly recommend it to any Australia university student.
Do the study prior to classes and look through the lecture notes – that will really help you in the class discussions.
Pack light because everything’s cheap and shopping is amazing over there!
You will develop a love of beer! I didn’t like beer prior to this trip but, I mean, it’s 80 cents for a really big pot of beer so you will definitely come to like beer, so get your palate acquired to beer!
What would you say to someone who’s thinking of doing this program?
Definitely, definitely do it! It’s such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to combine travelling with undertaking such an interesting course in a European city, especially in winter and being surrounded by beautiful mountains and snow… it was just amazing! You get to immerse yourself in Czech culture and Eastern European culture, meet great people and learn some really interesting concepts. You get to learn some new languages. You get a grant from the Australian Government* and possibly from your university and you get to knock a subject out so it’s definitely a win-win situation all-round!
During a weekend trip to Prague
Masaryk University, Stefanie's home for 3 weeks this January
The view from Stefanie's room in Brno, Czech Republic
*Some students might be eligible for a $5611 OS-HELP loan from the Australian Government. Email info@aimoverseas.com.au or go to the OS-HELP website for more information.
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