Social Butterfly

When we lived in Gdansk last year- we made some terrific friends. Some neighbors, some colleagues, some school mates of the kids.

As with any trip when you go back to a place you once lived- a bright spot is getting to see your friends.

Although I have taught many nights on this trip, I still managed to get in some social activities.

First was a special evening with the Draniewicz’s (evening #1)- they were our landlords and good friends. Their son Karol plays in a band at a college bar each Wednesday night. Although I am way to old to be hanging out at a college bar (particularly on a Wednesday)- I spent the evening watching his three hour set. They played mostly American rock tunes (in English of course) from the 80s and 90s. My kind of music. I really enjoyed their band.

Karol is in the in the back with the mic. I am sitting behind him

It was a celebration that night as it was the birthday week of Karolina and also of the name day of Karol’s father Mariusz. In Poland, many people do not celebrate the dates of their birth, but rather the day of what Saint they are named after. So, if you are named Patrick (my Saint’s name), I would celebrate each year on March 17th instead of September 24th. The whole Draniewicz family was there including mother and daughter Basia and Anita. We had a great time.

Mariusz, Basia and Myles

Karol, Basia, Myles and Karolina

Anita, Mariusz and Basia

On that Friday, the Economists at Politechnika took me out for drinks in Sopot. Now you know how wild economists can get- so I can’t really go into too many details about the evening. Needless to say we had a really nice time. The only other man in the picture is Piotr, the Dean of the School of Management and Economics (and a Economist himself).

Some of the Economists from Politechnika

On that Saturday, I found myself back at the Draniewicz (Draniewicz evening #2) house for dinner. Basia knows I love her Bigos (Polish Hunter Stew) so she made a large pot. I think I had three servings.

I told the Draniewicz’s that I had read in one of the Polish travel books that proper edict when visiting a Polish house was to 1) bring the mother flowers 2) bring the father a bottle of booze and 3) pet the family dog. So, being a trying to be a good guest..... I brought the flowers and the booze and made good friends again with the dog. I think for the booze however they usually mean bring a bottle of vodka- this is where I broke with tradition. I found a bottle of good American black label Jim Beam bourbon. Needless to say the bottle did not make it to the end of the night. Karol, Mariusz, Woitech and I made sure of it.

This is our basement of our house we lived in. They converted it to a Remax office

On Sunday, I was invited over to our Vice Dean (and of course my friend) Magda’s house. Magda was not only my boss and friend, but she was our shepherd last year that helped us through so many of the bureaucratic hurdles. We ate with her husband Gregory and 6th grade son Filip . Notice Filip’s shirt. I am turning him into an American football and Chiefs fan.

Magda, Filip and Gregory

The first Polish born NFL Quarterback

Finally, I had a great opportunity to spend an evening with a couple of grad students (who are also a couple). They were both in my class. Marcin and Kasia took me to a brew pub with 180 different kinds of beer. I got to try several Polish brands that I have not had before. We spent almost four hours talking about life, travel and everything under the sun.

Still on my list is to visit is my kid’s school from last year and the American embassy office called American Corners.

End of the Semester

Today is the last day of finals and of the fall/winter semester. It began in October without me- and I have been doing catch-up for the past month.

Traditionally, University begins October 1st and ends the third week of January, with about 10 days for finals. Then the students gets a week of holiday. Then something called “second finals” (which I still really don’t quite get). Second finals is different from anything we do in our country. In Poland, a large percentage of your total course score is the final exam. However, if you fail it- you can have a chance to take it a second time. If you fail it the second time- you fail the entire course.

The Spring/summer term then begins February 14th.

Anyway, my classes and finals ended today. I crammed in three classes into a span of one month. So instead of the students going once or twice a week for a hour or so- they were with me everyday for several hours to complete all the required contact hours. It made for long days for me.

I finished up two of my three classes last week and did their grades. Then the last one finished today. All three were master’s classes (two statistics classes and one strategy). Today was the last day of my second statistics class. At the end of class the group surprised me with a very good bottle of Vodka.

Dr. G and the female grad students

And with the male grad students (Vodka in hand)

In addition, I had the opportunity again to speak to a group of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who are getting a certificate in administration. Last weekend, I spent two days talking to them about the US health care system and how it compared to others systems of the world. Also, we discussed what are these reforms and reforms to the reforms about. They found the US system interesting. They all agree Poland needs to dramatically change their system- but not sure that the US is the best model to adapt (but they did like some aspects about it). I said this last year- you never realize how crazily organized our US health care system is until you have to explain it to a foreigner.

Polish students ask me about American students and vice versa. As with last year- I find the Polish students quite strong in general. In the US we don’t really talk much about the labor competition coming from the former Soviet bloc- as we tend to focus on China and India (with good reason). However, one thing about the Soviets- they put in place a rather strong educational system that is just getting stronger by these countries who adopted Capitalism 20 years ago (think engineer level math thinkers who can also market and strategize). They are strong analytical thinkers.

Also, as I mentioned in a blog last year- young University aged Poles (in their early to mid 20s) really have no concept of Communism. Those are stories that grandmother tells. A University student today was either born during or after the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union collapsed- so they only really know a capitalist system (albeit a transitioning one). In addition, they are much more open to the world and tend to self identify themselves as “Europeans” (citizens of the EU) than strictly Poles. These skills and that mindset will go a long way with putting them on the world map.

Now Poland has a ways to go in its development (poor infrastructure is a really major issue in my opinion for Poland to grow). But I look forward to see that these students can do on the world stage in the coming years. This is one of the reasons I enjoy coming back.

I have two days left in Poland before returning home to the great white north of KC. During my remaining time I have some grading to do, some more friends to see and a bit of shopping left.