Life is Grand!

One year ago, I was in Michigan and probably having a nervous breakdown about my future.  I only had one, over Christmas break.  Most of the time when someone asked what I was doing after graduation, I laughed and said..."Well, I could be in graduate school at six different universities, or, you know, I might move to Poland for a year."


As I reflect on this past year, I am amazed at the blessings that have been showered down on me. After almost four months in Poland, twelve months doesn't seem so long and it's incredible to see how much my life has changed in twelve short months.

The wait for university acceptance letters was complicated by my wait for a notification letter from Fulbright. By this time, I had no doubt that I would be accepting the Fulbright.  A far cry from when I first wrote my application.  The Fulbright was merely an "option" for my future, in my mind it was unlikely that I would receive such an award.  So I often talked about how I might skip the Fulbright even if I got it to go to a graduate school program.  Part of me didn't know how prestigious the scholarship is, and the other part of me was trying to guard my pride from disappointment.

Over the past year, I've seen countless friends get engaged, three friends have babies, all my close friends are employed after graduation.  I graduated, worked for a fantastic conservative organization over the summer, and now live in Poland.  Through all this, I have found people to pray and share my faith with and I've grown closer to God with every step.

This closeness with my Creator is new for me.  Three years ago, when I studied in Poland, I put my faith on the back burner because it was easier to not seek out Catholic friends.  Over the next two years, my friends at St. Mary's helped me see the importance of a Catholic community to life.  The details are important to me, but inappropriate for this public outlet.  Suffice to say, if you are struggling, reach out to your friends and family because they love you, accept you, and will forgive and help you.

The past year has been a spectacular ride.  Granted, there have been numerous bumps along the way (my mis-scheduled flight to DC and my first days in Gdansk come to mind), but all in all, the past year has been absolutely wonderful.

There's really no way that I can speculate as to what 2013 will bring.  I have lots of travel plans, and will continue to teach my students and make friends (especially my new Catholic ones!).  However, the big things...like will I really end up at Indiana University in August...well, that's something I can only trust one Person to answer, and He hasn't communicated it to me yet.

 At least three of my friends will be getting married and potentially one cousin (thus far, I'm going to miss all the wedding dates I've been given *sadface*).  Hopefully I'll continue meeting family members in Europe and get to see all the cousins I miss so very much in the U.S.  And I reeeeeeally hope that I'll spend Christmas next year in Michigan, with my family, at St. Hyacinth, where I belong on Christmas!!  But, only God knows which of these hopes will be reality.

Even with the few tears of sadness and frustration in 2012, the year has been the best yet.  And I'm looking forward to see what 2013 holds because, well, you never know what will happen in life.

However, as my mom always says...Life is Grand!

What's a Mom to Do?!

I’m sitting here, house decorated, tree up, baking and cooking almost done, gifts under the tree…Christmas is almost here.  I’ve spent hours at church, with my prayer group ladies, with my Bible…Christmas is almost here.  But one thing is not…my oldest.  Stephanie is out, wandering the world, having the time of her life.  Do I miss her?  Of course.  Am I happy for her?  Of course.

Today I started my day with a cup of tea and facebook.  Another blog from Steph, let’s see what’s up?  She found like minded young Catholics.  What a wonderful Christmas gift for her!  I know how much her faith means to her and it is hard to maintain your faith to that level when you don’t have people backing you up…they give you a sense of normalcy in this world where faith often doesn’t seem the normal thing to have.

I read happily to the point when she was so excited about getting all the hugs.  And yes, I lost it.  My baby girl isn’t coming home for Christmas.  I still remember my first Christmas away from my mom.  I spent it with my little brother and his wife at Grandma’s house.  It was the weirdest Christmas of my life.  Even after I started staying in Michigan for Christmas, it wasn’t as strange as the first one “alone”.  I was surrounded by people that I love, just wasn’t the same…Mom wasn’t there.  26 years later, I still can remember sitting on Grandma’s front porch swing, crying. 

My tears this morning weren’t really of sadness.  I do miss Stephanie, but I’m so overwhelmed with where she is in life.  She is so very happy and I’m so happy for her.  You can see God’s hand in her life always.  I missed the part in the parenting manual on how to let go.  The message that keeps coming to me is “Be still and know that I am God”.  I know He has all my children in the palm of His hand.  That He loves them with a greater love than I ever can.  That He has their eternal salvation always on His mind.  Me, I just want to give her a hug J 

So while I sit on this side of the ocean,  taking care of the little things.  I make sure her banking is done, mail is corresponded, and help make reservations for all these wonderful trips.  I do little things, because it’s all that I can do.  God has the big load, He doesn’t complain, He will keep her safe! 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Last Christmas: An Obsession of Poles

Christmas shopping this year was just like any other year...the Polish malls play American carols constantly.  However, their favorite Christmas song is Last Christmas by Wham.

I'm convinced it's either because these guys' have incredibly awesome hair dos or (more likely) they don't really understand the words.

Last Christmas, I was in Michigan...probably trying to help my mom make Wigilia (Christmas Eve) dinner.  This year, I'm on the other side of the world staying with the son and daughter of my grandpa's cousin.  Distant family is still family :)

There's no telling how many ways Christmas this year will differ from what I'm used to.  My Christmases have have the same progression, order, and traditions for 22 years.  And this year, I don't really know what exactly to expect.

