Final Countdown to the Break: Culture and the Former USSR

TL;DR or Quick Summary

Vilnius Christmas Market

• Classes are wrapping up for the year here. The Polish winter semester do not end until February, so I will have my same schedule when after winter break.
• There is so much Christmas spirit in Poland. Warsaw and Białystok have decorations lining the streets, massive Christmas trees, and festive store displays. It definitely helps me feel the holiday spirit.
• Last weekend (Dec 10-11), was an intense culture weekend for me. I attended a ballet and an opera.
• This weekend (Dec. 16-18), I visited Vilnius, Lithuania. It was an amazing city that I plan to revisit during the summer.
• I will not be alone on Christmas, so no worries. My girlfriend, Kim, is flying to Poland on the 27^th and will we spend New Year’s together in Poland. 

Class Update

Texas Culture has made it all the way to Lithuania

Looking back on the semester, there is so much that I would change if I could do it all over again. I would change how I presented material, how I presented the course to my students on the first day, how I organized the class, and several other things. However, I am sure most teachers feel this way at the end of a semester. Now I know the amount of work that students expect to receive, how many students I should expect to actually do a reading assignment, how clearly and explicitly I need to give my instructions for homework and essays, and so many more things you probably do not want to hear about. Sadly, I won’t have an opportunity to do everything over again, now I have much more experience to base next semester’s classes on.  

Street art in Užupis, Lithuania

Despite all of the things that I would change, I do think of this semester as a success. The students respect me (as far as I know) and most of them only harbor a slight hatred for me seem to like me. Some of my students have even written in their weekly journals about  how they do not mind waking up for my early morning classes (they got TWO smiley face stamps but no extra points). I can see tangible improvements in their writing compared to the beginning of the semester. Students are much better at connecting arguments, proposing ideas, and writing fluidly. It is nice to see such changes.

They have also become more comfortable with me (and I have become more comfortable with them). Thinking back to the first day of classes, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from my students or the semester. I remember my first thought was that I was glad their English was so good. They could all understand me (except for my terrible handwriting) and I could understand them. After that relief, I slowly started to figure out how I wanted my classes to run and what type of relationship I wanted with my students.

I think I have found a good balance; my students (mostly) pay attention during class and participate in class activities. However, they also ask me what I think of Poland and Białystok, ask about what I do for fun, and usually laugh at my lame jokes. I have asked them to translate many emails, how to use a bottle of drain cleaner, and where to get a haircut. Overall, I definitely enjoy my students.

Travel and Social Updates

Erasmus Christmas Party 

The Erasmus student organization in Białystok hosted a traditional-ish Christmas party for international students in Białystok. While the 12 official Christmas dishes were not all there, there was plenty of food. One of my favorite Polish traditions is the breaking of the Christmas wafer (I'm not sure if that is the official name thought). Each person receives a wafer and you go around the room and break a small piece off of everyone else's wafer and eat it. You also wish them luck or good fortune. At smaller or more personal parties, the wish is more personal and authentic. The party was a great way to get the Christmas feeling started.

A Weekend Crammed Full of Culture

Swan Lake with Zapiekanka

Fulbrighters at The Moscow City Ballet's performance of
Swan Lake

Last weekend was a cultural experience. On Saturday, the Moscow City Ballet was performing Swan Lake in Warsaw. I wasn’t originally planning on going, but at the last minute, someone’s plans changed and I ended up buying her ticket. Before the show, I went to a really nice dinner with several of the Fulbrighters in Warsaw so knew the Warsaw food scene very well. We had a delicious dinner with drinks and dessert. After dinner we headed over to the ballet, which had its highs and lows.

My first comment about the ballet is that the actual performance was great. To my ballet expert eye, the dancers were all in sync and there were no mistakes. The costumes and set design was fantastic and worked well together. However, the venue was the opposite of all of that. The performance was held in an ice rink (the same one as the Bastille concert in a previous post) and that was really the root of all the problems.

Most of the seats were oriented perpendicularly (at a right angle) to the stage, which made the performance difficult to watch. My assigned seat had a pretty bad view (I was basically looking across the stage), but luckily I was able to move to a better seat. Since it was an ice rink, the concession stands served popcorn, hot dogs, and zapiekanki. It was definitely my first time eating popcorn at the ballet. While the popcorn didn’t make the performance any worse, it did take away any air of elegance. Despite my complaints, I really did enjoy the performance.

