Month #5

Wow, I remember when I told my first host mother “Wow! To jest moj pierwsze month I jestem wesoła.” Not only did I not know the word for month, but my grammar at that time was off the map and I knew hardly any words. It’s amazing how much progress you make in so little time. I also just cannot believe it’s been five months. Ahh! So anyway- here is a summary of my fifth month in Poland.

End of Week #18: My Grandma arrived the day after Christmas. My host-brother-in-law, my host niece and I picked her up at the airport. She’s quite a trooper, I must admit. My host parents were in Portugal, so my host brothers and sisters tried to make her welcome as warm as possible. From the airport, we went to my host sister’s house for a Christmas left-over breakfast. My poor Grandma- they stuffed her so full of food, as is Polish hospitality. She also learned a lesson when my host sister freaked out at her (in a nice way)- you DO NOT put herring and other meat products on the same plate. The first day was very relaxed, I let my Grandma sleep off her jet lag and caught up on some Polish homework. The next day we walked around the city a little, and then cooked some traditional Thanksgiving foo. My Thanksgiving day had gotten canceled so I decided to do it with my grandma, host sister, host niece and Kaitlyn. It was delicious- and I’m pretty sure we had all the necessities. The day after Thanksgiving, Grandma and I got up early and caught a train to Kraków. We arrived in the afternoon and after finding our hotel and eating lunch, we walked around and toured the city center for a while. Eventually we ate a leisurely dinner in a fancy restaurant in town and returned to our cozy hotel for the night.

Week #19: It was really so nice to have my Grandma visiting me. While I felt a little weird speaking so much English, it was a nice mental break. It was also nice to just have a family member always there to talk to. My Grandma is very easy going and so it’s really easy to have her visit. On our second day in Kraków, we walked around the city center again, looking at everything. Around lunch time, we met up with Sarah, a Brazilian exchange student who lives in Kraków and she showed us the famous castle, Wawel. We walked around some more with her (my poor Grandma hasn’t walked this much in years) and eventually caught a train home. The next big thing was New Year’s Eve! I spent the last day of the year with Grandma and my friend Ingrid at the opera! We saw the Premier performance of Wesele Figara (The Marriage of Figaro). It was really a nice (and calm) way to spend the evening. After returning home, we watched fireworks out my kitchen window for 2 hours. There were about twenty different locations where fireworks were being set off from.

Grandma and I spent the next two days doing some touring around Wrocław. We saw the old town, market square, a few of the malls, and the old religious part of town. And of course I made her come to the grocery store with me to look at the meat. It’s too beautiful to miss, really. In the latter part of the week, our dear friend from Australia, Jade, returned home after her year long exchange. It was very sad saying goodbye to her. We’re all going to miss her so much.

Week #20: I started at my new school this week! I love it already. The kids are all very welcoming and very nice, as are the teachers. On the first day, I was invited to go to the movies with some of my classmates. That’s way different than my old school where no one would talk to me. On Thursday, Grandma left for the States. She and I had a great time together. She found Poland quite fascinating and I’m sure she’ll be thinking about it for a while. The rest of the week consisted of school (which continued to be inviting and fun, actually) and Polish class. I was also asked this week to sing a song with a band (run by a member of Rotary) for a concert in February. Pan Sygit, the man in charge, wants me to pick out a country song- as American as can be- and sing it in front of 600 people in a few weeks. Yikes!

There was also something like a “holiday” on Sunday of this week. I was really confused at first, because I saw literally everyone walking around with heart stickers on their jackets. I thought maybe it was an election (you know how we have the “I Voted” stickers?) but then the words on some meant “I helped the children” so I knew it wasn’t a voting thing. Then I saw tons of people walking around with boxes collecting money. Later, I walked by what happened to be the “headquarters” of the event. It was a huge fair with rides, food, etc. My host sister explained later that night that it’s a fundraiser for children all over Poland. If you give money, you get a sticker, balloon, the like. Luckily she told me early enough so that I could run into town, donate money and get my sticker ☺.

