Today one of my very close exchange friends went home. She was an Australian who truely was amazing! At first both of us had thought we wouldn't get close to the other. But that soon changed. The more we hung out the closer we got. She was one of my best friends here and not having her here anymore makes me very upest. I just hope she had an amazing year and that she knows she really made an impact on a lot of people's lives here in Poland. You will always be missed and loved from everyone here espcially me. I love you!
But waking before the roasters do was worth it to send her on her way. About 11 of us from Warsaw and around Poland went to the airport to meet her and just say goodbye. After we said our sad goodbyes i started having flashbacks of when i stepped off the plane about 5 months ago. Can you beleive it!?!? 5 months have passed and what can i say i've done. Watching my friend saying i never got to do that or i've gotten to do all this i was thinking to myself i haven't done that or i need to do that or i'll do that. But i never really realized how fast the exchange year goes. I remember before i left i had all these goals for while i was over here. Then when i arrived it was different and i didn't stick to my goals. I am now kicking myself for that. yes i have about 5 months left but if my last 5 went by as fast as it did. I really have no time left here. It's soo hard to think that. So everyone out there if you read my blog. If you are planing on going abroad anytime too...take advantage. Sometimes you may not want to do something okay but make yourself do something else the next time. Just make sure you get to see and do everything you have wanted to do while you are away because if you look back and regret it than you will be upset and it will be to late to do anything. I hope i caught myself before it was too late.
As for being homesick, yes there has been some days but not many. Usually it's when i'm craving some kind of food or for just a couple minutes i think of my friends and family back home. But never do i feel lonely while i'm here. I have polish friends i can call up and i have all my exchange friends and my host families have really been great. I really can't complain about anything except i wish it would slow down. I really love my exchange year and i wouldn't change it for the world! This has truely already been an amazing experience!
Tomorrow i will be going with a group of exchange students and a group of about 90 polish students to a city called Zakopane which is known for there skiing and mountains. I will try to snowboard but i'm not sure how long i will last doing that. The trip is for one week and it will be really nice just to hang out with new people and my exchange friends. However, instead of packing i am writing this blog. But thats alright.
My new years was vert nice along with christmas eve and christmas day. But christmas day was a little odd for me. In Poland they dont' open presents in the morning they open them on christmas eve. My host mom didn't need help with anything i slept in. It was a very interesting chrstmas day. Very different than my usual ones.
My Polish is actually going down hill. It started out alright, i was learning things and i could start to understand things. Now during the winter months i'm not if it's the weather and the lack of sun and so-on. But it is a lot harder for my to understand and speak Polish. I have never stopped trying so hopefully by the time i come home i will at least be able to speak Polish well.
Thats about it for now. Talk to you real soon! :) Czesc!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas Eve! :)
#13...Poppy cake...homemade...actually keep in mind everything here was homemade and delicious!!!!
#12 Traditional Poland Homemade Cheesecake....very different from the states, it is more like a cake than a creamy cheese like America.
This drink is to help your stomach and it tasted and smelled like bbq sauce...haha
#11 I don't' know...maybe poppy
#10 I don't know...maybe poppy
Traditional Fish #3
Sometimes people eat it plain or i usually put it on my bread, its good, it has a lot of garlic and onions. It is very strong. But very tastey.
Salad #2 Salad with mayo and corn, carrots, etc.... Very good!
Pierogie's Traditional Polish food #6YUMM!!! I LOVE PIEROGIE'S!!
Mushroom Cakes #7
Interesting thing, mushrooms that are fried with cake mixture, actually very good.
Kapuska #8
I LOVE KAPUSKA!! Just as much pierogies.
#9 Beet Soup with pierogie like things
Oplatek First Thing of The (Night Wafer)
Mushroom Cakes #7Interesting thing, mushrooms that are fried with cake mixture, actually very good.
Kapuska #8
I LOVE KAPUSKA!! Just as much pierogies.
#9 Beet Soup with pierogie like things
Fried Carp #5 (My pictures got out of order)
Very Very good, just many bones...
Oplatek First Thing of The (Night Wafer)The first time i tried this i really didn't like it but the more and more i ate it, the better and better it got.
Mushroom soup #4
Mushroom soup #4Very traditional in Poland, made with wild mushrooms. Before i got to Poland i didn't like mushrooms very much, now that I'm here i really like them. Things that exchange does to you.
First off....
