Comparing Poland and the USA

Now that I've been back in the United States after spending a wonderful eight days in Poland, I've had some time to reflect on my experiences with the history, businesses, students & education and food.

I'll start with the history of our countries. Compared to Poland, the United States is an incredibly young country. It felt like every step we took, there was a monument or dedication to a Polish figurehead or event. That is not something we see often in the US. However, I do believe that both countries have great pride in their histories and are proud to be from their respective countries.

We visited several businesses during our time in Poland including: Radio Krakow, Onet, Tygodnik Powszechny and Krakow Technology Park. Some of the businesses we visited had richer and more involved histories than that of the United States--especially, Radio Krakow and Tygodnik Powszechny. Both of those businesses played integral roles during the communist era. That's not to say that Poland didn't have very modern companies as well. Prime examples include Onet and Krakow Technology Park. Onet only stands behind Google and Facebook as the biggest media company in Poland. Meanwhile, Krakow Technology Park can be compared to the United States' Silicon Valley. So many new technological advancements are being made just in one area of Krakow.

Next up, the students and education! We visited Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland. It was founded in 1364! Meanwhile, Harvard University, the United States' oldest university was founded in measly 1636. This goes along with the history differences. Institutions in Poland have longer histories. However, we got to spend time in the university itself and it felt just as modern as the universities I've been to in the United States. Everything was up to date (except for a minor WiFi glitch) and state of the art. Even the students in Poland are just like us! I figured we would have many similarities in the way we speak and act. I was pleased to see that I was right. When we got to spend time with them one evening, it felt like we were close friends just having a good time and our cultural differences barely played a part.

Overall, there were some differences and several similarities between the United States and Poland. While Poland has a richer history than the United States, our cultures, businesses and ways of life are very similar.