Week #21: Kaitlyn’s brother Brad was visiting from Spain this week, so they stayed over at my house for a few nights. My house is closer to the city, and Kaitlyn and I had to get up early for Polish lessons. We saw Twilight (the 4th movie I’ve seen in a theater in Poland- I’m really getting over this fear) and hung out. I started a new song in Piano lessons this week- the highlight of my week. I love my piano lessons and my teacher. She conducts the lessons completely in Polish now which is very helpful. I always feel refreshed after lessons. I went to the philharmonic with a member of Rotaract on Friday. She spent an exchange year in my district in New York, so we always find something to talk about. She’s a piano major at the music academy and invited me to join the academy’s choir! She also has a bunch of friends who are in the acting business so she’s trying to help me find a theater group to perform with for the remainder of my year. Time is flying by so fast, it’s awful.

On Saturday I went to Kraków (again). My two week winter break starts next week so I’m going to spend the first half of it with Sarah. She and I went to a movie the night I arrived and spent a long time just catching up and talking. She’s fifteen like me and we’re similar in more ways than I can count. On the second day, she showed me around the city again (not much had changed haha but it’s still beautiful) and we went to a café in one of the malls so I could work on an essay I was writing and so she could use skype. We also went to an American bookstore where I was able to buy some magazines in English to catch me up on all the Political news I’m missing.

Week #22: This week we went to Kazimierz, the Jewish part of Kraków. It was a strange place- very old, very beautiful, but too quiet. There was a certain hush over the village, and although all of the people were very pleasant, there was a noticeable difference between the older generation and younger. The older generation of people who lived there looked pained, and visiting the monuments and cemetery there helped me to better understand why. I was very bummed that I had no internet connection and I missed the inauguration! There was a tiny bit of coverage on Polish TV but not much. I’m catching myself up on youtube though… I’ve heard from everyone back home that it was pretty exciting. My host family in Poland and all of their friends were very excited. Sarah and I toured a lot more, talked A LOT, and just had a relaxing week of ferie (no school/ holiday).

The day after I returned to Wrocław, the new exchange student from Australia arrived. A few of us went to the airport to welcome her. That same day I attended the annual Rotary Ball. It was a pretty big deal- 250 people and a black tie event. Apparently all of the women “have” to buy a new ball gown each year, according to my host mom. It’s always the gossip between them for months before the ball. A majority of the men wore tuxes and there was a lot of dancing. My host father asked me to talk to everyone about Obama and dedicate a song to him. He said he wanted me to sing an a capella song but relate it somehow to Obama, but it had to be a popular song and not necessarily a patriotic one. Of course, he waited until a few hours before the ball to tell me any of this. So I went into panic mode, but it turned out okay. I sang “Arms of an Angel” and told everyone that it was appropriate because now “jestesmy w ramionach Obama” (we’re in the arms of Obama). I found a ride home with a Rotary member around 1:30 AM because I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. All of the other exchange students who showed up had already left with their families. It was a good thing I left then because my host parents didn’t come home until 4:30 in the morning.

I spent my 5 month anniversary (today) rehearsing with Pan Sygit, the director of the band I will be singing with in 2 weeks. He said it’s an “elegant” event and he’s expecting 600 people. I chose to sang “Blue Kentucky Girl,” classic country, and he’s very pleased and excited. He told me I need to find an outfit to wear and it has to look like a traditional country outfit. Great, haha.

The time is seriously just disappearing. It’s quite scary. I only have about 5 months left!? Wow. That sucks, actually. So I switch families in a week- I’m very excited! Although I’m grateful for what this family did for me, I’m really tired of being so alone. I can’t wait to have a host sibling (who lives in the house) and actually live with a family in a house. It’s going to be great. I spoke with my next parents at the ball for about half an hour and told them how excited I am. The Euro tour is in a month and half, and yeah, life goes on. My next mission is to volunteer at the orphanage I found and find a sport to do.

Na razie…

New Year's Eve

Christmas Eve & Day

Christmas Eve:

At midnight on Christmas Eve (so, actually the morning of the Eve) I opened my first present that was mailed from home. My family had sent me a stocking filled with gum, mints, tea, peanut butter (thank goodness!), sun dried tomatoes, and other homey things. I think there was a split second of homesickness there, but I’m not sure because I haven’t been truly HOMESICK as of yet. It was a really nice thought though, and I was so happy to get it!

Today is the biggest holiday in Polish Christmas. I went down and joined my host parents for breakfast at 9:30. Although it is supposed to be a meatless day, my host father ate a sausage, which he says he can’t live without. I had the usual, bread and tomatoes and tea. Then I wrapped all of the presents I had picked out for the members of my family. Around noon, I went to my host sister’s house with my 2 host nieces (who I absolutely adore) and decorated the Christmas tree! It was a weird concept- this family is composed of 4 different houses, and the only place they put a Christmas tree up in where Christmas Eve dinner is held! Plus, they put it up Christmas Eve! It took only about a half hour to decorate. The other weird things is that there weren’t like…. Different colored ornaments. Everything was the same color, and every ornament was the same. My host sister told me it had to look orderly, and this year she was having a “brown and gold” tree.

