A Week of Thanksgiving(s)

STOP 1: Bratislava ELCA Thanksgiving

Last weekend, Linnae and I traveled to Bratislava for the annual Poland/Slovakia Teachers’ Thanksgiving. I enjoyed meeting all of the new teachers in Bratislava this year, and visiting again with returning teachers. We ate a fantastic meal (3 whole turkeys!), had a turkey coloring contest, and played a fun gift game.

That night we walked around the Bratislava Christmas Market. The next morning, we had an English worship service and Linnae and I played clarinet duets during communion and also played on a couple hymns. It was a wonderful weekend.

STOP 2: Adult conversation classes and friends

I couldn’t host a dinner for all of my adult students or friends, but thanks to my mom who keeps me well-stocked in canned pumpkin (her pumpkin bread is my favorite bread in the world), I baked two pumpkin sheet cakes (with my favorite cream cheese frosting) and shared the cake with all of my evening students and some friends throughout the week. They all have a very special place in my heart and it was fun to share a “slice” of Thanksgiving with them.

STOP 3: Thanksgiving Day with students

On Thursday, I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at my flat for my oldest high school students. My students were the inspiration for the meal after they asked me if I planned to have a “barbecue” for America’s “Independence Day” and then asked if they could celebrate with me. I couldn’t resist a cultural lesson in the form of a Thanksgiving meal! (And the opportunity to clarify the differences between the 4^th of July and Thanksgiving.) Our school doesn’t have a kitchen, so we squeezed into my apartment and successfully cooked a Thanksgiving feast! (I’m terrible at remembering to take pictures but luckily a few students took photographs and kindly shared them with me. Thanks, students!)

The Menu:

• 10 pounds of turkey breast

• Gravy

• Stuffing

• Mashed potatoes

• Sweet potatoes with marshmallows

• Scalloped cheesy potatoes

• Cranberries

• Green bean casserole

• Corn

• Bread and rolls

• Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting

• Apple crisp

I couldn’t have hosted this meal without the help of a few people. First, I have to thank my grandparents who sent a gigantic box of Thanksgiving essentials with everything ranging from stuffing to a fantastic paper turkey centerpiece (our Thanksgiving “mascot”). Grandma also sent a couple dozen home-baked chocolate chip cookies that mysteriously didn’t last until Thanksgiving... (don’t look at me). I also have to thank one of my friends who helped me with my “turkey search.” It wasn’t looking promising for a while until she directed me to the one butcher in Cieszyn who sold turkey breasts (well, specifically, the butcher who only had two 5-pound turkey breasts, and therefore, after I bought them, no longer had any turkey breasts.) For a few days, I had seriously considered serving hamburgers instead. And my students probably wouldn’t have batted an eye because they think hamburgers are our “national dish.” :)

My students’ reactions to the food at our feast:

• 7 of them had never eaten turkey before. No one had eaten anything pumpkin before. (Did you know that in the United States Illinois grows the most pumpkins?)

• They loved the gravy and ate all of it. They put it on the turkey and mashed potatoes (because I told them that’s how we typically eat it) but then one of them put it on bread and they fell in love with that. 13 students consumed about 4 cups of gravy, no joke. Quite a few said it was their favorite dish. (Is gravy a dish? I didn’t argue.)

• They thought the green bean casserole was the strangest dish they’d ever eaten. And they didn’t understand why we eat green beans in November when they’re not in season.

• They renamed the sweet potatoes with marshmallows “pasta do zębów” (Polish for “toothpaste”). Granted, it doesn't help that you have only two options when buying marshmallows in Poland: pink and white marshmallows, or blue and white marshmallows. I opted for the blue and white, and when melted, they did look like toothpaste. Did you know that when you mix blue marshmallows with orange sweet potatoes they turn bright green? Yum yum. :)

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• Potatoes are a staple in the Polish diet, and I had to laugh a little bit when I realized that different kinds/preparations of potatoes are essential for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. (I’ve probably been served my weight in potatoes over the past year and tend to avoid them when I’m cooking for myself.)

• They thought it was very strange that we serve sweet dishes (like cranberries and sweet potatoes) with salty dishes (like mashed potatoes and stuffing). When I put the cranberries and sweet potatoes on the table, a few students said, “We don’t need dessert now.” I said, “It’s not dessert!” Here you never eat fruit or anything sweet with a main meal (although they frequently serve a fruit drink called “kompot” with dinner). You wait until dessert for anything sweet.

In-between the meal and dessert, we talked about Thanksgiving and then I taught them American card games. They especially loved “Spoons” (played with crayons instead of spoons) and we played for almost an hour. I promised my students that I’d post this (not-very-attractive) picture that a student took at the moment I realized I’d lost the game of “Spoons.”

I enjoyed sharing this American tradition with my students. Sometimes it’s fun to accentuate and point out the differences between Polish and American culture and learn about each country’s unique traditions. And the message of Thanksgiving is universal: take time to give thanks! (And here is one of my favorite photographs from the evening - the coat pile - because I only have 7 hangers. It was also funny to have dozens of shoes and backpacks in my tiny entryway.)

STOP 4: “Black Friday” with friends

My last Thanksgiving was Friday with Linnae and my two friends Bozena and Rafal. I couldn’t pick a favorite from my three Thanksgiving meals this week, but this meal with good friends was very special. I’m very grateful for their friendship. It feels like forever ago (although it was only 14 months ago) that we first met and it’s difficult to imagine that I haven’t known them my entire life. They were my first new friends in Cieszyn last autumn and they were there for me when I was the “pilgrim.” I’m very thankful for them, and it felt very appropriate celebrating our friendship with a Thanksgiving meal.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone!

“Lord God, we bless You and are filled with gratitude for the numerous gifts, the countless blessings, that come to us from You.

