Rotary Group Study Exchange 7610 to 2230

Experiencing the Baltic Sea and a bit of history in Swinoujscie - Sunday, June 4

2006-06-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, we left Szczecin early again for another day trip. This time, we traveled North to Swinoujscie, a town that is on the coast of the Baltic Sea as well as on the German Border. The town is on a group of 44 islands (only three of which have people living on them) and is only accessible by ferry!

We arrived at the ferry and were met by several Rotarians who took us on the ferry. On our way, we saw the NATO base, which was very exciting for all of us and especially Seth after his awesome vocational visit on Friday!

We had a small tour of the city and then crossed the German border again, on foot. Jerry was excited to get four more stamps in his passport for free! (He bought a Checkpoint Charlie stamp in Berlin, if you ask, he will show you.)

After the tour, we had a meeting with the President of the city (whom we would probably call the mayor). He was interesting to talk to and we talked about many hot issues for Swinoujscie that were interesting to us. Watch for some possible new developments regarding the shipping/storing of oil in the near future!

We toured more of the city and went into a high church tower to see the coast, which was beautiful. However, one of the highlights of the trip was definitely playing in the water on the beach. The Polish people with us thought we were a little crazy for putting our feet in the water, but it felt great and we had a lot of fun!

Probably the most exciting thing that happened in Swinoujscie and one of the most memorable events of our trip was having lunch with several Rotarians including Lechosław Goździk. He was, according to another Rotarian at lunch, the Lech Walesa of the 1956 revolution in Poland. Mr. Gozdzik was the Secretary of the Party fighting the Communists during the revolution and organized the labor union at the car factory in which he worked. Following the revolt, he moved to Swinoujscie and became a fisherman. However, his leadership and politics did not end. He was the Vice President of Western Pomerania (a region in Poland), the head of the City Council in Swinoujscie, and the President of the Society for Sea Fishers.

Since meeting him, we have been able to read about him in the Polish encyclopedia and several people have confirmed his importance in Polish history. What an awesome experience! There is a Wikipedia article on him, but it is in Polish. If you want to check it out, here is the link: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lechos%C5%82aw_Go%C5%BAdzik

Day-trip to Berlin - Saturday, June 3

2006-06-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

As part of our visit to Szczecin, the Rotarians provided us with a day-trip to Berlin. The German border is only 20 km from Szczecin and many people come from Germany to visit Poland and vice versa. It was a rainy day, but we had a wonderful time and are very grateful for the Rotarians and their wives from Szczecin who accompanied us. Of course, we made time to sample the German pastries and the German chocolate! Thank you!

This picture is of the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament:

The World Cup is starting in Germany on June 9. The town was buzzing with soccer fever and we saw people from many of the countries that will be playing in the next month.

We had the opportunity to visit several historical sites in Berlin that were very meaningful including the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie.

We also visited a new Holocaust memorial that was recently constructed.

We had a great time in Berlin!

Some more pictures from Kolobrzeg!

2006-06-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

I am finally catching up with the blog and am running out of time to write a lot, but want to get some of these pictures in while I have reliable internet access, so these are just going to have quick descriptions!

Tuesday evening, we presented at the Kolobrzeg Rotary Club. This is me and Ann with the Club president, Miroslaw, exchanging banners.

On Wednesday, we went on a 21-kilometer bike ride in Kolobrzeg. It wasg great. We rode on the old Soviet air-base runways and then rode to see the oldest Oak tree in Poland.

These are pictures of our host families in Poland. I realized today that we haven't posted many pictures of the people who we have been visiting and I wanted to include the pictures of these families that took us in and made us feel at home. We have had great hosts throughtout our trip.

Backstage passes for Polish Sausage - Tuesday, May 30

2006-06-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

Kielbasa, Polish sausage, has been a major staple of our diet while we have been in Poland (our diet needs to be the subject of a future blog). We love kilebasa! One of our Rotarian hosts in Kolobrzeg owns a company that processes sausage and other meats and he took us for a visit.

We had a hard time tearing Seth away after the visit because he loves kielbasa more than anyone I've ever met. If you're lucky, he might bring some back to you!