Die Fledermaus in Białystok

Białystok Opera House

The next day, Sunday, I headed back to Białystok for dinner and an opera with the Fulbright Scholar who lives just outside of Białystok. He is a Pole who has lived and taught at the University of Pittsburgh for many years. He typically splits his year between Pittsburgh and Białystok. This year however, he is on sabbatical and is teaching full time at the technical university in Białystok.

He and his wife took me out to a wonderful dinner, one of the nicest dinners that I have had in Poland so far. The conversation was very interesting as he has lived in Poland, the Netherlands, and the US, so he had many experiences and perspectives to share. We discussed the differences between his Polish and American university students, the strengths and weakness of both systems, and what I thought about Poland. Before long, it was time to hurry off to the show.

Białystok has a relatively new opera house and its design is quite controversial. It is essentially a metal large cube covered in vines and ivy. It looks rather nice when there are leaves and greenery on the blinds, but becomes rather bleak in the winter. The performance here was much more elegant. There were fancy dresses, suit jackets, and plenty of wine. Although the opera (or more technically operetta) was in Polish, I could still follow along with the main plot points. It was a comedy, so fortunately I was able to understand about 1/3 of the jokes through context clues. 

Visiting the Former USSR: Vilnius, Lithuania

Snow covered Vilnius from above

This weekend, I traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania with three Fulbrighters. There were originally supposed to be more of us, but sickness and a delayed train forced to people out of the trip. It was a fantastic trip. Vilnius was a very impressive city that was much more colorful and lively than I was expecting. If anyone is looking to travel somewhere more off the beaten path, I would definitely suggest Vilnius!

I took a 5-and-a-half-hour bus from Białystok to Vilnius and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. The bus was fairly empty so I got row to myself and could lean my seat all the way. The ride was as quick as possible with a short stop on the border to check passports (I guess to make sure everyone was in the EU legally?).

Once I arrived in Vilnius it was a quick walk to my hostel which was small but nice. The hostel owner (or at least receptionist, chef, and organizer) was incredibly nice. She offered great site seeing suggestions, talked with us about Polish and Lithuanian politics, and was eager to hear about how we liked Vilnius. Each morning, the free hostel breakfast was homemade by her in the morning. It really gave the hostel a warm and welcoming feeling.

German street in Vilnius

After dropping our stuff, we headed out to explore Vilnius in the evening. Immediately I could tell that it felt like a completely different place. Although Poland and Lithuania share much common history, Vilnius gave off a very different feeling than many cities in Poland. Much of Old Town Vilnius was still original (or at least 100 – 200 years old) and it really provided a strong juxtaposition to Warsaw, much of which was rebuilt after WWII. Walking through the streets felt very authentic and not overly touristy.

Outside the Vilnius Christmas Market

The Vilnius Christmas Market was the first destination. It was my first big Christmas market of the year and I think it was a very good place to start. There was a ring of shops surrounding a giant tree probably 20 meters tall. The food shops sold tons of pastries whose names were completely foreign to me. Lithuanian is distantly related Polish, but is different enough that I was pretty linguistically useless. There was also hot chocolate, warm wine, and mead. Other stands sold scarves, sweaters, socks, hats, and all other types of winter clothing. Although the market was not that big, it was very festive with bright lights, music, and a laughing Santa Claus. We had dinner at a nice Lithuanian restaurant and ended the night at another bar, where I was carded and received a terrible margarita (it was really my fault, my expectations were too high).

Gediminas's Tower in Vilnius

We started off the next day with a great homemade quiche from the hostel and then headed back into town. Overlooking the main cathedral square of Vilnius is the Gediminas' Tower. To get there, all be had to do was hike up a steep and icy path with minimal handrails. Despite expectations, there was only one fall (not me!!). The tower held a small museum with different pieces of armor and weaponry, a diorama of old Vilnius, and a really interesting exhibit on ‘The Baltic Way,’ a human chain that extended almost 600 km from Vilnius to Tallinn. There was a fantastic view of snow covered Vilnius from the top of the tower.

Photo of the Baltic Way
human chain

After descending the icy slopes of the hill, we met up with a free walking tour. Our guide was great; she was enthusiastic and informative. She took us through a quick 1000 years of history and showed us most of Old Town. The most interesting area was called Uzupis. This small neighborhood in Vilnius actually declared its independence from Lithuania in protest of the lack of attention from the government the area received. Today, Uzupis is an artists’ neighborhood. There are many sculptures and murals scattered throughout the small neighborhood. They have their own president, government, and ambassadors to different regions of the world. Until recently, they had an intimidating 12 person military, however in the interests of global peace, they recently demilitarized. It was a great place to have a cup of coffee, warm up, and grab some lunch.