Your blessings come in times of joy, in times of victory, in success and honor. And they come as well in times of pain and sorrow, in sickness and defeat.

Your blessings, however, come always as life.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, who in the richness of Your divine love, blesses us with good things. Amen.” (Edward Hays, Prayers for the Domestic Church)

Homesick

Below you’ll find a post that isn’t necessarily well-polished, perhaps isn’t easy to understand, and isn’t especially well-written because I couldn’t always find the “correct” words. But I wanted to post “in the moment” so here it is.

I’m feeling very homesick this evening. The onset (and intensity) surprised me. I met with my friend Kasia for tea this afternoon and she asked me if I was still planning to return to Chicago after this school year. (People around me know that my plans sometimes change quickly and unexpectedly.) I told her yes, and, naturally, any time I tell people I’m leaving after this year, they ask why. Sometimes it’s difficult to explain why because a great percentage of my justification is a “gut reaction” (granted, a "gut reaction" that followed a lot of prayer, contemplation, and reflection) that it’s the appropriate time for me to leave.

But then Kasia asked me what I miss about the States. People don’t ask me this very often. And saying aloud – “I miss being with my family and friends the most” – in response to her question caused me to intensely miss my family and friends. I wouldn’t say I’m typically in a state of full-blown denial about missing people, but my work here is purposeful, fulfilling, challenging, and joyful, and thanks especially to Skype and the Internet, I do get to talk and write to people back home quite frequently. Life here is busy (and that’s great!) and I also know that the busyness of life here helps keep the homesickness at bay.

But seeing people I love only once every five months (and I’m extremely lucky that for me it’s once every five months, not longer) is painful. It’s the times when I pause and think of what I’ve missed – birthdays, family dinners, and lots of everyday events that are mundane but beautiful and the “meat” of life and relationships – that the homesickness suddenly hits me. Time at home, in the States, doesn’t stop because I’m in Poland.

But that word – “home” – is a little confusing lately. The first image that pops into my head when I hear the word "home" is me eating dinner and talking with my parents and sisters at our dining room table. But when I studied at university, I also felt it was “home.” London was “home” when I studied there. Sometimes this year I get a little confused about the word “home.” It feels a little funny to say, “I’m going home for Christmas” (home = Park Ridge) when I also say, “Oh, it’s great to come home” (home = Cieszyn) after a weekend in Slovakia. I felt at home a few weekends ago when I visited a Polish friend’s parents’ house and spent the weekend with them. I felt at home when visiting an American friend’s house this summer. I won’t get into a deep intellectual discussion about how to define “home,” but I know that for me, it’s the people, not the place.

This evening I’m preparing for a few upcoming Thanksgiving celebrations with friends and students, and I can’t help, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, but feel grateful to feel homesick. Because isn’t it kind of awesome to feel homesick? To have a "home" to miss? To miss home (people in the States) while feeling at home (with people in Poland)?

And I’m filled with gratitude for my family and friends who supported me when I decided to go to Poland to teach. Relatives and friends who excitedly pulled out maps to locate Cieszyn when I first told them the news 17 months ago. Perhaps it’s easy to take them for granted. But I know I’m lucky.

And I'm grateful to everyone who Skypes with me, e-mails me, writes to me. I can't thank you enough for all the times you've offered advice, listened, made me laugh, made me feel a part of your life even though I'm thousands of miles away. Thanks for sending me links to hilarious videos or intellectually-stimulating articles. For grappling with difficult time zone differences. For supporting my work here, praying for me. For helping me feel that I don’t have to fear the end of this journey, that when I leave one home in June 2011, I’m returning to another. And then I know I’ll feel homesick for Poland, yet feel at home back in the States.

All my love and gratitude to the people who are my home. You all rock. I miss you, I love you.

Sarah

P.S. Tune in again this weekend for a Thanksgiving festivities post!

What's New?

Here’s what’s new in Year Two!

A new partner in crime, Linnae!

She’s a recent graduate from St. Olaf and also a clarinetist. Our regional supervisor says he’s expecting great clarinet duets at the Thanksgiving worship service during our Poland/Slovakia teacher gathering in November. It’s a blessing to have a colleague to talk to and brainstorm with. We’re also better able to serve our school and the community because we can “divide and conquer” (or perhaps “divide and serve” is a more appropriate phrase) and because two brains are frequently better than one! Here’s a photograph from our first day of school in September.

Teaching the seniors!

My newest challenge at school this year is that I’m teaching all of the high school seniors! Last year I only taught 7^th – 9^th graders and one class of sophomores. It’s amazing how drastically their language skills improve between sophomore and senior year. During our English conversation lessons, I’m responsible for preparing them for the speaking section of their English Matura exam. The Matura is the high school “exit exam” in Poland, and students are required to take Polish, mathematics, a foreign language (English, for the majority of students, although sometimes German or French), and then a couple other subjects of their choice (biology, history, etc.). The Matura is administered in May and students have to submit their test scores when they apply to university. I’m enjoying the challenge of learning about the exam with the help of a couple Polish English teachers at my school.

I’ve also asked (well, required) every senior to meet with me for 20-30 minutes outside of class sometime in September or October to have an informal conversation. I only have them once a week for 45 minutes and meeting with students individually outside of class helps me get to know them better. It’s also an opportunity to share a little bit about myself with the students. They arrive quite hesitant (and typically they ask nervously “what are we supposed to do?”) but then they’re shocked when the 30 minutes are over. We’ve talked about everything from sleep deprivation (an ailment of teenagers around the world), football matches, American films, to traveling, you name it. I try to avoid the “what are your future plans” question that I remember dreading senior year unless the topic arises naturally (of course, the askers always had good intentions, but, nevertheless, sometimes it’s a stressful question). I’m loving the process of getting to know my new students, and I feel honored that I get to participate in their senior year.

During these informal conversations, many students asked me if I could offer additional Matura preparation lessons during the week in addition to our weekly conversation classes. One of the great advantages of having two American teachers at our school instead of one is that Linnae and I don’t have full schedules, and we’re able to provide extra tutoring and assistance during our free lessons. As of last week, I now offer three extra Matura preparation lessons per week where students can stop by for extra speaking practice.

“English lunch”

This year, I’d planned on starting weekly “English breakfast” meetings, where I’d meet with students in the morning before school for informal conversations in English and a breakfast snack. Well, the school schedule’s a little different this year and almost all of my students start class at 8 a.m. (last year, many students started at 8:50 a.m. or sometimes even 9:45 a.m.). Scheduling “English breakfast” at 7:15 a.m. with teenagers who desperately need sleep isn’t a great plan. Hence, hello “English lunch”! Three days a week I invite students to eat lunch with me. We sit in the English library and talk about anything and everything. I’m always excited for 1:05 p.m. (lunch time at school) when students burst into my classroom, eager to share school news (they are the best source of information – they know everything that’s happening at school) or something new that’s happening in their lives. It’s a great way to get to know my students better and provide them with an opportunity to practice their speaking skills in an informal, relaxed environment.

A new (and adorable) demographic

A bilingual school in the Czech Republic (that serves both Czech and Polish students) asked for my help this year with their preschool and kindergarten English classes (I call the classes “English play dates”). My students here now range in age from 3 years old to 78 years old! I teach there two hours a week - one class of 3-4 year olds and one class of 5-6 year olds. Let me tell you, they are wonderful! I’m very grateful for my summer Polish classes because I understand at least a little of what the children say. (Have you ever had an adorable child eagerly try to tell you something in a language you don’t speak very well? It’s the best motivation for continuing to learn new Polish words.) I don’t have permission yet to post the children's photographs here, but I’m working on it! For now, here are two photographs of the classroom, including “Cookie the Cat,” the English speaking puppet who helps me with my lessons.

It’s fascinating to observe the differences between the 3-4 year olds and 5-6 year olds. All of the children were told (in Czech and Polish by another teacher) that I only speak a little Polish, and that I am here to practice English with them. The 5-6 year olds understood quite well, but the 3-4 year olds were quite confused. (Their strategy is to say a sentence louder and louder to me if I don’t understand everything. They haven’t quite grasped the concept of other languages yet.) I’m having a lot of fun on my “English play dates.” After I’ve volunteered for a few more weeks, I promise to devote an entire post to my littlest students.

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And, I can’t conclude without saying what a joy it is this year to continue to teach all of the people I worked with last year in my late afternoon and evening classes – parents and grandparents of my middle school and high school students, members of my congregation, elementary school students, business men and women, and Polish English teachers. I’ve reached my “teaching quota” for the year (the highest number of classes/lessons I have time to teach and properly prepare for) and feel blessed that I’m able to continue teaching English to a wonderfully wide variety of people in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Cześć! Hello again!

It’s terrible when I haven’t blogged in a while because then I have dozens of stories to tell and I can’t decide what to say first! Sorry for the hiatus!

So in this post, I’ll tell you about my Polish language summer school program! Next post, I’ll update you about my first few weeks of teaching!

I had a fantastic experience at my intensive Polish summer school program. (Dear summer school directors: Please create a year-long Polish language program that I can enroll in because your summer program was awesome. Love, Sarah) The course greatly exceeded my expectations.

The school lasted 3 weeks in August at the university here in Cieszyn. We had 12-14 hours of programming a day, 7-days a week. My brain sometimes short-circuited around hour 9 or 10, but no one could accuse the school’s directors of wasting a minute of instruction time! Every day we had our language classes in the morning and early afternoon (8 a.m. – 1 p.m. or 2 p.m.), then lectures until dinner at 7 p.m., and then extra language activities and games until 10 p.m.

I’d heard that the school attracted students from around the world, but I never anticipated meeting and studying with people from 31 different countries! Tiny Cieszyn was a melting pot in August thanks to the summer school. I don’t know the next time I’ll eat lunch surrounded by people having conversations in over 2 dozen different languages - quite the experience!

The 250 students in the program were from Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova (I’ll admit I had to look at a map to find Moldova), Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, USA (only me!), and Vietnam. Wow!

Here’s a photograph of the auditorium where we had our lectures and meetings. They hung a flag for every country (it reminded me of the Maine East auditorium).

The majority of program participants were either undergraduate students majoring in Polish at their university in their home country or people getting their Master’s or Ph.D. in Polish, Polish literature, or Polish history and culture. Quite a few people were there because they had recently married a Polish man or woman, and then a small handful of people like me were learning the language because they work in Poland.

It was a little scary at first realizing that almost everyone had formally studied Polish for several years before the summer program (the majority of students had studied Polish for 4+ years). But for our language classes in the morning and afternoon we were divided into groups of 10-15 students by ability level.

Here are two photographs of my wonderful group. We were the “rzodkiewki” group (“the radishes”). We had three instructors: Ola, Marcin, and Ola (fondly called “little Ola” because of her height and to differentiate her from the other Ola). Our teachers were wonderful and I always enjoyed our classes – our lessons were conducted in Polish 100% of the time! I loved watching the teachers teach. It was especially fascinating to observe three different teachers because they all had unique teaching styles and preferred different language teaching methods. I learned a lot about effective language teaching from their great examples.

Sometimes for our lessons we’d leave the classroom and our teacher would get us to practice our Polish in the “real world” – at all the little shops and restaurants around Cieszyn. Here we are trying not to butcher the beautiful Polish language at a small local grocery shop.

"So," I hear you asking. "Sarah, how’s your Polish now?"

Super! For example, I can now say important phrases like:

• Mam dwadzieścia cztery lata. Jestem bardzo stara. (I am 24 years old. I am very old.)
• Amerykanie nie tylko jeść hamburgery. (Americans do not only eat hamburgers.)
• Czy to Twój torebka? To nie jest moja torebka. (Is this your handbag? It’s not my handbag. *Interesting note: When writing in Polish, you always capitalize the word “You,” but you never capitalize the word “I” unless it’s at the beginning of a sentence.)
• Nie mam pracy domowej. Mój pies zjadł moją pracę domową. (I do not have my homework. My dog ate my homework.)
• Chciałbym kupić czterdzieści kiełbasy sto ziemniaki tysiąc pierogi. (I would like to buy forty sausages, one hundred potatoes, and one thousand pierogi. *Polish also has interesting comma rules that I won’t delve into here.)
• Luke, jestem twoim ojcem. (Luke, I am your father.)
• Kocham uczyć języka polskiego! (I love learning Polish!)

But, seriously, I learned a lot and had a lot of wonderful “ah-ha” moments this summer. That’s what’s empowering about language instruction, especially when you’re living in the country. One minute, a phrase or word is empty, with no significance. And then suddenly – click! A word, once a meaningless stream of letters, now represents an object, an idea, or an emotion! And I understand! I hear it, and I understand! Or someone asks me a question, and I can respond!

Probably because I’m young, a woman, and not very intimidating looking, strangers frequently stop me and ask me questions when I’m out and about in Cieszyn. What time is it? Where is the bank? Do you know where this street is? If I wanted to go to Krakow, what bus stop do I need? Can you read this price tag for me? Last year, this was very stressful because I desperately wanted to help, but either 1) didn’t know the answer because I wasn’t well acquainted with the area yet or 2) knew the answer but didn’t know how to express it in Polish! I would apologize and tell them I only spoke a little Polish, but lately, I’ve helped quite a few people! I typically preface by saying that I live in Cieszyn but don’t speak a lot of Polish to reassure them that 1) I know what I’m talking about but 2) my grammar, vocabulary, and syntax probably isn’t 100% correct, but, again, I know what I’m talking about! It might sound a little silly, but it’s also empowering that now I know for certain when I’m saying something incorrectly! Typically I then race home and try to discover how to say it correctly so I'm better prepared for my next interaction.

For me, learning as much as I can of the language this year is important because...

1. It helps me when I teach my youngest and oldest students, where I sometimes need to speak in Polish to help them understand, or if they need to express something important to me but they don’t know how to say it in English. (Great example: This week, a little girl in kindergarten told me in Polish that she desperately needed to go to the bathroom, and I knew we needed to go quickly!)

2. It helps me feel more confident and less vulnerable. I don’t know if “vulnerable” is the correct word, but it’s the best way I can express it – that feeling of helplessness when you desperately want (or need!) to say something, or you need to understand what someone is saying, and you can’t! And although sometimes you feel like you’re learning at a snail’s pace, every time you master a new structure or understand a new phrase someone says, it’s all worth it because you feel more confident when you’re out and about in the world.

3. It’s a sign of respect. Craig Storti in his book “The Art of Crossing Cultures” expressed it best: “Perhaps the most compelling reason to learn the language of another land is the largely symbolic significance of the act of communication. Implicit in that act, after all, is the acknowledgement of the humanity and worth of the other person, especially when one is speaking in a language other than one’s own. In the end, what matters is not what we say when we speak Russian or Chinese, or how well we speak Russian or Chinese, but what the effort to speak Russian or Chinese says about us” (102).

And now, I can’t resist including a mini-grammar lesson here because to me, grammar is the most fascinating aspect of learning Polish.

Polish Grammar 101

Challenge #1: A noun’s form changes depending on its function in the sentence. There are seven cases of every noun (and therefore 14 forms of every noun – 7 singular cases and 7 plural cases) – nominative case (if the noun is the subject of the sentence), genitive (expresses possession), dative (indirect object), accusative (direct object), instrumental (expresses the means by which something is done), locative (with certain prepositions), and vocative (direct address).

What’s tricky about learning Polish is that every new vocabulary word is, in reality, 14 new vocabulary words. In English, if you learn the word “dog” you have to know the singular and the plural – “dog” and “dogs” – and you’re good to go. In Polish, you need to know all 7 cases, in singular and plural. Here’s what you have to memorize to accurately say that you truly know the word “dog” (“pies”) in Polish.

Forms of “Pies” (“Dog”)

Singular

Nominative: pies

Genitive: psa

Dative: psu

Accusative: pies

Instrumental: psem

Locative: psie

Vocative: psie

Plural

Nominative: psy

Genitive: psów

Dative: psom

Accusative: psy

Instrumental: psami

Locative: psach

Vocative: psy

To me, I’d never guess that “pies” (singular nominative) and “psów” (plural genitive) both referred to the same noun – “dog”. They look and sound very, very different. If I saw them in a text and didn’t know the word “pies,” I’d guess that they were two different nouns with different meanings, not two forms of the same word.

In Polish, creating a sentence isn’t only about knowing the vocabulary and putting vocabulary words together; it’s about understanding the precise role of each word in the sentence and changing each word’s form to reflect that role.

Challenge #2: Polish nouns also have 3 genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nouns and their adjectives must agree in gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, vocative), and number (singular or plural). I won’t list the adjectives here, but if you’ve done the math, you’ll realize that for every adjective (example: “big”), there are 42 different forms of that one adjective, and which of the 42 forms you say depends on if the adjective is modifying a masculine, feminine, or neuter noun and that noun’s case.

