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.

Wrzeszcz

Sorry for two blogs in a day- but I was behind.

I just wanted to mention a little of the family surroundings in Gdansk.

We live in a district (neighborhood) of Gdansk called Wrzeszcz. It is part of the urban core and the most populated neighborhood (65,000 people). The first records of our neighborhood date back to 1266. Within 100 yards on the same block can be small houses, businesses, huge apartment complexes, grocery stores, etc. A true urban neighborhood.

What is really cool about Wrzeszcz is its central proximity to two different extremes.

On Friday, we took the tram South about 5 stops (less than 10 minutes) and were in “Old Town”. Old Town dates back to 990 and has many very old churches, buildings and cultural areas. St. Mary’s Church can seat the most people of any in Europe (25,000 seating capacity for Mass). You can see a 1000 year old buildings right next to a bank that was built five years ago. Lots of great restaurants, museums and places to see in this ancient area. We have only seen a fraction of what is in Old Town. We went to St. Catherine’s which was founded 900 years ago (in contrast- our church at home is celebrating 30 years since its founding).

On Sunday, we took the same tram North about 4 stops (again, less than 10 minutes) and we are standing on the beach of the Baltic Sea. These are the beaches where Hitler launched his first attack of WWII. It is a great sandy coast line with places to swim, play in the sand, scuba dive or deep sea fish. You can take a ferry directly north and end up in Finland or Sweden. Although it was chilly and windy, our family walked along the beach and pier. We even ate a “fish hamburger”.

Wrzeszcz is wonderful neighborhood, where you can travel a few minutes either north or south and be in two completely different type of places. Now, if we can just get Lisa an electric clothes dryer.....

Opening Day and Politechnika

Sorry, no humorous antidotes or bodily functions today.

Friday was the opening ceremonies for School (the University-wide ceremony was Thursday). This was just for the School of Management and Economics (i.e. the “Business School”). It was a rather formal event with people in suits and the Dean and Vice Deans in their academic regalia. Also, all the incoming Freshman were there to be welcomed into the business school.

A little about where I am working. Gdansk University of Technology is known here as Politechnika Gdanska; or just “Politechnika." Politechnika is one of 37 full Universities in Poland. There are two in Gdansk; Politechnika and University of Gdansk (which are separate institutions).

Politechnika has about 25,000 students and there are seven different colleges that make up the University (they call the different colleges ”Faculties“ here). Most are rather technical (why is below)- Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Mathematics, Faculty of Computer Science, etc. But the newest one is Faculty of Management and Economics- begun in 1993 (after the fall of Communism).

Actually the history of Politechnika greatly mirrors the recent history of the City of Gdansk.

So a few tid-bits about the University:

Politechnika was founded by the Prussians in 1904. Gdansk was in Prussian territory for a few hundred years. The Prussian Empire needed a place to educate their engineers, architects and mathematicians (hence the name ”Technology“). The opening ceremony of Politechnika was attended by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Gdansk and Politechnika stayed in Prussia’s hands until 1920.

In 1920, the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations (remember that from High School?), made Gdansk an independent city-state- known as the Free City of Danzig (Danzig is it’s German name). Politechnika was attended by both Germans and Poles, although there was a history of fights between the students.

In 1939, Gdansk/Danzig (and the rest of Poland) was invaded by the Hitler and the Nazi’s. The Polish students were thrown out of Politechnika and it remained open to support the Nazis ideology and only German students.

In 1945, the Soviets invaded Gdansk/Danzig- and threw out the Nazis and all German Politechnika students- and admitted only Poles; but with a Communist Ideology. Again, the Soviets needed engineers, but there was no need for business managers in Communism.

It remained a Soviet style University from 1945 to 1989, with Polish students. Then Communism fell and Capitalism began.

By 1991, Poland began its fast transformation from Communism to Capitalism. The country needed professional mangers to run the new businesses. A business school was created at Politechnika, and in 1993 the Faculty of Management and Economics (FME) was officially opened. It is now the fastest growing part of Politechnika and admits about 700 new students each year (3000 total students attending FME).

So in less than 100 years- Politechnika went from Prussian Empire to Independent to Nazi to Communist to Polish Republic Capitalistic. The original 1904 main building still stands- imagine if those walls could talk?

In 2004, Poland was admitted to the European Union (another change)- which forced Poland’s business to quickly globalize and need to further prepare business managers. Hence the FME (and other business schools in Poland) have really gained importance.

As long as Poles qualify for the University- there is no tuition (not uncommon in Europe) for them- they go essentially for free. Politechnika gets its money from the Polish Government and from students admitted from other countries. Right now FME is trying to recruit students from other parts of Europe and Asia (I even have a class of Chinese undergraduates).

Amazing history and opportunities here; but lots of work and development to be done.

My next blogs will be on my first class and how they react to ”the American“ (that is what I am being referred to here).