Oh! So I totally forgot to mention that the professor in Secularization yesterday. He actually recognized Vanderbilt. When we were introducing ourselves and our respective universities, I stated Vanderbilt, and he did this huh, nod of approval sort of gesture. It was kind of cool. Then he told me how he loved Nashville when he visited it. So it's not just the name; he actually knew where it was. It felt pretty nifty.
Onto today, however! Tried to sleep in as much as I could, then I got up and got ready and what not. I started making some crepes; unfortunately, I have realized why my omelets a month ago failed constantly. If a pan is too scratched at the bottom, no amount of butter will save it from sticking to the bottom. Aka, my crepes failed. And for your information, I have made successful crepes plenty of times before! So I have crepe batter, and need to find a pan in good condition to make them tomorrow... Or else I'll be very sad that the batter went to waste. :( Ah, and the landlady came in with a repairman to fix the laundry machine today as well. Eventually people got back from the morning Polish Contemporary Film class. No. I am not taking it. I do not like movies. The fact that it is an easy class does not appeal to me. No surprise there. I have other courses I much rather take, anyways. But they said it was good, so I'm glad for them Just like we heard; watch a movie, talk about it. Sounds about right.
Ohohoh! I finished the first chapter of Harry Potter i Kamień Filozoficzny, in Polish. It's going really well for me, actually! Which is exciting! There were one or two words in the chapter which I couldn't understand from context or thinking of the book before hand. I sort of feel like this is to make up for when I didn't read it as a kid, because now I'm reading it in the beginning my true understandings of Polish, sort of like when everyone was reading it when we were younger. :D Yes, I'm a nerd.
I left for class, then, went to eat some ruskie pierogi, surprise surprise, and then got on the tram for class! Unfortunately, something happened so the tram got stuck for a bit... ... Everyone was really impatient, so the tram was empty after some waiting, and one lady just had to cross the street to complain to the tram driver after getting off the tram, saying, "Couldn't you have opened the doors earlier?" Yes, she was standing in the street as she complained. Because she couldn't have gone her merry way without attacking the driver particularly. He had a right to keep the doors closed. The tram was stopped in the middle of the street. He didn't want passengers to get hit by a car. Huh. Who would've though.
Regardless, I eventually got to my stop and walked to find my building. The building was easy, but when I went up the first stairs I found, I asked a professor where my room was. He told me in the second part of the building. I mean, it's close, but of course, I went up the wrong stairs. Either way, I waited out in the court yard, which was absolutely gorgeous. Eventually, from anxiety (as it was past when class started, or really close), I asked some guy if people were waiting for the same class as I was. The guy I asked was definitely not in my class, but the girl by me reassured me that they were waiting for the class. However, this guy, Alexander, and I had a pleasant conversation. Because it more went like, when I asked him what class it was, he immediately asked me, "Do you speak in English or in Polish?" Damn, he's quick.
We talked, and he asked me where I'm from, so I said America, so he asked if I mean North America, and I said yes, so he asked if Canada or the United States, so I obviously responded, but then he explained that the reason he asked was because he had family in Canada: his grandfather's brother's side of the family is all over there, so he recognized the English accent in my Polish. He was really nice about it though, and so he asked if I was able to take a class in Polish, and ya know how I feel about it. It's going to force me to learn the language. In fact, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I keep telling myself, that if my mom managed to get a master's degree not too soon after moving to America, knowing minimal English, then I think I can pass one class in Polish, having the ability to read and write in it, even as little as that is. But yeah, back to the guy, he was curious about what department I was under, so I tried to say it in Polish, but I forgot the name, so I started telling him in English, and he immediately knew and called out the Polish abbreviation. Though, this is where it gets interesting. He asked me to say the department name in English. So naturally, I did. He started guessing where I was from in the US. South eastern part...? Yes. Around Tennessee? ... The hell!?
I was absolutely shocked, and he was absolutely enthused by this. No, I did not tell him before hand, I'm certain of it. He explained that he met someone else who spoke similarly to me. Guys, just so you know, I have no accent. I really don't. Many people have told me I do not have an accent. People are often baffled by this. Yet he picked it up. It was super weird, yet cool. So I have to wonder. Is it easier to hear when it's your second language? I don't know. Baffling. Either way, eventually the professor came for class, so we said good bye, and I have to say, I hope I run into him again soon. He was nice. And not smoking. (A lot of the other students were smoking. ... Right beside me. I hate smoke.) Ah! At the beginning, when asking where I was from, he asked if I was Polish, so I explained about my family, but he clarified, asking what did I feel. Well... I answered honestly, which is I feel far more Polish than I do American, despite growing up in America. So I consider myself a Pole.
Now onto class. I felt like I stuck out. Oh wait. I did. You see, this class, ironically enough, is a mandatory class for all second-year students in the Faculty of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology. ... Wow, I really do know how to find the perfect course for me, don't I? So, these students have been together in many classes otherwise, and then there's me, being all, hi guys! I don't actually go to your school, and I'm taking a mandatory class for your year? I'm a bit worried about how much knowledge of Poland I should have and what I might not have, but I am willing to really look into it and brush up on my back knowledge just in case. It seems interesting, though, because we're going to be looking at how all sorts of different ethnicities lived in Poland and influenced Poland and all sorts of fun stuff! I was very impressed with myself when I started taking notes. When I went into the class, I honestly expected myself to take notes in English. Why? Because I had seen other students in the English classes taking their notes in their native language... ... I started taking notes in Polish. Oh, I can guarantee they are not proper grammatically or even in spelling, but... I still took notes in Polish.