And...On of Christmas eve everything started off average. I woke up to find out that our house maid was making wonderful food for Christmas Day. I am very excited to try this food. They are Ukraine dishes, so they are similar to polish dishes but are totally different at the same time. I got to taste a little and it was delicious! For the rest of the afternoon we just hung around the house, i wrote in my journal, wrapped presents, skyped friends and family due to the holidays, and just hung out with my family. At 5:00 we were to travel about 30 minutes to my host mom's parents house. We got ready and left the house. When we arrived we met with my host mom's sister and her mother and father. All were very welcoming to me. They made me put on slippers in the house because according to the polish you can get a cold because the floor is cold. Also so random things they think or things they use to think. That when women sat on a cold stone or something cold they would not be able to have children anymore. :P But this was an old myth/saying. So we entered the house and right away sat down to eat. I can officially say that i got a traditional Polish Christmas Eve Dinner. To the Polish a traditional Christmas Eve Dinner is when you have 12 courses. We had 13, so one above par! Another tradition during Christmas is to break apart this paper bread stuff called Oplatek. "Sharing of the oplatek (pronounced opwatek) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for communion during Mass. The Christmas wafer is shared before Wigilia, the Christmas Eve supper. The head of the household usually starts by breaking the wafer with his wife and then continues to share it with everyone at the Wigilia table. Wishes for peace and prosperity are exchanged and even the pets and farm animals are given a piece of oplatek on Christmas Eve. Legend has it that if animals eat oplatek on Christmas Eve, they will be able to speak in human voices at midnight, but only those who are pure of spirit will be able to hear them. This tradition dates back many centuries when a thin, flat bread called podplomyk was baked over an open flame and then shared with the family gathered around the fire on Christmas Eve. Patterns would be cut onto the bread to make breaking easier. This is why oplatki today still have patterns on them, usually of Nativity scenes." I got this from a website because it explains what Oplatek is better than i could have. We started off breaking this wafer and all i could say was Wszystkiego Najlepszego! Which translates into Best Wishes! All the Best! Than they all said something close to good luck learning polish and the polish traditions. Have a great year etc... Unfortunately i couldn't say much more than Wszystkiego Najlepszego! and Dziekuje (Thank You). Than we all sat down to start our 12 course meal. Unfortunately i don't know all the names of the dishes but I'll put up pictures and number them and I'll describe how i much i liked or disliked it. We had stimulating conversation and i could actually understand more than i thought i would be able to. I was very nervous to go to her parents home because i was worried i wouldn't be able to understand anything. However, i tried to participate in conversation and there were defiantly things i didn't understand at all so my host brother and host mom helped translate for me. After the dinner that lasted i think from 6:00 to 9:30 :O we sat around the Christmas tree and opened presents. I was the Mikołajki who gave out all the presents. I was not expecting it but my host grandparents and my host aunt got me a gift. I was very surprised but felt so welcomed. I was starting to feel comfortable. However, i just kept thinking about my family life back home. How we would order Chinese food and sit around and watch "A Wonderful Life" and "White Christmas" and how this year they would still do it but i wasn't going to be there with them. It was one moment of my exchange where i felt like i was missing out back home. Even though it will be there when i get back, every year my family does this, it's one of those things that i always look forward to. I can't complain though my new host family treated me so well and i felt like they wanted me there. Time went by so fast and before we knew it, it was 11:30. We said our goodbyes but we would see all of them tomorrow at our house for another Christmas. Here in Poland they celebrate Christmas 3 times. So we said goodbye headed home and when we entered the day i ran up to my room to grab the presents i had for my host mom and host brother. I was unaware that we were opening presents and the grandparents house so i didn't bring them. I think they both really liked their presents. Which made me feel very relieved. We were all very tired so we all went to our rooms, i called home just to check in for a few minutes just to say hello, i love you, and i was thinking of you. After this i went to bed. My over all Christmas in a different country was not as bad as i was picturing. I actually wanted to just skip Christmas and move to new year because i thought it would be very tough being away from my family and friends and having a different tradition along with basically strangers who i didn't understand. But it was a very good experience and i enjoyed the time i had with my new host family's family. I wouldn't have changed it at all. And today we have actual Christmas Day dinner where i will be stuffing my face again with food! I'll come back home and people won't know who i am. :) Well till next time. Weslych Swiat!
Eggs with Mayo #2
This was good, just hard boiled eggs in mayo. Very simple.