That evening we ventured out for some food and were hoping to buy some wine and have an easy night end. However, we discovered that it is illegal to sell alcohol after 10 pm! This is the first time I have encountered a restriction like this in Europe and it was an unexpected reminder of Texas.

The day I headed back to Białystok by bus. The trip was long but uneventful. Once better weather arrives, I plan to go back to Lithuania to see what the country is like when it is not covered by a massive gray cloud.

That's all for now! I hope all of my readers have a great holiday season! 

Adventures with Creative Writing, Conferences, and Christmas

A rare beautiful sunny day in
Białystok

TL;DR or Quick Summary

1. No exciting trips to report on this week, just a fairly successful week in Białystok.
2. I worked on creative writing with my classes this week. It was a good way to practice writing skills but still have a fun and relaxing class in the middle of the semester.
3. On Thursday and Friday, I attended and presented at a conference sponsored by my university. I was schooled on my incorrect grammar terminology. 
4. Sunday was the official Christmas festival in Białystok. They had a the real life Santa Claus from Finland and an official tree lighting ceremony. 
5. It is getting cold!

It was nice to have a 'regular' week here is Białystok. While I love travelling, it certainly takes a lot out of me. Staying home this weekend was a great way to catch up on my work (I literally have about 80 essays to read) and to experience the start of the Christmas season in Białystok. 

Classes

Writing Classes 

Like I mentioned in my last post, my students were starting to feel the stress of a long semester. So I wanted to give them a break, but still do a writing focused activity. I decided to a creative writing activity; each student would pick a starter sentence that would serve as the first sentence of their story. The original author would then write five sentences to continue the story. After that, each story would be passed to four more people for a total of five authors. Although the students were hesitant (and somewhat confused) at first, I think most ended up enjoying the activity. 

Some of my favorite starter sentences include:

• A hostage situation at the bank was not how I wanted to spend my morning.
• The cemetery was rather quiet on my annual visit.
• Amy was hesitant to open the hotel room, scared of what she may find.
• Flowers came to my house every Monday around 13:00.
• All the nuns at the orphanage were ruthless except for Sister Francis.
• She kept absolutely still as the footsteps got louder.
• The fire was getting closer.
• The text message simply said ‘very clever.'

Snow Wars Episode 6: Return of the Snow

Students ran with the ideas in really interesting ways. There were several serial killer stories, one about a nun who force fed orphans candy, a Batman origin story, a WWII story from the point of Germany, and several others. Not all stories came together in a reasonable manner, but most did. While students were reading the final version of their stories, many laughed and excitedly shared the story with their partner. 

On the academic side of things, the goal for students was to match the tone, theme, and direction of the previous author. I asked students not to completely change the story by bringing in random aliens or nuclear explosions (there were some aliens but no explosions).  For the most part it was successful! I also think that a huge component of learning to write well is to read what others have written, not just 'official authors' but also other authors of a similar level. By having students continue stories from other students, I hope to expose them to as may types of authors as possible.

Integrated Skills

Decorations in Białystok

In integrated skills, I decided to continue with topic specific vocabulary and terms; this week was terminology about jobs and interviews. Most of my students seems surprisingly excited about this topic. We discussed words to describe yourself in an interview (hardworking, dedicated, big picture, detail oriented, experienced, etc) as well as words to discuss what the job will be like (part-time, full-time, work culture, etc). 

After discussing the definition of all the words, I had students interview each other. The questions were pretty basic, but it was good practice. Next week I will continue to work/interview related lesson with some specific phrases and words. I found some good, but silly games that practice using the words; hopefully the spirit of competition will bring out the bet in my students. 

Conversation Class

Christmas decorations or attack of the bioluminescent jellyfish?

I don't think that I have written much about my conversation class before. It is an informal class for graduate students and professors in my university. It is a fairly small class, usually there are only around 8 people, which is lets the class get pretty personal. Since they (in theory) want to be there, they are generally more enthusiastic and engaged in the lessons. There are two graduate students who worked with another Fulbrighter last year, my Polish teacher, and several professors at the university. It is a good group with different levels of English and different life experiences.

So far we have discussed the presidential election, 'The 11 Nations of America,' and many many idioms. Much to the delight of my students, we have discovered that there are many equivalent idioms in English and in Polish.

Last week, I jokingly told them about the Preposition Song that my middle school teacher made me memorize and they were super excited about it. So this week I think that I will be directing a choir of enthusiastic preposition singers. You can file this under the category of things I did not expect to be doing (although I am definitely happy to do it). When we land our first record deal, I will post a link on the blog!