So, stay tuned in January for some interesting stories about my Christmas AND New Year.  After Christmas here in Lithuania, I'm meeting a friend in Budapest for NYE!  It promises to be quite a memorable time. :)

My Christmas Miracle

Those that talk to me regularly, know I've had a little bit of a struggle this year meeting new friends in Gdansk, especially friends to fill the void left by leaving St. Mary's University Parish.  I love having friends of all faith and political backgrounds, but there is something very special in sharing a common faith and being able to come together and pray.

A few weeks ago, a friend gave me a phone number for a priest that speaks English.  I was a bit apprehensive about calling him, because a self-analysis or a friend's analysis of language proficiency isn't always accurate.  For example, my Polish friends tell me I speak very well (which isn't true at all!).  Anyway, I put off calling him for almost a month out of fear that he wouldn't speak English well enough to understand me.

Last week, I decided I was being ridiculous because I NEEDED to go to Confession!  So I called Fr. Filip, and he was amazing.  He made sure I had somewhere to spend Christmas because, "we're both Christians and it wouldn't be a very Christian thing to do."  And then he mentioned his friend Fr. Andzrej works with a student group.

I called up Fr. Andrzej and he welcomed me to the group's Wigilia celebration.  Prior to arriving to the church last night, I had no idea what I was walking into...dinner, a movie, snacks, a gift exchange, a small group, a huge group, students who spoke English, etc.  Walking up the the church's activity center, I said a quick prayer that at least one student would find it in their heart to be welcoming to me.

There was absolutely no need to be worried!

Fr. Andrzej introduced me to a few students and they took it from there.  As usual, everyone was surprised that I moved from the US to Poland.  They loved that I could speak some Polish and understand even more. After a while of chatting and meeting people (including a guy everyone calls marchewka aka carrot), we started the festivities.

If you don't know, this is oplatek.

There were a few koledy, Polish Christmas carols, and then a student read a passage from Luke.  And Fr. Andrzej blessed the oplatek and proceeded to pass it out.

Although I had met these students a half hour before, and some of them never, they took my hand and wished me the most joyful Christmas and a New Year filled with love, peace, and happiness.  Some of them, when they heard my name was Stephanie, spoke in English, but the rest said these well wishes in Polish.  And the vast majority of them gave me a huge hug.  I haven't had so many hugs since my last weekend at Central Michigan almost seven months ago.  God's graces truly amazed me. 

After the oplatek, we just hung out, ate borscht and all sorts of sweets, and sang koledy.  Many were surprised to see me singing along to Dzisiaj w Betlejem and Przybieżeli do Betlejem pasterze.  Actually, it surprised me too!  I forgot that I grew up with these songs at St. Hyacinth at Pasterka on Christmas Eve.

The evening was filled with laughter, some interesting translational attempts, and so much joy!  I talked with Marchewka about our favorite books in the Bible and found out that some of the students pray the breviary.  We found this out because I pulled my iTouch out to look up a Bible verse and they had no idea there are Catholic aps.

 After the New Year (which I was invited to their big NYE party too!), I will be spending much more time with this parish.  They have activities almost every evening for students, and I might even join the student choir.  In the spirit of not counting my chickens before they hatch, I won't say it's the answer to every prayer, but I think it's pretty darn close.  And I couldn't be happier for my little Christmas miracle!

The Babcia Stare

Unless you've spent time in Poland during the winter, you won't fully appreciate this blog post.

If you have been around during the colder months, you most definitely have encountered the Babcia Stare.  Maybe it was that day your forgot to grab your scarf on the way out the door...or your hair looked particularly nice so you didn't want to muss it up with a hat.

Regardless of when it happens to you, it starts around October.  The Babcia Stare is directed at people the Babcia deems to be inappropriately dressed.  Not inappropriate in the sense of slutty.  No, inappropriately dressed for the weather!

Now, I'm from Michigan, where the  weather is fairly similar to Poland.  My friends and I hold on to the last beams of the sunlight's warmth for as long as possible.  Thus, occasionally you'll see a college student in shorts while it's snowing out.

In October, the weather in Gdansk hovered for a while around 60ish degrees (Fahrenheit).  For some unknown reason, disregarding the warm weather, the babcia could be seen walking around in a winter coat and scarf, judging everyone that was not similarly bundled.  Maybe coat-wearing in Babcia land is a on a calendar cycle regardless of weather patterns.

The Babcia Stare gets even more hysterical as the weather gets colder.  It slowly transform from merely a disapproving stare to an actual chastisement.  Just last week, a babcia passed me on the street and barked, "czapka!"  (hat!).  Sorry, I don't like wearing hats...and it really wasn't THAT cold...even though there was snow on the ground.

However, perhaps my favorite encounter with the Babcia Stare was waiting for a tram a week or two before Thanksgiving.  Babcia looked at me and said, "You're head is cold."  It was not a question...she was straight up telling me the temperature of my head.  Unfortunately, the babcia didn't know that underneath my winter coat and choking scarf (which I wear to potentially ward off even MORE Babcia Stares)  I was sweating!

Even the American Ambassador isn't safe.  Last week. Ambassador Muller visited my university and told a story of one Babcia yelling at him to go back into his house and put a hat on before he went to the store.

And that folks, is the Babcia Stare.

Fulbright Adventures in Lublin

Last weekend, the Fulbright Commission organized a weekend trip to Lublin, located in southeast Poland.   For a refresher, I live in northern Poland, right on the Baltic Sea in Gdansk.

Trains in Poland are terrible and it would take about 14 hours or so to get from Gdansk to Lublin even though it's only a little over 300 miles.  AND Lublin doesn't have an airport, or an airport near by.