This was good, just hard boiled eggs in mayo. Very simple.
First off....Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia :)
and
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Second off, i want to mention that on Mikołajki (Santa Clause) day (6 grudnia – December 6th) all the children get a present. Celebrated in honor of the holy Bishop Nicholas of Myra.And...On of Christmas eve everything started off average. I woke up to find out that our house maid was making wonderful food for Christmas Day. I am very excited to try this food. They are Ukraine dishes, so they are similar to polish dishes but are totally different at the same time. I got to taste a little and it was delicious! For the rest of the afternoon we just hung around the house, i wrote in my journal, wrapped presents, skyped friends and family due to the holidays, and just hung out with my family. At 5:00 we were to travel about 30 minutes to my host mom's parents house. We got ready and left the house. When we arrived we met with my host mom's sister and her mother and father. All were very welcoming to me. They made me put on slippers in the house because according to the polish you can get a cold because the floor is cold. Also so random things they think or things they use to think. That when women sat on a cold stone or something cold they would not be able to have children anymore. :P But this was an old myth/saying. So we entered the house and right away sat down to eat. I can officially say that i got a traditional Polish Christmas Eve Dinner. To the Polish a traditional Christmas Eve Dinner is when you have 12 courses. We had 13, so one above par! Another tradition during Christmas is to break apart this paper bread stuff called Oplatek. "Sharing of the oplatek (pronounced opwatek) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water, similar in taste to the hosts that are used for communion during Mass. The Christmas wafer is shared before Wigilia, the Christmas Eve supper. The head of the household usually starts by breaking the wafer with his wife and then continues to share it with everyone at the Wigilia table. Wishes for peace and prosperity are exchanged and even the pets and farm animals are given a piece of oplatek on Christmas Eve. Legend has it that if animals eat oplatek on Christmas Eve, they will be able to speak in human voices at midnight, but only those who are pure of spirit will be able to hear them. This tradition dates back many centuries when a thin, flat bread called podplomyk was baked over an open flame and then shared with the family gathered around the fire on Christmas Eve. Patterns would be cut onto the bread to make breaking easier. This is why oplatki today still have patterns on them, usually of Nativity scenes." I got this from a website because it explains what Oplatek is better than i could have. We started off breaking this wafer and all i could say was Wszystkiego Najlepszego! Which translates into Best Wishes! All the Best! Than they all said something close to good luck learning polish and the polish traditions. Have a great year etc... Unfortunately i couldn't say much more than Wszystkiego Najlepszego! and Dziekuje (Thank You). Than we all sat down to start our 12 course meal. Unfortunately i don't know all the names of the dishes but I'll put up pictures and number them and I'll describe how i much i liked or disliked it. We had stimulating conversation and i could actually understand more than i thought i would be able to. I was very nervous to go to her parents home because i was worried i wouldn't be able to understand anything. However, i tried to participate in conversation and there were defiantly things i didn't understand at all so my host brother and host mom helped translate for me. After the dinner that lasted i think from 6:00 to 9:30 :O we sat around the Christmas tree and opened presents. I was the Mikołajki who gave out all the presents. I was not expecting it but my host grandparents and my host aunt got me a gift. I was very surprised but felt so welcomed. I was starting to feel comfortable. However, i just kept thinking about my family life back home. How we would order Chinese food and sit around and watch "A Wonderful Life" and "White Christmas" and how this year they would still do it but i wasn't going to be there with them. It was one moment of my exchange where i felt like i was missing out back home. Even though it will be there when i get back, every year my family does this, it's one of those things that i always look forward to. I can't complain though my new host family treated me so well and i felt like they wanted me there. Time went by so fast and before we knew it, it was 11:30. We said our goodbyes but we would see all of them tomorrow at our house for another Christmas. Here in Poland they celebrate Christmas 3 times. So we said goodbye headed home and when we entered the day i ran up to my room to grab the presents i had for my host mom and host brother. I was unaware that we were opening presents and the grandparents house so i didn't bring them. I think they both really liked their presents. Which made me feel very relieved. We were all very tired so we all went to our rooms, i called home just to check in for a few minutes just to say hello, i love you, and i was thinking of you. After this i went to bed. My over all Christmas in a different country was not as bad as i was picturing. I actually wanted to just skip Christmas and move to new year because i thought it would be very tough being away from my family and friends and having a different tradition along with basically strangers who i didn't understand. But it was a very good experience and i enjoyed the time i had with my new host family's family. I wouldn't have changed it at all. And today we have actual Christmas Day dinner where i will be stuffing my face again with food! I'll come back home and people won't know who i am. :) Well till next time. Weslych Swiat!