Crossroads Conference

Action pose during my presentation

Last week my department sponsored a conference titled 'Crossroads I: Remembering/Forgetting.' It was a conference that focused on a wide variety of presentations related to human memory. There were presentations on collective memory, how particular people/groups are viewed through memories, how particular books portray memory, and many other topics. It is difficult to broadly explain the presentations, since many of them were very specific. Going into the conference, I was not totally sure what to expect and I was definitely feeling nervous.

For my presentation, I discussed the (now somewhat) recent controversy of the revised Texas education standards in regard to social studies and history. Specially I discussed the changes made by the Board of Education and the subsequent textbooks that were written to conform to these standards. Essentially, I discussed the motives behind the changes, what changes were made, how the textbook publishers used grammar to change the tone of the text, and some possible effects on students. I don't want to go into too much detail here, but you are welcome to check out my presentation if you'd like.

Lunch during the conference

Although my presentation was a success, I was called out on using the wrong term for describing verbs. Instead of using 'passive voice,' I just called it a 'passive verb.' Cue a quick grammar lesson in the middle of my presentation. Due to their many years of intense English grammar, the Poles were absolutely right about my mistake. The rest of the presentation went well and I received several questions at the end.

Interestingly, most Polish presenters read off their entire presentation. Most had written a paper for publication in conjunction with the conference and primarily read straight from that paper during their presentation. The projector was used to display relevant pictures or quotes, but not primarily as a means of information transmission. Talking to several presenters they said they preferred to read because it helped make sure they did not forget any points and because in school they never really had an opportunity to practice public speaking. One even told me that he wished that he could present like I did (without a script).

Overall, the conference was a great chance to meet some new people and see different types of research projects. It was a great academic as well as cultural learning experience.

Light Up that Tree!

The lit Christmas Tree

On Sunday afternoon (can it still be called afternoon if the sun has set?), Białystok held its annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. It was a much larger event that I was expecting. They had a stage with lights, speakers, and projector. There were creepy 'penguins' walking around and terrifying both children and adults posing for pictures. There was free soup and coffee, although both went extremely fast. And finally, there was Santa Claus, straight off the sleigh from Finland. 

The ceremony started off with several performances by children and teens, few of which were actually related to Christmas. Then came the Christmas songs; I sang Silent Night in Polish (don't tell anyone but I was actually singing the English lyrics) and several others. Finally Santa came on stage, talked to several kids, and promised many presents. 

The final event was the lighting of the huge tree in the middle of the rynek (market square). The tree is about 30 feet (10 meters) high and pretty perfect looking. It will be a welcome decoration for the rest of the Christmas season. 

But what I will remember most is probably the cold. It was 'only' around 22°F (-5°C) but I did not come prepared, especially in the sock department. All day I had been fine going between different heated locations, but after standing outside for almost 2 hours, I really started to feel the cold. Luckily the rest of me was fairly warm, so as long as I don't make the same sock mistake, I should survive! 

Well that's all for this week! Thanks for reading!

Super creepy penguins at the tree
lighting ceremony

 

Mountains of Essays, Thanksgiving, and Scandinavia

TL;DR or Quick Summary

Sunrise in Stockholm

• I promise that I don't hate you, life has been super busy (but good) here over the past couple of weeks, so I have not been able to post as much as I would like
• Classes are going well. I have graded all of my classes in some shape or form and can confirm that they are not idiots actually pretty smart. 
• I went to Stockholm, Sweden with several of my Erasmus friends. Stockholm was great, but we were treated to authentic Swedish weather of rain and clouds.
• For Thanksgiving, I traveled back to Warsaw for a fancy Thanksgiving lunch with the Fulbright Fam.
• Finally, I went to Oslo with some Fulbright friends. The weather is Oslo was much more cooperative. 
• Then after two hectic weeks, I will happily be staying in Białystok for the following weekends.

I really do want to post more often. It is not only a good way to keep up with people back home (and the occasional Polish friend/stalker) but it helps me reflect on everything that I have done. So rest assured, I will do my best to continue posting regularly. 

Class Updates

Stockholm at night

Overall, I can feel the stress of the semester starting to affect my students (and me). There has not been an official day off since November 1st and classes do not officially end under December 22nd. Several students have written journal entries about looking forward to Christmas break and there have consistently been a couple of students absent every day. Hopefully we will all make it through until the break!

