Man, what a day! Today was my actual real first day of classes, as yesterday was just a class I won't end up taking with a person who wasn't the true professor. This morning, I woke up, left for the tram early, got to class thirty minutes early. Yeah, the trams are definitely the way to go. At least in my case. We're close enough for people who can walk to walk to class, but well... yeah. My first class was Holocaust and Its Cultural Meanings, part 1, focus on Research and Memories. The professor was absolutely wonderful. Listen to this: she was born in America, I'm assuming to a Polish family, based on her last name, who moved back to Poland, to become a professor, and is a sociologist and social anthropologist. Aka, essentially the future me. Yes, I do plan on going to her office hours to talk to her about her career and what not, and yes, she told us she does things the "American way." Aka, no question is stupid unless you don't ask it, and that means she's far more open than it has been in most European universities. Yes, times are changing, but for older professors, many of them just believe, go to class, lecture, leave, and that's all the students get from you.
Her lecture style is wonderful. Very light-hearted and a joyful person to listen to. She brings in a lot of interesting, related tangents, actually, as well, to give us further back story of events. I really enjoyed today's class. In fact, I took nearly five pages of notes. Because I wanted to. We actually did spend all of our class time, mainly looking at how the class would work and answering the question: Who did what to whom when? Very interesting manner of answering about the Holocaust, but incredibly effective, I think. The subject material was truly fascinating, and it really did give me goosebumps a few times. For example, when she asked who were the first subjects of Hitler's mass murder, I actually knew the answer. The disabled in German. Particularly psychologically and those who looked different. Very very nerve-wracking, especially because they were killed by carbon monoxide. Which reminded me of the first gas chamber test in Auschwitz. The Nazis did not know how much Cyclon B was necessary to kill a certain number of people. They threw one can into the chamber... If I remember correctly, it took either 20 hours... ... or 2 days for them to die completely...
Along with that, when we got to the "when," she explained that it depends on the perspective, and what you are looking at. Although most definitions agree that the end was 1945. But. She told us about the killings that happened after the official "end." The signing of the peace treaties. Up until 1947, people kept killing each other and blaming the Jews. Why? Because they had been demoralized. Killing was normal. Dead bodies, naked on the street? Normal. It didn't effect them. Therefore, more people died that go uncounted in the official counts because it was after the signings. One story that particularly stuck to me was that in a small town outside of Kraków, a boy claimed that he had been kidnapped by some Jews so that they could make matza out of his blood: an old European Christian myth about Jews. The town, in anger, burned down a tenement house holding 42 Jews... Specifically 42 Holocaust survivors... That's just one example. After all of their pain and anguish, after managing to survive such a treacherous event, they still died from the anger of local citizens finding a scapegoat and releasing their anger. Writing that still shakes me now.
In case you don't know, throughout my life, I have always had a fascination in the Holocaust... I have often studied it in my spare time, just to learn about it. Just to understand, to never forget. To share that story, so it remains a reminder... I think that's actually part of the reason that I am so... minimalistic, I guess. Within the past few days, I've realized I'm quite minimalistic in living, at least in American standards. The apartment I'm in right now would be more than enough for me for a long time, even with family. Four rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen. It's what you need, and nothing more. I don't need a TV. I just need some sort of access to talk to my friends and maybe some books. More is nice, of course, but I don't need it. I can deal without it. It's a nice realization, in my opinion.
Anyways, wonderful class. Plus, we just have to write a paper for the end of it, 7-10 pages, piece of cake! I love papers! Tests, not so much, but papers are great! We have to write on a book or film, which has not been rewarded an award, or a memorial, monument, etc. So that should be super interesting!
Afterwards, Angelica (the girl who is living in her own apartment), Nate, and I went out into Rynek since we had class in a few hours, and it didn't feel like it'd be worth it going back to the apartments. We... ended up eating at McDonald's... Fortunately, Polish McDonald's are better, not being as greasy and tasting fresher, and the facilities are always cleaner, even in small towns. That and, eh, why not? It's not something I'll do often, but once while I'm here certainly won't hurt. At that point, we walked around Rynek a bit more, I bought some school supplies from Empik, which were mislabeled and not the price I wanted, much to my dismay later, continued walking in Rynek, and then headed back to the building for our next class. We definitely had some pleasant conversations, I'd say! Very varied, so I can't recall them too much.
However, our next class was wonderful as well! Poland in Europe in the 20th Century. I am incredibly excited for this course, simply because I will finally learn a lot of things I know I don't know, but feel like I should know about Poland. It'll be such a clarification of so much history. The professor was incredibly nice and humorous as well in his presentation of the syllabus and everything. He also seems like he'll be easy to talk to during office hours, and the course material just seems absolutely fascinating! Honestly, I'm going to end up double majoring in either History, Sociology, or Religious Studies. I can just tell from these past few months in Poland. Back to class, though. It ended up being cut short, as they needed the room for something, so some lady came in and had him finish early. Which is fine, as we were just going to discuss the course syllabus either way. In this class, we're going to write one essay on an important Polish figure in the 20th century, and then for the exam, it's a take-home exam style, and he gives us 12 questions. We answer 3 of those questions in essay format, just like the essay for the first one. Thus far, I am loving these class requirements. As I mentioned, papers are my favorite. You can work on them and ensure that they are of the best quality before turning them in, get feedback. But with tests, once you are done, you're done. No hope. No edits. Nothing.
Tomorrow will be our first actual lecture period, which should be quite interesting. We are starting off with the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Aka, Poland as a political land no longer exists. The Poles obviously do, and as we are a stubborn, hardy people, we keep our culture and stay in our lands.
Then class ended, we talked to the professor (just like we did earlier) to check about us being Americans, and he was prepared and said he'd give us more information later, as he understood why we wouldn't be there, so it's great. We headed out, I went back to Empik to return to the notebooks I did not use. I wasn't going to spend so much money on that when I knew I could find them cheaper. Got some ice cream (banana and raspberry) on the way to the tram, and headed back to the apartment, where I Skyped with my parents, and pretty much determined what I want my last course to be.
I don't know how much I've explained about this, but in this entire experience, I really want to challenge myself and take a course in Polish. I feel that the number one way to better my Polish is by being in a course, forcing myself to read through the material, understand it, write about it, and listen to lectures in Polish. Yes. It will be difficult, and at times, aggravating, I'm sure, but I think if I speak to the professor beforehand, he will understand and perhaps be ecstatic of my endeavors. Therefore, he might be willing to lend me a hand if I have any questions, so long as I reach out for help, you know? Anyways, while looking through the course catalog, I essentially found the perfect course. In Polish, it's called Historia etniczna ziem polskich. In English, that translates to the Ethnic History of Polish Lands, I'm pretty sure, because as we all know, for a good time, Poland wasn't even on the map, therefore it is often referred to Polish lands throughout history instead. This course is under the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology... ... My major is going to be anthropology, with a focus on cultural anthropology. This course gives me 60 contact hours, aka 4 credit hours in the States. It also fits in with my schedule most wonderfully. So essentially, this is the perfect fit for me, and I really hope I can take it.
Eventually, Nate, Monika and I headed to Galeria Krakowska again, to sort of browse about and also buy more groceries. I finally have baking supplies, hoorah! Yes, the bakeries are phenomenally delicious here, but I still just love to bake, and I want to bake, so I have stuff to bake with. The end. But yes, we left the store with our groceries after a second bit of bad luck with school supplies for me. You see, there was a set of five notebooks in one packaging, and it was under a sign for 7.99. Dang, that's an awesome deal, right? However, I found out at the register it was per notebook... ... How was I supposed to know you're allowed to unpack something to buy it? I've never encountered that! But ah well. I left without supplies. Again.
Besides that, it was really nice. We got back to the apartments, cooked in Monika's apartment since the gas stoves are better for boiling. Nate made kiełbasa simmered in beer, Żywiec particularly this time. Oh yes, it was delicious. I made the potatoes (yay potatoes!). And we finished off the tomato soup. It took us forever and a half because the landlady came in at one point (she was quite surprised/impressed to see us cooking; we determined it's highly unlikely many people actually cooked in the apartments before us), and we had to run back and forth between apartments grabbing supplies like chickens with their heads run off. But! Dinner was delicious. And the chatting was very pleasant. Obscure movies, linguistic nuances, Russian history, Polish history, Poles invading history in general, anime, manga, conventions. Then Nate and I went back to our apartment, and here I am. Typing up my day. And tomorrow I have some more classes! Yay history and secularization! I can't believe it's only going to be Wednesday! Toodaloo!
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