Monday, December 7, 2009
It's been so long...sorry!
I am very sorry that this post has taken sooooo long for me to write but here it is.
It's been three months now! I've been an exchange student in Poland for three months. it's a very weird feeling to have. I'm thrilled, excited, anxious but not really homesick which is great! I'm going to work backwards on events that have happened to me this month because there is so much to say. i switched host families on Sunday. it was very hard to leave my last host family. i felt like i was just getting really close to them. especially before Christmas as well but i know my new host family will be great as well. i have moved right by the airport and instead of taking the train i will be taking the metro and the bus. i feel like this will be good, i can get more familiar with the bus and the metro and this way at the end of the exchange i will be familiar with all the public transportation's. i have already accumulated so much stuff. I've only been here for three months but already it was hard for me to move all my things to my new house. i things are going to be great in this new house.
My polish is slowly coming. I'm actually having a very tough time with it. i always try and i now have polish classes twice a week for an hour with the rest of the exchange students. One of my two teachers was an exchange student and understands what we are all going through. I think the class will help along with a teacher at school who wants to help me too.
Speaking of school, everything is great! i have friends and the teachers are nice. they have been very helpful with my math studies and my English. However, you probably want to know what i do it class. Nothing the teachers are nice but that doesn't mean they pay attention to me. I sit and study or read or listen to music. Honestly this doesn't bother me. I go to school for the students.
Now, some of you may know but i just got back from my first trip that rotary has prepared for us. Europe Tour, we traveled by bus to France, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. It was amazing! Everything was gorgeous and i saw so much. it was almost overwhelming. while in France we climbed the Eiffel tower and i couldn't believe i was actually there. i felt like the first week i was in Poland, like this wasn't reality. The city of Paris was soooo pretty especially when all the lights went on and the moon was out. it was unbelievable. we also got to see the Louvre with the Mona Lisa. everyone from back home and here who have seen it said it would be disappointing like they were expecting it to be big and very eventful. when i saw it it was great! i wasn't disappointed at all and it might ave been because i prepared myself. the Mona Lisa was great, i obviously have only seen pictures but when i saw the Mona Lisa it was amazing. i just kept telling myself that I'm seeing the Mona Lisa!" and before "I'm standing on the Eiffel tower!" the rest of the Louvre was lovely, i saw lots of famous paintings and statues that i couldn't come to reality that i was actually seeing it for real. the whole trip was absolutely amazing! i am sooooo lucky that i could attend. my favorite country was Portugal by far. It was one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. So far, i would move there if i had to leave the states. the people that were on the trip were great and we bonded quickly. I love this group of exchange students! I really had an amazing time on this trip! I'm sorry this blog is short I'll write soon. After the holidays! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
It's been three months now! I've been an exchange student in Poland for three months. it's a very weird feeling to have. I'm thrilled, excited, anxious but not really homesick which is great! I'm going to work backwards on events that have happened to me this month because there is so much to say. i switched host families on Sunday. it was very hard to leave my last host family. i felt like i was just getting really close to them. especially before Christmas as well but i know my new host family will be great as well. i have moved right by the airport and instead of taking the train i will be taking the metro and the bus. i feel like this will be good, i can get more familiar with the bus and the metro and this way at the end of the exchange i will be familiar with all the public transportation's. i have already accumulated so much stuff. I've only been here for three months but already it was hard for me to move all my things to my new house. i things are going to be great in this new house.
My polish is slowly coming. I'm actually having a very tough time with it. i always try and i now have polish classes twice a week for an hour with the rest of the exchange students. One of my two teachers was an exchange student and understands what we are all going through. I think the class will help along with a teacher at school who wants to help me too.
Speaking of school, everything is great! i have friends and the teachers are nice. they have been very helpful with my math studies and my English. However, you probably want to know what i do it class. Nothing the teachers are nice but that doesn't mean they pay attention to me. I sit and study or read or listen to music. Honestly this doesn't bother me. I go to school for the students.