Once Christmas is over, the end of the semester will come very quickly. The last week of classes is the first week of February (at least if I have interpreted my schedule correctly). So, there will only be a few rapid-fire classes and then it’s all over. As the semester wraps up, I will need to nail down the final project/essays for students and talk to those who haven't been meeting expectations. 

Making friends in Stockholm

2^nd Year Writing

I had my bachelor’s students write their first essay in class. Students were supposed to write about the theme of “The Necklace” and use information from the story to support their claims. Many seemed pretty terrified by the prospect. Some were visibly dismayed when they entered the room and my usually great jokes only received pity laughs. However, once they started writing they seemed to calm down. Some students were very quick writers, going through page after page with ‘legible’ handwriting; others wrote slowly and deliberately, clearly trying to avoid any and all grammatical mistakes. One particularly ambitious student finished halfway through class, triumphantly walked out, and then emailed me one hour later saying he completely misinterpreted the essay.

Over the next week, I graded their essays using plenty of angry red ink. Despite the over use of red ink, most students wrote fairly strong essays. There were common grammatical errors, many misuses of articles, and lots of scratch outs, but everyone wrote coherently. The biggest mistake made was not following the required structure of the essay. Placing the thesis statement in the introduction was a requirement that several students stubbornly resisted, while others did not include enough of their personal commentary.

WWII Monument in Stockholm

Since these were only a draft, I had students peer review others essays, with several specific questions to guide them. Although the students were surprisingly thorough in filling out the comment sheet, very few wanted to give any type of criticism (constructive or otherwise).  

4^th Year Writing

Having graded essays from both my 2^nd year students and my 4^th year students, I can truly appreciate the difference in writing abilities between the classes. While students in the 4^th year class still make mistakes, their writing is noticeably more coherent and their ideas are more connected. 

Content wise, I finished up what is (hopefully) the last lecture on paragraph structure and organization. We discussed what makes a paragraph unified and coherent and how these factors can clarify your writing. While admittedly it was not the most riveting lecture, I think that the students will benefit from the formal discussion. After this, I introduced them to their next essay topic: the effects of a Trump Presidency.

Right after the election, students were eager to hear my thoughts on the election and what it might mean for America and the world. Unfortunately for them, I was more interested in hearing what they thought about the matter. I talked about which demographics voted for Clinton and which voted for Trump, the constitutional powers of the American President, and what Trump could (probably) realistically do as president. I then told them that their assignment was to analyze the Trump effect on a certain geographical area; that area could be the United States, Poland, or the world.

Oslo Fjord ferry 

So far, the essays that I have read have done a good job of remaining fairly objective. Several discussed a potential change in global geopolitics (although they did not use that specific word), some discussed the effects on immigration in US, and a couple discussed the effects on LGTB people. There were more essays that tended towards a negative view of Trump, but several cast his future presidency in a more positive light. I am looking forward to reading about what they think. 

Integrated Skills

You know...just regular things

Two weeks ago, I gave my integrated skills class their first quiz; they all passed with flying colors (clearly I am not being difficult enough). This past week we discussed holiday traditions and vocabulary. Since my students already knew the basic holiday words, I decided to spice things up by going with more fun terms including food comas, stocking stuffers, carving the turkey, and others.

After visually demonstrating what it looks like to fall into a food coma, I asked my students to describe their own holiday traditions. I learned a lot that Christmas traditions run very deep in Poland. The traditional Polish Christmas meal consists of 12 meatless (not counting fish) dishes and often times a plate set aside in case a stranger comes to dinner. I also learned that some of the traditional dishes are rather controversial; some students got into serious discussions about whether some dishes were great or terrible.  

Travel Updates: Becoming Part Scandinavian

Statue park in Oslo

Over these two past weeks, I visited two Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Norway. After spending two weekends outside of Białystok, I am definitely looking forward to some rest this upcoming weekend.

Two weekends ago, I visited Stockholm, Sweden with some of my Erasmus friends and this past weekend, I went to Oslo, Norway with Fulbright people. In between there was a really nice Thanksgiving dinner in Warsaw.

Stockholm and the Authentic Swedish Experience

The Stockholm crew: An American, two Greeks and a Serbian

Getting to Stockholm was an adventure in itself. From Białystok, I took a 4 hour bus to the Warsaw budge airport shack, flew to Stockholm, and then had to take another 1.5 hour bus into the city. Our hostel was on the Stockholm Old Town island (which was great for pictures, but not for wallets). Once we got to our hostel, we took a short power nap/WiFi recharge and then headed out in search of some dinner. Although it was only around 7pm, it felt much later because of the high latitude; the sun usually sets around 3:30 in the afternoon. 

