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!