To quickly illustrate the complexities of Polish grammar with gender, case, and number, I’ll give you four basic examples:

1. To jest czarny długopis. Mam czarny długopis. (This is a black pen. I have a black pen. “Pen” is a masculine noun. “Czarny długopis” is the masculine, nominative, singular form of “black pen” and it’s also the masculine, accusative, singular form.)

2. To jest czarny kot. Mam czarnego kota. (This is a black cat. I have a black cat. “Cat” is also a masculine noun, but it’s an animal and there are special exceptions for animal words. Therefore, it’s not identical to “pen.” “Czarny kot” is the masculine, nominative, singular form of “black cat” and “czarnego kota” is the masculine, accusative, singular form.)

3. To jest czarna torebka. Mam czarną torebkę. (This is a black handbag. I have a black handbag. “Handbag” is a feminine noun. “Czarna torebka” is the feminine, nominative, singular form of “black handbag” and “czarną torebkę” is the feminine, accusative, singular form.)

4. To jest czarny krzesło. Mam czarne krzesło. (This is a black chair. I have a black chair. “Chair” is a neuter noun. “Czarny krzesło” is the neuter, nominative, singular form of “black chair” and “czarne krzesło” is the neuter, accusative, singular form.)

It’s like a language puzzle!

When we weren’t memorizing forms, we had a lot of fun activities in the evenings.

We watched a cycling race (the Tour de Pologne) that went through Cieszyn.

One night, my classmate 薛潇迪 (Stella) from Beijing treated my classmate Irmgard and me to a wonderful, home cooked Chinese meal!

My school director invited me to dinner with her and her family in August and I had the opportunity to practice my Polish. Her grandmother and daughter were especially kind and helpful. It’s amazing how well you can communicate with very little, especially when you have eager and patient listeners.

Thanks to everyone for supporting me and my second year here. Your amazing generosity helped me attend this wonderful language program. It was an empowering experience, and I’m excited to keep you updated about my language learning progress this year!

A Strange Thing Called Time

Today I taught my last class of the 2009-2010 school year and said “happy summer” or “goodbye” (to graduating students) to the angelic, devilish teenagers I now call “my kids.” I felt sad saying goodbye, aware that it’s (for non-graduating students) only “goodbye” for the summer because I’m back next year, but heartbreakingly sad nevertheless.

It’s the first year I was the teacher, not the student, after almost two decades of sitting in a student desk. I don’t remember ever rejoicing on the last day of school. School is one of my “homes.” And for the past 17 or 18 years of my life – and this year is no exception – I’ve measured time by the school calendar. We might celebrate New Year’s in the winter, but August and September, with bouquets of newly sharpened pencils, are my new year.

And I couldn’t help but feel emotional when I thanked my students for the past year. They braved lessons with a “1^st year baby teacher” who was sometimes bewildered by Polish school culture. They were patient with me. They were kind to me. They challenged me. They greeted me in the hallways with a smile. They answered my questions. We laughed until we cried. Sometimes after a difficult lesson only I cried. They were so honest and open with me about their lives, their dreams, and their emotions. They amazed me with their willingness to try speaking in a new language and experiment with the sometimes crazy “out of the box” lessons I threw at them. They tried to get away with murder. Their goal was always to convince me to abandon their English education and instead play baseball with them every lesson. They were clever, creative, mischievous, rebellious, loving, and wonderful. They were my motivation for walking to school during an October blizzard, a May flood, and on any day when I felt overwhelmed by all of the “newness” here. They’re my kids. I’ll miss them this summer. They’re why I’m teaching here again next year.

I’ve also said goodbye this month to people I won’t see again next year, including other Central Europe ELCA teachers.

For the June 4-6 weekend, ELCA teachers from 3 schools in Slovakia visited Cieszyn. They were part of my eclectic and supportive “home away from home” family this year. They’re the people I could tell teaching or culture shock anecdotes to and know that they understood. We didn’t get together frequently, but it was always a joy when we did and there was a tangible excitement in the room whenever we had the opportunity to gather.

Here’s a photograph of our June get-together in Cieszyn. We’re waving because we’re mimicking a Polish folk dance movement, but I’ve renamed this photograph “God’s work, our hands.”

Our June gathering was an opportunity to celebrate the year and say goodbye. Only one Slovakia teacher from the weekend is teaching here again next year. On Sunday, we had brunch and a little worship/sending service where we sang hymns and people shared stories, read prayers, and reflected on the year.

I read (well, tried to read, I cried during the 1^st sentence and had to ask someone for help), a beautiful reflection on time I recently discovered. It’s a speech for the New Year by Pope Benedict XVI, but for me, it’s also a speech for this School Year, and the next. His words deeply resonated with what I’ve experienced my first year in Poland and the mix of emotions tumbling around in my heart this week. Here it is:

“The year is ending. This means, as always, that we spend a few minutes in reflection. For a moment we become conscious of the strange thing called "time," which otherwise we simply use without thinking about it. We feel both the melancholy and the consolation of our own transiency. Much that caused us distress, much that weighed us down and seemed to make progress impossible, has now passed and become quite unimportant. As we look back, difficult days are transfigured in memory, and the now almost forgotten distress leaves us more peaceful and confident, more composed in the face of present threats, for these too will pass. The consolation of transiency: Nothing lasts, no matter how important it claims to be.

But this consoling thought, which gives patience its character of promise, also has its discouraging and saddening aspect. Nothing lasts, and therefore along with the old year not only difficulties but much that is beautiful has passed away. We cannot say to any moment: "Stay a while! You are so lovely!" Anything that is within time comes and then passes away.