The Vasa, a Swedish warship that didn't survive its maiden
voyage

Since we were only in Stockholm for two nights, we needed to make the most of the one full day; unfortunately, the weather was not on our side. It was rainy, cloudy, and cold for most of the day. Our tour guide told us that we were lucky, we were getting the authentic Swedish winter weather experience! 

Not quite convinced that we were lucky, we still went on a walking tour of the city center. Stockholm is made up of multiple islands and was surprisingly walk-able. We saw the parliament building, royal palace, and several monuments. After the tour, we visited the Vasa Museum; a museum built around the Vasa, a Swedish ship that spectacularly sunk on its maiden voyage. In the 1960's, Sweden resurfaced the ship using massive airbags and lots of hard work. They build the museum around the ship and included information about Swedish naval life during the time period. Although I thought it might be too specific, I ended up really enjoying the museum. 

After the museum, we retreated to the safety of our hostel to escape the weather for a bit. Once it stopped raining, we explored at night and saw the city in a different light (pun somewhat intended). Although we were out on a Friday, there were surprisingly few people out. The vibe of Stockholm was distinctly different than any Polish city. After being in Poland for about two months straight, I was surprised how accustomed to Polish culture I had become. The next morning, we had to get off to an early start to make it back to our bus to the airport. 

Fulbright Thanksgiving: Turkey, Applesauce, and Good Company 

Thanksgiving Dinner in Warsaw

Thanksgiving was the first major (American) holiday that I would be missing. Luckily, Fulbright made Thanksgiving dinner a required event. They rented about a large party room at a fancy restaurant. There was plenty of food, drinks, and desserts (probably too many, but let's be honest, is it even Thanksgiving if there isn't too much food?) It was all delicious and certainly helped ease the homesickness during the holiday. 

The turkey was great!

While all the food was good, it was just a little bit off from my typical Thanksgiving food. The stuffing had more veggies than bread, their 'gravy' was actually applesauce, and there was an appalling lack pumpkin pie. However, the turkey was on point and went very well with the cranberry sauce. 

Bastille concert in Warsaw 

Overall, it was a fantastic dinner and a great way to catch up with people that I had not seen in several weeks. The next official Fulbright gathering is not until February, so it will be a while before the entire program is back together. 

That evening, I went to a Bastille concert (the band, not the French building). Although I had only heard a few songs by them, the timing worked out very well and the tickets were on sale. The concert actually took place in an ice rink and had a good number of people. The band was great and really energized the crowd. Afterwards, we met up with other Fulbrighters for some drinks. The next morning I was off to Oslo. 

Oslo featuring Naked Statues, the Opera, and Margaritas   

View of Norway from the plane

Getting to Oslo proved a little rocky, or rather foggy. Upon arrival to the airport, I was greeted with a screen full of canceled and delayed flights. The fog at the airport was so bad that I could only see about 30 feet (~10 meters). Our flight was delayed by about 2 hours (luckily it wasn't canceled!) so we got to play the classic game of stay occupied in the airport. Once we finally landed in Oslo, we were treated to a 2 hour bus ride into the city (these budget airport may not always be the best idea), but it was a beautiful drive. 

Drinks with friends

I think the weather gods were apologizing for the awful weather in Stockholm the week before, because the Oslo weather was absolutely perfect. It was sunny the entire weekend and temperatures were in the low 40's (actually warmer than Poland). Arriving in the city, we walked to our AirBnb and discovered how lucky we were in booking that apartment. Not only did our host have snacks and lit candles waiting for us, there was also a heated floor, fast WiFi, and two (that's right two) Mexican restaurants within walking distance. 

The fabled Margarita

Of course, we had to experience Norwegian Mexican (NorMex?) food for ourselves. The first thing to taste was a margarita, and it passed with flying colors. The chips and guac were good, while the burrito was a solid okay. Overall, it was definitely a good taste of home. 

Like Stockholm, I only had one full day in Oslo; however, the weather was much more cooperative. To start off, we ventured into the Vigeland Sculpture Park, known for its plethora of naked statues in interesting poses. Most statues focused on families (or at least I think they did). There were bears juggling babies, a man fighting off 4 babies, columns of naked bodies, and probably anything else you could imagine. 

After the garden, we quickly toured the Nobel Peace Prize museum while waiting for our ferry to tour the Oslo Fjord. The Peace Prize museum was good and had blurbs on every winner. Out on the ferry, the winds picked up, but because of the sun, it never got too cold. The ferry went around to different islands and let people on and off. It made for some great pictures of the water and city. 