Now, some of you may know but i just got back from my first trip that rotary has prepared for us. Europe Tour, we traveled by bus to France, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. It was amazing! Everything was gorgeous and i saw so much. it was almost overwhelming. while in France we climbed the Eiffel tower and i couldn't believe i was actually there. i felt like the first week i was in Poland, like this wasn't reality. The city of Paris was soooo pretty especially when all the lights went on and the moon was out. it was unbelievable. we also got to see the Louvre with the Mona Lisa. everyone from back home and here who have seen it said it would be disappointing like they were expecting it to be big and very eventful. when i saw it it was great! i wasn't disappointed at all and it might ave been because i prepared myself. the Mona Lisa was great, i obviously have only seen pictures but when i saw the Mona Lisa it was amazing. i just kept telling myself that I'm seeing the Mona Lisa!" and before "I'm standing on the Eiffel tower!" the rest of the Louvre was lovely, i saw lots of famous paintings and statues that i couldn't come to reality that i was actually seeing it for real. the whole trip was absolutely amazing! i am sooooo lucky that i could attend. my favorite country was Portugal by far. It was one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. So far, i would move there if i had to leave the states. the people that were on the trip were great and we bonded quickly. I love this group of exchange students! I really had an amazing time on this trip! I'm sorry this blog is short I'll write soon. After the holidays! Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Monday, October 5, 2009
It's been a little over a month now!
Warsaw group in Torun
Ewa (host mom) and I on my birthday!
From left to right: Me, Laissa, Daniela, PaolaI can't believe i have been here for a month and 1 week! the time goes by too quickly. and i was worried that a year was too long and i was considering the one month in the summer. i honestly don't know how the short term students could do it. There is so much to do in such a little amount of time! Anyway enough about the length since my last blog i haven't done much of anything except get adapted to everything and meeting new friends from school and around my neighborhood. I have also been working on my polish which by the way is one of the hardest languages for Americans. it is in the top five. However, i am very excited because the exchange students in my town, Warsaw, and myself will be starting a language course in the following week, twice a week for an hour. When this course begins i am expecting my polish to become a lot better.
The other day, a few exchange students and i went to a famous park where we were admiring all the pretty fall colors. To me this was familiar but to the other three exchange students this was not. Two are form Mexico and the other is from Brazil. They don't have fall like Europe and the US. It was really neat to see their expressions about the trees and the leaves. =) The fall here is very pretty but i feel like we kind of jumped seasons, straight from summer was fall instead of a gradual change like in Ohio, usually.
So, as some as you may have known my birthday was last weekend and my classmate is such a sweetheart. Because 18 is such a special birthday, on the Friday before my birthday when i arrived in my English class the whole class started singing to me Sto lat! Sto lat! Which is there "birthday" song in Polish. Then they began to sing in English Happy Birthday. They had a cake with candles and everything. It was the sweetest thing. I was holding back my tears because they made me so happy. It just meant so much to me that i had only been there a month and they did something like this. To top it off, a few of the other exchange students from around Poland traveled in to see Warsaw but i like to think it was because of my birthday. But in any case i was happy that i could see some of the other exchange students. And, when i came home on Sunday from a day out with some friends my host parents had a cake waiting for me so they sang to me! Overall, it was an amazing 18th birthday and i couldn't have pictured it any other way!
That's basically been what i have been up too. But today i am going to folk dance in my host brothers group which will be a very interesting and exciting this to experience. And tomorrow i am going to a soccer team which I'm also excited about, this will be a nice way to meet people not in my school who don't speak any English really. It will be challenging of course but I'm prepared.
Last but not least...Do widzenia(Goodbye)
The other day, a few exchange students and i went to a famous park where we were admiring all the pretty fall colors. To me this was familiar but to the other three exchange students this was not. Two are form Mexico and the other is from Brazil. They don't have fall like Europe and the US. It was really neat to see their expressions about the trees and the leaves. =) The fall here is very pretty but i feel like we kind of jumped seasons, straight from summer was fall instead of a gradual change like in Ohio, usually.
So, as some as you may have known my birthday was last weekend and my classmate is such a sweetheart. Because 18 is such a special birthday, on the Friday before my birthday when i arrived in my English class the whole class started singing to me Sto lat! Sto lat! Which is there "birthday" song in Polish. Then they began to sing in English Happy Birthday. They had a cake with candles and everything. It was the sweetest thing. I was holding back my tears because they made me so happy. It just meant so much to me that i had only been there a month and they did something like this. To top it off, a few of the other exchange students from around Poland traveled in to see Warsaw but i like to think it was because of my birthday. But in any case i was happy that i could see some of the other exchange students. And, when i came home on Sunday from a day out with some friends my host parents had a cake waiting for me so they sang to me! Overall, it was an amazing 18th birthday and i couldn't have pictured it any other way!