Alex's Farm and the "Abort Machine" - Monday, May 29

2006-06-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

On Monday evening, we visited one of the Rotarians' (Alex) farms. He told us that his farming is only a hobby, but I think you'll see from the picture of the farmhouse below, that it might be more. The farm is a former State-run farm and is very large (at one time I knew how many hectares).

While we were there for dinner, he offered to take us for a ride in the "Abort Machine." We were not apprehensive in the least and went on a great adventure. It was good for us to find out that redneck activities (like driving old jeeps through fields) are fun whether in West Virginia or Kolobrzeg, Poland. We had a fabulous time and if you're lucky, you'll get to see Seth's video footage of the ride someday.

GSE on the seashore in Kołobrzeg, Poland - May 28 - 31

2006-06-05T16:16:00.000-05:00

After returning to Wroclaw for a couple of days following Swidnica, we boarded a train Sunday morning for Kołobrzeg. The three hour train ride to Wroclaw was only a warm-up for the seven hours we road as far North as possible. Kolobrzeg (pronounced Kowobzheg)is a small (50,000) city on the Baltic Coast. We were very excited to arrive at the Baltic Sea and were greeted at the train station by several Rotarians.

Monday, our first full day in Kolobrzeg, we enjoyed a tour of the city that included a short tour out into the Baltic Sea on a large vessel as well as an unplanned jaunt in a rowboat with some of the maritime academy students. Ann grew up in California and Seth, Jerry and I love the beach as well, so we really enjoyed being at the beach. We only wish the weather had been a little warmer and drier so that we could have taken better advantage of our time there. Seth did go swimming one evening!

Our new dream car - the Polish Maluch

2006-06-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

Since we arrived in Poland, Ann and I have admired, talked about, and even discussed business deals with Rotarians involving Maluchs A Maluch is a Polski Fiat 126p - a small car produced in Poland between 1973 and 2000. Due to a relatively low price it used to be very popular in Poland, and its very small size gave it the nickname Maluch ("the small one"). The nick-name became so popular, that in 1997 it was accepted by the producer as the official name of the car.

Maluchs are all over Poland and are available in pretty much ever color imaginable. Ann's personal favorite was a pink-purple one we saw on the streets of Krakow.

We have asked most of the people who have given us tours where we could buy one, if they wanted to sell us one (or a few), etc. Finally, the club president in Swidnica took me seriously about wanting to drive one. One of the employees at his hotel in Swidnica let me drive hers around the parking lot.

Disclaimer - I hadn't read the GSE rule that we aren't allowed to drive cars - and Jerry was watching and photographing the entire experience!

Swidnica - May 25

2006-06-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

Slightly delayed following our hiking adventure, we arrived late Thursday afternoon in Swidnica. Swidnica is very famous because it houses the Church of Peace, which we visited along with the Cathedral. Both churches were very ornate. We walked through the town on a tour. Ann and I especially enjoyed visiting with Hanna, the daughter of one of the Rotarians.

After the Swidnica Rotary Club meeting where we got to know some of the members better, one member, Jacek, took us on a ride to see the Swidnica hospital which was impressively modern and nice and the Siaz Castle, one of the largest in Poland. It was dark and we couldn't see much of the castle, but we did get to see a sword-fight reenactment in which the swords were on fire!

"Climb Every Mountain" - Our trek to Czech - Thursday, May 25

2006-06-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

, our fabulous interpreter in Jelenia Gora and Karpacz, along with the Rotarians, allowed us to talk them into a hike on Thursday morning. Seth and Ann left an hour earlier and Jerry and I followed, with our guide. We took a ski lift up the mountain that Seth and Ann climbed (it was easier, but also a lot colder). From the top of that mountain, we didn't have to hike far before we entered the Czech Republic! We hiked in the Czech Republic, near the border, for a while and then back down into Karpacz. It was beautiful and great to be out in nature after being inside for so many days!

We slept in a castle! - May 24

2006-06-05T16:03:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night at dinner, the Rotarians told us that we would be sleeping in a castle in Jelenia Gora. We had overeaten and they had had a few drinks, so we weren't sure if we should believe them or not. But, we did and all day we talked about sleeping in our castle.

We were not disappointed! The castle we slept in was the Palac Staniszow and it was amazing. It is owned by a Rotarian and ran by him and his wife (and their newborn son!). We loved staying there and could have stayed for weeks.