Boat ride around Oslo

On the last island, I ventured off with a friend. We hiked around, found some replica cannons, made a fox friend, and took some pretty epic pictures along the rocky cliff. It was really nice to be able to get in a little bit of nature during this trip. After we got back to land, we were off to the Christmas market. 

Once at the market, we discovered just how many Norwegians were taking advantage of the wonderful weather: the market was packed. Wall to wall people. The atmosphere was very festive, with Christmas music and scents everywhere. Christmas punch, Frankfurt sausages, churros, and other nameless foods were sold out of every other stall. Kids and parents lines up for the merry-go-round and Ferris wheel while leaving poor Santa Claus without any attention. I was fortunate to make it out of the market without buying any of the super warm (and super expensive) socks, sweaters, or hats. 

Oslo Christmas market 

The last event of the evening was a performance a the Oslo Opera. The building was very modern and very open. There was a Christmas forest in the lobby and the bathrooms were practically a work of art. We saw Così fan tutte, which was not my favorite opera, but I still enjoyed the show. Overall it was a fantastic experience. 

I think that I will have to do another trip to Norway. There is definitely more to see than just Oslo!

So that's all for this update. I know it was a long read! I hope to post more regularly from here on out!

Bonus Pictures

               

Snow, Elections, and some more Snow... Oh My!

Before the snow

TD;DR  or Quick Summary 

After the snow 

1. Winter has arrived! Last Wednesday (Nov. 9th) it snowed pretty much all day and all night in Białystok, transforming the city into a Winter Wonderland.
2. Teaching is going well. I observed my mentor teaching a couple of weeks ago and it really gave me some good ideas for my own classroom. 
3. Through various groups and parties, I have made several more friends in Białystok and am really starting to feel more comfortable here. 
4. Yesterday, I traveled with a Fulbrighter and his cousin to a small village. It was a great trip into winter. 

Since my last post focused more on my travels, this post will focus more on teaching. It covers about two weeks worth of classes. At the end of the post, you will find waaaaay too many pictures of snow in Białystok (so be prepared). 

Snow in the park outside my university

Teaching Struggles and Breakthroughs 

Just like every teaching experience that I have ever, there are good days and bad day; these past two weeks have had a little of both. Overall, they were good, but they could have definitely been better. I will start with went well. 

Integrated Skills

I finally observed my mentor teacher and she was fantastic! She was teaching a 2nd year integrated skills class, which included several of my own 2nd year students. They were definitely surprised to see me outside of writing class but didn't run out of the room screaming. During this class they were discussing and practicing phrasal verbs (so verbs like break up, wash up, try on, etc...). My mentor posted several words from last week on the board and called on students for a definition or example. As more and more words were taken off the board, the students were getting more nervous about getting stuck with one of the tough final words. Throughout the rest of the class students conversed, discussed, and answered questions using the phrasal verbs. Observing my mentor teach gave me an idea of what a good integrated skills should look like. 

River in Supraśl, a small town near Białystok

The following day I implemented several of my mentor's strategies in my own classes with great success. While teaching idioms, I had every student write sentences and draw pictures that represented the idiom. So there were many drawings of cats being released from bags, slaps on wrists, and ropes being known. Although my students were hesitant at first, they really got into the activity after a little bit. Next class we will have a quiz over the idioms so we will see how effective the lessons were. I plan to do some review games before hand to hopefully help out the students.

As I will do in all of my classes post-election, I will ask my students about their feelings on President-elect Trump and talk about what powers the American president actually has. So far my conversations and discussions with students have been very interesting and they often focused on different issues than my American friends. But, more on that below!

Orthodox church in Supraśl 

4th Year Writing

On the other side of the spectrum, I feel like I am still figuring out the students and course in my 4th year writing class. Two weeks ago, I returned their first essay. In a fantasy world with perfect students, I would have liked for them to read over my edits and comments and then ask me questions about their essays. However, they all read through the comments and seemed perfectly content; no questions, comments, or even small moments of realizations. Part of me should have expected this lack of response (and in the back of my mind I knew that maybe I should have had more realistic expectations). So after talking about general mistakes and issues with the essays, I ended class a little early. While this certainly wasn't the end of the world, it did make me realize that I still had room to improve in my lesson planning and preparation for the class. I could have done more to facilitate a meaningful conversation about writing strategies and styles.

