Dzień dobry! Manon here, I am the new volunteer in Centrum Kultury Dworek Białoprądnicki! I arrived one month and a half ago, on the 23rd of February. It is my first time in Poland and I wanted to tell you about my first month in Kraków.
It’s funny because I joined IntegrART to share my creativity with people and use art as an integration tool, but to do so I first needed to integrate myself in this new life! New workplace, new flat mates, new city, new country, new language… It can feel overwhelming, and it is, but what I learned from my previous experiences living abroad is that I need to prioritize what I have to do and take things step by step, so I thought I could share my “what-to-do-when-you-arrive-in-a-new-country list”:
I don’t understand the signs in the street or what people say to me? That’s normal, it is impossible to learn a whole new language in a day, a week, a month… But what I can do is familiarize myself with the basic polite words, at least it shows that I’m willing to try!
I don’t know the city at all? This one is easy: I just go for walks whenever I can without using any maps. Just by wandering around you start to recognize streets, famous buildings, supermarkets… And little by little you start mapping the area and linking together all your favorite places!
I really feel overwhelmed by all these new things… Again, that’s totally normal and especially at the beginning. In this case I just do my favorite comfort activities: draw in a nice coffeeshop, read in a park, go on a walk, or cook a comforting meal. These make me feel more grounded and help me process what I am going through.
And here are a few excerpts from my sketchbook!
A tree and its house on my way to Dworek 
Kościół Świętej Trójcy – Church of the Holy Trinity in the Old Town
Details inside the Holy Trinity Church
Dworek!
Coffee break at Massolit Books & Café
Also, I am starting to turn my drawings into actual useful objects for my workshops and for the project, so it’s really fun and rewarding! Here are a few examples below, with a little “French passport” I made for the French conversation club, visitors cards for our IntegrART Instagram and Facebook accounts, and little wooden figurines I painted to give to the participants of the International board games event!
So yes, as you can see I explored a bit of Kraków and found cute places to draw in. I also went on a little hike in the Wolski forest, followed walking tours of Kraków to learn more about the city and discovered a lot of cool places thanks to Johanna (former volunteer from Integrart8!). And finally the other volunteers and all the people involved in the project helped me feel welcome and an integral part of the project!