Our feelings toward a new year show the same ambivalence as our feelings toward the old year. A new beginning is something precious; it brings hope and possibilities as yet undisclosed. "Every beginning has a magic about it that protects us and helps us live" (Herman Hesse) ... What can we say at this moment of transition? First of all, we can do the very human thing the moment urges upon us: we can use the time of reflection in order to stand aside and widen our vision, thus gaining inner freedom and a patient readiness to move on again.”

To conclude our sending service, Dee, one of the Slovakia teachers, sang a Polish song about time and how we may never meet again in this place, in this way. This summer all the teachers at our gathering will scatter around the globe. It’s a song that’s heartbreakingly true. “Together again we will not.” Not in this place, in this way.

Jak szybko mijaja chwile

Jak szybko plyne czas

Za rok, za dzien, za chwile

Razem nie bedzie nas

How quickly moments passed

How fast swim times

Per year, per day, for the moment

Together again we will not

The sadness I’ve felt frequently this month is a little puzzling, despite all my attempts to dissect it, understand it. But I’m thankful for the sadness, that I’m sad for this challenging, enlightening, awakening, terrifying, invigorating, opening, overwhelmingly beautiful year to conclude.

How quickly moments passed.

Stay a while! You are so lovely!

“For all that has been, thanks! For all that will be, yes!” Dag Hammarskjold.

See you on Sunday, Chicago!

Reflection by Numbers

I recently read a great article where a person chronicled her year abroad with a "reflection by numbers."

Here's my year in playful numbers.

• Number of Wisconsin (yes, Wisconsin!) high school choir concerts attended in Poland: 1
• The highest number of runners on one base during a school baseball game: 3 (whoops!)
• The number of people who have told me that I dye my hair an "interesting color" (and it's natural!): 6
• Average number of days a week my cell phone decides my apartment is in the Czech Republic and that calls I receive from Poland (the country my apartment is, in fact, located in) are "international calls": 4
• Number of times I twirled on a Salzburg mountain (with mom and aunt in tow) like Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music": 1

• Number of holes drilled through my apartment walls - on separate occasions - and on accident - by my neighbors during their remodeling: 3
• Cost of the three-hour bus ride from Cieszyn to Krakow: 16 PLN (approximately $5)
• Number of sugar cookies baked for school parties/English worship: 28 dozen

• Number of clothing layers required to survive a 2-hour church service in an unheated sanctuary in February: 4 (long underwear, "clothing layer," fleece layer, wool coat layer)
• Number of medals awarded in the English Conversation Olympics: 100+
• Number of separate occasions where people accused (yes, I'd say "accused") me of being a vegetarian because I ate chicken instead of beef or pork at a restaurant or school event (umm...): 4
• Number of other Americans teaching in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic I've met (the majority are ELCA teachers in Slovakia): 27

• Percentage of students who, when I asked them in September what they wanted to learn in English conversation this year, said they wanted to go to the park across the street: almost 100%
• Number of flowers I received from my students on Women's Day because, according to my 7th graders, "these are for you because you are a woman": 6
• Average age of the other skiers on the bunny slopes the day I learned how to ski: 4

• Number of pounds split between my two suitcases when I flew to Central Europe in August: 91
• Number of ATM cards demagnetized/devoured by Slovak ATMs/stolen: 3 ("To lose one ATM card may be regarded as misfortune; to lose three looks like carelessness." - Oscar Wilde's likely reaction to my ATM card bad luck.)
• Number of people who helped me with my ATM crises: 8 (Mom, Dad, Jim, Elsa, Wanda, Kelly, Grandma, Grandpa)
• Number of free meals with my sister at a restaurant in Florence, Italy thanks to adoring waiters: 1

• Number of minutes after the bell rings that teachers at my school continue to sit peacefully in the teacher's room before finally heading to class: 2 or 3
• Average number of pieces of cake you're served at a Polish home...before you eat dinner: 2
• Number of people who have told me that McDonald's slogan "I'm lovin' it" is not grammatically correct: 3
• Number of visitors from the U.S. this year: 9! (Claire, Dad, Mom, Kate, Erin, Kelly, Aunt Denise, Grandma, Grandpa)
• Number of days at the beginning of the year I was afraid of the open flame hot water heater in my tiny bathroom: at least 30

• Average number of matches I need to successfully light the hot water heater every morning: 3
• Number of languages I've worshipped in this year: 7
• Age of my youngest student: 10
• Age of my oldest student: 70+
• Number of minutes it takes for me to walk to the "Bridge of Freedom" over the Olza river that connects the town of Cieszyn in Poland with the town Cesky Tesin in the Czech Republic: 7

• Longest number of consecutive days spent in one country: 9 days in Poland, when I had bronchitis and couldn't trek to the Czech Republic where I tutor in the evenings :)
• Number of days until I fly to Chicago: 19!

I'm Excited!

I woke up this morning to e-mails and Facebook messages from four of my favorite people in the world: my parents and two sisters. And I felt excited to know that I’ll see them soon because I’m heading to Chicago in THREE WEEKS!

This summer I’m excited...

1. To spend time with my family. I can’t wait for family dinners, talking to my favorite people, hearing their stories, and laughing a lot (my sisters are the funniest people I know). I’m excited for the wonderful, happy, laughter and love-filled chaos of living with my family for a month! I love them a lot!

2. To spend time with friends. Like my family, they’ve braved extreme time zone differences to Skype with me this year and their efforts to stay in touch warm my heart. We’ve all survived our first year after receiving our undergraduate degrees and I can’t wait to get together with everyone! I’m excited for LePeep breakfasts, tea dates in Chicago, and a trip to Boulder.

3. To hold my pet birds. They “talk” to me over Skype. They’re a little spastic (or “special”) but I love them.

4. To worship at St. Luke’s. It’s unlikely that I’ll survive a service without crying. Singing hymns in English and visiting with people I've known for years and who support my work here? Tears are inevitable.

