Today was the day of school tours. We visited a high school first thing this morning and an elementary school later this morning. While we are also visiting a middle school on Thursday, this was the big day of visiting different local primary and secondary schools. I had to rush down for breakfast because maybe I overslept again. I am still getting used to the time difference but I did better! It was because my alarm was only set to Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Oops! I fixed that. Silly me. Kuba picked us up at 8:10 precisely (very punctual) and took us to the high school. But it wasn’t just any high school, it was HIS former high school! He graduated from there under the previous headmaster.
High School (1st School )
We had to wait a few minutes as we were TOO early. That’s a good thing though. Better safe than sorry. When we did go in, a lovely English teacher met us and showed us around the whole school: the library, the gym, the teacher’s lounge, a science lab, several classrooms, even a science classroom in particular with a stuffed bat (think taxidermy, not toys) – creepy.
She told us that the school used to be a monastery and the church that is there on campus was part of that. Apparently the rooms the monks stayed in became classrooms. It’s not the biggest school space wise, but it is definitely not the smallest. It has narrow hallways but dedicated teachers and that is what matters.
While the school was nice enough, I want to talk about this special group of students we spoke to – the European club as Kuba called it. This was the HIGHLIGHT of my visit to the school and my favorite thing that we have seen/done/experience yet. Talking to young people is what I love to do, it is why I am going into teaching. This seriously makes me want to get certified to teach middle and high school as well because I will be damned if I do not enjoy seeing the spark that these kids hold. If I can do something about that? Well. I’ll see. There is no bad grade to teach.
Their English teacher, also Kuba and his sister’s former English teacher Magdalena Janicka-Rzeszutek (she does not look old enough to have taught when he was in school! She was maybe a classmate at best! I am stunned!) was in the courtyard at the same time as us on this rainy day (I like rain). This is when it was decided that we would go see her group. Bless this. I cannot be more grateful for this because that made my whole day and then some.
Apparently they just got back from England at around 3am this morning. That is why 11 of the 24 students were missing. It is impressive by itself that 13 of them (and their teacher) showed up so early in the morning for school after arriving that late.
They are part of a group of student (maximum 24 allowed) who are participating in a Model European Union type competition. They all have subjects (within groups of 3 or 4 I believe): Human Rights, Global Warming, and more. I cannot stress enough that these guys appeared to be fluent or near fluent in English. They held a conversation in English, with native speakers, about difficult topics in society today. WOW. Just wow. I was left in awe and wanting to hear more from these students.
One, who was doing human rights, said that his basic idea was summed up by the Benjamin Franklin quote:
“Those who give up liberty for security deserve neither.”
A non-native, first or second year high school student just floored me with his thoughts. So well-spoken (not just him, but all of them).
And then the upcoming 2016 Presidential Election came up. Funny enough, it was the children who finally asked about it. Someone said:
“Wonder how much Polish you’ll pick up?
And how many times you will have to explain our crazy presidential season.”
Answers are not much YET (I hope to change that), and so far just once (with students). They were beyond bright as I’ve already said, but they had the guts to ask about the election. One boy was curious and asked what we thought about it. I was honest. We all talked of course, but I will leap in when asked about politics and major issues in the world. This is force of habit after majoring in Government at Berry (B.A.) before coming to KSU to study Early Childhood Education. But we discussed who we would vote for (mostly me). Christine said that discussing politics was not a thing with her family, and while that’s true of my family as well (because my parents do not like to and we hold often opposing views which do not get discussed respectfully), I do talk about it with many of my friends. If they do not want to, then of course. But if they do? Then yes. I will.
I want to learn more about what is going on at all times and I want to have honest dialogue on the subjects of politics and the issues themselves. To me, it is important to be open about this. Being open creates conversation and conversation can educate. Also, if we hold opposing or differing views, but we can talk about those views respectfully? I’m totally down for it! I like having to hear about both sides to make sure I am fully informed. Now mind you I will still speak my part in addition to listening, but I am open to hearing what you say and it has broadened my thought process on more than one occasion. Diversity is good for the soul.
The discussion got very long and we got into a discussion on women in politics too, since Hillary Clinton is in the running and has been in the media quite frequently. One girl said that in Poland, if a woman was running for President or major office, that people would say that a woman should not run and would not vote for her. I cannot even sum up this well-spoken girl’s argument and do it justice, but she was talking about the sexism that exists here. She commented on how when reporting about women, not just celebrities, they always talk about clothes, makeup, appearance…rather than the actual facts and issues. As though women are just supposed to be decoration. That is a sad reality in the US and even moreso in many other countries as well. Reality is that this is our world today and we need to change it. It does not happen with men. They do not say “Where did you get your tux? Where did you get your shoes? Is that Armani? O why aren’t you wearing Gucci? Your makeup seems a bit poorly done. Perhaps you look too old.” No. They get questions about what they’re doing. And how men can still be active at older ages without criticism. They can be leads in movies. They can be in politics for life even if they look old.
These teenagers ASTOUNDED me with their wisdom. I wish I could work with them and nourish this love of the world and interest in it further. Thank goodness that even though I can’t, they have a FANTASTIC teacher. But my goodness she had the fire in them going. She seems to encourage it. They are going to a competition in October for free (As I said before, I MUST brag on them!) because they won a test that they had to take online. I am so proud of these kids! I want to see them get into the world sphere in one way or another – Politics, Human Rights/Activism, Environmentalists, and more. Even if we do not see it on a large scale, small scale can make a huge difference too.
Keep fighting the good fight kids. Keep talking. Don’t ever give up and don’t ever let yourself be silenced. Words are the most powerful tools and you posses them – in at least two languages. You are strong and smart as hell. Take this world and make it a better place!
Elementary School
This was the cute part. The adorably cute and precious part. So we went to an elementary school. It was lovely! It is exactly what you would think of with elementary school. Two lovely young ladies greeted us, with excellent English and so attentive! They were always there nearby us when the Principal was not with us.
On our way to see classrooms, we passed by a bunch of 3rd graders I believe, practicing a recorder-like instrument. It was too cute and too funny to see that many schools made their students do this! I hated it as a kid. But they were preparing for a Parents Day. How cute! Then we went to see a 1st grade classroom, where the children were practicing a dance for the same thing! The teacher put on the music and omg!! It was the cutest. They were all over the place, with certain kids leading, but most seemed to just enjoy their time and do their thing.
Then we got to see another performance (this one with costumes!). The children did a dance, wearing their outfits. The boys largely stayed in place and the girls moved around. It was adorable. I need to find new words but really the Kindergartners were amazing. I love watching children do what they do!
Another Kindergarten classroom was on our agenda apparently. This one was an integrated classroom (special needs and presumably on level children without special needs). The teacher actually spoke English! I was surprised. So many people here have at least some level of English (it varies) and it is impressive. Yet we are here to teach English. They really are such an intelligent bunch of people! But she had the children sing a song in English for us about weather, “Hot, hot sun (repeat several times), cold, cold, rain (repeat several times), white, white, snow (repeat several times”. It was so cute and so well done. The kids pointed and did the motions as they were told for the most part. Great job! I love children that age. I have worked with Pre-Kindergarten and preschool before. I enjoy it very much.
Finally, we were shown to a 6th grade classroom. Here the student prepared a lovely presentation on the city of Rzeszow and the region for us. It was well thought out and the slides had beautiful pictures. The whole presentation was in English. Though I was surprised somewhat to see it was all being done by the girls. When it was time for the students to ask us questions they got a bit shy. Their teacher tried to supply some questions but a silence fell after a bit. I did give them candy though (Reeses minis) before I left as a thank you for having us and preparing a presentation. They seemed quite pleased with that, so yay there!
Radio Radio Feniks
We got to be on the radio! Kuba and his colleague, Ola, interviewed us for their radio station. It is run by students and it is online – in Polish. Though they were kind enough to interview us in English and translate for their listeners! Translating seems like hard work so I know I, and likely all of us (though I never presume to speak for others, even in positive situations!) appreciate them for this. It was so fun. We were asked some basic things like how do we like Poland, how long are we here, what do we think of the food, the soccer/football matches, etc. Fantastic interview.
There was silly fun when we were off the air too. Marlena was in the booth, playing the music and telling them when we were on. Lots of jokes about pop music. Even a South Park reference! Apparently “Gingers have no souls” is not limited to the US. Sorry gingers! I love you still! Here it especially applies to men apparently. They may or may not have gotten it from South Park. Also blonde jokes too. They have a lot of those here. Sorry to our blonde darlings as well! The jokes don’t stop at home.
Really though, it was a great time. I have never been on the radio before. I have never really been interviewed that I recall. I remember interviewing back when I worked for a website about Japanese rock music (specially the Visual Kei scene), in person and via the internet. So this was a neat experience, to see the other side. Also, radio!!! We talked about pop music and how it is all the same, probably here and in the US. We agreed that it would probably translate to the same. Kuba even joked and said we had the making of a hit song. I hope we get to hear the interview soon! And I’d love to hang out with all of them again (I will definitely see Marlena and Kuba many more times as they are part of the Education faculty)!
Slight rant in relation to a question asked and normal frustrations of life
On the radio today, we were asked It would really be nice if the internet was more reliable. That is the one thing I would definitely change. Maybe when we go to Zakapone on Sunday it will be a nice change? =/ Here’s to hoping. It makes uploading photos hard for me, and even harder on Christine and Chris for doing grad school work. Also, please STOP slamming doors at night (or at all). If you need to shut a door once is enough. At least almost everything else is going well! Really, the only negatives I have found are to the dorms and that is dorm life in general. Since I’m not a traditional-aged college student anymore (I sound so old saying that), I’m not really used to dealing with this stuff anymore. Berry spoiled me too. Dorms had rules and RAs that enforced those rules.
Orlando
Also, on an unrelated note, since it’s been heavily in the news lately, I want to talk briefly about Orlando. If you do not care, or do not wish to read, by all means, stop here and have a wonderful day. This is not a platform for social issues the way a personal blog could be, but I just wanted to touch on the issue as it is so large.
Recently, for those unaware, there was an attack (a mass shooting) at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA. The club, called Pulse, was attacked by a man. This man also happened to be Muslim. No, that does not mean he represents all Muslims. Do not hate on all people for the acts of one. The extremists do not represent the whole. It would all of us good to remember that as far as people go. Do not blame all men either. Or all gun owners (I actually have not seen this but I have seen people say do not do this so I shall remind my friends).
This was a tragedy of which I cannot express in words. It is AWFUL. It is heart-wrenching. It makes me sad. And it is murder. It makes me want to educate people because that is the best way to combat things like this. Also stricter background checks and things for buying guns, but that is a whole different issue I am not getting into on this blog. This is about the people. The people who are affected by this. Those people that lost their lives because they were trying to have a good time like everyone else. Because they were at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Because they were the wrong people.
There should not be a ‘wrong’ people. People are people. All people should love each other. Unfortunately that isn’t happening and we need to try and do something about it. What should we do? Remember those who are lost. Honor their memories. Mourn their loss. Be sad. Get angry. Feel. Whatever you feel, use it. Use it to HELP others. To EDUCATE those with prejudices so that we may show them that we all deserve to live our lives in peace, without the fear of being attacked for any of our identities (LGBTQIA+ in this case and sadly many other cases). Go forth and spread tolerance. For that is what we can do and that is what we need.
rzeszowuniversitytrip 