So I left Gdansk on Thursday evening and flew to Warsaw, then grabbed a three hour bus with the rest of the Fulbrighters on Friday morning.  This was after a mostly sleepless night because of the Swiety Mikolaj party going on across the street from where I slept.

My group outside of the Catholic University

When we got to Lublin, all the Fulbrighters were broken up into different groups.  Some visited high schools to talk about American universities, the Jewish scholars met with local experts on the Jewish community, some people visited local NGOs, and others (including yours truly) visited universities.

After the visits, we met back up in the hotel for some lunch.  Unfortunately for me, the snow that was rapidly exiting the sky was NOT on the weather forecast for the weekend.  Thus, the discovery that my boots were NOT waterproof led to a frantic dash to the mall to find something to keep my poor toes dry and cozy on Saturday during our walking tours.

While the snow melted quickly at first, it soon started to accumulate and led to a pretty good first impression of Lublin. 

Friday night allowed us the opportunity to meet Polish Fulbright alumni who lived in Lublin.  The professor at my table was from Lomza, the same city one of my great grandpa's immigrated from!  He offered to take me there in the spring and help me with some of the archives (which are in Polish) in the city hall and local church.

We also had a performance/lecture by Dr. Stan Breckenridge.  He's easily in the top 10 of most talented people I know.  Stan's a musician and expert on African-American music and its contribution to modern American music.  Parts of his performance are on YouTube.  We had some technical difficulties in the hotel's conference room, so some of us girls helped out with a live demonstration of The Temptations dancing. 

Saturday morning started out quite chilly, but close to Lublin with a visit to Majdanek.  Majdanek is a concentration camp situated almost in the Lublin city limits.  I already wrote a separate blog post about being in a death camp as well as a later visit to a theater commemorating the Jewish neighborhood of Lublin.

After Majdanek, we boarded the bus for a trip to Zamosc.  This Polish city was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992 for its unique Renaissance architecture and city plan.  The main square, or rynek, is picturesque.  In Zamosc, we met with the vice-mayor and I subsequently fell down the stairs trying to leave the building!

The rest of the evening I spent traipsing around the city with fellow Fulbrighters Mark and William and a Fulbright alum. 

Sunday morning, I woke up very early to go to Mass at the Catholic University.  It was one of the strangest churches I've seen in Poland with modern art collages on the wall and interesting interpretations of Blessed JPII's portrait. 

After breakfast, we split into two separate groups.  I thought the tours were the same, except for one tour had an extra 15 minutes of walking to the old Jewish cemetery.   I decided to go in that group.  Unfortunately, I was incorrect in my understanding of the situation.  My tour was specifically about Jewish life in Lublin.  I was disappointed that I wasn't able to learn more about Lublin's history in general.  However, the tour was very informative and helped me understand the vast scope of the Holocaust.

In the end, it was a very fun weekend!  I was a bit skeptical about traveling so far from my host city for only a weekend, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hang out with my Fulbright friends in a more relaxed setting from our orientation week.  Back then we were all stressed about what our assignments would entail.  Now we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves, and it was a welcome break from life in Gdansk!

Who Needs Airplanes?

When you can have REAL shooting stars?

Apparently tonight and tomorrow are prime viewing nights in the Northern Hemisphere for the Geminid meteor shower.  I'm up late so I can get in a few minutes of viewing during prime hours between 1 and 3 am. 

Possibly my favorite memory of my dad growing up involves shooting stars.  I was probably 10 or 11, just getting into the stage where I wanted to be treated more as a big kid (aka adult).  The whole family was camping on Indian Lake in the U.P.

Our camp site was next to this wonderful couple, the older woman was named Carol and I believe her husband is John.  We still write each other postcards because Miss Carol was a great entertainer in the woods during this trip.   One of the nights we were there, she told my dad that there was a meteor shower that night. 

Of course, the best time to see meteors is well past a 10 year old's bed time.  Buuuuut, my dad chose to wake me up in the middle of the night and we snuck out past mom and my sister for a quick walk. We stopped in a clearing and observed some shooting stars flashing across the night sky.

Being the daddy's girl I am, I wiled my way into a walk down by the river. Standing on the banks, we were overcome by a meteor. Literally, overcome.

The entire sky was filled with a brilliant white light.  So close I thought if I reached up, I might actually touch the star falling from the heavens.  And in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

Tonight, I'll look up at the stars and know the exact same ones are shining down on my family on the other side of the world.  The same sun will rise to greet them in the morning, just a good six hours after it makes me roll out of bed.

There's something about the night sky, something about infinity, that makes me stop and realize that the earth isn't so big.  I miss my family, but we're on the same planet, in the same solar system, in the same galaxy.  In light of the vast unknowns of space, they're really not so far away.

Majdanek and Polish Jews

Majdanek

This weekend, I went to Lublin with the majority of other Polish Fulbrighters for a mid-year meeting.  Look for a post sometime tomorrow probably about the other adventures we had.  I really wanted to focus today on some of the feelings I had over the weekend about visiting concentration camps and the Holocaust in general.  Especially because I finally realized the extent of the hatred towards Jews.  It wasn't just about mass murder, there was a concerted effort to literally wipe any trace of the Jewish culture off the map.

On Saturday morning, we went to Majdanek.  This is a concentration camp located next to the city of Lublin.  It operated from 1941-1944 as both a location for execution and work camp, with a specialty in shoe repair.  In 1944, the Soviets liberated the concentration camp and because it happened quickly, surprising the occupying Nazis, the Majdanek is greatly preserved compared to other camps.