After decorating the tree, I returned home to get ready for dinner. I was glad I was on the dressier side, because it ended up being a VERY dressy occasion. My host father wore a suit and a bow tie! Some important things about Polish Christmas Eve: we couldn’t eat until the first star was seen in the sky. Well too bad it was overcast tonight… so we just waited until about 6 o’clock. Also, there is always straw placed under the table cloth- my host family tells me this is to symbolize straw from the manger.

Before dinner, my host family asked me to play Silent Night on the saxophone, so I’m glad I can still play a little. I brought my saxophone to Poland but this was the first time I’d touched it in over 4 months… I was a bit scratchy.

Then we started dinner, which is called “Wigilia.” I had been told over and over again about the grand Christmas Eve feast, with 12 courses (TWELVE!), all made form Carp. Too bad I don’t eat fish… I was looking forward to seeing all the different courses, but I think it was a language barrier thing. My family was so sweet and made me a vegetarian tofu option! I only ate a little, saving room for the next 11 courses, but, unfortunately, they never came. I’m pretty sure that everyone meant twelve DISHES and not courses. I felt so stupid, then, because after the clearing of the plates began, I noticed that everyone else had been fillllllling their plates, and that there were exactly 12 dishes on the table. Everything I had eaten- including the traditional barszcz (my first time trying it- it’s delicious), perogis that have a name that translates to “small ears” in English, and the soy meat was delicious. Too bad I didn’t eat more…

Because it was at my host sister’s house, and her husband is from the west of Poland (while everyone else is from the east) there are different traditions and dishes. That’s why there were two different soup options. Christmas Eve is a completely meat-free day but this doesn’t exclude fish (which I think is weird, because I consider fish meat) so I still had some issues, as I mentioned. The main dish which was just carp. There were side dishes too, all carp things. Carp potato salad, carp roll ups sitting peacefully in fat-jello. Carp this, carp that. I ate the soup as I said and also soy meat in place of carp. There were tomatoes and bread (the only vegetarian dishes) so I also ate that. I was only eating a little though, like I said, because I wanted to save room for the 12 courses, which never came. After dinner the kids handed out presents. I was so touched that I received some gifts! After presents, Julia and Ula (my host nieces) and I watched three or four Grimm Brothers cartoon fairytales. I even understood some of the Polish. At about 11 went home.

Christmas Day:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This day is not as important as Xmas Eve.

There was no language barrier in saying that Christmas morning breakfast is all meat. Of the 20 or so dishes on the table, maybe 3 were without meat. And it wasn’t only meat, but ham roll ups with like egg salad or something sitting in smalec! Smalec happens to be pure pork fat. It was disgusting.. haha. My host sister even started eating the fat with a spoon, which makes me kind of sick. After breakfast, I played for a while with Julia and Ula upstairs. My host parents were freaking out about THE WALK that we needed to take- apparently it’s important and very traditional to take a walk after Christmas breakfast. So we went on that, which ended up being a ten minute walk around the block.

In the evening, I went to my (figure this one out) host brother-in-law’s mother’s house for another traditional dinner. I wasn’t hungry though, and neither were my host nieces. We were actually really tired from all the hustle and bustle, so we settled in on the couch and watched more Polish movies. We watched Shrek and a Barbie movie with Julia. Yes, I know, Barbie, but the English is a lot easier to understand.

I also had a freak out/ embarrassing moment today. Ula (she’s 3) started choking on a piece of chocolate and her sister thought she was just being annoying and kept pushing her out of the way. As soon as I noticed what was happening I FREAKED OUT. As soon as her parents heard me yelling and saw me running in the room with her, they ran in and helped her to puke up a pile of chocolate. She was fine, looked at the chocolate for a minute, shrugged, and went back to watching the movie. Her parents thanked me profusely, but I was so embarrassed because when I had freaked out and started yelling, it was in English. They didn’t understand my embarrassment but I was mortified.

When I got home, I stayed up late making a pumpkin pie for my GRAMMA who is coming tomorrow! ☺

My girls and me: