St. Stephen's Day

Happy St. Stephen’s Day! Although not much recognized in the US, St. Stephen’s is considered a “second Christmas day”. As we found out today, not much is open on St. Stephen’s Day either.

If you did not read Lisa’s blog of our Christmas Eve evening with the Draniewicz’s, please do http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2009/12/wonderful-polish-christmas-experience.html

As she also noted, we spent Christmas afternoon on a train and spent the night in Warsaw. Our final destination is Bratislava, Slovakia, but that is a 13 hour train trip from our home in Gdansk. Our plan was to break the trip up into two days, five hours to Warsaw, and spend the night. Then today, the remaining eight hours to Slovakia (going through the Czech Republic).

We left our Warsaw hotel this morning after a great breakfast buffet . Good thing we had the buffet, as all the train station eating places were closed.

We got on our train bound for the Czech Republic at 9:45. As usual, we reserved a six person compartment, three seats facing the other three seats. Keeping the kids occupied, and me from killing at least one in that small prison cell is always a trial.

As Warsaw is right in the middle of Poland, we still had to get through the southern half of the country. That took about four hours on the train. Southern Poland is very rural and very beautiful. We enjoyed the scenery. We were riding on a Czech train (Warsaw to Prague), which is much nicer than what Poland typically offers.

We crossed over Poland’s border and into the Czech Republic at about 1 p.m. Not far from the border was the station where we had to change trains. We had about an hour layover at the station, and it was our plan to grab a bite. Although the station is medium sized, absolutely nothing was open today. Well, except for this greasy spoon restaurant (and that is giving greasy spoons a bad name).

They had a large menu of items on the wall and the kids picked out what they wanted. We began to order. The counter lady stopped us quickly and signaled (the only English words she knew were “ketchup” and “mayonnaise”)- and indicated they had nothing on the menu today: just the items we actually saw, pre-made, sitting in front of us behind the glass. It consisted of about six or seven different sandwiches, which had been there for who knows how long. Plus she had cold french fries. We basically ordered all she had left. She even had to put the french fries in the microwave to warm them up.

Problem two: they do not take credit cards and the Czech Republic has its own money/currency. As we were only spending an hour in this country, I did not plan on getting any of their money. I only had Polish Zloty’s and Euros. So I had to find a ATM and make a withdraw to get just enough Czech Koruna to cover our pitiful lunch. The bill came to 347 Czech Koruna (about $19).

After about an hour in the Czech Republic, we boarded a Slovakian train for our three hour trip to Bratislava.

The Slovakian train was even nicer. Again, amazingly few people traveling today. We took two compartments and stretched out a little. Slovakia is full of mountain ranges and is a popular place to ski in Central Europe. We traveled along side the Tatra Mountains (part of the Carpathian Mountain ranges) for several hours. Also, as we are now much further south in Europe- the sun stayed up much later. We actually traveled the full entire north/south length of the Czech Republic.

We finally arrived at our destination at 6 p.m. We have a great three bedroom apartment in Bratislava, about 1/2 mile from the historic downtown. For those not familiar with Slovakia, it is half of the former Czechoslovakia. The entire country is about the size of two New Jersey’s and has only five million people. Bratislava is the capital.

It has done quite well for itself since the fall of the Soviet Union. It has one of the better performing countries. Slovakia just adopted the Euro 11 months ago, so all prices are stated in Euros as well as Slovakian Korunas. Everything has two price tags on it, and you can pay with either currency. They will use both currencies for another month or so, then the Koruna will go away and only the Euro will be accepted.

Our first and only order of business tonight was to get something to eat. The downtown area was only a few blocks from our apartment, so we left in search of food. Again, every place was closed. We could have kept walking and maybe found something, but place after place was closed expect one: McDonalds. To my great chagrin (but my childrens’ delight), that is where we ate. Our McDonald’s bill was 832 Slovakian Korunas (or 27 Euros).

Tomorrow is a day for Castles, the Danube, and other touristy places.

Christmas in Poland- Wesołych Świąt

Wesołych Świąt,

The weather here has broken. Europe had quite cold spell from the Ukraine to France. Rail and air was grounded through much of Europe. We have a good Fulbright friend of ours (Leanne) who decided to go back to the States for the Holidays. She left Poland, and has been stuck in Paris for 3 days. Now getting “stuck” in Paris might sound nice, but I am sure when your bags are checked and you are living on airport food for days, well.... But similar things are happening all over Europe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8425805.stm

However, today we started to warm back up and thaw. Just in time of our trip later in the week.

I taught my last class of the season yesterday. My attendance on Monday and Tuesday was about 25%. We have a much shorter break here than colleges do in the States. In the States, I would be “off” for about 5 weeks during the holidays. Here is it really just the week between Christmas and New Year (like a real job). We start classes back up in Gdansk on January 4th.

Another difference is the semester term. In the States, Christmas Vacation (over here you are allowed to call it Christmas Vacation) would signal the end of the semester. Then after the Christmas break, you would start the next semester. Here we are only 75% done with the Fall semester which does not end until the beginning of February. So I have about a month left of this semester when we return from Christmas break.

Speaking of Christmas Vacation- I treated the family to that movie last night. I love Cousin Eddie! With Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid, It’s probably one of the closer depictions of a real family gathering at the holidays. It's not the Christmas season until you watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Earlier this week we also showed the kids the classics: Rudolph, A Year Without Santa and Frosty the Snow Man. It is hard to believe all of those were made before even Lisa and I were born. They really hold up over time.

Of course Christmas in Poland is a special event. They have their own unique traditions.

First, the big event day is Christmas Eve (Wigilia)- not Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve (Wigilia) it is traditional in Poland to:

-It is a day first of fasting, then of feasting. You fast until the first star comes out. That is normally the childrens' job is to look for the first star to appear in the sky. Now luckily as it gets dark at 3 p.m.--you are not fasting long.

-The feast begins with the appearance of the first star; there is no meat in the feast. Mostly fishes. Carp is the big item on the table (their version of a turkey). Poppy Seed cake is also important.

-In some households, bits of hay are spread beneath the tablecloth as a reminder that Christ was born in a manger.

-An even number of people must be seated around the table or, tradition states, someone may die in the coming year.

-The meal begins with the breaking of the opłatek (an unleavened bread). Everyone at the table breaks off a piece and eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ. They then share a piece with each family member giving good wishes for the following year.

-There should be twelve dishes of food, as a symbol of the Twelve Apostles.

-Poppy seed cake, beet soup, prune dumplings, carp, herring and noodles with poppy seed are universal Polish Christmas foods. Traditionally, there is no meat eaten on Christmas Eve. Often there is compote of dry fruits.

-How you spend the Wigilia signifies how the next year will be for you and your family.

-Then presents are opened after dinner.

-Midnight Mass is very very common.

-Christmas Day and then the 26th (as second Christmas Day) is spent visiting friends (we will spend it on a train).