That's basically been what i have been up too. But today i am going to folk dance in my host brothers group which will be a very interesting and exciting this to experience. And tomorrow i am going to a soccer team which I'm also excited about, this will be a nice way to meet people not in my school who don't speak any English really. It will be challenging of course but I'm prepared.
Last but not least...Do widzenia(Goodbye)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
It's Been About 2 Weeks! :)
My Host Parents, Ewa and Bogdan in Ochota where my school is located.
Liassa and Paola, two other exchange students in my club and city.
Warsaw <3
Belweder, where the President of Poland lives,Lech Kaczyński
The The Palace of Culture in the center of Warsaw. Dzien Dobry! (Good Day...basically)
Wow! I Can't believe I have already been here for almost two weeks. It honestly still does not seem real to me. It doesn't seem real that an opportunity like this is happening to me right now. It's just been amazing! Where to begin is a very difficult question. I have already done soooo much! Okay, here we go. The plane ride was long and boring. I left from Columbus to St. Paul Minnesota where I met up with 3 other exchange students going to Poland, Mary (Illinois->Warsaw), Katelyn (Michigan->Wroclaw) Krista (Alaska->Lublin). From St. Paul we traveled to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam we traveled to Warsaw. We were all very tired but couldn't wait to meet our families for the first time! So i walked out of bagguge clam and there in the lobby were my host parents, Ewa and Bogdan along with my host brother, Robert, with a warm welcome. The airport was just about 25 minutes from my new house! I was telling them what all I knew in Polish and they were working on new words with me. However, Robert has been studying English for a while so if i need any help he is always there. Bogdan speaks a little english and Ewa speaks none. I feel like my progress is not as good as I would like. I know colors, numbers, kitchen things, clothes, and general hello's and goodbye's. The polish language is very hard in the sense that things are changing and the endings for words are very different. It confuses me. On my first official day in Poland we went into the center of town. Robert showed me around to my new school, Ochota, a mall, Zlote Tarasy, and a technological school. The city is really interesting! But the funny this is, i must have seen about 3 subways and KFC's along with Burger King in the city. It makes me sad to see American things everywhere. Later that night i had a going away party for an exchange student who is going to Mexico. Her family is actually my second host family so i got to meet her mother and see the house. The party was really fun and i got to meet her friends along with Daniela who is from Mexico in my Rotary Club. All of them were really nice and welcoming! I noticed that a lot of people speak English here so people will try to translate things for me which is very nice of them because i will hear it in Polish and then hear it in English. The following day my host parents made plans for me to meet Paola (Mexico->Warsaw) and Liassa (Brazil->Warsaw) who i have been communicating through facebook with so i have talked to them before but this was our first meeting. We walked through a part of Warsaw called Old Town where there are shops and entertainment along with a Starbucks, restaurants and the Belweder where the President of Poland lives. They were both very pleasant and on top of all that i got to meet my third host family! So in the first 3 days of being here i got to talk with all my family here in Poland. I can't wait to move in with them even though i don't want to even leave the family I'm with right now.
Later in the evening Malgosia (my host parents daughter who i is in the states right now) called through skype so she welcomed me to her home and we had a nice chat. She is having a wonderful in the states! She is close to Philadelphia.
So far i have had a lot of meat and potatoes. My favorite! Ewa cooks homemade meals everyday for breakfast, dinner, and then supper. It's great!! I haven't tried much things that i haven't tried in America but pierogies which are AMAZING!! I can't even describe how much i love them. I can't wait to try other new things though.