They spent a long time fixing up the main building and are now working on another building on the property. I believe this building next door is available if any Rotarians are looking for a fixer-upper!

The hills are alive . . . Jelenia Gora - Wednesday, May 24

2006-06-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday morning, we were taken by taxi to the bus station and placed on a bus to Jelenia Gora. We stayed the night before in a nice hotel in Wroclaw and had no idea what to expect in Jelenia Gora as we didn't know we would be visiting there until Tuesday evening.

We were pleasantly surprised because Jelenia Gora (Polish for deer mountain) is in the Lower Silesia region of Poland and is in the Polish mountains (similar to Virginia "mountains"). When we arrived, our Rotarian host drove us to the top of a hill from which we could see all of the surrounding valleys. We loved being out of the city and I think he was amused by our frolicking. We visited the home and business of the Rotarian who picked us up and then an optical lens factory ran by another Rotarian.

We had a fabulous guide and interpreter who took us to visit Karpacz, a town in the mountains where there is a beautiful Vang church that was built without nails. We had a great time (from the pictures you will see that Ann and I possibly had too great of a time) and then we were off to the Rotary Club meeting.

Our first train ride (!!) to Wroclaw, Poland - May 23, 26, 27

2006-06-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, we had an 8:00 am train from Krakow to Wroclaw, Poland. The Polish countryside was beautiful and we enjoyed traveling through several small towns, Katowice (the birthplace of Pope John Paul II), and kilometers of agricultural communities. Some of the fields were a beautiful yellow and we later found out that a major crop in Poland is rapeseed.

We arrived in Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswav) and were able to go on a tour of the city before we presented at one of the Wroclaw Rotary Clubs that evening. We haven't written much about our presentations at Rotary Clubs, but we have been making a lot of them! We made four in Lodz, two in Krakow . . . and our presentations have gone well. The hula has definitely been a hit in every club and we have spread the hula across Poland by teaching it in the clubs as part of our presentation. We quickly went through the box of leis that we brought with us to give away and gave away the last ones at the District Conference in Krakow.

Here are some pictures of Wroclaw - a city with a market square possibly as beautiful as Krakow's that is also very alive because of the large amount of students that attend the many universities and academies there.

Auschwitz-Berkenau - Monday, May 22

2006-06-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

Today we visited Aushwitz-Berkenau. Ann posted some of her thoughts and pictures and I wanted to add a few of my own as well.

I have never visited a death camp before and the experience was almost overwhelming. Since we have been in Poland, I have read a book about the Holocaust, Night by Ellie Weisel, and watched a movie about the Warsaw Ghetto, The Pianist. Both the book and the movie were quite emotional for me and I was already thinking a lot about the events that took place at Auschwitz. The feelings I felt there were very thick and dense. I was also most affected by the hair, eyeglasses, suitcases and prosthetic limbs left behind from those who were killed in the camps.

Walking around Birkenau was also amazing to me. The buildings they lived in there were much more primitive than at Auschwitz I and we were there on a warm day. It is very discouraging to think that people have been and can be so closed-minded and full of hatred.

Auschwitz

2006-05-30T01:07:00.000-05:00

On Monday we made a trip about 45 minutes outside of Krakow to the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The trip to Auschwitz was much anticipated; when our team was first organized we all expressed strong interest in visiting the camps. We were led on a private tour of the Auschwitz, then over to Birkenau, which was mostly destroyed before the camps were liberated by the Soviet Army.

Visiting death camps is an overwhelming experience. For those of you that have visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC, you may have a good idea of the feelings and emotions you might feel. Confusion, sadness, anger, doubt, a desire for hope.

Just the number of people who were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau is mind-boggling. The museum that has been set up at Auschwitz contains displays that try to help visitors understand the impact - long hallways full of piled up baggage, eye glasses, shoes, and hair that belonged to the prisoners.

Our visit was impressive and unforgettable. As we left Auschwitz we ran into a Rotarian from Lodz who had brought some guests to the site. It was interesting to talk with her. She was not going to tour the facility because she had done it before, but more importantly she expressed how difficult it is for Polish people in her generation who were born just before or during WWII to visit Holocaust sites because it was their parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who lived through it. Her comments seemed to make it all seem so much more real and personal. I am grateful for the freedoms and opportunities that I have been blessed with.