During my other 4th year writing class, I came prepared with a more structured way to discuss common mistakes. We reviewed an essay that I had written on the same topic and I and them find specific strengths of that essay. While still not perfect, the class was much better structured and I think the students got more out of the class.

Looking out into the wilderness

So far, I have only taught one class writing class post-election. I discussed how the electoral college works, showed them how different demographics in the U.S. voted, and defined the constitutional powers of the president. They had questions and predictions about whether Trump could actually build a wall or prevent certain people from entering the country. They were mildly concerned when I told them that the president has complete control over the American military, including nuclear weapons.

When I asked how a Trump presidency would affect them, nearly all of my student's answers focused on relations with Russia. This focus makes complete sense considering their close proximity to Russia. Many expressed concerns that Russia would begin to exert more influence over Poland and Europe. While none of my students mentioned the rise of a second cold war, many of their comments seems to suggest that might be a possibility. This focused is a significant departure from conversations that I have had with many of my American friends and family.

Their second essay assignment is to elaborate upon this. I asked them to write about the effects of a Trump presidency on the U.S., Poland, or the world. I left it fairly open ended in the hopes that I will get a variety of views. I hope no only will my students take a more objective look at American (and global) politics, but that their views and opinions will help give me a more international perspective on the United States.

2nd Year Writing 

Just a little bit of snow here

I assigned 'The Necklace' short story to my second year writing class. In case you can't remember from your own high school English class, 'The Necklace' is a story about a husband and wife who must work for many years to pay back the cost of a lost necklace. The last line of the story reveals that the original necklace was a fake; therefore the couple had wasted 10 years paying back a cheap piece of jewelry. 

The story is rife with themes from 'be happy with what you have' to 'honesty is the best policy' to (my favorite) 'necklaces are the root of evil.' This week, students will be writing an in class essay about the theme they see in the story. 

More snow covered wilderness

Although the students would prefer to write it at home, I was advised that it will be a more accurate assessment of student skill to have them write it in class. I definitely agree with this advice, although now I must go through the difficult task of deciphering their handwriting. The main component I am looking for in their essay is how they present, justify, and connect their arguments and ideas. While I will be looking at spelling and grammar, I think improving their argumentative writing is my biggest goal. 

So overall, teaching is going well. I am definitely reminded of feelings student teaching back at Crockett HS in Austin. There are good days and less good days, but I feel like I am heading in the right direction.

Now if you have made it this far through the post, you must be interested in seeing more snow pictures. Well, I will not leave you disappointed! 

Let it Snow!

Snow in Białystok

Most of my Polish friends and students have told me that my excitement of seeing snow will soon turn into a bitter hatred of the white fluff that turns into gray melting blobs along the side of the road (well not in those words, but close enough). I believe that once March rolls around I might be ready for spring, but for now I still sometimes catch myself staring at snow covered trees, buildings, and fields. 

For me, seeing this much snow is almost like being in a movie. Texas is know for many things, but snow is not one of them. Every Christmas movie has snow covered towns, snowmen, and warm fireplaces; in Houston, my Christmases have more often involved air conditioning and short sleeves. So for now, I will be taking every advantage of the snow. 

Visiting Supraśl and the Wilderness

Inside the chapel

On Saturday, I took a last minute trip to a nearby town, Supraśl. This village is only about 10 kilometers from Białystok, and was definitely worth the trip. One of my Fulbright friends was in town visiting his family and invited me to go with him and his cousin (both of whom speak fluent Polish). So the three of us headed out to Supraśl.

This region of Poland has the highest concentration of Orthodox Christians and there are several ornate Orthodox churches in the area. After strolling along the river, befriending an excitable dog, and throwing several snowballs we took a tour of one church. The tour was led by an Orthodox monk sporting a Nike jacket and shoes but also wearing a religious gown; it looked suspiciously like Nike was his personal sponsor. He showed us several ornate buildings and gave a quick summary of the 500 year history of this order. 

Orthodox art

After a delicious and filling Polish meal, we headed back to town with one quick detour. We stopped along the road and hiked a short distance; once we broke through the tree cover, we could see all the way across a large basin. It was stunning. 

Snow covered trees as far as the eye could see, clear skies, and a setting sun all combined for a beautiful panorama. It was one of the best vistas I have seen. We spent about 30 minutes exploring and taking silly pictures. I attempted to make a snow angel, but unfortunately, the snow wasn't deep enough. 

As we were leaving, my friend's cousin said,  "We should come back in winter! The view will be even better then!" Clearly she was implying that this was not yet winter. We shall see if I survive. 

Well that's all for this week! Thanks for reading!

Bonus Pictures!