Hannah in a Suitcase

The last week and a bit have seemed to escape me, things are moving fast here!  Last weekend I had a Rotary meeting in Torun, Poland, a city about three hours away from Olsztyn. It was great to see all the kids from the language camp again, everyone in that group is so kind and welcoming. We always have a lot of fun together! The day we arrived we went on a sightseeing tour around the city, if I'm being honest we all spent more time catching up with each other than listening to our tour guide, but it was great to see the city.  The side streets of Torun! We also got a chance to make Piernik (Ginger bread!) that the city is famous for. We made batter as a group but it takes a long time for that to be ready to use so we used pre-made dough for our souvenirs. I say souvenirs because they aren't for eating, once they come out of the oven and cool they harden.  The following day we got to go on a short cruise on the Vistula river, it was a beautiful night ...

This Saturday my host family took Olivia and I to Gdansk, we visited the surrounding towns Gdynia and Sopot as well.  Our first stop was in Gdynia, we went to Science Centre EXPERYMENT,  a fun hands on museum where we were able to play with different experiments. My favorites were the bed of nails, a couple of the waters ones, and the best was mind ball. In this you and a friend sit opposite ends of a special table and you both have special head bands that pick up on your brain activity. The goal is to empty your mind, whoever can clear their head faster will move a ball from the center of the table into the goal at the other side. It's a little tricky to explain, hopefully the picture helps :) Our next stop was in Sopot, we were very lucky to have such great weather in this cute town. Walking through the streets of houses to get to the town center was beautiful, the houses looked like they were made for tea parties! They all had beautiful details in lovely pastel col...

This week was just as confusing as last week, a little less exhausting, but I still didn't understand anything! I was very excited to meet someone new though. Olivia introduced me to a student here who was an exchange student in the U.S.A. last year. Jan (pronounced Yan) took Olivia and I to his haircut and then we went and got coffee in Old Town. I was a great way to break up the week. It wasn't a very eventful week but today I had a couple short (but awesome) conversations with some of the girls in my class. People seem to be warming up a little bit more. My host family will be bringing me to Gdansk (I know. How do you say that???) tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to it. It looks like a beautiful city! and there is some history there too, this is where the second world war started on September first, 1939. I will make sure I bring my camera so I can share pictures with you next week!

Saturday I spent the day with my host mom. We brought Mika (my host puppy) to the vet, went to the grocery store, and the car wash! It wasn't an overly exciting morning but it was fun. It was also a good challenge for my host mom and I, she doesn't speak much English and I don't speak much polish! When we got back from the store I made chocolate chip cookies while Jola started making Pierogis!! I was very excited to finally try them. We had both boiled and fried, some with cheese and some with fruit. The fried ones were my favorite and I liked the fruit filled ones best.  That afternoon we shuffled around some things in the garage and found a bike that (mostly) fit me. We went on a 10k bike ride! I was really wishing I had brought my phone so I could've captured it, and shared with you. It was so beautiful out, I could smell the Fall. I know that's cheesy but it's one of my favorite times of the year. The air has a different feel that I really love. Ear...

School I have completed my first week of school! It wasn't a full week because Monday I only had an assembly, but I met some girls in my class and they took Olivia and I to a popular cafe in Olsztyn called Green Way. They were very sweet. Two of the girls spoke English very well and they were very welcoming, it was a great start to the week.  The first day of classes was draining, my mind was so confused! Everyone spoke polish and they spoke so fast. The girls that had brought us into the city sat with us and introduced us to teachers but I felt pretty helpless. The colors and numbers I learned in the language camp were not helping me understand the romanticist period of polish literature! The first day was so overwhelming and I must admit I did a lot of day dreaming.  The next day I went to school ready to learn! I wasn't sure what but I wanted to make progress. I wrote down all the polish I could, planning to translate it later. Of course it takes hours to type a...

My first week in Poland I was in a language camp organized by Rotary, it was a nine day camp for the 60 inbound students living in Poland this year. DAY 1:  The first day was just a check in day so we didn't have many planned activities. Olivia (the other exchange student going to my school) and I were the first ones there and we were able to get to know each other a little better while we waited for the other students. I learned that she was from Pennsylvania, she hoped to learn Russian in school here, and she was just as nervous as I was about all the unknowns.  Later in the day once everyone had checked in and eaten dinner (served at 2-3:00 in the afternoon) we had a chance to get to know each other. When Rotary sponsors students for exchange there are a couple 'traditions' the students follow, all Rotary students get a blazer and they have to make or buy pins that have some connection to their home country (or state or province) to share and trade with other R...