Wawel Castle and the Best Lody in Krakow - Sunday, May 21st

2006-05-29T00:24:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon, we met to tour Wawel Castle, an amazing castle and chapel dating back to the mid-11th Century. It was very interesting to see the architecture of the castle as well as the art displayed. The chapel was especially interesting and eclectic in its architectural style. There were many small chapels surrounding the main chapel and each was completed in a different architectural style. The highlight for me was climbing the bell tower (on a very ancient staircase) where we had a fabulous view of Krakow.

Following our tour of the Wawel Castle, we visited Kazimierz, the Jewish Old Town in Krakow. It is a part of Krakow that has been revived in the past couple of years and, according to our hosts, the place to be for local nightlife, opposed to the tourist nightlife in the Krakow Main Market Square. We enjoyed walking the streets, visiting some synagogues and the Jewish Cemetary. However, one highlight of Kazimierz was eating the best Lody in Krakow.

Lody is Polish for ice cream and we have become expert Lody critiques during our two weeks in Poland. We have found some great ice creams shops and in order to become true experts, try to eat lody at least once a day. Anna informed us that her favorite lody was from a shop on the main square in Kazimierz, so we tried it and she was right, it was great!

Having a Ball at the 2230 District Conference - May 20, 2006

2006-05-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Saturday, May 20, we had the opportunity to participate in the District 2230 District Conference. It was both very similar to and very different from our experience at the District 7610 Conference in Fredericksburg. We were very fortunate to be able to meet participants from all of District 2230 including Belarus and Ukraine. Seth and I enjoyed using our Russian skills to speak with them.

On Saturday afternoon, we did our presentation in a large auditorium in a state-of-the-art conference center in the Krakow Old Town. We presented along with a GSE team from Germany who were just finishing up a two-week exchange. It was fun to speak with them and share experiences. The presentation went very well and everyone loved the hula, especially. Upon recommendation from the incoming team from Poland, we taught the hula to District Governor Jan, the Rotary International Council Director, Solve Kernell, and many others during our presentation. It was very fun! Mr. Kernell used the hula and leis as an example of extending friendship during a speech later at the conference.

On Saturday evening, we were guests of District Governor Jan and the District at their Rotary Gala. Live music and a lot of great food (and drinks) provided for a very entertaining evening. We had a great time mingling and visiting with Rotarians and I think we all found at least one person to speak with who shared some of our vocational interests. We enjoyed sitting at a table with some Rotarians from the Ukraine and discussing the changes taking place in their country now.

We were forewarned that their would be dancing into the middle of the night at the District Conference and there was. The live music was interrupted throughout the night for an auction and the presentation of awards, but the dancing floor was full from about 8:00 pm to about 1:30 am. It was very fun to watch and participate in some of the traditional Polish dances. I personally am amazed at how well everyone knows the traditional songs and dances, especially after they have had a few drinks.

It was an honor to participate in the District Conference in such a beautiful city. I think we were all surprised by how quickly we fell in love with Krakow. It is a beautiful city that never sleeps. As soon as I have some pictures ready to post, we will share them with everyone!

Moving on to Krakow - May 19th, 2006

2006-05-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

I'm finally adding pictures to these past blog entries (6/5/06)!! Here are some highlights of our first day in Krakow!

Last Friday (hard to believe it was a week ago), we left Lodz for Krakow. The drive to Krakow was interesting for both groups, Ann and I went separately from Seth and Jerry. We rode down with Eva, our hostess in Lodz, and her friend. There was a lot of traffic. Ann slept and I watched a movie most of the time. It took us quite a while to find our way around when we got into the city, but we did, and as soon as we were out of the car, we were off!

The District 2230 Conference in Krakow began on Friday night with a social at a pub in the staroe miasto (old town). We walked around before it started and got soaked and by the time we were at the social, we were pretty tired. We had a great time visiting with the Rotarians from the District and were able to spend some time with the Governor, Jan Wrana, and the President's Representative, Sollve Kernell, and his wife from Sweden. We learned pretty early on that Krakow doesn't sleep, ever!!