Some of the above we will follow this year and some we will not be able to (no Carp unfortunately, and I doubt Lisa will put together a 12 course meal. Lisa promised a 12 course meal next year when she is in her own kitchen).

So what did I ask Santa for this year?  A Gate's BBQ brisket sandwich.  I miss Midwest beef (Poland is the land of pork)!

We have been very honored to be invited to our landlord’s (The Draniewiczs') for an after dinner glass of wine and conversation. We are excited about the evening.

Then off to Slovakia and Budapest the next day.

So again, Wesołych Świąt!

Warsaw

I am in the middle of giving an examination to my undergraduates.  So while they are praying and/or cursing, I thought I could catch up on my blog.

Last week we were in Warsaw for my mid-year Fulbright meeting. Warsaw is about a five hour train ride directly south. Recall that Gdansk is in the very north of Poland, and Warsaw is basically in the middle. Five to six hours are about a much as the kids can handle on a train, we have determined. This train was quite nice and had a restaurant car.

I will not go into much family detail on our trip, as Lisa was quite good in blogging our activities each day. If you are not subscribed to her blog, I suggest you do.  You can read our many Warsaw adventures here.

http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/

The top three blog entries are on Warsaw. If you have not, please give them a look. I am trying not to repeat what Lisa has already said.

As I mentioned, it was not all fun and games- I did have a meeting to attend. Most of the Polish Fulbrighters came from their cities for a meeting with the Program Director and Executive Director. I spent 10 days with these scholars in September, and it was great to see them again. Before and after our meetings, we caught up at dinners and accompanied each other to sites. Most had not met Lisa and the kids before.

Our meeting was an informal gathering to let the scholars discuss how the program is going and obstacles people are facing. This is then used to help the next batch of Fulbrighters who come next year. The topic that dominated the meeting was the issue(s) of visas, which have been problematic for many. We also discussed other travel opportunities and some administrative items.

We meet again for our final meeting in May. At that time, we also get to take our families to the US Ambassador to Poland’s residence. I have not met the new Ambassador.  He is an Obama appointee and just arrived. I had met the former Ambassador (a Bush appointee). He stayed on until this past October.

I love Warsaw. It is huge, and struggling with its own growing pains. In many ways it does remind me of New York. It is a perpetual traffic jam. That said, in my opinion, it can be classified as one of the “Great Capitals of Europe.”

The history is phenomenal, from the Jewish and Polish struggles during WWII, to medieval Warsaw, to Post-Communist Warsaw. Lots of skyscrapers, culture and history to see and do. Like New York or Paris or Berlin, you could spend a couple of weeks in Warsaw without seeing everything.

On the culture side (not my strong suit; I am a history guy...) is Frédéric Chopin. You might recognize Chopin’s name as one of the great classical composers. He was from Warsaw and they are getting ready to celebrate his 200th birthday in 2010. The entire year will feature Chopin concerts put on by some of the best orchestras in the world who will all be traveling to Warsaw. Although he died and is buried in Paris, he asked that upon death, his heart be removed and returned to Warsaw. It is held in a parish church in downtown Warsaw today. The comment goes that no matter where he lived, his heart belonged to Warsaw.... Also, if you are a Vodka drinker- try a bottle of Chopin. It is a great Polish made Vodka. Other than the name, it has nothing to do with him, but it is good.

Our apartment was in Old Town. Although most European cities have an “Old Town,” this has an interesting history. Although centuries old, the Warsaw Old Town was completely destroyed by the Nazis in 1943-1945. General Eisenhower toured Old Town soon after the Yanks arrived and could not believe the destruction.

However, the Poles had hundreds of pictures of what Old Town looked like. It was completely rebuilt to look exactly like it was prior to 1943. In fact, if you did not know better you would think these 40 year old buildings were over 400 years old. They did a great job in historical reconstruction.

A picture of Old Town before and after.....

 

Although most European city destruction was the ravages of war, Warsaw was a planned destruction. 85% was purposely destroyed by the Nazis. A couple of Nazi quotes “ The city must completely disappear from the surface of the earth and serve only as a transport station for the Wehrmacht (German Army). No stone can remain standing. Every building must be razed to its foundation." SS chief Heinrich Himmler, October 17, SS officers' conference
 
"Warsaw has to be pacified, that is, razed to the ground."
Adolf Hitler, 1944"

Interested in some other before (in 1945) and after (today) shots of Warsaw- I found a site- http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?s=9c24ca47388fb3c6ebbf375c18efb095&p=30310178&postcount=33

Warsaw was great. I have now been to this city a number of times. I look forward to coming back soon.

Back to Work and a Cautionary Tale

For those who think I am just traveling through Europe all on the taxpayer’s dime, you are only partially right.

First, I must admit, it is “taxpayers money". Fulbright is a part of the State Department, which of course is funded by your tax dollars. So Thanks a Bunch! I am enjoying myself!

Alas, I must also work. As mentioned in previous blogs, I have three classes plus one seminar that meets on occasional weekends. Two of my classes are Master’s level and one is Bachelor’s level, all in the School of Management and Economics. Also, as noted before, I am teaching basically the same classes here that I do in the US. In fact, I am even using the same book, study questions and examination format as I would for my American students. So, I think these are fair comparisons.

Here are some of my observations on the students.

Quite a bit is made in the news about ”foreigners“ taking US jobs. This first started in manufacturing in the 1970s, and in recent years has moved into services and even managerial jobs. The US had a great advantage for several decades in the job market. So, what have I learned based on teaching the next generation of European workers?....

Frankly these Polish and other European students are as strong as students in the US. They are as driven, they want to take risks. Many want to start their own businesses.

Keep in mind, my students are young enough that they have really never lived a day under Communism. Frankly, they know little about Communism. I actually know more (given the fact I was a Cold War child and history nerd). I tell them stories..... Furthermore, they do not care about Communism. That is something in their history books or stories that Grandma tells. Young students today are about jobs, careers, Capitalism and money.

I have asked my students (the ones near graduation) what their future plans are. About half wish to stay in Poland and about half want to move to other parts of the EU or Asia. Interestingly, I have not met any student that desires to move to the US.

That said, all of these students are very proficient in English. They realize English is the international language of business and globalization, and they chose to take their degree in the English language. There is a parallel Polish language track, but they want to work in English. Interestingly, they also have a desire to learn Spanish.  It is the second most common language requested here.

One of the reasons I am here, is there are more students who want to take classes in English, than there are professors that can teach in English. That also says something about the generational difference. As children, many current professors learned Polish and Russian, or Polish and German. Most of the Professors at my business school CAN speak reasonable English (to have a conversation), but they are not confident enough in it to teach or give lectures.

So, is there a worry about foreign graduates taking the jobs of US graduates? Absolutely.  Even if you argue that US students vs foreign students are ”the same“ when it comes to intellect, skills, desire, entrepreneurship, etc, it still increases the candidates for jobs well beyond the US borders. Actually, if you do the math, our American college educated job pool now only makes up a fraction of the world’s English speaking college educated job pool. Of course, companies know this. I have seen many of the big US and European companies (like Coke, Dell Computers, etc) all here recruiting.

