Czech Republic: Travel guide, visas and free housing · 2026

OOOleksandra Onystiukonystyuko · Jan 10, 2023Read

Every marvelous adventure begins with a spontaneous decision. Once you’d like to try something new, even have a bit of fear or uncertainty, but then your lifestyle will never be the same. Young people are courageous explorers who are open to the world. Then, something that can change and fill the life of many students calls ‘exchange programs’. I’m not an exception, so I’m ready to get new experience in Work and Travel USA program. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Exchange programs are about significant personal changes that have an important influence on the future. Students get an invaluable experience combining new culture, exploring a new city and country, new people and community, and learning new skills and many amazements. Definitely, these expand the worldview, but they can also help in finding yourself and your purpose in life. I’m convinced that youth trips also pump up everyone as a person, so after this experience, the difference with other peers who didn’t participate in it is palpable. So it is about growing up, and I’d say in a speedy, inconvenient at times way. Students are the drivers of change because they have the power to build a better society around them. Therefore exchange programs can be a great tool to recognize what best young people can take from other cultures and implement in their native land. During intercultural interaction in programs, students are able to share their own culture, traditions, and different features with each other, so the result is a combination of something greater. By the way, I hope in America, it is possible to learn and understand their world (I’m sure it will be 100%) and also get to know exciting things from other students from different cultures. Next, exchange programs are one of the most significant types of non-formal education. In schools or universities, we used to have typical studying with books, lectures, teachers, and other standard things, but in youth trips, students have practical lessons. New conditions force you to take care of yourself independently. This is a kind of school of life where students face many challenges – from organizing their budget to finding the necessary place in a new city. Nevertheless, the moment of really growing up also can be great thanks to youth traveling. Everything I described above related to my experience too. In July 2022, I was in Summer School “Waves and Ebbs of Democracy”: Lessons learnt from Central European 'There and Back Again” at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic , and it was a great three weeks. Except that we had an educational plan, I spent a fantastic time exploring a new country and communicating with new people from Georgia, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Serbia, Montenegro, and Armenia. Honestly, it was exciting to interact with them and share my thoughts and feelings about russian invasion of Ukraine. Sometimes I recognized that they didn’t understand the Ukrainian context, so my mission was to describe how it happens. I wanted first to introduce them to our culture and then tell them about our history and brave people. Nothing captivates people like food, so I decided to cook Ukrainian traditional cuisine borshch for the group. And they could give thanks by donating to our army. Two goals were achieved: in this way, we joined the victory of Ukraine, and international students learned more about my culture and Ukraine in general. (Video here) Furthermore, this program consisted of traveling in Central Europe, so we were in Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. The best opportunity to combine hard work and funny nights is to catch the moment as we did during our trips. Besides, I realized how similar we are: international students also can have responsible preparation for the test after a crazy night or submitting a task at the last minute. Because previously thought these related to Ukrainian students only, but fortunately, I

ASAdemi Seiilkhanovaademi.erbazina · Jan 7, 2023Read

The future is in the hands of the youth! This is why it is so important for young people to receive an education, gain experience, and serve their country. There are many programs for youth to study abroad and gain experience in the country, including Bolashak, WAT USA, and academic mobility programs, which I consider the best. Such programs have many benefits for young people: they broaden their knowledge, enhance their experience, allow them to study the culture and language of other nations, learn to apply modern technologies in life, implement them in our country, and also make friends from other countries and become advanced citizens. My name is Ademi, I was born in the city of Aktobe, and I am currently a 3rd-year student at Zhubanov University, a prestigious educational institution in the western region. I have many hobbies for all-around development; I love reading books, watching movies, especially Marvel, watching football, and learning languages is a special pleasure for me. Since childhood, I have dreamed of studying abroad and traveling a lot. But now I am studying in Kazakhstan, so I try to make the most of the opportunities provided for a high-quality and interesting student life. Currently, I am studying in the Republic of Poland for one academic semester on a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This was my first trip abroad, and I am very grateful to Allah, my parents, and the university staff for being here at this time. It was a big step for a 19-year-old dreamy girl. Here, I am not only improving my English but also learning Polish, have found many friends, broadened my horizons, and seen the culture and lifestyle of other nations. I was also a volunteer at the university; in Poland, there are many competitions and sports events for different age categories, from small preschoolers to elderly people over 70. And this also gave me ideas about the development of sports in Kazakhstan. And since we are in the EU zone, traveling to other EU countries did not cause us any problems, and I traveled with friends to countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, and the Czech Republic. During this trip, I had many new ideas, sincere emotions, and, most importantly, the thought: 'I am not going to stop at what I have achieved.' Also, for the first time in my life, I traveled on a liner, sailing across the Baltic Sea to Sweden. In Sweden, I became interested in Scandinavian culture, and this trip brought many ideas that could be implemented after seeing clean, smooth roads. One of them is the production of asphalt from waste; it is known that the country has many problems with roads, and I think that to find a solution, it is necessary to take such latest technologies and innovations from developed states as a model. And the emotions I received from the trip, especially from being at the sea for the first time, gave me special sensations; the first impression on the Baltic Sea, I fell in love with the beauty of the sea on the beach in Barcelona, Spain, and a burning love for the water world appeared. I was also in Barcelona at the Camp Nou stadium, one of my childhood dreams. I will say that over the last 3 months abroad, there have been many useful and interesting moments for me. In a month, I will return to Kazakhstan; many events have happened in my life in Poland, there were many interesting moments in our trip to Europe, and I will always remember this period of my life. And now, if I talk about why I want to participate in the WAT USA program. This program is very useful for students; I believe it is better to have more such programs so that students can not only study but also spend 3 months of vacation having fun and being productive. I have known about the WAT USA program since the 10th grade when my teacher's daughter first visited the USA, and my teacher talked about it interestingly, showed photos of her daughter, and gave me motivation that we would al