Eventually, the wykład (lecture) portion of the lesson ended, so I approached the professor and explained my situation to him. Ya know, I'm from America, I'm an exchange student, I need to take my exam early because I leave in December, yes, before the break, I may not have the strongest reading or writing skills, so if I have any questions, will I be able to talk to him. He had absolutely no problem. He asked me to remind him mid-November about my leaving so that I can take the exam individually, and to go to his office hours for any questions and he'd help me out. ... I left that room in absolute bliss. Like. I felt a bit light-headed from how happy I felt. Sort of like I was about to float into the air. Everything worked out perfectly. The class time, the subject, the fact it's for second-years, the professor being so understanding. Yes, I was a bit worried about that. Why? Because at Vandy, from this last year, if you were not going to be there for that test, well... wait, what do you mean you wouldn't be there for the final exam? ... You get my point? Then again, I was in the sciences, in 100+ people classes, so it's different, but still. It's unthinkable. I honestly don't think any of those courses would've possibly considered allowing a student to take an exam so early. And don't get me wrong, I love Vanderbilt, but that's just how it works, and that's ok.
So I stood around in the courtyard, waiting for the break to end, because after wykład, we had ćwiczenia (workshop). Oh, get this. The workshop was with our professor. Not with a teacher assistant. With the man himself. In this workshop, we talked a bit more about the course outline and what to expect, and this is when I found out... ... We're going to make a presentation. Whooo! I wanted a challenge and to force myself to learn Polish, and now I'm going to have to do a presentation...! ... In Polish! ... I can do it! ... I hope! You see, these presentations are going to be about certain ethnic groups in Poland, and how they influenced Poland, and how involved they were, and when they were there. It's going to be awesome. I chose the Scots, especially when he warned the first girl there will likely be lots of texts in English. Therefore, if there is anyway I can help myself, I really should take advantage of it. Just in case, you know? I want the challenge, yes, but a little buffer won't hurt. But. When he asked for volunteers I was like, nope. Absolutely not. No way. I need an example. In Polish. Uh uh. Then he suggested that Scots would be a good one to go first, and I still thought that was an absolutely horrible idea on my part. Oh, when I say presentation, I mean just straight up speech. I don't think we'll be using PowerPoint for this one. And he suggested we take a paper with us to read from. Oh, I will most definitely be doing that, as Polish is not my first language. In my first language, I'd be like pssssh, who needs notes. Yeaaaaah. No. Not now. For this course, I have to do all I can to help myself look like I know what I'm talking about; I will know what I'm talking about, but any confidence boost or buffer will be a grand plus.
Besides that, I know the exam format, and part of it is fill-in-the-blank, and writing. But I think between this course and my Polish language course, I'll be fine by then. And with his understanding that, um hey, not my first language. I hate the fact that it's going to be an exam. Hate that. But what can I do? I'm super fortunate to have as many courses requiring papers instead of exams as it is!
So this is my first true experience of Polish education, I'd say. The professor sat and lectured the entire time, which isn't all that different, and many people in the class doodled through the lecture, which also isn't unusual; it gave me the feeling that since this is a required course, there is not that much interest or concern about it. However, I must say that the professor did encourage us to speak up in class if we have questions, so therefore it is not what I have been told where sometimes they expect people to just sit and listen the entire time. Therefore, a more "modern" approach to education, as it has been called in other situations. I'll definitely write more on that if I see anything interesting or different. But it's rather similar otherwise. Just a change in language. Oh, and my professor says the Polish equivalent of "um" a few times, which is helpful for me.
That was that, though. We got out a little earlier, I headed to the library to find out that in order to print anything, you have to look for the place called 'Ksero,' I think, and then I headed on home. I've been relaxing at home the rest of the evening. I met Nate's girlfriend, who is really nice! We talked quite a bit about travel, and she encouraged me to force Nate to travel with me while I go abroad to places since my idea of being in Poland for the weekend is actually visiting places since I've been to Poland so many times. Not that I don't love Poland, obviously, but I feel like there is so much more to see, and it is all right there at my fingertips! Then I ended up Skyping with my dad through my excitement of, ohmygoodnessI'minaPolishclassandtheprofessorwasunderstandingandIcantakenotesinPolish. Oh yes, I intentionally did use no spaces to sort of emphasize my excitement. I also informed him how I'm considering now how awesome it would be to come back to Poland and be a professor at Jagiellonian. Yes, Jagiellonian has some of the best professors in Poland, and they are very proud of that. In fact, while trying to find my history professor's course website, the first result I got under his name was him being in the Polish Wikipedia. And I'd say that's quite significant of how important the man is. My dad was not opposed to this idea either, and in fact agreed that would be wonderful.
The unfortunate side of this is that I prefer Wrocław to Kraków. Yes, I truly did feel more at home there, and after a week here, I think I can fairly judge my feelings on each city. Yes, Kraków is gorgeous and lively and wonderful, but I just felt better in Wrocław. I dunno why, I just did.
Hahahaha. Oh goodness. I was just talking to my roomie, reminding her to take her phone just in case her family might call or something, and she said that since it's so late, they likely won't call, which is fair. But then my phone rang, and lo and behold, it's my aunt. Bahahaha. I really do love my family. It's not just the immediate family that's insane about what is "late;" I'm pretty sure it's all of us. I found that really amusing.
Back to my future, though, it's certainly looking more and more likely that I'll end up just moving back to Poland and become a professor, striving for Jagiellonian. Of course, that's my vision; life will likely throw a curve ball or two somewhere.
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