Not to get political on you, but you can take the Lou Dobbs approach, and call for the US to close its borders to jobs leaving. I always thought that idea was silly, but after living here and meeting these people, the idea is even sillier. Frankly, that will be like holding back Niagara Falls with a teaspoon. It is just no longer the world reality.

Now countries like Poland are not going to take over the world tomorrow.  They still have political and infrastructure systems to improve. But they are improving them.

So, I not only have to worry about my children competing against other US children when they graduate college, but also worry about children from all over the world becoming part of the employment pool. And their skills are good!

Now my comments are directly based my Poland experience (which I doubt anyone would have thought would be a threat to future US jobs).  But Poland is just one of many countries all doing the same thing throughout Central and Eastern Europe, India and Asia. The job candidate pool gets larger every year, and companies have lots and lots more choices for smart new workers.

So what is my advice for my children in this new world order? I have no idea. If I did, I would write a book and not need a Fulbright to travel and experience Europe. I just know the playing field has grown much larger, and I must admit I am impressed with their progress.

My next blog will be over the similarities and differences in teaching these students and my teaching style.

Prussians, Nazis and Communists

Berlin is a terrific city. It is quite large (over five million in the greater metro area) and very cosmopolitan. You cannot even make a fair comparison between Berlin and Gdansk. Gdansk is 10 times smaller and a regional hub; whereas Berlin is one of the biggest and most important cities in Europe.

Germany as whole is quite a contrast to Poland. Germany is twice as wealthy as Poland ($35,000 PPP vs $16,000 PPP) and had quite a bit more time to develop. Germany has been part of the European Union since 1957, whereas Poland only joined in 2004. Of course, Germany uses the Euro and Poland still has its own currency, the zloty (Poland is suppose to move to the Euro in the next few years). Berlin is also much more “English” friendly. Berliners (at least the West side) have been learning and speaking English for decades. So as Lisa said, “Berlin feels much more familiar”.

That said, my German language skills are about as good as my Polish. Unfortunately, I learned all my German by watching Hogan’s Heroes reruns.

Berlin is expensive, as any big city would be; think New York, then add our very weak dollar to the equation, and it becomes very, very expensive. Even taking the family to the public toilets costs the equivalent of $10. I think we will tour the poor EU countries from now on. Actually, there are two more German cities I want to get to before we leave, Munich and Hamburg (south and north Germany).

Berlin is also not afraid of it's nudity. Big billboards of naked models adorn the streets, and all the naked magazine covers are right in the fronts of the stores. There was a 20 foot tall billboard of a topless model at our train stop. Ben is ready to come back here anytime.

We spent five days in Berlin and saw most of the sites and did our share of shopping. You can basically divide Berlin into three modern histories: the Prussians, the Nazis and the Communists. We made sure we experienced a little of each. I am sure the kids do not appreciate the subtleties. They just think I am dragging them from one old thing to another (which I am- that’s the Professor’s job!).

Berlin was the Capital of the Prussian Empire for a few hundred years. Famous historical figures such as King Fredrick the Great, Kaiser Wilhelm I & II and Chancellor Otto Bismarck were all here. We toured one of the Prussian Palaces built by the first Prussian King, Fredrick I (he was Fredrick the Great’s grandfather). In addition, we toured the Berliner Dom, the large church where pretty much all the Prussian Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are buried. Like in England and Austria, the Prussian Royalty are all decended from the same family, the Hohenzollern. Interestingly, Gdansk (where we live in Poland) was part of the Prussian Empire until 1919. That is where it obtained its other name; Danzig (the Germans still call our city Danzig).

As for the Nazis, we saw the site of the SS and Gestapo headquarters, the building where the notorious “Final Solution” was crafted and several monuments to the murdered Jews of Europe. They are currently excavating the SS/Gestapo headquarter building, and creating a museum called the Topology of Terror.

We also saw Hitler’s parade grounds and the 1936 Olympic Stadium he built (where Jesse Owens embarrassed him by beating his “superior” Aryan race). The stadium was recently refurbished (but still holds all the 1936 Olympic symbols and monuments, and is now the home to Berlin’s soccer club). As you can imagine, Berlin is quite proud of its Prussian heritage and fight against communist- but of course, there are no monuments to the Nazis or anything like that. You really have to hunt to find most of the remaining Nazi buildings and places.

Probably the biggest aspect visible from the Nazi era are the city buildings themselves. When the Russians descended on Berlin- they bombed the city continuously from 1943 to 1945. Over 80% of all structures in the city were destroyed. So, in many ways, Berlin is a new city, built from the ashes. One building (a bombed out church) remains standing as reminder of what the city looked like in 1945.

Then, of course, there is the Communist era. Berlin not only had the “Wall”, but was really a symbol for the entire Cold War. As I mentioned in my last blog, it is hard now to tell when you are in former East or West Berlin. It is just Berlin. That said, the East side still has a lot more poverty than the West side. I am so glad my kids got to see and touch the Wall. Also mentioned earlier, this is why we picked this particular week to come here. It is the 20th anniversary of the Wall’s fall.

Lastly, we saw the German Chancellor’s house.  Angela Merkel is the current resident, and the Reichstag (the Parliament building), which was also famous during the Nazi period for Hitler’s fiery speeches.

The big news here was the suicide of the soccer goalie of the German national team (Robert Enke). He jumped in front of a train on Wednesday and took his life. It was a big shock to everyone in the country. It was front page news for several days. The funeral was held in the Hanover soccer stadium (it was packed) and televised live. Again, it shows you how seriously the Germans take their fussball.

With the kids, our constant fight is over food. First, they are always hungry, then they don’t like anything the restaurants and cafes serve. They don’t like those exotic European items such as tomatoes, lettuce or anything with a sauce.

They want every meal at McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut. I have philosophical disagreement with eating at any American fast food place while in Europe, except for a few rare occasions.

The famous local cuisine in Berlin is the currywurst. It is long wurst, that has a special tomato and curry based sauce. The wurst is twice as long on as the bun, you use the bun as a handle while eating. You can buy them on every street corner and they are quite good. But you can imagine the kids reaction to them. Most just eat the roll (as long as you scrape the sauce off it). Schnitzel went over a little better; we just told them they were big chicken nuggets.

Finally, today is Natalie’s 13th birthday. We had a small celebration last night (today is a 7.5 hour train ride) and brought some presents with us. I am not sure she realizes it now, but spending your 13th birthday in Berlin is pretty special. However, this was the second birthday celebration where Lisa could not find a proper birthday cake. A box of Duncan Donuts with candles had to substitute.

Not sure where to put this in my blog- but it needs to be somewhere. Apparently the Germans are both literal as well as visual people. You like the sign for the bathroom in front of the stadium? Direct, to the point, leaving nothing to the imagination- very German! My father-in-law may enjoy this the most.