In Krakow, we had great hosts. Seth stayed with the Governor and his family, Jerry was with the President of one of the Krakow Rotary Clubs, and Ann and I stayed with Anna, a friend of one of the Rotarians. We had a great time learning about the Clubs in Krakow. Earlier, Ann and I had spoken further about the strength of Polish women and how we thought that there should be a women-only club in Poland because the women get things done. In Krakow, there is a women's only club. It is the third club in Krakow and it was very interesting to meet the women who lead it. Especially interesting for me because one of them is an expert in the area of building accessibility for people with disabilities.

I have been blessed to have many spontaneous vocational visits, including speaking with that woman, Hanna. The District Governor's wife is even a special education teacher and she and I had a great time talking about our passion for helping people with disabilities have fulfilling lives.

Sara Menlove Live in Lodz!

2006-05-18T17:16:00.000-05:00

Sara gave a surprise organ performance during our visit to the Lutheran Cathedral in Lodz!

Remembering the Holocaust

2006-05-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the team made our first visit to some of the Holocaust sites in Poland. The city of Lodz contained one of the largest Jewish ghettos of Poland; 230,000 Jews from Lodz and an additional 25,000 Jews and Romas (Gypsies) were brought in. The large majority of these people were sent on to the death camp in Auschwitz and other death camps in Poland and Germany. The the survivors in the Lodz Ghetto were liberated in January of 1945 by Soviet troops. Of the quarter million residents of the ghetto only about 800 people remained. Here is a link to a more detailed history of the Lodz Ghetto:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/lodz.html

We visited two important Holocaust sites. First, we went to the Jewish cemetery of Lodz. This is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, covering about 40 hectares. The cemetery is relatively new and is still in use by the Lodz Jewish community (which now only numbers about 200 people in a city of over 800,000 people). At the far end of the cemetery a very special area has been preserved and marked with several memorials donated from organizations from around the world. The area was the site of a mass grave of about 40,000 Jews that died from malnutrition, disease, murder, exhaustion, among other hardships from the awful life of the ghetto. For all of us it was a very somber visit. As we looked over the site I reflected on several similar sights I have experienced in my life...visiting the fields that were once mass graves of Jews at the death camp in Mathausen, Austria; visiting the "Killing Fields" of Cambodia; and even the mass graves of tsunami victims along the beaches of Sri Lanka. It is a humbling experience to witness these bits of human tragedy and sorrow. As we left the cemetery we were shown several graves that had been dug and were now starting to cave in and were overgrown with weeds and grasses. Our guide made a poignant statement that before Lodz was liberated the few Jews remaining in the ghetto were forced to dig their own graves.

We also visited Lodz Holocaust memorial; the old train station that has been renovated to stand as a memorial to the Holocaust victims and survivors. Several of the box cars that were used to transport people from Lodz to the death camps had been restored and sat on the track. Beyond the train was a squared cement pedestrian tunnel about 150 yards long. Just past the end of the train and the tracks you entered the dark tunnel which lit up along the way, showing the names of those who were transported from Lodz to death camps, as well and brief historical summaries. Near the end of the tunnel a few display cases were hung on the walls showing personal effects such as buttons, scissors, glasses, etc. The tunnel then ended, opening up into a square room with the names of the cities throughout Europe where the residents of the Lodz Ghetto came from inscribed on the cement wall. On the left wall was a locked iron gate that looked to the outside with the Star of David on it. From the center of the room a massive open chimney stood, representing the crematoriums used at the death camps. One of the most interesting things I found at this memorial is that the only way out was the way you entered, walking back through the long tunnel lined with names of the dead and history, suggesting that we must not forget what happened.

Back to school

2006-05-16T15:51:00.000-05:00

Today’s adventures took us back to our college days. We were hosted by Ewa Radominska (and her adult children Julia and Stan) from the Rotary Club of Lodz Centrum. Our first visit was to the Polytechnic University of Lodz where we visited two different colleges of the University. Our visits were interesting for us all, but I think it was Sara who was really able to gather a lot of information on higher education, both public and private systems, in Poland.