Mass showers upon arrival to the camp

In this camp, the Nazis were unable to wipe out the vast array of their crimes.  The barracks, gas chamber, crematorium, and ashes of murder victims are well preserved.  This adds to the surreal feeling as you walk through the places where Germans brutally starved, beat, literally enslaved an entire population.    Historians estimate about 80,000 Jews and various political prisoners lost their lives in this one camp.

In comparison to Auschwitz, which I've visited twice, Majdanek seemed more cruel and barren.  Perhaps because it is not as commercialized and touristy.  From the camp you could actually see Lublin.  On the walls of the gas chambers, you see the blue remnants of Zyklon B, originally a pesticide but used for mass murder in most concentration camps.And perhaps most chilling was the mausoleum containing ashes of thousands of victims that the Nazis didn't have time to use as fertilizer for their gardens. 

The hole where Zyklon B was dropped into the gas chamber

View of Lublin from Majdanek

It wasn't until Sunday during our tour of Lublin that things started to really sink in.  We visited a place called Theater NN, the NN standing for anonymous.  Originally, it was built as a normal theater until one day a woman came in and told a story of growing up in the apartment the theater inhabited.  Her story and the story of all the other Jews in Lublin had been wiped out out the city's history.

Theater NN now documents through extensive research and oral histories the Jewish legacy in Lublin.  Every building in the old Jewish neighborhood has a binder with information about former residents, pictures, stories people remember.  And another room houses similar information about people who lived in the Jewish neighborhood.  It's a truly incredible undertaking by the museum and very well presented.

The concentration camps represent only one aspect of the Holocaust, mass murder.  They remind us of the great tragedies that were inflicted on people.  What I hadn't really comprehended until this weekend is that the Holocaust wiped out an entire culture.  Millions of Polish Jews died, but the Nazis also destroyed any trace of their existence.

In Lublin, the former Jewish neighborhood is now occupied by a park and parking lot.  There's no reminder that it used to be the center of a different culture.  Before WWII, Jews accounted for 1/3 of Lublin's population.  Today, there aren't enough Jews in Lublin to have proper Jewish religious ceremonies.    

Lublin before WWII, the areas north and west of the castle was the Jewish neighborhood and doesn't exist anymore.

Tombstone in Hebrew

We also visited an old Jewish cemetery.  Again, the cemetery was decimated by the Nazis so there are few tomb stones still intact and the ones still standing are in bad condition. 

This is the legacy of the Holocaust.  It's important to remember the dead, but also to imagine how different Poland would look with the continued contribution of a subculture that was almost completely eliminated.

In the end, seeing these things first had just pisses me off.  The lack of compassion and humanity it takes to strip men, women and children and make them parade around regardless of weather.  The idea that a piece of bread made with sawdust and watery coffee is substance.  The expectation of continued work in inhumane conditions with the penalty of death if you fail.

And yet, all these atrocities were perpetuated by normal people.  At Majdanek, we saw a video with pictures of the SS officers that worked in the camp.  They didn't look any different from the pictures of the Jewish prisoners being admitted to the camp, aside from a uniform and light hair.

"Soccer" ---Blame it on the Brits!

After mentioning the Superbowl yesterday in class, a rapid fire inquisition followed about why we call gridiron football "football", and European football "soccer".

So, after a brief sojourn into the wonderful world of Google, I found out a rather interesting tidbit of information that will FOREVER come in handy while living abroad when some football fan sneers at my use of the word soccer.

It's not some weird, Americans are better than the rest of the world so we have a different name situation.

Soccer is actually a British term for the game.

One of the wonderful sources I found...

"In fact, in the early days of the sport among the upper echelons of British society, the proper term for the sport was “Soccer”.  Not only that, but the sport being referred to as “Soccer” preceded the first recorded instance of it being called by the singular word “Football” by about 18 years.  This happening when it became more popular with the middle and lower class. When that happened, the term “Football” gradually began dominating over “Soccer” and the then official name “Association Football”."

There's actually some rather long and boring explanations about how languages translate the words soccer and football and use them differently to categorize and identify different athletic events.  However, the most important thing you learn from this today is that soccer is a British term.

Here's a British man actually trying to reclaim the British-ness of the term.  If you didn't know before now, modern soccer originated in Great Britain and spread to other countries. 

Snickers, Skittles, and Twix...oh my!

Walking into a Polish grocery store for the first time a few months ago, I was comforted by familiar sights at the checkout counter: Snickers, Twix, Skittles, and Orbit chewing gum.

Over the course of my time here, I've learned the "correct" pronunciation for these American items.  Unfortunately, if you ask for Skittles, the shop owners think you're speaking french.

So, here is you shopping lesson for the day.

Snickers-Sn-EE-ckers or Sn-ee-ts-krs
Twix-Tv-ee-x
Skittles- Sk-EE-tles
Orbit- Orb-ee-t

Poland vs. America: University Style

The Polish higher education system is fundamentally different than American universities.

Education is free.  ( With caveats: Under 26, if you pass the matura with a high score, etc)

My college degree is estimated to be worth around $80,000, the sum of my scholarship from CMU.  In comparison, the average Pole makes about $12,500 a year and average American makes about $50,054.  This led me to explaining that the true meaning of "poor college student" is taking out thousands of dollars in loans every year. 

If education is so much more expensive in the U.S., why would a Polish student WANT to go abroad and what should they expect during the experience?  During education week, I went to various high schools around Gdansk and talked with students about some of the positive aspects of American universities.