Back to Gdansk, then off to Warsaw in two weeks.

Wall Day

This is a very special year to be in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the 20th anniversary of most of the former Soviet controlled countries gaining their freedom after 50 years. We are witnessing constant celebrations and memorials to 1989.

We specifically chose this week to visit Berlin. Of course, it is the 20th anniversary since the Berlin Wall fell, and East Berlin was finally reunited with West Berlin. It has become the symbol of the entire collapse of the Soviet system, and communism in Eastern and Central Europe.

For the last week Berlin has been in high celebration, remembering their magical night when the wall fell (I well remember watching it on TV. Lisa and I were dating at the time).

The events culminated on Monday when the leaders of the world (and Hillary) joined each other in a ceremony with the Berliners. Nothing necessarily against Hilary, but every other important country in world, including Russia, sent their President. We sent a Cabinet member. Same thing occurred on the 70th anniversary commencement of the beginning of WWII back in September.

So, today was our day to show the kids the Wall. I called it “Wall Day”.

Ironically, very little of the Wall is left. In the exuberance to “tear down this wall,” they literally did. It was not until almost all sections were gone, did some question if they should not leave up parts as a reminder to future generations. So only a few small sections of decaying concrete remain. A few hundred feet here and a few hundred feet there.

We started at one of the most iconic spots for the wall- the Bandenburg (Tor) Gate. This famous 18th century landmark was actually on the East German side (and faced the east), and the wall ran right in front of it. Most young West Berliners had never actually seen the front of the Brandberg Gate before November 9th, 1989. It was on the back side of the gate (on the West side), where President Reagan gave his famous speech to “tear down this wall” in 1987.

On Monday evening, the leaders of the world (and Hillary) symbolically walked from the east side of the gate, then through it, and then stopped on the west side just past where the wall had stood. That walk would have been impossible 20 years before.

Today, all that is left of the wall is a foot wide path of bricks embedded in the street that show exactly where the wall once stood. Those ambitious enough can follow the bricks the entire 150Km of the length of the wall. We took a photo of our kids (near the Brandenburg gate) straddling either side of what was once the wall. The wall went though streets crossings, subway stations, and even in some cases buildings (they have a great picture of the East Germans blowing up a big, beautiful church as it stood in the way of where the wall needed to go).

Other than the bricks in the street, you really have a hard time knowing when you are in former East Berlin or West Berlin. Berlin has done a great job integrating the two former separate sectors. That said, as you travel further east, you can still see some of the former soviet influence in the remaining buildings.

One of our stops was at Check Point Charlie, a border crossing between East and West. Originally is was just the third of seven border crossing (the “C” in Charlie being the third letter of the alphabet). However it later gained fame as a place of conflicts; tank standoffs between Russia and the West as well as daring escapes. The guard house still stands and a nice man in an American Military uniform will happily take a picture with you for a Euro (per kid). We were fighting for capitalism, weren’t we?

We walked along the bricks and followed the Wall path for several blocks. We saw a small remaining section of the Wall (about 100 meters) that is still in tact. However, it is in such bad shape that they protect it with a fence and barbed wire (rather ironic if you think about it). You can see the Wall and its deterioration behind our kids.

Now this is it is very important for my kids to see the actual wall in place. As I mentioned, most is gone and the rest in deteriorating. I would imagine that they will be the last generation to see Wall, as nature shall soon take it (it is really just made from cheap concrete).

We then got on to an S-Bahn and took the train deep into the east side of the city. This is where the longest piece of the Wall still stands (about 3/4 of a mile). It is called the East Side Gallery. They have allowed artists from around the world to come and paint murals on this remaining long section. It is rather neat to see the wall put to this use. The murals are very well done and creative. We enjoyed our walk up and down this long section to see the art.

 

Back to the Bandenburg Gate where we started our day. This is my second time at the Gate since 2007. The same thing makes me smile every time I see it. On the former East side, just 75 yards from where the East German Communist Guard houses and the Berlin Wall stood, today stands a Starbucks! Lenin must be rolling over in his grave.

Statistics, Torture and Amber

We are finally in a groove here in Gdansk. A normality of a routine is settling in (which is a good thing). We have a few unresolved items with residency to complete, but we are officially expat Poles for the next nine months.

I have basically finished my set of weekend seminars on Intermediate Statistics for Politechika’s Masters students. These specific students have full time jobs and attend their educational program on the weekends. I have taught statistics at the graduate and undergraduate level for probably 13 years. The material is the same anywhere you go. However, here I noticed a big difference. As you can imagine, statistics (especially intermediate) is not usually students' favorite class. I accepted that years ago and have experimented with ways to make it more interesting.

To compare this class between the Poles and my US students is interesting. As always noted in the newspapers, US students (in jr. high & high school) struggle with math and analytical thinking. In fact, our math scores seem to be going down in the U.S. Of course, this phenomena transfers to my statistics classes at the college level. Many students really struggle with the topic and that “type” of thinking in the US.

I am having a very different experience teaching the same subject here. I am using the exact same book, lecture notes and slides in Poland, than I would use in with my US students.

Polish children receive a much more robust math and quantitative education (at least those planning to go to University). I can see this effect immediately in my Polish Master’s class. In my short experience, the average Polish student is able to perform and understand quantitative thinking and reasoning substantially better than my US students. They are actually much more comfortable with this type of thinking and problems, then say a class an interpersonal communications. In other words, they would rather take a quantitative class, than a “softer-science” type class. On average the reverse is true with my US students. Many would do everything possible to avoid taking a quantitative class.

After my weekend class, I called Lisa and asked her to bring down the kids to Old Town and see some more of the city. Although we have been here for several weeks- we have only seen a fraction of the sites.

We went to the most unusual combination museum I have ever been to.

The museum building is the 16th century Gdansk city jail. It has two large towers where they use to keep the prisoners (like the Tower of London). It is a great old building to see just on its own merits.

However, what is in the building is the very unusual contrast.

There is one admission fee.

The top half of the jail and tower is a museum dedicated to amber. Yes, the golden-brown stone which is very popular in jewelry. The Baltic sea and Gdansk are the highest producers of amber in the world.

For those that saw the Jurassic Park movie, you know that amber is made from fossilized tree sap. Apparently the Baltic sea was a once vast tree sap producing forest. As it flooded and turned into a sea several million years ago, the amber fossilized and fell to the bottom of the water. Now chunks of Amber wash up on the shore. From there people turn it into jewelry and all kinds of other decorative pieces. Amber has been washing ashore in Gdansk for tens of thousand of years (and still is).

So the top of the 16th century jail and tower tells the story of amber, its importance to the region and a collection of magnificent pieces of amber jewelry, religious artifacts, decorative boxes, clothing, and even an amber made electric guitar. The pieces are gorgeous. Soft music is playing over the loud speaker.

So, after spending 45 minutes or so seeing amber and its magnificent artistic uses- they take you to the lower floors of the jail and tower.