I really like the public transportation here! I ride the train everyday in the morning to get to school. It's about a 20 minute ride which can be bad when the train is really busy because it's almost like a mosh pit, where you have to stand and be squeezed and pushed and pulled in all different directions but it's not to bad, I'm getting use to it. But all the trains, buses, metro's are all really nice. But about school. School is different but i don't really dislike it. Everyday is different with what time we go and get out and our classes. We have class every weekday starting at 8 except for Friday where we start at 9. We have one class of about 30 people who travel to classroom to classroom. I like this because you get to meet a group of people and grow really good bonds with them but you don't really get to meet other people in the school because of this. We don't have a lunch break which is a very difficult part of my day. Instead we have 10 minutes in between each class and one 20 minute period where most people walk across the street to a little shop to buy food. Some days i have math twice and English twice and other days i have neither. I have a lot more subjects here than there, they have chemistry physics and biology all this year while in the states we will have chemistry one year and biology the next. They also don't have levels for classes, like honors, extended (easier) or just plan regular. Everyone is going through it together. The days seem really long but it's alright because I'm making friends! Some days i get out at 3:15 and others i get out a 1 or 2, it just depends on how many lessons i have. Over all school is good and i will be able to pass math i think because everyone is taking time and helping me. Along with a boy from Taiwan named Cheng-Yu but we just call him James. It's nice to see a familiar face in school everyday who is going through the same thing as yourself.
One thing here that i really dislike is the water situation. Water is not "free". When you go into restaurants you must pay for water and people buy there water in bottles. There are no water fountains anywhere and for an American having water handy all the time it takes a while to get use to it.
On my 5th day i got the chance to meet up with a few more exchange students, Mary, Gustavo, Marianna, Kristy, who is an exchange student from Australia so she has already been here for 6 months so she told us stories and information we should know. All seem very nice and i think we will all get along great!
Okay well there is plenty more to say but i think I'm going to move on to the Torun Meeting.
Alright........so this past weekend was the first rotary meeting for all of Poland. We traveled on train for about 3 hours to stay at a hostel in Torun which is north of Warsaw. We arrived and put faces with names because most of us were friends on facebook. Everyone hit it off, i think this group of people will be very fun and exciting! There were about 50 of us who are staying in Poland for a year. The plans for Friday were to go to a barbecue where they actually had barbecue food which most of us were surprised by. They had a camp fire and polish folk dances came and performed for us. This was really interesting to see because my host brother does folk dancing and i haven't been able to see his performance yet. We sang a few songs and got to know each other. It's really cool to see rotary students get into a space together because we are all so out going and just can't wait to meet you! We left the barbecue to go to a place across the river to see the town of Torun lite up with lights. It was a very pretty site! When we arrived back at the hostel we all socialized until like 2 and went to bed. On Saturday we had a couple meetings and then we went into town. Torun is known for Copernicus's birth so we say a statue of him and many other interesting buildings including the leaning tower. Than we were back at the hostel where we still socialized and had a very good time. Sunday was time to go but we all couldn't wait to see each other on the Europe Tour or the December meeting. Because here we only get to see each other at the meetings but there is only four unless you go to the trips. I met a lot of cool people and i can't wait to see them again!
So it was so short but i have so much to do here. My time feels like it's already going so quickly!
I'll write again soon!
Margo Bess Schieber
Wow! I Can't believe I have already been here for almost two weeks. It honestly still does not seem real to me. It doesn't seem real that an opportunity like this is happening to me right now. It's just been amazing! Where to begin is a very difficult question. I have already done soooo much! Okay, here we go. The plane ride was long and boring. I left from Columbus to St. Paul Minnesota where I met up with 3 other exchange students going to Poland, Mary (Illinois->Warsaw), Katelyn (Michigan->Wroclaw) Krista (Alaska->Lublin). From St. Paul we traveled to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam we traveled to Warsaw. We were all very tired but couldn't wait to meet our families for the first time! So i walked out of bagguge clam and there in the lobby were my host parents, Ewa and Bogdan along with my host brother, Robert, with a warm welcome. The airport was just about 25 minutes from my new house! I was telling them what all I knew in Polish and they were working on new words with me. However, Robert has been studying English for a while so if i need any help he is always there. Bogdan speaks a little english and Ewa speaks none. I feel like my progress is not as good as I would like. I know colors, numbers, kitchen things, clothes, and general hello's and goodbye's. The polish language is very hard in the sense that things are changing and the endings for words are very different. It confuses me. On my first official day in Poland we went into the center of town. Robert showed me around to my new school, Ochota, a mall, Zlote Tarasy, and a technological school. The city is really interesting! But the funny this is, i must have seen about 3 subways and KFC's along with Burger King in the city. It makes me sad to see American things everywhere. Later that night i had a going away party for an exchange student who is going to Mexico. Her family is actually my second host family so i got to meet her mother and see the house. The party was really fun and i got to meet her friends along with Daniela who is from Mexico in my Rotary Club. All of them were really nice and welcoming! I noticed that a lot of people speak English here so people will try to translate things for me which is very nice of them because i will hear it in Polish and then hear it in English. The following day my host parents made plans for me to meet Paola (Mexico->Warsaw) and Liassa (Brazil->Warsaw) who i have been communicating through facebook with so i have talked to them before but this was our first meeting. We walked through a part of Warsaw called Old Town where there are shops and entertainment along with a Starbucks, restaurants and the Belweder where the President of Poland lives. They were both very pleasant and on top of all that i got to meet my third host family! So in the first 3 days of being here i got to talk with all my family here in Poland. I can't wait to move in with them even though i don't want to even leave the family I'm with right now.