5. About the sun and spending time outdoors (including lying on the hammock in the backyard). My dad and I are planning a biking/kayaking trip (yippee!) and my parents are always game for bike rides and walks after dinner! Let’s go! I’m ready!

6. For skim milk. Well, any pasteurized milk. And safe tap water. And salmon.

7. For the Park Ridge Public Library. I might live there over the summer. They have books! Lots and lots of books. Criticize America all you want, but you can’t deny we have a fantastic commitment to public libraries. There’s nothing better than a morning browsing at the library and then sitting at home surrounded by dozens of enticing books! What to read first...and how many books can I cram into my suitcase for year two...

8. To go to the theatre! Movies! Sports events! Concerts! I love tiny Cieszyn, but at heart I’m a “city culture girl” because I’d attend a theatre/music performance every night of the week if money/time allowed. This summer, if I’m not at the library, I’m probably somewhere soaking up Chicago culture!

9. British “queues” or American “lines.” I try not to judge other cultures, but boy, in my opinion, you can’t beat the American and British respect of “the line.” In Central Europe, there’s a lot of “pushing and shoving” – not my style. I’ll probably visit stores just to experience the joy of standing in a civilized line. Luckily, buying tickets at cultural events and checking out library books always involve waiting patiently in a line! Kill two birds with one stone, right?

10. To experience “re-entry culture shock.” I’m looking forward (although also a little terrified) to analyze my “re-entry” experience. What’s different? What’s unusual to me after living abroad for a year? What did I miss? What didn’t I miss? Can I drive a car after almost a year? Can I speak English 24/7? Will I have to walk to Canada because I’ll get homesick for walking across international borders? We’ll see!

See you in THREE WEEKS!

Year Two Wish List

Five weeks from today the school year in Poland concludes, and I’ll fly to Chicago for a month of summer vacation before my second year of teaching in Cieszyn! On July 25, I’m talking at St. Luke’s (in Park Ridge) at 11:15 a.m. about my experiences. Please attend if you’d like to hear about this year (and my plans for next year!). People have been amazingly supportive of my work here, and I’d love talk to everyone and thank you in person!

It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to return to Cieszyn for a second year of teaching. Your first year of teaching is a lot of “trial and error” and a lot of learning – learning about the school culture, the students’ language level, and how to best get students excited about learning English. The second year is a fantastic opportunity to apply all your knowledge and insights and better address the students’ English language learning needs. I’m thrilled to teach here again!

My school provides a living allowance for food and necessities, but cannot afford to pay other expenses, including my international airplane ticket. I was overwhelmed by the financial support I received during my first year of service, and I’d like to ask you to think about supporting my second year if you’re in a position to do so.

This spring, ELCA Global Mission committed to a long-term partnership with Cieszyn’s Lutheran schools. The Lutheran schools in Cieszyn have limited resources for their students and teachers. Providing the schools with a few supplies would support years of future collaboration between ELCA volunteer teachers and our Lutheran sisters and brothers in Poland.

For year two, I’m fundraising for airfare and an intensive summer language course and also for funds to support English extracurricular school activities and the purchase of a few school supplies.

*Here’s a wish list for year two:

Classroom set of English-Polish dictionaries and a reference thesaurus: 6 dictionaries ($25 per dictionary, one dictionary for every 2-3 students in a class) and a reference thesaurus ($50).

School supplies: $15 a month. Students do not have an English textbook. $15 a month covers photocopying expenses and supplies for special class projects like markers and poster board.

Digital projector: $500. The classrooms do not have computers, televisions, or projectors. A projector would allow teachers to incorporate visuals (including film clips, maps, and photographs) into their lessons to help the students learn new vocabulary.

Weekly “English breakfast”: $20 a month. Students are always asking for extra opportunities to practice their English. Students meet in the morning for 45 minutes for conversation and a snack.

Weekly after-school activities: $20 a month. Activities include cookie decorating and baseball games, and, of course, opportunities to practice their English. $20 a month covers minimal supplies and a snack for the students.

Virtual sheet music subscription: $50. There is no band/orchestra program in the school. Instrumentalists are invited to attend after-school “jam sessions” so they can experience playing with other students in an ensemble. An online music subscription provides the sheet music.

Intensive 28-day Polish language course in August: $42 a day, $300 per week. I’d like to enroll in an intensive Polish language course before resuming my teaching duties in the fall. Language instruction would let me better serve students with no prior English instruction, including elementary school students and older adults in my church congregation.

Roundtrip airfare from Chicago to Warsaw: $1,500.

*How to donate:

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge, IL (my home congregation) is collecting donations. Checks are payable to “St. Luke’s Lutheran Church” and should be designated “Sarah - Poland.” You will receive a charitable donation tax receipt.

Here is the church’s address:

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church

205 N. Prospect Ave.

Park Ridge, IL 60068

USA

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at sarahpolandsarah@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support!

The Bases are [Extra] Loaded

Do you remember substitution days in middle school and high school? You’d arrive to class to discover that your teacher was absent and you’d feel excited and a little giddy. Now, the giddiness didn’t always accurately reflect your level of interest in the class or your relationship with the specific teacher; for me, it reflected the joy of an unexpected and welcome change in the [sometimes monotonous] school day. With a substitute, perhaps you’d get to watch a movie or have time in class to (gasp!) finish your homework.

I realized recently that I’ve stripped my students of the opportunity to experience this “substitution giddiness.” I substitute for absent teachers at my school frequently. When I asked my work colleagues in September what to do when I substitute, they said, “Teach an extra English conversation class.” That’s logical. I took their advice seriously and treated substitution lessons like my scheduled lessons. I planned for them, set lesson objectives, and took advantage of the extra time with my students.