It is the Torture museum!

You see a film on how they treated prisoners within those very walls (disembowelment, the rack, broken by the wheel, beheading, flogging). Then you go into rooms that use to carry out these procedures. They have examples of the torture devises, and playing over the loud speaker are simulated screams and cries of prisoners. Lisa and the small kids left after the second room. It was quite graphic, and the simulated screams are bone chilling. There are drawings of what the even more heinous forms of execution and torture were like. I won’t even go into that. You go into the small cells where prisoners awaited their fate. All this while people are looking at beautiful amber pieces a few floors above you.

Finally, they take you into the tower’s courtyard where they display shackles and chains (and you can have your picture taken in shackles or on the rack). As you walk past this area, you are then led into the amber store, which is full of mirrors and glass, and you can purchase jewelry and other gorgeous artifacts.

Two interesting museums on their own- but to have two such contrasting themes in the same building is something else.

Lastly, as it is chilly here and the winds are usually blowing off the sea- I decided I needed some better personal weather protection. I purchased a tuque! (Canadian term). I am very proud and believe I am starting a new fashion statement. The family now walks 20 steps behind me.

More from Berlin next week.

All Saints Day

All Saints Day in Poland is probably the third biggest holiday of the year (after Christmas and Easter). People travel back to their family homes, and it is a day to remember the deceased. They travel to where their parents or grandparents are buried. It is a day spent in cemeteries and with families. But cemeteries are the focus. In fact, my University is closed Monday to allow students time to return from their home and families.

The stores have been preparing for this day with lanterns, candles and flower arrangements since the day we arrived a month ago. It is a pretty big deal.

I am first going to direct you to Lisa’s blog for a great description of the day and our weekend http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2009/11/all-saints-day-and-more.html.

As for more on the cemetery where we chose to spend our All Saints Day, frankly the reason it was chosen is that we can see it from our front door. It is about 100 yards away. However, it was not until recently that we learned it is a very special cemetery. It is the resting place for all those Gdansk citizens killed (in their words murdered) between 1939 and 1945 by the Germans. So now, I get the added benefit of playing historian too.

The rows of headstones all note the date and in many cases the circumstances of their death. It is a walk through a terrible time in this city (and country).

The back row has people who were killed during the first couple of weeks of WWII ,which as you may recall started in Gdansk on September 1, 1939. There was really no military force in Gdansk (I think the records show about 100 troops total in the city on September 1st).  So all these are civilians that were killed as the German troops and tanks poured in.

Lisa mentions our parish priest who was arrested on September 2, 1939 right at the church we currently attend. He was beaten severely, placed into the local concentration camp (Stutthof) and finally taken out and executed on Good Friday, 1940. He has a frequently visited headstone and is on his way for beatification and maybe sainthood.

The cemetery also holds some of the remains and a large monument to a group of Polish Postal Workers who held off the Germans for several days. It was the first known resistance to the incoming German troops. After they ran out of ammunition, they were either shot on site or immediately tried.  A group of 38 postal workers was tried, sentenced and executed in the same day. The small group of Postal Workers are considered Polish national heroes for their resistance to the much, much larger German force. (this picture is of the actual Postal Workers who finally surrendered and were marched away. They were executed a little later. And then the memorial at our cemetery to these same workers.)

Finally, the vast majority in the cemetery are people that were “murdered”. Any Pole suspected of any resistance in this area was sent off to the Stutthof Concentration Camp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stutthof_concentration_camp. When they died of the conditions or were executed by hanging, shot or via gas chamber, they were brought back to this cemetery. Stutthof is about 45 minutes east of our house. It held “prisoners” and Jews from this part of the country. Lots of grisly things occurred at this lessor known camp (like the experimental making of soap from humans, think about it). I would say at least half of the cemetery is full of people who perished at Stutthof.

Other Poles suspected of resistance never even made it to the camp- they were shot in the Gdansk streets by the Gestapo. They have markers too.

You can see these two headstones. On the side, one says “Murdered at Stutthof Camp” and other one says “Murdered by the Gestapo”. If you look at the engraving (you might have to double-click to enlarge- "zamordowany" means murdered.)

So in addition to having a nice All Saints Day to remember those who have gone before us, we also found this wonderful memorial to a terrible time in our newly adopted city.

I really like the way the Poles celebrate All Saints Day. It is a very nice and somber holiday based around family; past and present. The lanterns make the cemeteries glow from a great distance away.

Futbol- The European Experience

We will take every opportunity for new experiences here. Friday was Solidarity and tonight was a Futbol game.

We purchased tickets to Lechia Gdansk (Lechia.pl) vs Poznan. Both are Top Polish Division teams. It is our first futbol game in Europe. The game is familiar to us, as our Natalie is quite a good player/goalie on quite a good team- The Pride. So, I know the basics.

However, in Gdansk you have to dress properly to see a Lechia Gdansk game, and that involves team scarves. Everyone wears them at the games regardless of the weather.

We had heard that futbol games here can get pretty rough- so Lisa did not want me to take the younger kids (or her). So it was Ben, Natalie and I.

We got off at our tram stop and immediately saw what people were talking about. As we walked up to the stadium, we saw a number of young lads stumbling about, relieving themselves anywhere, and other bodily functions flying here and there. One guy made it almost to the entrance before he collapsed. We watched him and even rooted for him to make it, as he swaggered left and right, just before he went down. This is all before we even got into stadium, so we are definitely not at the Heritage Soccer Complex in Johnson County.

It was interesting weather, about 40 degrees and raining which adds to the excitement. This is a very old stadium, built in 1927. It was at full capacity even with the cold rain.

There are four sections to the stadium. There is a “posh” section under a roof. They don’t even stand during the game. Another section, called the Prosta consists of wild but not dangerous people. This is where we sat.

The third section is the self-proclaimed “hooligans” section. The name is apparently well deserved. I had been warned not to get tickets in this section. They said the Prosta section got wild, and had lots of four letter insults being hurled at the other team. But my kids would not be able to understand since the profanity is in Polish.

The hooligans section gets very wild and is not for kids, they shoot off auto flares and other pyrotechnics and are well hydrated. People even get Lechia Gdansk Hooligan’s tattoos. I guess everything goes (or has gone on) in the hooligans section. At Heritage Park at home, the closest thing we have to a hooligans section is where the Klimas’ sit... :)

Yes, this is a pic of the hooligan's section. These fires are not coming from the field- but from the fans in the stands.

The final section is for the other team’s fans. This I found fascinating. Not only is their section separated from the rest of the stadium by a 10 foot high metal fence with prison wire at the top, BUT also 50 police officers in FULL riot gear stood between the guest section and the home sections. I am talking black shields, helmets with masks, everything. Apparently there is a history of trouble between the hooligans and the guest fans.

We had great seats. For food, there is only one option, hot Kielbasas on hard rolls (which is perfect for a Polish futbol game). These were great. Now the stadium does not sell alcohol, but most of the fans had their nippy bottles with them (I forgot mine).