My experiences studying at the Warsaw School of Economics, teaching at University of Gdansk, and talking with students from many different universities informed some major comparisons I made during the talks.   This is just what I've been exposed to though, so I could be way off the mark.

First, I started with the campus situation and explaining that most students live on or near campus and away from their families. 

With a map of CMU

Polish students tend to go to universities near their homes and even commute one or two hours for their classes.  One of my Fulbright peers said she has students that take a train four hours one way to classes for their Masters!  Commuter schools exist in the U.S. but are far from the norm.  Most students live on campus for at least one year of college.

I also told them how close everything is at my university.  At Central, it takes about 20 minutes to walk from anywhere on campus to anywhere else.  University of Gdansk is located across eight or nine different neighborhoods in two different cities!

Next up, the pursuit of individuality.  Americans have a knack for encouraging dissenting opinions, giving voices to the minority, and protecting that freedom without end.  It goes to reason, that our education system would help perpetuate these ideals.

Now, I'm not knocking the Polish protection of freedom of speech, but merely pointing out that students in high schools and universities aren't generally encouraged to ask questions of their professors.  A friend at the medical university in Gdansk said that professors hate teaching in the English section because the students there (Americans, Germans, Arabians) ask significantly more probing questions about WHY something is so.

Dr. Phame Camarena and Judy Idema

 At CMU, I built relationships with my professors, called some by their first name, and occasionally got into spirited arguments when I thought they were flat out wrong.  Whereas, in Poland, this kind of behavior would generally be considered disrespectful and greatly frowned upon. 

 On the subject of professors, it seemed inconceivable to many of my students that I thought professors and deans could be great friendly and helpful people.  In my experience, professors are invested in the success of their students.  Without the careful encouragement of Phame, the Honors Director at my university, I wouldn't even BE in Poland because he pushed me to apply for the Fulbright.  There are a few other professors at CMU that had a direct and powerful impact on my intellectual capabilities and career goals.

Another area of individual attention that is generally lacking in my experience with Polish universities is class selection.  Yes, registration in the U.S. is a pain in the butt especially on the low end of the totem pole, but Americans take our vast array of classes for granted.  In many Polish universities (not all!), students are dictated their entire class schedule...there's not room for choosing between different class times or professors or classes.

Try explaining the way American universities work with their general education requirements, degree requirements, and major requirements.  All three aspects leave a great deal of room for each student to choose classes that most interest him or her.  I often use my sister and I as an example...we go to the same university with the same major (faculty) and yet I'd bet we've only taken two or three of the same classes because we have vastly different interests and career pursuits.

Hijab week coordinator aka my sister

 The last thing I really focus on during the talks is campus life.  Since Polish universities are mostly commuter schools, there isn't really a campus life.  There are a few student organizations, but they aren't supported and advertised by the universities.  I really highlighted the different cultures that American universities highlight.  Per usual, I mostly talked about CMU and mentioned things like the Pow-Wow, Hijab Week, and CommUNITY week.

Club dodgeball at Central Michigan

Polish universities don't have club sports or intramural sports.  There really isn't even intercollegiate sporting events to my knowledge.  So talking about the sports culture on college campuses and the affinity to your university for the rest of your life (hence the title of this blog: Chip Pride) was like telling Americans about hooligan culture in Europe.  Until you experience it, there really isn't a good explanation. 


Perhaps it's unfair to compare Central Michigan University and the University of Gdansk because they're already different.  If you look at commuter schools in the U.S. (Oakland, UM-Flint), they have similar extracurricular opportunities as Polish universities.    But, I think the general atmosphere of Polish and American higher education can be gleaned from being immersed in the universities.

Overall, I want to assure everyone that I don't hate Polish universities or think that they don't do anything right.  Students do succeed here and I have many smart friends and students.  Its moments of ethnocentrism when I can't imagine how Poland can't adopt some of the less formal aspects of American universities.

But, that's what most of my moments of incredulity are, ethnocentrism.  And the more time I spend in Poland, the more I realize how much I love America...and how hard it is not to compare!

Family Bonds...Surviving One Hundred Years!

My great grandmother, Katarzyna and her husband, Jozef

While I walked through the Katowice Airport on Friday night, a number of emotions filled my heart.  Excitement was probably the biggest, I was about to meet part of my family that didn't immigrate to the U.S.  There was also a very real sense of amazement, that I would be so fortunate to have the opportunity to seek out my family history.  And then there was a few moments of holy crap, I'm about to spend the weekend with a family I've never met before because their great grandma and my great grandma were sisters who were separated over 100 years ago.

Throughout my entire childhood, whenever the importance of family was mentioned,  at Wigilia or Easter time, during Polish dance performances, at Polish Masses, my thoughts have always wandered to my great grandparents who decided to leave Poland and come to the U.S.

This weekend, I was welcomed to Katowice to meet the grandson, Jan, of my great grandmother's sister.  Between my Polish skills, Grzegorz's (Jan's son and my third cousin) English, a dictionary, and Google Translate, I spent the weekend immersed in the history of Poland and my family.

One of the pictures of Ciocia's birthday

In the early 1900s, my great grandmother Katarzyna Dec moved from Poland to Detroit.  She left her parents and seven siblings (three who eventually came to the U.S. and one to Canada).  Her sister, Magdelena is my connection to Jan's family.