Luckily, my students have yet to groan when I substitute for them, but this spring I wanted to infuse new life into my substitute lessons. How could I distinguish my substitution lessons from my English conversation lessons?

This spring I’ve decided to treat my substitution lessons like a separate course called “American Culture.” We frequently talk about American culture in my conversation classes, but it isn’t the focus. I decided that for substitution lessons, it’s okay to have a lesson that’s not solely speaking focused. Plus, the best way to get the students to speak is to engage them in a new activity that arouses natural curiosity and therefore a natural desire to ask questions and talk. And I want substitution lessons to feel different and exciting. I also believe that you can’t (or, at least, shouldn’t) teach language without teaching culture. They are intricately and undeniably connected.

I’ve had two units so far in my “American Culture” course: dancing and baseball.

American Line Dancing

When students arrived to this substitute class, we pushed the desks to the walls and danced! Line dancing is a great classroom activity because 1) you don’t have to force people to pick partners and 2) everyone is dancing identical steps so it’s easier to teach. It was a great opportunity to let the students learn through movement and observation. They listened to my instructions but also watched me perform the steps and connected the movement with the English vocabulary. I am not a dancer but luckily thanks to my music background I have good rhythm, and thanks to Colleen, who is a dancer, I'd had an American dancing "refresher course" before teaching the lesson. I've also learned this year that how I approach the lesson (i.e., with enthusiasm and high expectations) is the key factor in the lesson’s success.

We started with the Chicken Dance, the Y.M.C.A., and the Macarena to warm-up. Then we learned the Cupid Shuffle and finished with the greatest challenge, Cotton-Eyed Joe. The Cupid Shuffle is great because it’s easy to let the students personalize the basic steps, and they loved the music for Cotton-Eyed Joe. We had a Cotton-Eyed Joe “dance-off” at the end of class to the 5-minute song (last person dancing “won”). I’ve had the opportunity to do this substitution lesson with almost all of my 7^th grade classes, and they always ask me when we’ll get to dance again. Here are the students posing for a "Y.M.C.A." photograph.

Baseball

It’s finally spring in Cieszyn (with magnolia trees blooming everywhere!) and, if we want, we’re allowed to go outside with our classes to the church park that’s across the street from the school. Two weeks ago we had beautiful weather and I decided to teach a baseball substitution lesson.

Now, if you know me, you know that I’m the person who wears the wrong colors to sporting events, and that, although I enjoy sporting events, I’m never particularly interested in who wins. I’m not especially qualified to teach people how to play baseball. (A couple friends and family members asked point blank, “Do you know anything about baseball?” when I told them of this lesson plan. I wasn’t insulted; it’s a fair question. In high school I attended almost every football game because of marching band and after all that exposure I still don’t understand the rules.) But I did my research and also knew that I would be teaching a simplified game.

The students looked at me like I’d lost my marbles when I announced we were playing baseball (don’t tell the students, but I’m always very excited when I get this look because I love surprising them). We talked about the basic rules, the names of the positions, and other baseball expressions. Then we played!

The majority of the students had never played or watched baseball before. We had a lot of fun learning the rules (again, language learning through movement; understanding the rules by applying them). It was a fun listening activity because (especially for the first 20 minutes), I helped the students with every play of the game, telling them when and where to run, what to do to get a player “out,” and answering lots of questions as they tried to apply the rules we had talked about.

The students did great, but it’s a steep learning curve when you haven’t lived in a culture where baseball is very popular and you’re exposed to the game regardless of your level of interest (I’m living proof).

Here are a couple fun baseball mishaps:

1) I realized I needed to specifically teach them how to hold the bat when the 1^st student batter stood directly behind home plate and swung the bat like you’d swing a light saber in Star Wars, straight out in front of you.

2) Sometimes I saw the students incorporating football/American soccer rules into the game. For example, I had to tell a lot of students that they couldn’t kick the baseball to their teammates; they had to throw it.

3) Before we played the game, I told the students how to get a batter “out” including by “catching a fly ball.” I had demonstrated this rule by having a student bat and I [miraculously] caught her hit in the outfield. I thought they understood until the time the pitcher threw the ball, the batter swung and missed, the catcher caught the ball and all the students yelled, “He [the catcher] caught the ball! He caught the ball! She’s [the batter] out! She’s out!” I had to laugh because, well, we weren’t the best pitchers or catchers so it was a miracle when the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw. I had to clarify that the batter had to hit the ball and someone in the outfield had to catch the ball for an out. Unfortunately, it didn’t count if the catcher caught the pitcher’s throw.

4) My favorite baseball mishap reinvented the phrase “the bases are loaded,” where there is a runner on every base (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd). I was quite busy during the game, keeping an eye on everyone. Lots of students had questions about the rules, students needed help holding the bat semi-correctly (I’m not going to pretend that I know the best way to hold a bat), pitchers were throwing balls way too high, etc. After one hit, I looked out into the field and discovered that the bases were loaded – with four people. There was a student on first, two students on second, and a student on third. I realized that I’d never told the students that you could only have one person on a base at one time. Here's a photograph of the "extra loaded" second base (Zuzia and Sara were the runners, Patryk behind them is the 2nd baseman, and Jan in the foreground was the pitcher).

It’s funny to realize that although I’m not a baseball expert, I know quite a lot about baseball because of my culture. You can’t avoid it! The lesson was also an example of how specific language is and how easy it is to think you’ve explained a rule well, but then you realize that you didn’t!

I’m thoroughly enjoying my “American Culture” substitution course and thinking about units for upcoming substitution classes this year and next! Any suggestions? I’d love to hear them!