During the game, the fans stand and constantly sing songs and chants in unison. We need to find the words to these songs, as everyone knows them. Not a minute of the game goes by without the crowd singing or chanting. They also wave their scarves back and forth. Quite a scene to be right in the middle of (disclosure- a couple of these fan pics I pulled from the internet- as we were in the middle of this).

To me, watching the crowd was more fascinating than the game itself. In the end Poznan and Gdansk tied 0-0.

After the game, we boarded our train with all the other fans. Here is something else I have never seen- a police paddy wagon with lights on, followed behind our train and stopped with us at every stop. We got off at the fifth stop with the paddy wagon sitting right there. It followed the train as it left. I assume this is a reminder to all the riders to be on their best behavior.

The kids enjoyed the game and another slice of European life.

Solidarity

Although Gdansk is 1,000 years old, perhaps it is most famous for what occurred here during the 1970s and 80s: the Solidarity Movement, which led to the fall of Communism. And also it's most famous resident and leader: Lech Walesa.

It is remarkable that our children have no idea what Communism or the Soviet Union is. These are just words to them, unlike when we were kids. I am not sure they will ever comprehend, but seeing Solidarity today and the Berlin Wall next month might help.

Most of what occurred during the Solidarity Movement and Lech Walesa occurred a few tram stops from our house. There are several memorials and a nice museum to honor those workers that stood up to the Communist government and those who lost their lives doing it. Today was Solidarity Day for the Gartlands.

Although many of the Eastern Bloc countries had uprisings and strikes, the Solidarity Movement in Gdansk was one of the strongest, and was the first domino in the fall of the Soviet Union.

Here is a quick chronology of what we saw and showed the kids.

Russia took over Poland in 1945. It was never a happy marriage. Actually, whereas Franklin D. Roosevelt is a hero in most of America, he is not definitely not considered that in Poland. He is blamed for giving Poland to Stalin and Russia during the Yalta Conference. History is funny, Americans see the Yalta Conference as the “good finality” of WWII, but the Poles see it as the beginning of their 50 year Communist nightmare. They hate Yalta.

Anyway, in December 1970 the workers at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk began to strike against the Communist Government to protest rising food prices and other social problems. The Communist Government responded to the strikes by calling out the military, who brought in tanks, machine guns and troops to forcibly quell the strikes.

It is unknown how many ship workers were killed. Their bodies were taken and buried in the forest by the military during the middle of the night. A large monument of three crosses with anchors sits outside the Lenin Shipyard (now known as the Gdansk shipyard). People still place memorial candles in front of the monument. There were at least 30 burning today. The military won in 1970, and the workers eventually went back to work at the shipyards.

In 1976, there was another strike at the shipyards, and although minimal violence occurred, lots of people lost their jobs and were arrested.

In 1978, John Paul II was elected pope, and this seems to have given the shipyard workers hope that they could improve their lives. He is a strong catalyst in this story.

In the late 1970s and 1980s conditions in Gdansk (and the rest of Poland) were very poor. In the museum, they have a “typical” grocery store set up as it might have looked during that time. People were given ration cards to buy meat, milk and toilet paper. People had to stand in line for hours to get into the store and use their ration cards. Many times the store inventory would be gone by they time their turn arrived. During my orientation last month, I met a person who talked about when he was a kid (he is my age), and he and his brothers and sisters use to take 2 hour turns standing in line waiting to get into the store. When is was about their turn, they would send for their Grandmother who would come down and do the actual buying with the ration card. This was a weekly chore.

In 1980 a bigger strike occurred at the shipyards in Gdansk. This time the workers refused to leave and locked themselves in the docks behind iron gate (Lisa and kids are pictured standing in from of the actual gates). The demands of workers were simple- more food, easier time to get an apartment (at that time all the apartments were owned by the State and you had to apply to get one- many times this process took five years), better wages and votes on their working conditions.

A Trade Union was set-up and called Solidarity. Its union leader was one of the electricians named Lech Walesa (who was marginally educated, but had a passionate personality).

The strikes spread from Gdansk to most of the other cities in Poland. The Communist Government had big trouble on their hands, as tens of thousands were now involved.

After a long strike and the Communists not wanting a repeat of what occurred in 1970s- they agreed to several of the strikers demands (a big victory for the workers). Solidarity signed an agreement with the Communist Government. Lech Walesa personally signed the agreement with a pen that had a picture of John Paul II on it (the pen is in the museum, as is the agreement).

The agreement lasted for 16 months, then the Communists wanted out of it. They declared Martial Law in all of Poland. The tanks came back. Curfews were set, phones were tapped, and lots of arrests were made (including Lech Walesa).

Martial Law lasted about two years in Poland. Civil liberties were almost non-existent during this time. We tried to explain to our kids this would have been occurring right when we were their ages. We asked them to imagine going to school and seeing tanks patrolling the streets.

Over the next seven years, Solidarity got stronger and the Soviet Union got weaker. In 1989, the Soviets finally gave into the Solidarity Movement and allowed free elections (this was basically the end of the Communist era in Poland).

In 1990, Walesa was democratically elected President of Poland- and the rest is history. It all happened at the Gdansk Shipyards. All of this actually occurred several months before the Berlin Wall fell. Poles believe it was them who started the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It is hard to explain repression of this kind to the kids, but I hope they can get some appreciation of how great living in an open democracy can be. We all fight over right vs left in America- which are actually quite small differences compared to what Solidarity was fighting against Communism.

Wind, Weekend and the Kielbasa Flu

Dzien Dobry,

Hope all is well in KC. The weekend is coming to a close here and I am getting ready for a new week. Luckily we were asleep when the Jayhawks lost.

Probably the most exiting thing since we got back from Krakow was the weather. After some decent fall weather, the temps dropped and the wind started to howl.

Krakow, where we had just been three days earlier, received about a foot of snow. In Gdansk, no snow but tropical storm level winds with sustained gusts over 60 mph. Lisa mentioned in her blog how we lost power twice and had to communicate with our landlord (using sign language and Google translate) about the problems. He and his family were very, very helpful and nice. Each time we lost power, we also lost heat. We saw downed trees, an entire glass enclosed bus stops blown over and countless windows knocked out.

I was assured by the locals that this was very odd weather. In fact, I learned that the place to be that evening was at the beach. A student of mine said hundreds of curious people (like on a warm summer day) were on the beach watching the four to five meter waves crash into the shore and the pier. She said you could not even see the pier, as the water was covering it. Frankly, I would liked to see that myself and show the kids the true power of the sea. However, I think I would have been outvoted by a higher authority. The winds lasted about two days.

On Friday, things began to clear and we got back into fall weather again (mid-40s) with sunshine.

On Thursday, after a nice night out with the econ faculty (during the wind storm)- Lisa started to come down with something: high fever, cough, weakness, etc. She never left a certain spot on the couch for 30 plus hours. Now if I get a hangnail I will stay in bed for three days- but for Lisa to be bedridden, she must really be sick.