My plane arrived late on Friday evening, so we just spent some time chatting around the kitchen table.  I shared some pictures my dad sent of my Ciocia Genia's 90th birthday.  Thanks to a letter from Ciocia and many emails from my dad and Uncle Jim, Jan was well acquainted with our family in the U.S. 

On Saturday, we went out to a palace in Pszczyna. It's much different than any Polish palace I have seen before because it served as a hunting palace.  The walls in most of the rooms are covered with animal horns.  I kept thinking how much my uncles down south would be jealous! 

The palace wasn't just filled with animal trophies.  Obviously, there had to be some beautiful architecture.  It was a palace for nobles and thus had to reflect the monetary standing of the family.

On the right, you'll see pictures that reflect the hunting prowess of the owners.   On the left, there are a few examples of the extravagant lifestyle of the former owners.  

Pszczyna was part of the Piast dynasty...more information can be read here.

Kuba, Jan, and me outside the palace

After the sightseeing, we went back to their flat for some family history lessons.  Jan has a photo album with pictures of my great grandma's sister and her family.  It was incredible to listen to some of Jan's memories of growing up in Poland.   His godmother remembers my great grandmother leaving for the U.S. 

At some point in the history lesson, my translator disappeared.  Thankfully, I paid a lot of attention to the family vocabulary in my Polish classes.  I ended up with about an hour straight of Polish family in Polish.  I was impressed by how much I understood.  Jan said that because of communism and work, a lot of the family lost touch as they moved around Poland and Europe.  I also picked up some new vocabulary words, bliźniak (twin) and matka chrzestna (godmother).



Afterwards, Grzegorz and I watched Ogniem i mieczem (With Fire and Sword).  It's a movie based on Nobel Prize winner Henry Sienkiewiecz's first book in a famous trilogy.  The movie focuses on the 17th century uprising of the Cossacks.  Promise to write a whole different post about all the Polish history I've learned this weekend.

This song, Rota, was written in the 20th century.  Grzegorz thought it was important for me to listen to since I'm so interested in Polish history.  Although from a different time and war, this video has scenes from With Fire and Sword.

Gzregorz, me, and his mom outisde the church

 Sunday morning, we woke up and had breakfast (hotdogs and ketchup!)  The family's church is about a ten minute walk and a Franciscan monastery.  The 11 am Mass is in Latin.  The joy I felt at understanding the Mass and being able to fully participate was probably apparent to everyone who saw my smile as I sang along to the Gloria and Sanctus!






Since it was Independence Day in Poland, after Mass we went back to their flat to watch the ceremonies in Warsaw on tv.  Grzegorz explained to me about the different military branches and periods that the people on screen were representing.  It was cool to see a patriotic side of Poland because compared to the U.S. it is not common to see the national flag flying anywhere.

UFO!

After the festivities, Grzegorz, Kuba and Jan showed me some of the highlights of Katowice.  First, we saw one of the coal mines along with a special complex that was built specifically for the coal miners.  It's filled with apartments, shops, and even its own Catholic church.  Then we drove by the UFO...a sports complex and concert hall that literally looks like a unidentified flying object.

Jan, Grzegorz and me!

We also took a walk through a park near a monument to Polish scouts.  In WWII, the young scouts (similar to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) protected Katowice from the advancing Germans.  Their bravery and intense attack ended up pushing back the Germans.  In the end, the Germans returned with major fire power and killed all the young people.  So, the Poles erected a replica of the tower that the young people fought from. 

Before heading to the airport, Jan's wife prepared a wonderful traditional Silesian meal for me. And then Grzegorz, Jan, Maria, and me watched Ca Ira, an opera about the French Revolution in English that premiered in Poznan.  Grzegorz has seen it twice live and was a great help interpreting some of the stranger scenes for me

Grzegorz and me got a long well...we have many similar interests in history and the arts.  I learned a lot about our family but also Polish culture and history in general.  Jan and Maria are a lot like my parents...with Jan always telling corny jokes :)  I laughed constantly and had lots of hugs.  It was a perfect cure for the homesickness I've had.

If you made it to the end of this long post, I'll leave you with a laugh.  At the airport, before I went through security we stopped for a cup of coffee and Jan told me that he was worried I would be quiet and shy!  I almost spit my tea out in laughter...Kuba and Grzegorz laughed too.  Just one weekend and they know I'm not quiet by ANY standard.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.    Family is special...and apparently the bonds are thicker than different cultures and 100 years.  I can't wait to see them again!

Election Day from Poland

My political involvement has come an incredibly long way from the 10 year old girl who visited the polls with her mom on Election Day to pass out flyers for a family friend running for county commissioner.

This has made Fall 2012 incredibly interesting.  For the first time, I'm participating as an outsider.  Yes, I voted and watched the debates and posted newsclips on Facebook, but for the grand scheme of things I'm far outside the realm of influence. 

Mailed in over a month ago

 
There were no rallys to attend, no phone calls to make, no doors to knock, no signs to assemble, nor hands to shake.

Luckily, before I left I managed to make a few phone calls and attend a small rally in Detroit.

What has my life looked like during the elections?

Instead of a political operative, I've been utilized by the Polish community as a teacher of the political system.  For a country with direct popular vote, the electoral college is unnecessarily complicated and useless.  Over the past few days, I've talked to high school students, university students, and normal Polish people about how elections work.

Attempting to remove my opinion from such an emotionally charge election has been incredibly difficult, but I've survived!  It's been really interesting to compare the Polish elections with American elections.

At the American Corner, we held a mock election.  There was a "debate" between the two candidates and then everyone used pretend ballots to vote.  Romney won 11-5 with 2 votes for Jill Stein of the conversation night.

