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| UMM students participate in a student exchange at WSB University. (Photo: Special) |
Having the opportunity to study abroad gives you a chance to understand the meaning of tolerance more deeply. Both from cultural and religious diversity. This was experienced by Avilla Nadhif Firjatullah, a student of Economics Development at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), who received a scholarship from Erasmus. Now, he is an exchange student at WSB University, Poland, for the next few months.
Villa, as he is often called, tells us how he learns tolerance there, by being a minority. She grew up in a Muslim-majority community. This is quite the opposite of what she experienced in Poland, which has many churches. Some churches have a classic style look as they are historical buildings.
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He even had an interesting experience. Once, he was invited to come to church because his friend had never seen Villa go to church. But the reason he didn't go to church was because he was a Muslim.
"I also had time to chit-chatting with those who pray there and occasionally joking around. In my opinion, Poznan is not a very big city. Its population is only around 500 thousand. However, I fell in love with Poznan, with its atmosphere and tolerance," said the student from Tuban.
When he has some spare time, Villa visits several tourist destinations and tries the local food. One of his favorites is pierogi, a special food that is often used to receive guests or for traditional events.
"Pierogi is similar to pastels sold at the market in Indonesia. They are usually filled with potatoes, chicken, and vegetables. Sometimes it also contains fruit jams such as strawberry, plum, and others. Alhamdulillah, I t matches my taste," he said.
During his time in Poznan, Villa mostly cooked the meal himself. This is because the majority of the population adheres to non-Islamic religions. So he is cautious in choosing food. Luckily, it was easy for her to find halal and healthy ingredients there. Some foods are even imported from Muslim countries.
Being away from home wasn't as scary as he thought. Especially when you know the cost of living there is quite affordable. Plus, the public transportation and facilities made her love exploring the city outside Poznan.
He also advised the youth to dare to try new things and not be afraid to fail. No one will know what was thought to be a failure will lead to success. "You have to be able to go through the process and dare to try. If we don't try, we won't know what the result will be. We might even be able to achieve things that were previously considered impossible," he concluded. (put/ril/wil)
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