We had brought with us some medications from home (like cough medicine)- but it quickly ran out. I ran to the Apteka (Pharmacy) and purchased some Polish cough syrup. I spoke to the pharmacist, who helped me select it, even with her limited English (at least she spoke some). The ingredients and dosages were all in Polish, and they had no brands I recognized (like Robotussin or Nyquil). I translated the dosage (one teaspoon every three hours), and God knows what is in it. However, she started to feel better after 2.5 days and a single dose of the Polish cough syrup. She certainly had the symptoms of the flu, or even the Swine flu. However, the Swine flu has not really hit Poland yet (only a few cases)- so I am calling this the next best thing- the Kielbasa Flu. I hope the Kielbasa Flu does not spread to the rest of the family. But given our tight quarters.....

I had to teach this weekend (mornings). On Saturday afternoon I tried to get the kids out of the house. One they needed it, and I wanted to let Lisa rest without kids under foot. We had been wanting to go to this new mall which just opened a few months ago. It is called the Przymorze Mall. I kept asking all my colleagues about this mall- but no one knew what I was talking about. I was pronouncing the mall’s name as is it written Pryz-mor-ze; starting with the “P” sound (you try to pronounce it). I just got blank stares. After a day or so- I wrote it out for one of my students, and she laughed at me. Pryzmorze is pronounced Sha-more-sha. Finally, I started to ask people about “Sha-more-sha”, and they would quickly say, “nice place." Actually, I found that that Przymorze means- “by the sea”. See why Polish is so hard.

In the Pryzmorze Mall is a big store called Leclerc. It is the French version of a Super-Walmart. In fact, you feel you are in a super-Walmart. It is the first store we have been to in Poland that felt like the suburbs of Olathe. Lisa had given us a list and we spent a few hours purchasing all kinds of exciting stuff (like a big spoon), and we ate lunch. I got confused again in the milk aisle (recall the soap incident).

Milk is very different here. It comes in small boxes or little bottles (only one liter in size). It is kept at room temperature and on the regular store shelves (so are the eggs). Milk confuses me in the States- so add in all the new abnormalities of Polish milk and I will drink water.

Cereal is also odd. As opposed to the big boxes we get in the states, cereal comes in small bags. You still have all the sugary coco, peanut butter, marshmallowy kinds of cereal- but from a bag you maybe gets two or three bowls. So you are constantly buying bags of cereals and bottles/boxes of milk.

I ended up teaching three times this weekend, as our Dean (who teaches a class after mine) had to unexpectedly leave town. So I filled in with one of my classes. Other than the weekend times, I really enjoy the part-time Masters students that I teach. I have taught five weekend seminars since Oct 1. I only have three left (all in November). Then I am done with weekends.

Speaking of weekends, I purchased tickets and housing for our next big adventure: Berlin. We will go on November 10th and stay for five days. Recall that November 9th is the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. I remember watching that on TV in 1989. So we should get there for the tail end of those ceremonies. Looking forward to it. Berlin is a huge city with lots of stuff to do and see both inside and out, so I am not worried about what weather we get. We will have plenty of stuff to do either way. As Lisa speaks (some) German, she is really looking forward to the trip. We will also celebrate Natalie’s birthday there.

Have a great week and beware of the Kielbasa Flu.

Politechnika FME Students

Travel is done for now- so back to work.

Well, I have spent my first full week with students. They gave me (I think on purpose) an interesting mixture, a little bit from each of their programs.

Recall from my previous blog http://mylesgartland.blogspot.com/2009/10/opening-day-and-politechnika.html that Politechnika contains mostly technical schools like engineering, computer science, math/physics, architecture, etc. The Faculty of Management and Economics (FME) is not only new (1993), but very unique compared to the other eight parts of the University. We also have a lot of students who are getting their degree in a technical area (like engineering), then getting a second degree in management.

This is not unusual, as historically Poles are highly educated, often holding multiple degrees. This is actually something good which came out of their Communist days.

Our school (FME) basically offers four programs: Bachelors in Management, Masters in Management, Masters in Business Administration, and Post-Graduate Studies. The first two are the largest. There might be more areas, but I am just learning myself. In addition, we have full-time students and part-time students.

Some of the programs are conducted in English only, some in Polish only and some a mixture.

The full time students, of course, go to school full time, Monday through Friday. As mentioned, many are also obtaining a technical degree.

The part-time students are almost all at the Masters level and work full time jobs. Most are quite young (mid-20s). The part time program meets every other weekend. The students arrive on campus Friday late afternoon (about 4 p.m.) and go to school until about 9 p.m. Then they have school all day Saturday AND all day Sunday (8 a.m.-5 p.m.).

Their Master’s in Management (MIM) specializes in Small Business & Economics Management (what we might call in the US- small business and entrepreneurship). They also have a specialization in European Union (EU) studies. They are looking to expand into other areas like International Management (which will be one of my jobs to consult with them on).

I have four classes.  Here is a quick description of each:

1. Master’s in Management- Strategic Management. It meets Monday mornings (three hours) and is all full-time students. This class has about 18 students in it. This is my most geographically diverse class. I have several Poles, but also Germans, three students from Portugal, two from Spain, Lithuania, and one Asian. Many of the students from outside Poland, are part of an EU program where they can spend a year at another EU school, then they go back to their “home” school. It is called the Erasmus exchange program.

1. Bachelor’s in Management- Strategic Management. It meets Tuesday afternoons and is full time students obtaining their bachelors degree. A big unique point of this class is they are all Asians. Almost all from China. I was very curious as to why a Chinese student would want to go to University in Poland, so I asked. Here is what I learned. Cost: they feel they can get an affordable “EU education”  in Poland as both tuition and living are less expensive here. Secondly is opportunity. They think with an education from an EU based University they stand a better chance of getting a job in the EU. Finally (of interest), when they arrive, they are asked to chose an “American” name- which they go by at school. So my class of Chinese has “Tony”, “DJ”, “Steve”, Arthur”, “David”, “Jack”, etc. This class has about 18 in it. However, I am having the most difficult time “reading them” to see if what I am saying is sinking in.

1. Master’s in Management- Statistics II. It meets Wednesday mornings (three hours) and is full time students. About 60% of the class are males and getting their “second“ degree in Management. Their primary degree is in one of the technical areas (mostly engineering or computer programming). Although they are being training primarily in a technical area, most said they want to go into Management and ”make lots of money“. The other 40% are working on their primary degree in Management and most of them are female. This class has about 40 students in it. It is primarily Poles and a couple of Eastern Europeans.

1. Master’s in Management- Statistics II. It is my ”part-timers“ class, and only meets on four weekends (Saturday and Sunday). It meets two weekends in October and two weekends in November. These are classes are for working students. There are 16 students all in their mid to late 20s. They all have full time jobs from a variety of industries. These are all Polish students, who are terrific at English. Besides full time jobs, many have spouses and some have families.

