September 23rd-29th, 2018
Sunday
I went to a Latin church, Kościół Świętego Krzyża (Roman Catholic Parish of the Holy Cross). It was at 7:15pm. Latin may have been spoken, but I only heard Polish. Mass started with a great organ composition. I really wanted to record a part of it, but I thought it would be disrespectful since this church did not allow photography. Then there was a choir. After close to ten minutes, the priest came out and started to talk. Then he was singing, and the people around me were singing. It was beautiful. I did not hear people singing in St. Mary’s Basilica.
I wish I could have joined in. I felt like a weekly attendee and a stranger all at once. It was very comfortable. Communion began after the message. I wasn't the only "tourist" (technically I'm a student) and I was glad to not be the only one sitting out.
More organ playing, singing, prayers, more singing, and finally more organ while the apprentices cleared the altar and the table that held symbolic items. On the table, a mic and a book were placed. The priest came out and it looked like he was going to read more so I ducked out because I had an essay to write and it was already 8:20pm. On the way back I passed a theater. I want to watch a performance there.
*I would like to note that I also visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine this day. You can read about it here.
Monday
In class it was less familiar material. I struggled more because the concepts I had learned on my own had been taught a little differently.
After class, I went back to my room and made lunch. I blogged. Around 3:15 I hurried to leave for an information meeting at the department of Humanities and Social Sciences. It was in little classroom #11, which is almost at the top of the building. More stairs.
After the meeting, Dr. Scott Simpson gave a lecture on Culture Shock. His insight was great for the paper I want to write on the European education system. I need to sit down and collect my thoughts from the last two weeks. I did experience student favoritism in Europe as well. People who have better pronunciation skills are chosen to talk and answer more. If you struggle with talking (not even comprehension, but just the sounds of the words) my teacher seems to assume that you do not have much potential. Maybe she does not want to hear bad accents anymore. On the sunny side, when students get something mostly right she does give approval and praise. I got a good job, "Dobrze", on my pronunciation once. I was very estatic because I feel like mine is awful--this thought was influenced by my instructor's praise to a few specific students.
Towards the end of the lecture Dr. Simpson asked us what our goals were while we were in Poland. I could have said so many things. I said that I wanted to compare the US and European education systems and meet many people. I also wanted to become aware of the ecosystems in Europe. Although thaat will be hard in the winter, he suggested connecting with the Entomology club at UJ.
We had a short break so we went for Paczki at some mysterious franchise on Ul. Grodzka. I got Paczek z Czekoladą. The chocolate (white and dark) was very rich and thick so it slowly melted while eating. There was so much flavor! The doughnut was light, spongy, and subtly sweet.
After the lecture and donuts, we did an escape room. We had the option between robbing a bank, a murder (in the dark), and one other. I wanted to do the room that was completely dark. It was a murder scenario. Two men were looking for a woman (I do not know why) at her house, they committed the murder, threw her in a closet, and left a bomb in the apartment. We were blind folded. When the narration was complete we could start. If you want to read how we escaped click here or check out the Escape Room post.
After all that fun, I had a hard night. My class had been assigned over eight pages of homework exercises. I also wanted to review for Thursday's exam. It was a late night.
Tuesday
I stayed in my room after school. Blogging, reading, recouping.
Wednesday
I found out that I may take Ecophysiology of Insect and I added an English course with Wilkes University's approval. Blogging, editing photos, and studying a lot for the exam tomorrow.
Thursday
Class exam! I think I did well; it wasn't hard at all. I got an A in the class. A few of us rewarded ourselves with Awiteks at Krupnicza 28, 33-332 Kraków. It is a common bakery.
After class, I relaxed until about 18:00. Then it was game night time! We went to the mysterious apartment complex at Ul. Dwernickiego 5. Behind the big doors there was a shabby alleyway that led to a small building. Our RD gave a password at the door and inside we went to a small bar like setting, except everyone was playing board games. The place was called Hex and it was a board game cafe. Along the one side across form the bar counter, there were shelves of games from everywhere in the world.
In the last picture, my RD has a look that denotes, "Oh goodness. Another one? This girl takes too many pictures."
We played "Dix it" first. You have cards with images and one person must describe their card so that others have a chance to guess it, but not too easily. Everyone looks at their own cards and chooses one that sounds like the one you have (no two cards in the deck are the same). The chosen cards are collected and missed, then played out in a line. Each person has chips numbered 1-10. The group chooses which way to number the cards in the line and then act person takes a number marker that corresponds to the card in the line they think was the original players card. If I thought was the third card it the line, I would place marker 3 on that card. I ended up winning this game by a landslide.
Next, we played Cards Against Humanity (with some Polish phrases thrown in). The person who had come in last for Dix it was first.
After game night, I went out with some of the group to House of Beer. We were seated on the lower level which is through the green door, past a small room, and then to the right down two flights of stairs. It was farther away from the actual bar so that was fine.
They ordered drinks and some fries/ribs. I was really hungry and was sold on the vegan salad. It was the best salad I have had. For a bar at 9:30pm on a Thursday night, they knocked it to the moon with that dish. It was way too good!Around 10:30pm we started to leave, and I decided to walk home.
I feel safe in Poland at night so I told them I would text them when I got to the apartments. Well, on the way home a person (speaking polish) asked me how to get to Rynek. I told them (in Polish) I did not speak much Polish. They asked, "American?” and started to ask in English. I told them it was straight ahead after a quarter mile. Basically it surrounds Stare Miasto. This person was so happy for the help, that they wanted to introduce themselves to me. At this point I realized, they’re not lost. The guy had two airplanes in his left hand. His name was Andriy or Taras and he was from Ukraine. I think Taras fits better given its meaning ("going beyond") because this guy went too far when he asked and tried to give me a hug saying “I like you”, and then proceeded to ask for my number. I told him no and started to leave. He asked, “Why?”
“Because I have to go.” He left me alone. I had been doing well to not talk to people because people generally do not talk to you. In Poland, you only talk to people on the streets if you know them. Otherwise, it’s just not culturally acceptable to say hello to everyone or talk to others at a bus stop. You just keep to yourself. *Later I found the airplanes in Zakopane and this "great" memory resurfaced.
Friday
I could not help but notice more construction progress on Ul. Sławkowska:
I got my exam back and I did so well! My teacher was very pleased. She had faith in her students (she always told us we were such a great class of high quality), but she did have her moments where you could tell who were her favorite students or who she thought was more equipped to be successful. In class we learned a song/game called Stary niedźwiedź mocno śpi. We also learned Chusteczkę Haftowaną. It is a wedding game. This is a short video from online that matches the music style from class. Here is a longer one that shows more of the game.
We also learned that a popular Polish tongue twister is Król Karol kupił krolowej karolnie korale koloru koralowego. We have a small variety of students so we also learned German, Malay, and American tongue twisters.
It was a fun and easy day. We gave our teacher a lovely card and she gave us our certificates for the class credit based on exam scores.
After class, I rushed home to cooked lunch, then walked back to the square for my underground Museum experience. It was amazing how the city used to be built and how the ruler was able to use trading with other countries (Poland wasn’t a country at the time) to create a successful market area and city.