Later in the evening Malgosia (my host parents daughter who i is in the states right now) called through skype so she welcomed me to her home and we had a nice chat. She is having a wonderful in the states! She is close to Philadelphia.
So far i have had a lot of meat and potatoes. My favorite! Ewa cooks homemade meals everyday for breakfast, dinner, and then supper. It's great!! I haven't tried much things that i haven't tried in America but pierogies which are AMAZING!! I can't even describe how much i love them. I can't wait to try other new things though.
I really like the public transportation here! I ride the train everyday in the morning to get to school. It's about a 20 minute ride which can be bad when the train is really busy because it's almost like a mosh pit, where you have to stand and be squeezed and pushed and pulled in all different directions but it's not to bad, I'm getting use to it. But all the trains, buses, metro's are all really nice. But about school. School is different but i don't really dislike it. Everyday is different with what time we go and get out and our classes. We have class every weekday starting at 8 except for Friday where we start at 9. We have one class of about 30 people who travel to classroom to classroom. I like this because you get to meet a group of people and grow really good bonds with them but you don't really get to meet other people in the school because of this. We don't have a lunch break which is a very difficult part of my day. Instead we have 10 minutes in between each class and one 20 minute period where most people walk across the street to a little shop to buy food. Some days i have math twice and English twice and other days i have neither. I have a lot more subjects here than there, they have chemistry physics and biology all this year while in the states we will have chemistry one year and biology the next. They also don't have levels for classes, like honors, extended (easier) or just plan regular. Everyone is going through it together. The days seem really long but it's alright because I'm making friends! Some days i get out at 3:15 and others i get out a 1 or 2, it just depends on how many lessons i have. Over all school is good and i will be able to pass math i think because everyone is taking time and helping me. Along with a boy from Taiwan named Cheng-Yu but we just call him James. It's nice to see a familiar face in school everyday who is going through the same thing as yourself.
One thing here that i really dislike is the water situation. Water is not "free". When you go into restaurants you must pay for water and people buy there water in bottles. There are no water fountains anywhere and for an American having water handy all the time it takes a while to get use to it.
On my 5th day i got the chance to meet up with a few more exchange students, Mary, Gustavo, Marianna, Kristy, who is an exchange student from Australia so she has already been here for 6 months so she told us stories and information we should know. All seem very nice and i think we will all get along great!
Okay well there is plenty more to say but i think I'm going to move on to the Torun Meeting.
Alright........so this past weekend was the first rotary meeting for all of Poland. We traveled on train for about 3 hours to stay at a hostel in Torun which is north of Warsaw. We arrived and put faces with names because most of us were friends on facebook. Everyone hit it off, i think this group of people will be very fun and exciting! There were about 50 of us who are staying in Poland for a year. The plans for Friday were to go to a barbecue where they actually had barbecue food which most of us were surprised by. They had a camp fire and polish folk dances came and performed for us. This was really interesting to see because my host brother does folk dancing and i haven't been able to see his performance yet. We sang a few songs and got to know each other. It's really cool to see rotary students get into a space together because we are all so out going and just can't wait to meet you! We left the barbecue to go to a place across the river to see the town of Torun lite up with lights. It was a very pretty site! When we arrived back at the hostel we all socialized until like 2 and went to bed. On Saturday we had a couple meetings and then we went into town. Torun is known for Copernicus's birth so we say a statue of him and many other interesting buildings including the leaning tower. Than we were back at the hostel where we still socialized and had a very good time. Sunday was time to go but we all couldn't wait to see each other on the Europe Tour or the December meeting. Because here we only get to see each other at the meetings but there is only four unless you go to the trips. I met a lot of cool people and i can't wait to see them again!
So it was so short but i have so much to do here. My time feels like it's already going so quickly!
I'll write again soon!
Margo Bess Schieber
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