WELCOME WEEK 2015 summer term - report

Welcome week is a week full of various events in order to welcome new ERASMUS students here in Košice and to show them our ESN spirit! 

The Welcome Week begun with welcome info meetings at universities (UPJŠ, TUKE) on 16th of February. University Erasmus coordinators welcomed new students and provided them with necessary information about their study here in Slovakia. It was also the first time for Erasmus students to meet ESN Košice members and get information about planned events for the summer term. 

On Tuesday, Erasmus students visited a Steel Arena stadium for ice-hockey match. For many of them it was the first time to see it in real and they were really happy about that. After the match, traditional semestral table football tournament was held in Relax bar. New and old Erasmus students together with ESN members had a chance to meet and get to know each other while playing table footbal and other bar games such as darts and pool.

The next day was dedicated to Slovak welcome dinner in restaurant Pod Baštou. There was a pub quiz about Slovakia before the dinner. The quiz was composed of 21 general knowledge questions, some of them were about Slovakia and also some funny questions. We would like to thank to all the participants and to congratulate the winners. Each team had very good knowledge of Slovakia, its geography and traditions what was surprising for us. The dinner was very delicious. Erasmus students tasted for the first time traditional Slovak meal Bryndzové Halušky and pirohy as well. After the welcome dinner we headed to famous underground club, Collosseum where we had a lot of fun and chats till the late night.

Guided city walk was held on Thursday, 19th of February. Our experienced city guide Veronika Holečková introduced our beautiful city to ERASMUS students from whole different perspective. We heard a lot of interesting facts about history and present of Košice. Veronika knows many surprising stories about the city so students really enjoyed the tour. The evening was a goodbye time for a few Erasmus (Silvia, Alberto, Carlos) from the winter term, so we had a big meeting in the city in order to say goodbye. It was very emotive night. 

Friday afternoon was dedicated to the first SocialErasmus event of this semester- dog walking at animal shelter Útulok Košice. We brought some blankets and cleaning supplies donated by Erasmus students from winter term (Lavinia & Bogdan). Dog shelter in Košice really needs all help we can give, so at first, we went to buy some pasta, rice and sweet biscuits for dogs in the shelter. Then, we walked the dogs and played with them. It was very lovely afternoon spent helping those who need it. 

The cherry on top of Welcome Week was Welcome party at Retro club where we had a private VIP space and welcome drink. Party lasted till the morning!

ESN Košice team worked hard together to prepare for new Erasmus students unforgettable first moments in their new hometown! And we really hope they enjoyed time with us!

Author: ESN Košice local SocialErasmus coordinator, Miroslava Hroncová