I helped count the votes.  Here "Romney" joined us for a victory speech.

After the conversation club festivities ended, I was interviewed by Radio Gdansk for my opinion on the race.  He asked who I thought would win.  My answer was Obama, but a Romney victory wouldn't surprise me at all!

As for Election Day, I spent about two hours explaining the "Road to the White House" to Polish high school students.  I took them through the whole shebang: primaries, conventions, debates, endorsements, Election Day, the Electoral College, and inauguration.

They thought it was strange that so many celebrities endorsed presidential candidates and that a candidate could lose the popular vote and still become president.

Had the students guess which celebrities endorsed which candidate...they were surprisingly good at it.

Question and answer session

As for the rest of the day?  I ate McDonalds because Election Day is not a day for healthy food...and stayed up pretty much all night to watch election results live.

This leads to a day as normal in Poland...where I'm operating on 4 terrible hours of sleep between 9-11 pm and 8-10 am.  Thank God for copious amount of caffeine and sugar.  I taught two classes today, made easy by group discussion of a U.S. diplomat's visit on Monday and election results from yesterday.  Much discussion about the difference between statehood and territorial status thanks to Puerto Rico's vote yesterday.

Although not pleased with the results for the presidency, there were some incredibly heartening examples of conservative principles winning out in my home state and across the country with the GOP strengthening its majority in the house and very pro-union propositions being kept out of the Michigan Constitution.

 Having survived four debates at 3 am, I'm incredibly happy for this whole ordeal to be over.  Except, while watching the election coverage yesterday someone mentioned 2016. 

Regardless of the outcome, my head and heart need a break for the campaigning. 

The Fifth of November...

V for Vendetta, Guy Fawkes, or the end of my second month in Poland.

Obviously, the latter is what's on my mind today as I reflect on the good and bad of the past two months.

I've only been in Gdansk for a little over a month, but it has been hard to remember that at times.  It's all too easy to become discouraged with my social life, or lack thereof.  Tired of struggling in Polish. And most of all, missing my faith community.

Praise God for the Internet.  I've spent some lazy Saturdays evening on Skype watching football with my dad.  And some of my worst days were made wonderful by unplanned calls from my sisters and a gang of Saudis or a really great conversation with my best friend Theresa planning her trip in February.

Best of all, is that in the past few days, a true life has been shaping up here.  Last night, I had dinner with an amazing Catholic family.  Although they don't home school, it was reminiscent of all my dinners and visits with my adoptive families in Mt. P.  And today, best of all, today I was invited to an English-language Bible study. 

Tomorrow, I'll hopefully finally call the priest my friend said speaks English.  Her Polish priest said Fr. Jacek's English is really good, but I'm a bit skeptical of his judgement of Fr. Jacek's English since he doesn't speak any himself. 

With Election Day tomorrow, I'm sure it will be a weird Tuesday and Wednesday as I wait for the election results on my own without a victory party.  I've also survived the entire election season without free pizza...a first in 12 years.  Check back Wednesday night or Thursday for my thoughts on the whole elections in a foreign land experience!

Long story short, the last month has been incredibly lonesome with good moments of friendship and activity.  However, the last week has been filled with friendship and just a few moments of homesickness.  I'm quiet optimistic about the future!

Prague Castle Tour

My whole trip to Prague can be found here.

 The history of the castle stretches back to the 9th century (870). The first walled building was the church of Our Lady.  The church on the left, Basilica of St. Vitus wasn't founded until the early 10th century.

The castle was continuously rebuilt, restructured, and added to up through the 20th century with the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral.  Somehow it survived the Germans and Soviet occupations of Prague and now exists as      the seat of the Czech government.    

The name St. Vitus was chosen because when the church was being built, King Wenceslaus, received the arm of St. Vitus from a Vatican emissary.

The legend says that Wenceslaus was very late to dinner with the Vatican emissary.  To punish him, the emissary devised a cruel joke to play at the dinner with other dignitaries to embarrass Wenceslaus. However, when Wenceslaus walked through the door, he had crosses in his eyes.  The emissary realized that he was not acting appropriately for a man of God and offered Wenceslaus anything in the church's treasury.  Instead of gold or riches, Wenceslaus chose the relic of St. Vitus.  The story is portrayed on the door to the church.

At sunset, the church towers glow.

The beautiful rose stained glass window sits above the main entrance of the church.  If you look closely beneath it in either corner are statues of the four men from the 1900s that oversaw the completion of the church.

It took nearly 600 years to finish  St. Vitus!

 One of the many beautiful parts of the castle includes this
mosaic of the rapture.  King Charles did his studying in Italy and fell in love with the mosaics that decorated the churches.  This particular mosaic has over one million stones in it.  





 The entrance to the palace is guarded by two Czech soldiers.  At noon they do a ceremonial changing of the guard, but I didn't have time to witness this.  The two statues are meant to intimidate people because, as my guide said, Czechs aren't very intimidating.  "Oh the Czechs are coming?  Great...do they have beer?"

Last thing I want to share is the jousting hall in the Royal Palace.

During the turn of the 16th century., there was a king who absolutely LOVED jousting.  Since the winter months weren't pleasant to sit outside and watch the revelry, he had one of the major halls renovated so that a man and horse in armor could fit through the doors.  It's 200x52x40  (ft.) with vaulted ceilings, one of the most masterful pieces of architecture at the time.