As you can see- other than the four weekends, I only teach Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

I will also have several ”development“ duties while at the University, as they are very interested in expansion into other programs and to recruit students from other areas/countries.

One might wonder why they would fly a Professor 5,000 miles to teach a basic class like Statistics II (I did). Interestingly, that has to do with the above on making changes to add areas and to work on new and more applied methods to teach, but more on that in a later post.

Weekend in Krakow

We are on our way back from Krakow, after a long weekend. Krakow is special to me- it is probably where I initially found my interest of Poland. It is a very European looking city, that went largely undamaged by World War II, the only big city in Poland to be saved. Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Lodz were basically rubble after either the Nazi’s or Red Army finished with them. Krakow is the second biggest city in Poland.

I loved this city, so it was the first one I chose to show my family. In addition to Krakow, the Auschwitz site is only about an hour or so away.

We took the night train on Wednesday.  My kids had never been on a train, and I had never been on a sleeper car. So it was an experience for all of us. We were in a six by six compartment (as usual for European trains)- but there were bunks instead of seats. Two columns of three bunks. It was kind of like a rolling prison cell. That said- it was not bad and we arrived in Krakow pretty well rested. Gdasnk is at the very northern part of Poland and Krakow is near its southern border- so it is quite a distance.

We arrived at a beautiful apartment in the Kazimierz District of Krakow. Kazimierz is the also known as the Jewish Quarter. This was the part of town where the Jews lived for centuries, until WWII. For those of you who are Schindler’s Lists fans, his movie takes place in Kazimierz (The actual Schindler Factory is still just over the river), and Spielberg filmed most of his movie in this neighborhood. According to a plaque near our apartment, 65,000 Jews from that neighborhood perished in the Holocaust. Those who escaped never returned. So now Kazimierz really only has a handful of Jews still living there.

We spent the first day at Wawel- the historic Castle of the Kings of Poland as well as the site of the Krakow Cathedral. The Cathedral was the home of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, when he was elected Pope (better known as John Paul II). In fact, John Paul II spent most of his adult life in Krakow before moving to the Vatican. This is where is mother, father and brother are buried. Lisa does a great job discussing our day at Wawel in her blog so I won’t repeat it.



I spent a great day in 2008 going through Wawel, but not knowing much Polish history. Now that I have spent the last year reading about these kings and important people, it meant even more. Of course, having my family with me was even better. Lisa always makes fun of me that I always move a slow pace, unless there is a old church or historical monument ahead. So, I was leading the pack all weekend.







Day two we planned to visit Auschwitz. Again, I had been there before- but wanted my family to see (a better word is “experience”) it. Auschwitz is just one of those places everyone should try to see once in their life. Again, Lisa does a nice job on her blog describing what it is like on her first visit  so I will let you read hers. I still have my journal from when I first went to Auschwitz.

Two things always strike me about Auschwitz.

You would think standing inside an actual gas chamber (not recreated- but a real former, functioning gas chamber) and stand where tens of thousands of people stood, naked and waiting for the water to turn on, would be the most striking thing. Or the different torture chambers or the “death wall” (where executions by gun or hanging took place). We all know the stories of Auschwitz- where 1.1 million people (mostly Jews) were murdered at Auschwitz. I must admit that such large number of people is almost impossible to get my mind around. You (or at least I) can’t even visualize or conceptualize 1.1 million people or its brutality.

But what gets me are the rooms of all the personal items brought and left by the victims. Thousands of toothbrushes, shoes, pots, pans, suitcases with names and home addressees on them. This is what really brings that 1.1 million group down to a personal level. Each of these was an individual. Just to show the indifference- they have an entire display of just small childrens' shoes. These thousands of shoes probably came from children from infant to five years old.

The second thing that always strikes me about Auschwitz is the efficiency. Think about what it took to systematically kill and dispose of 1.1 million people; in only about 20 months. The process was set up as well as any assembly factory that you can imagine. You honestly had some of the best engineering, logistics and organizational processes employed for this horrific process. If it were not for the ungodly subject of the process- one might even study its efficiency.

The last part of the tour is always a piece of irony. When most of the Nazi leaders were tied and then hung at Nuremberg- the former Commandant of Auschwitz (Rouldolf Hese) was tried, but brought back to Auschwitz to be hung, where he had hung so many prisoners. His gallow is still there, right where they use to do prisoner's roll call each morning.

There are about nine Fulbright Professors and some students in Poland this year. We are scattered all over the country. One is living in Krakow and one is stationed at a University an hour away. As we decided to come down this weekend, the other two Professors (one who has a very nice family) met several times for meals. One is an Art History Professor and one is a Historian (he is the one with the young family).

We had all spent quite a bit of time with each other during our 10 day orientation in Poznan. So we were glad to spend time with each other as we are all in similar situations. We had great evenings with each of them. On the last evening, one of other Fulbrigthers (she teaches English to non-English speakers) joined us. We all had a great time comparing our changed lives and what is still ahead of us.

The final full day, I had planned to show my family the Market Square. Again, this was one of my favorite areas. It is a big open European-style square (about 800 years old) with shops, merchants in kiosks, restaurants, churches, museums, protesters, etc. My last time in Krakow- I would spend hours at cafes drinking coffee or beer (sometimes both if I stayed long enough) and just watched all the activity. Unfortunately this is where my plans took a turn. It was about 43 degrees (not too bad)- but then started to rain (a chilly rain). Once we got wet, we were cold and miserable (and cranky). We saw (quickly) a few things- but everyone basically wanted to go back to the apartment.

On Sunday morning we left our apartment, went to a mass and back on the noon train home. It is the express train- which means it will only take 9 hours (instead of 11) to get home. Our big event on the train was with our tickets.

I purchased the train tickets beforehand on the internet. They do not stamp your ticket until you are well into the journey. The train conductor came by to stamp our ticket and informs me I have the wrong type of ticket for our children. All children get a discount to ride. However, (according to him)- I purchased tickets just for Polish students (who get a 37% discount) instead of ones for non-Polish students who get a 34% discount. (which may or may not be true). Anyway, he informed me ALL my tickets were invalid (including the two I purchased at full price for Lisa and I, because they were all purchased together). So instead of wanting the additional 3% ticket difference for the four children- he wanted me to purchase six brand new full priced tickets (about $200). Without these new tickets we would have to get off at the next stop (which would leave us eight hours from our house). I argued fiercely, (I was willing to pay the small 3% difference; which would amount to about $10 total- but not buy new tickets). He got a supervisor, who also insisted I purchase six new full priced tickets. They both said I could get a full refund for the tickets I purchased on the internet when I got to my train station in Gdansk (I am getting smarter than that with Polish bureaucracy- never believe when they say you can get something done at a different place. Always insist you get it there.). We came to a compromise (more than I should have paid, but a lot less than he originally said). I did get a receipt, for what ever that is worth.

Great first big outing and look forward to many more. Already we experienced more memorable things in a long weekend- then over a several month period at home.