EKEkaterina Kudriavtsevakate_rina-93 · Nov 23, 2015Read

On the way to my workplace, I had time to dream and reflect on what awaited me next. Fortunately, I had already met three Russian students who, just like me, were headed to a cozy, quiet town on the Atlantic coast in Virginia – Virginia Beach. I will say right away that before leaving, I heard many not-so-pleasant reviews saying it was a very boring place. Let me debunk that myth! It can only be boring where there is no desire to seek adventure and make fun, interesting acquaintances! Yes, Virginia Beach is not Miami with all its gloss, expensive bars and restaurants, beautiful beaches, and pretentious energy. It is a quiet and cozy town that has its own atmosphere and its own "gloss," as well as, in my opinion, a sufficient number of entertainment options for every taste. And yet, the main thing is not the presence of bars or nightclubs in the city, but your environment! The greatest happiness I experienced while in America comes down to spending time with the people who surrounded me. Dozens of students from different countries who arrived through the Work and Travel USA program, Americans, as well as Russian-speaking guys who have been living in America for a long time, friends of friends, acquaintances of friends of friends, etc. – it's like you end up in a reality show where everyone knows each other, where everything reigns: from love and friendship, joy and fun to tears and partings. Therefore, first and foremost, a trip to the USA through this program is a good "school of life"! Of course, one should not forget that the Work and Travel USA program is, first and foremost, an international cultural exchange program! In addition to interacting with Americans, I met amazing people from countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, Turkey, Kosovo, Romania, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, the Czech Republic, and Belarus. I became convinced that, no matter how banal it may sound, it really does not matter that we spoke different languages. Despite cultural characteristics, the mentality of each country, religion, and so on, we all felt like a single whole. Young, open to everything new, friendly, we shared stories about the traditions of our countries with each other, learned to speak and understand certain phrases in another language. It is pleasant for me to realize that I became part of the cultural exchange process, that I not only learned a lot about other nationalities but also contributed to others' knowledge of Mother Russia.

WWladekmariaalicenicols · Apr 28, 2010Read

Finally, the passport is in my hands... So happy. Now I have 2 visas in my passport: an American one and a Polish national one, which became a full Schengen visa 2 weeks ago. Happy again... The American one gives me strength (a kind of fetishism), you open it and get energized when needed, you open the Schengen one - you get charged up even more... You think to yourself: "Now all of continental Europe is mine, plus the USA, I should go somewhere." You sit there and think: "Where should I go?" Poland - Oh! My home country, but I've traveled it up and down (only haven't been to Krakow), it's kind of boring... Germany - fascists!, and I lived there for 2 years in my distant childhood. Austria - mini-fascists! Czech Republic - Germans! France - not a fan of sparkling wines and unconventional relationships + it's far. Spain - boring and uninteresting + very far. Italy - forget it, I've been there, walked along the coast, the mafia even kills off unwanted dolphins, and I deal with Italians every month (guide them to the right place, feed them, give them drinks, take them around), I'm tired of them. Netherlands - not a fan. Belgium - dirt. Slovakia - children of the mountains (no offense). Serbia - A good country, but there's not much entertainment. Baltic countries - I don't know a word of their language. Switzerland - I don't need to go to a bank or buy watches yet. Where to go???... Yeah, when there's no opportunity to go somewhere, you want to, and when there is, you don't want to... Strange... I go to classes, write various essays, do some work, continue to improve my Polish and English... I want to go to Australia... But there are crocodiles, it's scary, and I don't have much money (actually almost none :) ). And soon is "Day X" - taking early exams, etc. I decided it's time to go to Ukraine, and then to Poland (at least I'll buy some tasty food)... In general, I think I have nothing to do beyond Poland and Serbia. I have a good attitude towards citizens of the Russian Federation, but I won't set foot there again... it's scary, too much, the roads are bad. What else? Oh yes, the person I wanted to fly to the States with probably isn't going with me. Work, I need to keep working... I deeply hope that everyone who read my blog got their visas... CIAO!!!