Stephanie Goes to Prague

“Hopefully we will have you safely on the ground soon.”  Those words after hearing the phrase technical difficulties in a plane aren’t exactly ones I’ve always hoped to hear.

Thus started my weekend adventure in Prague!  My first picture of the city...

I’ve organized this post a bit differently than some of my past ones.  There are a lot of stories because I packed in a ton of things.  So here I’m sharing pictures and the basics about my weekend and you can click on the very obvious links to read more about a specific part.  Also note...you can click on the pictures for a better view!

I arrived to my hostel around 9 pm on Friday night and was met by a pub crawl guide who convinced me to throw my things in my room and head out for a night on the town.

WORST pub crawl ever.  I had high expectations given my pub crawl in Dublin…thought we’d drink some good Czech beer and see some nice PUBS.  Nope, spent the night at really crowded clubs.  Also, I’ve gotten spoiled by the smoking ban in Poland and Michigan.  Czech bars are disgustingly smoke filled.  There are also people lighting up joints everywhere. 

 

Suffice to say I couldn’t get into a shower fast enough!

Saturday was cold, snowy, and rainy…like my feet were soaked by noon.  I couldn’t find my gloves so my poor hands took turns freezing as they held my umbrella.  It was so cold the rain froze on my umbrella...and mixed with the snow it was a mess.  A fresh perspective on the weather courtesy of Australians...

I did a walking tour of Prague on Saturday morning despite the nastiness.  Along the way, I met an awesome Aussie named Ashlee.   We became travel buddies for the day since we were both traveling alone.  

Highlights of the walking tour were the Astrological clock, lots of awesome architecture and Czech history.  The astronomical clock is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world and 3rd oldest altogether.  It was started in 1410.  There are three different ways to tell the time by it, the easiest being how many hours since the sun set the night before.

 

Pictured on the right is the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn.  The construction of this church began in the 14th century and is currently under renovation.  On Sunday, I took a peek inside and took a few "illegal" pictures!  It's an incredibly beautiful church.

Although not Czech, Mozart was apparently incredibly fond of Prague and found a very willing and enthusiastic audience amount the Czech people.  It was in this theater that his opera, Don Giovanni premiered.  There are still showings of the opera in the theater, and it is on my list of things to do next time I go to Prague.

More pictures and highlights along the walking tour are here.

After the walking tour, Ashlee and I grabbed some mulled wine (a new favorite drink of mine).  Then, given the cold weather and frozen state of our toes, we wandered into the Museum of Medieval Torture. I'm aware that the Church during the inquisition and many other people in power used different forms of torture to get "confessions", but the devices they used are incredibly strange, awkward, disgusting, and quite well-designed.  More torture things (WARNING VERY GROSS!).

After having a long time to thaw out, Ashlee and I decided to brave the weather and check out Charles Bridge, the #2 thing to see in Prague.  The bridge was started in the 14th century by then king Charles IV.  It is decorated with about thirty different statues and a stunning view of the Prague Castle, a bit obscured by the snow in my photo, but still beautiful.  Some cool stories about the Charles Bridge.

Amidst the wandering around Prague, I realized I kept seeing the Infant of Prague statues everywhere...and it dawned on me, I was IN Prague and should probably go see the baby Jesus.

I bought myself a beautiful piece of crystal with the Infant of Prague in it and stumbled into a priest who blessed me and my new statue!  

Saturday rounded out with a classical music concert inside an old Catholic Church.  Strangely enough, the church had a number of crazy colored balloons hanging from the ceiling.

 Sunday started where Saturday began, in church.  I couldn't find the Mass I thought I was going to go to, but stumbled on another parish with twenty minutes to spare.  So I started wandering around and snapping a few pictures.  I sadly forgot to get the name of the church, but it was the basilica of someone!

After Mass, I went to the Chocolate Museum to learn about the history of chocolate making in Prague and the world.  It was a lot more informative than I thought...AND I learned how to make chocolate pralines from the cool chocolate chef in the museum.  Wanna know how?  Read more here!

After the museum, I decided to climb to the top of the Astrological clock.  Scroll up if you forget what it looks like, cause the next pictures are from the top of it looking out at the city.

My last activity in Prague was a three hour walking tour of the Prague castle (also in the background of that picture).  It's the world's biggest castle according to  Guinness and the #1 tourist attraction.    Sunday in the Czech Republic was a big holiday, the first constitution of Czechoslovakia.  Although no longer a country, it was interesting to see someone sing the old anthem in the castle grounds.

The Prague Castle is the official seat of the president.  And my guide, a Czech native, called the three flags outside of the president's residence "overkill of patriotism."  So I told him about Union Station...and the fact that my family own multiple American flags.

For more on the Prague castle...you want these pictures!

One interesting fact about the Prague castle, the first president of Czechoslovakia was good friends with Mick Jagger.  Some how, Jagger found out that the Czechs couldn't afford to light up the beautiful Prague castle in their post-communist economy.  So he sent his lighting technicians to Prague and funded the entire lighting system of the castle. Czechs literally have moves like Jagger.

The tour ended at the John Lennon Wall.  A remnant of the communist era when Western music was prohibited, the Czechs started a small culture war with the Soviets over the wall after the death of John Lennon.  In the end, the communists allowed the wall to stay in place after trying to paint over it and block access on multiple occasions.  It is a continuously changing piece of art as people add their own favorite Lennon lyrics to the wall when visiting.

All in all, I fell in love with Prague.  I'm more than happy to answer questions if I can.  Wiki might do a better job than me.   And I REALLY hope you enjoyed these pictures!