In July and August of 2002, I participated in the IAESTE
exchange program. The aim of this program is to give students of technichal
universities a possibility for practical training abroad. The organisation
is present in more than 80 countries all around the world.
I applied for four offers and got the possibility to go to work at the State
University of Grodno in Belarus.
Belarus is rather unknown in Western Europe and it is not easy to find information. It is a fact
that hardly any tourists are visiting it.
I prepared myself by reading books and it took me quite some time to organize all the
documents that were needed for the visa.
For other people interested in Belarus I have listed some useful books and homepages on the link page.
And so it happened that I travelled some weeks later first to Vienna (great, I stayed there for some days together with my girlfried) and then further to Warsaw (where I stayed again for two days). On the 22th of July I boarded the train to Białystok-Kuznica and from there to Grodno. My supervisor and Pavel from IAESTE were waiting for me at the railway station. That was my first day in Belarus. And now I invite you to see some impressions from fascinating Belarus!
Many people helped me with useful information and organising:
Thanks also to all the people who I got to know in Belarus: