Well, you might be wondering why the hell I did not write for so long. Let’s start with Thursday. What happened Thursday, you ask? I was sick. Oh, that’s right. Nausea and stomach issues. No, it was not fun. What did I do? Lay in bed, check out some messages, go and lay down again. I even missed my Polish lesson in the evening. Oh, no, I was not happy. I already had a mini freak out on Tuesday and then, lo-and-behold, missing Thursday. Great student, right? But who in their right mind would go to class in my not-dying-but-still-not-pleasant condition? Particularly when I do have days to miss. Regardless, it was the day my friends finished the volunteer shopping and started packing the presents. I wish I could’ve joined it. It was also supposed to be my major study and work day. HAH! Whenever you feel ill, the last thing you can do is concentrate on studying. Therefore, my Thursday was mostly wasted away. Although! I did Skype my parents briefly. That was pleasant, of course. Anyways, went to bed early, because oh, I really really wanted to feel better by the next day. Why? Eight-hour train ride was waiting for me. Yeah. No, being sick was unacceptable. Plus, I wanted to focus on the train ride, so a good night’s rest was absolutely necessary. That was my unfortunate Thursday. Oh, and for whatever reason, I remembered that sometime this week, I have a feeling it was Wednesday, I received my parents postcard, which was super wonderful. <3 Any mail is always good mail!
So let’s move onto Friday! I woke up feeling quite peachy, in all honesty! It was grand! I was better, hoorah! I got my stuff together and eventually headed out for the tram I missed and hoped to catch a bus. Which was also unfortunately timed... Although, I got to the train station on time, and I had no stress cause I really had bought the ticket earlier. I got to my wagon, and it was quite pleasant. You see, it wasn't jampacked, so there were about 2 extra seats in my 8 seat wagon. Yes, that made it far more comfortable. Two older women chatted the entire time, and the people didn't change too much, particularly toward the end of the journey. At that point, people really weren't getting on the train, so that made it that much more comfortable. I just tried to use the time to my advantage and listen to lectures and study for upcoming exams. At the end of the trip, the last old lady in the wagon started chatting with me a bit. It was a pleasant break from lectures, that's for sure, but at the same time, she was just talking at me. But I was not about to be rude! So, 8 hours finally passed, I got off the train and had absolutely noooooo idea who to look for. Just learned about this family. Had no pictures. Nothing. Fortunately, though, a man and woman approached me asking if I am "Nelli." Yeah, Nelli. Which was actually really nice. ^_^ Such a sweet nickname, I think! (Haha, and longer than my real name, I know, I know.) I'm assuming they found me through 2 methods: they were given pictures before hand and I was also very confused and looking for someone yet no one.
We talked really briefly, because he just had to drop me off at his parents' apartment before returning to work. You see, I went to visit my mom's dad's cousin and his wife... and their entire family, essentially, since I met most of them, actually! It was quite wonderful, to be honest. I got upstairs, and they were all so welcoming and happy to see me, particularly since they never physically saw me except for pictures. Really, though, pictures aren't enough. At this point, we just sat down in their living room, the TV was all ready turned on, and we just started talking while I ate a wonderful wonderful bowl of rosół. Oh goodness, it was delicious! Unfortunately, due to my minimalistic amount of eating for the past two days, let's just say my stomach was not too happy with my choice. So I went to bed early, particularly since there were plans for the next day!
Next morning, I actually managed to sleep in, once again! Much to my dismay. But it didn't really seem to matter, cause at least I was well rested. Of course, I started off with a traditional Polish sandwich, and we just sat around and chatted for the morning until their granddaughter, Agnieszka, came with her husband. Well, I mean, when they came, we continued chatting. They also brought me a present! <3 So nice of them. It was a lovely bag of Toruń pierniczki!!! :D Essentially ginger snaps. As well as a recipe for pierniki, which are ginger bread cookies, so I think they're not going to be as crunchy. Oh, which came with a cute little magnet bag that smells like them! Eventually, the three of us headed out so that she could show me around Toruń; she was really excited to show me around, honestly. It was really nice, too. I felt incredibly welcomed, between Maciek and his wife being so nice in finding me, and my grand uncle and grand aunt being so happy to see me, and then their granddaughter's excitement to show me around!
First, we drove to Barbaka, if I remember the name correctly, which is the forest beside Toruń. There are two significant things about this forest. 1) It's a very active recreational park for joggers, bikers, skaters, etc, etc, which has a nice place for a camp fire, a kids' playground, a chapel, and other sorts of things, where they have midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and also a bit like summer camp grounds, where they tell you information about the wild life and greenery of the forest. 2) More importantly, though, it was the site where Nazis took Polish citizens into the forest and shot them. Anywhere between 600 and 1200 people were shot there. This included all sorts of people: students of high school and universities, professors, lawyers, and oddly enough, many many farmers... That was actually the first place we went to. They recently made it a far more clean and effective memorial, where they have provided a lot of information of the lives lost. You can walk through a little path where some graves are marked and taken care of by families. Unfortunately, for a while, it was unknown of what had happened in the forest. It was not noted and forgotten... And in the mean time, an entire recreational area was developed beside it. Rather chilling, isn't it? Horrible events can truly happen anywhere, and you would not even know. You may never know. It can all be so well hidden, and time still moves on.
Though, once we left the Barbaka forest, we headed on to their apartment, actually. She wanted to show me their brand new apartment and how they live; oh yeah, it was pretty dang gorgeous. It was one of those moments when I again realized how content I would be living in that style of apartment. How I'd enjoy it and really wouldn't need too much more. After this quick stop, we also drove back into town, and on the way, they pointed out the old Prussian building styles that we passed: bricks with visible wooden support beams. It's quite interesting, actually! Unique, in my opinion. You typically try to make a wall look continuous, not divided, if that makes sense. But yes, we drove back to town so that she could also show me her work place! Her office sits in a nice side building, in what I'm assuming used to be a house or apartment esque set up. It was so pretty! One of those eloquent offices you see in magazines, ya know? Not your typical office building office. So I definitely feel like that must be a comfortable place to work.
Well, before we headed on with our plans for the day, Agnieszka offered me pierogi... I mean, I was trying to be cautious with eating due to the stomach issues I had been having, but... I can't reject pierogi! Unfortunately, the actual pierogarnia was stuffed, so the wait wasn't worth it for our timeline, and the next place she knew was also full, so we went to another typical Polish restaurant. While the food is really good, it only had one choice for pierogi: ruskie. So, we had ruskie pierogi! And honestly, they were delicious, and I ate way more than I expected! :D But we couldn't spend too much time there, because we had to go see her aunt, who is just 8 years older! (The family dynamics is quite interesting xD) But yes, we went and I met Kasia and her family. They have a little 2-year-old boy called Kubuś who is precious as heck. Kasia was also very excited to meet me. Honestly, I am just super glad that I am meeting more and more of my family that I never had the chance to meet. I understand it was hard to go around and see everyone while we spent short trips in Poland, but now I know every time I'm in Poland I will make the effort to visit everyone possible. (Yeah, big commitment, I know.) Again, we had to rush out of there due to the fact we had limited time; they had planned a dinner thing a little before they found out I was going to be in town. So, they took me to see the nighttime panorama of Toruń across the river. Oh, my goodness, it was quite stunning. The old building highest points in the city, across the river water, the lights illuminating the entire city. Quite the view.
We drove back into town, and Agnieszka and Dariusz both kept talking to me and telling me about the city at the same time, trying to drown the other out. They would tease fight with one another, and it was really sweet. And super amusing. Agnieszka showed me the prison and law buildings she often goes to, as it's part of her job. The prison is quite amazing as well, considering it's literally an old prisoner. Circular old style prison, ya know? Squatted tower sort of thing. Think about the history in that building! We also walked around the square, which brought back pleasant memories from my trip to Poland last year; we took a short stop in Toruń on our way to Kraków from Tczew, so I greatly remembered the square; I actually remembered one of the streets connecting to the square more than the square, but I do remember it. I even pointed out the delicious gofry place (don't judge me).
And that was the end of my grand Toruń tour! Toruń at night, stellar, the entire city, beautiful. I love Poland, the end. That's what I came to realize. We drove back to my grand aunt's and uncle's, where I had a wonderful obiad prepared by my aunt. From then on, we just sat around and I just listened to Ciocia Krysia talk. A lot. I learned a lot about my family and what it was like growing up through World War II. A bit mind blowing, when you think about it... For example, Poles were not permitted to have a Christmas Tree; Germans were allowed, of course, but not Poles. You could not speak in Polish. You could get arrested without any reason. You never knew if your family would really be whole. You had to run from both sides, particularly if you were in the military. For example: had my great grandparents not received information from a family friend that the Russians were going to be arresting all soldiers, then it is quite possible that my great grandfather would've been sent to Katyń...
My entire evening was spent listening to them tell me stories and trying to record as much family history down as possible. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I want to write down as much of my family's history as possible. Perhaps even work on some creative non-fiction with it. For one, it's important to me, and for another, it would be an excellent method to practice my writing, if not get some short pieces read by more people than those who already know my characters. Eventually, I went to sleep, and again, I slept in the next morning, not that it mattered. I spent the entire day at home with them, eating a lot of food (because I never seemed to put enough cold cuts on my sandwiches or a thick enough layer of pasztet, or eat enough cake... oh, grandparents), and talking to them. Or after a certain point, just listening to them. Yeah, I definitely said a few things, but... The amount of stories I have recorded is a tiny tiny tiny tiny fragment of the amount of stories I heard through the weekend. I heard all sorts of stories about the family and good laughs and the kids and them growing up and just everything. How Poland is not giving back money to the EU to happily after the EU gave so much money, how Poland really is a tough place to live in and that there is never enough jobs, and all sorts of other things. I... never realized how much a grandparent could talk. Particularly a grandmother, or in my case, grandaunt. Don't get me wrong! I greatly appreciated and enjoyed all the stories. But... there's a certain point where you wonder if there is a stopping point. You start feeling talked at. I still enjoyed it and appreciated it, but... I think the entire "spending all of Sunday with them" thing definitely was a bit too much at once. Although, I watched an incredibly interesting movie that evening as well! It was the second half, actually, about a German man who escaped a Russian prison camp in Siberia to go back to his family and how he traveled across all of the Soviet Union in his attempt to go back. He was trailed the entire time by the commanding officer, and it took him three years. Very... very intense movie, to be honest. Interesting, as well! I'll have to see the full thing, one day. (:
Regardless! I learned a lot, and I had an absolutely wonderful weekend when it comes down to it. Lots of delicious homemade food, meeting family I haven't met (or really knew of) before, learning so much about my family! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Monday morning, I packed my things up, Ciocia Krysia woke me up an hour early for my train so that I could eat and get ready, we chatted a bit more (without having to fight with the TV, for the first time all weekend; they left it on. The. Entire. Time.), and then Wujek Zbysiek and I called a taxi to go to the train station. We were fortunate in that the traffic across the bridge was none existent, which is why we left a full hour early. At that point, we just sat and waited in the train station until my train came. It was really nice, listening to him share some of his stories, as Ciocia Krysia was the one talking throughout most of the weekend. Honestly, he is precious in how much he cares. I was trying my hardest to carry my own suitcase, but he wouldn't let me. Meanwhile, I knew how heavy it was and how much he should not carry it, but he still took it, anyways. When the time for my train came, we went to my platform, and he helped me get on the train. We talked briefly through the window before the train rolled away, and I was waving good bye. I felt quite heartbroken leaving, yet again. Why do I not have more time to see all of these wonderful people? All of my family? To truly dedicate more time to them? Plus, it was really sweet being called Nelli. It was something different and new. Just, the entire weekend, great.
The train ride wasn't too eventful. No, trust me, it wasn't. I was fortunate in that my cabin was never full with more than four people (it's for eight). At one point, I was even all by myself. I spent the entire train ride listening to my lectures and taking down notes, trying to study for my exam. No, really, I did. It got very very old. I was very fortunate that I had the train time to force myself to study, because it's not like I had anything else to do, but 8 hours of lectures and studying with minimal breaks, not too fun. I got home successfully, and I just spent the rest of the evening relaxing. It was really pleasant seeing everyone after the weekend, though, as there are a lot of things planned through the week for us to do together! Yay quality time! I also had the chance to Skype with Bobby, again. Always fun to Skype! Not only that, but I finally managed to grab Sam's (Florida) attention enough so that she got onto Skype and we Skyped as well! Oh, well, I mean, I went to bed way later than I should've, but I was just grateful to finally Skype with my dear friend. <3 She's the one I have most trouble keeping in touch with, but she's busy, so that's good! That was it for my Monday, though! A typical travel day followed up by Skype.
Time for Tuesday! Woke up on the groggy side, reasonably so, and I headed out to Holocaust class. We watched a movie called Conspiracy. It depicted the Wannsee Conference, and honestly, it did a wonderful job, because it greatly disturbed me. The actors did a great job portraying their roles, and it really was a chilling movie to watch, full of symbolism as well, surprisingly enough. That was the class for the day, but that reminds me. Upon my return, I checked my emails and received great news about my upcoming summer. I am a step closer to the possibility of participating in the Maymester in Berlin, and my professor from Holocaust is willing to help me out with my desire to work or intern in Poland in a Holocaust memorial! Absolutely wonderful! Things seem to be working out, and I can only hope they continue heading down the right path. :)
After class, I stopped by my oh-so-favorite chocolate fruit stand! I ordered a banana, but I also received freshly dipped dried plums. :D Goodness, the lady is absolutely wonderful. So friendly, and she obviously acknowledges the fact that I really really like the fruit stand. xD The fact that the chocolate was fresh made it that much better, too! Scrumptious to no end. Plus, the banana was phenomenal as well! I honestly can't pick a favorite chocolate-covered fruit anymore... I can perhaps group them in what I prefer, but not just one. I spent the rest of my afternoon working on a paper and other school work. I am quite proud of my historical figure essay, actually. The person I chose was absolutely fascinating as well, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. Haha, I also had to catch up on the homework I did not learn about until that morning for my Polish class. Not that it was too difficult. Because of this, though, I... unfortunately did not go to my history class in the afternoon. I used my time to study and work before heading to the Polish class.
Polish class was not too bad, as well. It was our first time with our student teacher, and she was very upbeat and chipper. Although, thanks to my stress, the class dragged by for once instead of shockingly flying by. I felt as though I understood her explanations far more clearly than my actual teacher, as well, particularly because she was so thorough in explaining the actual use behind the grammar lesson; i.e., she did not just give us the endings and work through exercises with us. My actual teacher didn't seem too upset by the fact that I missed last Thursday as well. Yeah, I don't know what to think, still, but I guess I am just excited to be done with the class tomorrow. I certainly want to keep learning Polish and improving my understanding of it, but for whatever reason, I did not mesh with my teacher that well. She did have enjoyable lesson plans, creative, but something just did not click. Oh! But that reminded me! Through the class, we heard all sorts of chants and a band playing outside. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the beginning of martial law in Poland. It was in memory of those who died as a result of martial law. When I left the class, there was a huge crowd out on the square, singing some sort of patriotic song. Absolutely awe-inspiring. I felt uplifted. I tried my hardest to get a video of it, but I ran out of time and needed to catch my tram to go home, eat a leftover sandwich, and study.
I woke up super early this morning to study! Well, I set my alarm early and slept an extra hour, being way too tired to wake up, but! Nonetheless. I did eventually get up and start studying for my exam. Oh yeah, I had an exam today for my historia etniczna ziem polskich class, of which I was quite worried, actually. But yes, unfortunately, I needed to go to my history class this morning. We left early so that I could print off my paper as well as grab some pretzel bagles. I spent most of my time in class focusing on looking at notes from my other class (honestly, I felt horrible doing that; I couldn't focus the entire time, though). The class lecture was interesting as well! He discussed rations and the absolute nonsense the Communist system had when you had to buy things. You would get 300 g coupons for laundry powder, but they sold them in half kilos... And no, they would not open it up and pour it out. So you'd have to collect enough coupon/ration things in order to buy 3 bags of the powder... Ridiculous! You could also exchange a lot of things differently. Alcohol for candy instead, or cigarettes. Everything had designated amounts per person. It made me wonder how my parents did it. What was it like. I really need to talk to them about it.
Everyone after class headed to Hard Rock Cafe, and unfortunately, I had to go study. I guess that's a good thing, though, as I got to save me monies. Although, that meant my lunch was a chocolate apple. Oh, what, you thought I wouldn't stop by my favorite Christmas stand? Of course I did! :D And I got another discount. Acknowledged by the lady herself. "Dla Pani, tylko pieć złoty," meaning, "For you, only 5 złoty." As opposed to 6. It just makes me feel wonderful, being a regular customer like that, being acknowledged and recognized. I dunno, it's something special! From there, though, I headed to the library in my classroom's building and spent the rest of my afternoon listening to lectures and reviewing my written notes. While I realized I tackled all of this far too late, I still didn't end up being as worried as I was at first. I also figured out a new method for my notes which I can use back at Vanderbilt. I feel like it should be very effective, and a manner of forcing me to really understand each of my lessons more thoroughly through time as opposed to at the very end. I hope. We'll see!
When the time for my exam arrived, I tried to find the room, resulted to asking the porter (who was a nice young man, so he wasn't intimidating), and he led me to my professor's office (ironically enough right by the library....). I walked in, completely expecting the full exam he mentioned at the beginning of the year: partially multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and then 2-3 written pages on whatever. Instead, he asks me to come in and sit down, and then he asks, "Would you prefer an oral or written exam?" I swear, when I walked in, I was looking all over for the paper exam he was going to hand me, but that was it. I happily decided oral, and he spent the next 30 minutes asking me questions to determine how much I learned in class. He also explained a few more things for me. I felt like I should receive a solid B on it, on the American scale. There were two or three questions I was completely unable to answer, but there were also questions on which I went off on tangents, and while they weren't related or perhaps correlated with a later time period, it showed I had learned other things as well. However, at the end of the exam, he asked some questions that I nailed right on the head! As well as how he was supposed to record my grade... Oh the logistics. I have no clue. Nonetheless, I was in bliss, because honestly, it went rather well, and I didn't have to take the huge exam I thought I would. I hate exams. I like papers. And now oral exams. Discussion is good. Correct yourself, think it through, discuss.
Before leaving, though, I of course thanked him for the wonderful semester and mentioned how I felt that I honestly learned a lot. I also explained my situation in Poland a bit for him, why I wanted to study in Poland, that I worked here, and the entire fact I have to go back to Nashville. I'd say it was a pleasant good-bye, haha. I left the building blissfully, as I mentioned earlier, and just headed back home for the afternoon and evening. I spent most of it destressing, chatting with my wonderful friends, catching up on messages and what not. And there you have it, that was my day. Or the last week, more-or-less. Now I should go to bed. And prepare myself to study for my next exam. No worries, life is good! :D
Next morning, I actually managed to sleep in, once again! Much to my dismay. But it didn't really seem to matter, cause at least I was well rested. Of course, I started off with a traditional Polish sandwich, and we just sat around and chatted for the morning until their granddaughter, Agnieszka, came with her husband. Well, I mean, when they came, we continued chatting. They also brought me a present! <3 So nice of them. It was a lovely bag of Toruń pierniczki!!! :D Essentially ginger snaps. As well as a recipe for pierniki, which are ginger bread cookies, so I think they're not going to be as crunchy. Oh, which came with a cute little magnet bag that smells like them! Eventually, the three of us headed out so that she could show me around Toruń; she was really excited to show me around, honestly. It was really nice, too. I felt incredibly welcomed, between Maciek and his wife being so nice in finding me, and my grand uncle and grand aunt being so happy to see me, and then their granddaughter's excitement to show me around!
First, we drove to Barbaka, if I remember the name correctly, which is the forest beside Toruń. There are two significant things about this forest. 1) It's a very active recreational park for joggers, bikers, skaters, etc, etc, which has a nice place for a camp fire, a kids' playground, a chapel, and other sorts of things, where they have midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and also a bit like summer camp grounds, where they tell you information about the wild life and greenery of the forest. 2) More importantly, though, it was the site where Nazis took Polish citizens into the forest and shot them. Anywhere between 600 and 1200 people were shot there. This included all sorts of people: students of high school and universities, professors, lawyers, and oddly enough, many many farmers... That was actually the first place we went to. They recently made it a far more clean and effective memorial, where they have provided a lot of information of the lives lost. You can walk through a little path where some graves are marked and taken care of by families. Unfortunately, for a while, it was unknown of what had happened in the forest. It was not noted and forgotten... And in the mean time, an entire recreational area was developed beside it. Rather chilling, isn't it? Horrible events can truly happen anywhere, and you would not even know. You may never know. It can all be so well hidden, and time still moves on.
Though, once we left the Barbaka forest, we headed on to their apartment, actually. She wanted to show me their brand new apartment and how they live; oh yeah, it was pretty dang gorgeous. It was one of those moments when I again realized how content I would be living in that style of apartment. How I'd enjoy it and really wouldn't need too much more. After this quick stop, we also drove back into town, and on the way, they pointed out the old Prussian building styles that we passed: bricks with visible wooden support beams. It's quite interesting, actually! Unique, in my opinion. You typically try to make a wall look continuous, not divided, if that makes sense. But yes, we drove back to town so that she could also show me her work place! Her office sits in a nice side building, in what I'm assuming used to be a house or apartment esque set up. It was so pretty! One of those eloquent offices you see in magazines, ya know? Not your typical office building office. So I definitely feel like that must be a comfortable place to work.
Well, before we headed on with our plans for the day, Agnieszka offered me pierogi... I mean, I was trying to be cautious with eating due to the stomach issues I had been having, but... I can't reject pierogi! Unfortunately, the actual pierogarnia was stuffed, so the wait wasn't worth it for our timeline, and the next place she knew was also full, so we went to another typical Polish restaurant. While the food is really good, it only had one choice for pierogi: ruskie. So, we had ruskie pierogi! And honestly, they were delicious, and I ate way more than I expected! :D But we couldn't spend too much time there, because we had to go see her aunt, who is just 8 years older! (The family dynamics is quite interesting xD) But yes, we went and I met Kasia and her family. They have a little 2-year-old boy called Kubuś who is precious as heck. Kasia was also very excited to meet me. Honestly, I am just super glad that I am meeting more and more of my family that I never had the chance to meet. I understand it was hard to go around and see everyone while we spent short trips in Poland, but now I know every time I'm in Poland I will make the effort to visit everyone possible. (Yeah, big commitment, I know.) Again, we had to rush out of there due to the fact we had limited time; they had planned a dinner thing a little before they found out I was going to be in town. So, they took me to see the nighttime panorama of Toruń across the river. Oh, my goodness, it was quite stunning. The old building highest points in the city, across the river water, the lights illuminating the entire city. Quite the view.
We drove back into town, and Agnieszka and Dariusz both kept talking to me and telling me about the city at the same time, trying to drown the other out. They would tease fight with one another, and it was really sweet. And super amusing. Agnieszka showed me the prison and law buildings she often goes to, as it's part of her job. The prison is quite amazing as well, considering it's literally an old prisoner. Circular old style prison, ya know? Squatted tower sort of thing. Think about the history in that building! We also walked around the square, which brought back pleasant memories from my trip to Poland last year; we took a short stop in Toruń on our way to Kraków from Tczew, so I greatly remembered the square; I actually remembered one of the streets connecting to the square more than the square, but I do remember it. I even pointed out the delicious gofry place (don't judge me).
And that was the end of my grand Toruń tour! Toruń at night, stellar, the entire city, beautiful. I love Poland, the end. That's what I came to realize. We drove back to my grand aunt's and uncle's, where I had a wonderful obiad prepared by my aunt. From then on, we just sat around and I just listened to Ciocia Krysia talk. A lot. I learned a lot about my family and what it was like growing up through World War II. A bit mind blowing, when you think about it... For example, Poles were not permitted to have a Christmas Tree; Germans were allowed, of course, but not Poles. You could not speak in Polish. You could get arrested without any reason. You never knew if your family would really be whole. You had to run from both sides, particularly if you were in the military. For example: had my great grandparents not received information from a family friend that the Russians were going to be arresting all soldiers, then it is quite possible that my great grandfather would've been sent to Katyń...
My entire evening was spent listening to them tell me stories and trying to record as much family history down as possible. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I want to write down as much of my family's history as possible. Perhaps even work on some creative non-fiction with it. For one, it's important to me, and for another, it would be an excellent method to practice my writing, if not get some short pieces read by more people than those who already know my characters. Eventually, I went to sleep, and again, I slept in the next morning, not that it mattered. I spent the entire day at home with them, eating a lot of food (because I never seemed to put enough cold cuts on my sandwiches or a thick enough layer of pasztet, or eat enough cake... oh, grandparents), and talking to them. Or after a certain point, just listening to them. Yeah, I definitely said a few things, but... The amount of stories I have recorded is a tiny tiny tiny tiny fragment of the amount of stories I heard through the weekend. I heard all sorts of stories about the family and good laughs and the kids and them growing up and just everything. How Poland is not giving back money to the EU to happily after the EU gave so much money, how Poland really is a tough place to live in and that there is never enough jobs, and all sorts of other things. I... never realized how much a grandparent could talk. Particularly a grandmother, or in my case, grandaunt. Don't get me wrong! I greatly appreciated and enjoyed all the stories. But... there's a certain point where you wonder if there is a stopping point. You start feeling talked at. I still enjoyed it and appreciated it, but... I think the entire "spending all of Sunday with them" thing definitely was a bit too much at once. Although, I watched an incredibly interesting movie that evening as well! It was the second half, actually, about a German man who escaped a Russian prison camp in Siberia to go back to his family and how he traveled across all of the Soviet Union in his attempt to go back. He was trailed the entire time by the commanding officer, and it took him three years. Very... very intense movie, to be honest. Interesting, as well! I'll have to see the full thing, one day. (:
Regardless! I learned a lot, and I had an absolutely wonderful weekend when it comes down to it. Lots of delicious homemade food, meeting family I haven't met (or really knew of) before, learning so much about my family! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Monday morning, I packed my things up, Ciocia Krysia woke me up an hour early for my train so that I could eat and get ready, we chatted a bit more (without having to fight with the TV, for the first time all weekend; they left it on. The. Entire. Time.), and then Wujek Zbysiek and I called a taxi to go to the train station. We were fortunate in that the traffic across the bridge was none existent, which is why we left a full hour early. At that point, we just sat and waited in the train station until my train came. It was really nice, listening to him share some of his stories, as Ciocia Krysia was the one talking throughout most of the weekend. Honestly, he is precious in how much he cares. I was trying my hardest to carry my own suitcase, but he wouldn't let me. Meanwhile, I knew how heavy it was and how much he should not carry it, but he still took it, anyways. When the time for my train came, we went to my platform, and he helped me get on the train. We talked briefly through the window before the train rolled away, and I was waving good bye. I felt quite heartbroken leaving, yet again. Why do I not have more time to see all of these wonderful people? All of my family? To truly dedicate more time to them? Plus, it was really sweet being called Nelli. It was something different and new. Just, the entire weekend, great.
The train ride wasn't too eventful. No, trust me, it wasn't. I was fortunate in that my cabin was never full with more than four people (it's for eight). At one point, I was even all by myself. I spent the entire train ride listening to my lectures and taking down notes, trying to study for my exam. No, really, I did. It got very very old. I was very fortunate that I had the train time to force myself to study, because it's not like I had anything else to do, but 8 hours of lectures and studying with minimal breaks, not too fun. I got home successfully, and I just spent the rest of the evening relaxing. It was really pleasant seeing everyone after the weekend, though, as there are a lot of things planned through the week for us to do together! Yay quality time! I also had the chance to Skype with Bobby, again. Always fun to Skype! Not only that, but I finally managed to grab Sam's (Florida) attention enough so that she got onto Skype and we Skyped as well! Oh, well, I mean, I went to bed way later than I should've, but I was just grateful to finally Skype with my dear friend. <3 She's the one I have most trouble keeping in touch with, but she's busy, so that's good! That was it for my Monday, though! A typical travel day followed up by Skype.
Time for Tuesday! Woke up on the groggy side, reasonably so, and I headed out to Holocaust class. We watched a movie called Conspiracy. It depicted the Wannsee Conference, and honestly, it did a wonderful job, because it greatly disturbed me. The actors did a great job portraying their roles, and it really was a chilling movie to watch, full of symbolism as well, surprisingly enough. That was the class for the day, but that reminds me. Upon my return, I checked my emails and received great news about my upcoming summer. I am a step closer to the possibility of participating in the Maymester in Berlin, and my professor from Holocaust is willing to help me out with my desire to work or intern in Poland in a Holocaust memorial! Absolutely wonderful! Things seem to be working out, and I can only hope they continue heading down the right path. :)
After class, I stopped by my oh-so-favorite chocolate fruit stand! I ordered a banana, but I also received freshly dipped dried plums. :D Goodness, the lady is absolutely wonderful. So friendly, and she obviously acknowledges the fact that I really really like the fruit stand. xD The fact that the chocolate was fresh made it that much better, too! Scrumptious to no end. Plus, the banana was phenomenal as well! I honestly can't pick a favorite chocolate-covered fruit anymore... I can perhaps group them in what I prefer, but not just one. I spent the rest of my afternoon working on a paper and other school work. I am quite proud of my historical figure essay, actually. The person I chose was absolutely fascinating as well, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. Haha, I also had to catch up on the homework I did not learn about until that morning for my Polish class. Not that it was too difficult. Because of this, though, I... unfortunately did not go to my history class in the afternoon. I used my time to study and work before heading to the Polish class.
Polish class was not too bad, as well. It was our first time with our student teacher, and she was very upbeat and chipper. Although, thanks to my stress, the class dragged by for once instead of shockingly flying by. I felt as though I understood her explanations far more clearly than my actual teacher, as well, particularly because she was so thorough in explaining the actual use behind the grammar lesson; i.e., she did not just give us the endings and work through exercises with us. My actual teacher didn't seem too upset by the fact that I missed last Thursday as well. Yeah, I don't know what to think, still, but I guess I am just excited to be done with the class tomorrow. I certainly want to keep learning Polish and improving my understanding of it, but for whatever reason, I did not mesh with my teacher that well. She did have enjoyable lesson plans, creative, but something just did not click. Oh! But that reminded me! Through the class, we heard all sorts of chants and a band playing outside. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the beginning of martial law in Poland. It was in memory of those who died as a result of martial law. When I left the class, there was a huge crowd out on the square, singing some sort of patriotic song. Absolutely awe-inspiring. I felt uplifted. I tried my hardest to get a video of it, but I ran out of time and needed to catch my tram to go home, eat a leftover sandwich, and study.
I woke up super early this morning to study! Well, I set my alarm early and slept an extra hour, being way too tired to wake up, but! Nonetheless. I did eventually get up and start studying for my exam. Oh yeah, I had an exam today for my historia etniczna ziem polskich class, of which I was quite worried, actually. But yes, unfortunately, I needed to go to my history class this morning. We left early so that I could print off my paper as well as grab some pretzel bagles. I spent most of my time in class focusing on looking at notes from my other class (honestly, I felt horrible doing that; I couldn't focus the entire time, though). The class lecture was interesting as well! He discussed rations and the absolute nonsense the Communist system had when you had to buy things. You would get 300 g coupons for laundry powder, but they sold them in half kilos... And no, they would not open it up and pour it out. So you'd have to collect enough coupon/ration things in order to buy 3 bags of the powder... Ridiculous! You could also exchange a lot of things differently. Alcohol for candy instead, or cigarettes. Everything had designated amounts per person. It made me wonder how my parents did it. What was it like. I really need to talk to them about it.
Everyone after class headed to Hard Rock Cafe, and unfortunately, I had to go study. I guess that's a good thing, though, as I got to save me monies. Although, that meant my lunch was a chocolate apple. Oh, what, you thought I wouldn't stop by my favorite Christmas stand? Of course I did! :D And I got another discount. Acknowledged by the lady herself. "Dla Pani, tylko pieć złoty," meaning, "For you, only 5 złoty." As opposed to 6. It just makes me feel wonderful, being a regular customer like that, being acknowledged and recognized. I dunno, it's something special! From there, though, I headed to the library in my classroom's building and spent the rest of my afternoon listening to lectures and reviewing my written notes. While I realized I tackled all of this far too late, I still didn't end up being as worried as I was at first. I also figured out a new method for my notes which I can use back at Vanderbilt. I feel like it should be very effective, and a manner of forcing me to really understand each of my lessons more thoroughly through time as opposed to at the very end. I hope. We'll see!
When the time for my exam arrived, I tried to find the room, resulted to asking the porter (who was a nice young man, so he wasn't intimidating), and he led me to my professor's office (ironically enough right by the library....). I walked in, completely expecting the full exam he mentioned at the beginning of the year: partially multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and then 2-3 written pages on whatever. Instead, he asks me to come in and sit down, and then he asks, "Would you prefer an oral or written exam?" I swear, when I walked in, I was looking all over for the paper exam he was going to hand me, but that was it. I happily decided oral, and he spent the next 30 minutes asking me questions to determine how much I learned in class. He also explained a few more things for me. I felt like I should receive a solid B on it, on the American scale. There were two or three questions I was completely unable to answer, but there were also questions on which I went off on tangents, and while they weren't related or perhaps correlated with a later time period, it showed I had learned other things as well. However, at the end of the exam, he asked some questions that I nailed right on the head! As well as how he was supposed to record my grade... Oh the logistics. I have no clue. Nonetheless, I was in bliss, because honestly, it went rather well, and I didn't have to take the huge exam I thought I would. I hate exams. I like papers. And now oral exams. Discussion is good. Correct yourself, think it through, discuss.
Before leaving, though, I of course thanked him for the wonderful semester and mentioned how I felt that I honestly learned a lot. I also explained my situation in Poland a bit for him, why I wanted to study in Poland, that I worked here, and the entire fact I have to go back to Nashville. I'd say it was a pleasant good-bye, haha. I left the building blissfully, as I mentioned earlier, and just headed back home for the afternoon and evening. I spent most of it destressing, chatting with my wonderful friends, catching up on messages and what not. And there you have it, that was my day. Or the last week, more-or-less. Now I should go to bed. And prepare myself to study for my next exam. No worries, life is good! :D
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