It`s a worthwhile experience

Hello! My name is Michał, I was an intern at the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the International Organizations in Vienna in the last months and I would like to share some of my memories from the time spent at the Mission.

My internship started on the 29th of August 2023. My job consisted of attending meetings of different international organisations, such as International Atomic Energy Agency, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Permanent Council and Forum for Security and Cooperation etc., taking careful note of all meaningful events and then reporting what I saw in written form. It was an excellent way to get to know and understand the inner workings of the organisations I was observing, as well as to see and experience real diplomacy in action. I witnessed diplomatic exchanges, negotiations and drafting procedures for a plethora of international documents numerous times. The time spent on these observations showed me that working at international organisations, although demanding and complicated, can be very rewarding.

At the Mission I had the honour of receiving the tutelage of His Excellency Janusz Urbańczyk and Monsignor Giuseppe Francone, who taught me a number of different things about international law and diplomacy, such as the proper procedures of sending diplomatic mails, writing reports, different types of documents used in diplomacy - and much, much more. I also had the wonderful opportunity to work with the staff of the Mission, various experts of the Mission, as well as other fellow interns. I miss them all so much already!

At this point I would like to cordially thank both of my tutors for their help, patience and willingness to share their knowledge with me. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the wonderful people I have met during my internship - you made this experience truly unique and worthwhile.When it comes to living in Vienna I must say it was not what I expected it to be. I thought a huge metropolis such as Vienna would overwhelm me; that I would get lost every time I would go grocery shopping. That was not the case. While it is true that Vienna is a huge city, the vast network of public transportation made travelling through it extremely easy and convenient. In case I needed help, Viennese people were usually very kind when being asked for directions.

Another pleasant, albeit quite expected discovery was the amount of cultural life in Vienna. Going out into the city was never boring. There were tons upon tons of places to visit, museums to see, famous art pieces to look at, concerts to listen to and great restaurants to eat at. Seeing an opera at the Wiener Staatsoper, getting a coffee and cake at Demel and visiting the oldest-still-operating zoo in the world are just a few highlights of my adventures in the Austrian capital.
Lastly, living and working in a city abroad was also a great test of my language skills. Admittedly, before coming to Vienna I was pretty confident in my English already, but having to use it continuously, both for work and everyday life made it better than ever before.

Additionally, while doing the internship I also had an opportunity to enrol in an Italian course. Of course, you, Dear Reader, might want to ask me “but don’t they speak German in Austria?” - and while yes, this is generally true, Vienna is such an international city that English was enough for most cases, so because I mainly worked with Italians I thought it would be nice to know their language. Plus, my colleagues were always very nice and supportive about it which gave me even more motivation to learn.

If you would have asked me on July 29th 2023, whether applying for this internship was a good idea, I would probably have my doubts. After all, it is not easy to leave your home, family and friends behind and venture into the unknown. But after spending almost a year here I can confidently say it was one of the best decisions I could have made. The experience I gained, the knowledge I acquired, the places I saw, the people I met and the friendships I made along the way will stay with me for the rest of my life.