The first stop was at the Institute of Turbomachinery where Prof. Dorota Kozanecka, deputy director of the Institute, gave us an introduction and tour of their lab facilities. They had a really great acoustic laboratory for turbine research that was built a few years ago. Apparently, these labs are usually built in a pyramid shape; however, this is the only, or perhaps one of few, acoustics labs in the world that is “box” shaped. We learned all we ever wanted to know about turbines and fluid flow dynamics in 30 minutes are less. I must be honest and admit that I was even more curious to hear how my home theater sound system would perform in the room J I was impressed by the quality of facilities at the Institute and their level of collaboration with other universities, research institutions, and industry within the EU and abroad. Within the next few years the Institute will be opening a new research branch to study renewable energy, focusing on geothermal energy sources which are abundant in Poland, with one conveniently located under the University.

We went across campus to meet with the director of the International College of Engineering. This is a unique college that is part of the engineering department where the curriculum for bachelor and master’s degrees is taught entirely in the English language. The degrees offered at this college are primarily in engineering management.

In Poland the private universities are relatively new, existing only since 1990. The public largely considers these universities to be inferior to public universities since entrance to public schools are based on academic merit and tuition is free to those who are accepted. Private schools are not yet viewed as legitimate universities by the general public because they have a nearly 100% acceptance rate and tuition fees are collected. This is generally perceived as “buying” a degree. It will be interesting to see if these attitudes change in future generations.
After our blast from the past (eating lunch at the college cafeteria) we were given a bit of free time to explore Piotrowska Street in the downtown. Unfortunately a torrential downpour dampened our explorations, but we finally made it to our Rotary meeting at the Hotel Centrum. The club was very hospitable and enjoyed learning the hula. Aloha!

Witamy w Lodz!

2006-05-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

Just a few of my thoughts on our experiences since arriving in Lodz (pronounced "woodge")... Sara has been a great journal keeper for the team so far! So, I will share some of my favorite experiences so far...

Yesterday, as Sara mentioned, we were invited to a barbecue at Andrei's summer home just outside of Lodz. Our hostess' son, Stan, drove us to Andrei's home and we were able to have a very interesting conversation about education in Poland. I was definitely the amateur in the conversation since Sara is a professional educator, but the information that we learned from Stan about how the Polish primary and secondary education system operates was very interesting. We also discussed university education and the entrance process. During the barbecue we had several other conversations like this one, covering topics such as health care, social security, taxes, among others with our Polish hosts. While everyone surely has different political opinions, it is fascinating to be able to learn first-hand about Polish life, culture, and government; particularly the changes that have occured in the 1990's, after the fall of Communism in Poland. The opportunity to learn directly from the Polish people really brings to life the history we learned about in school and from the media growing up during the Cold War and being able to watch (from afar) Communism collapse in much of Eastern Europe.

It has also been a pleasure for Sara and I to observe and comment to each other on the fortitude of Polish women. When we arrived at the airport in Russia and had the opportunity to talk with Elizbieta some in the group (I don't recall whom) asked what kept the Polish culture so strong after decades of invasion and occupation from other nations such as Germany and Russia. Elizbieta was quick and very sure to respond, "Polish women!". She explained that as Polish men went off to war historically, it was the women who stayed home in Poland keeping families and the country running and together. In the few days that we have been here in Poland we have witnessed many examples of professional, organized, hard-working, and kind women; Elizbieta who has organized our exchange here in Poland and owns her own translation business, our hostess Eva who also owns and operates several businesses (including the hotel we are staying at) AND organized the charity art auction for her Rotary club in her spare time, among several others we have met at schools and other vocational visits so far.

Touring with Piotr - Monday, May 15

2006-05-15T14:09:00.000-05:00

Today our day was planned by the fourth Lodz Rotary Club, the Culture Club and we were led by Piotr Korczynski of that club.

We began the day by visiting a special school for children with severe disabilities, the Specjalny Osrodek Szkolno-Wychowawyczy Nr. 3 Im. Henryka Jordana W Lodzi (www.soswnr3.prv.pl). The school houses 150 students and has about 60 teachers. The students receive a variety of instruction there including vocational instruction, indpendent living skills, and different therapies (speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and sensory therapy). It was very interesting (especially for me) to learn about special education in Poland. Each child in the school has an individualized educational program and receives individual attention. We were able to interact with a lot of students who were very pleasant and happy to be in school.

In addition to a school, the center also included a workshop for graduates of the school where they learn arts, woodworking and other trades and make items to sell to sponsor community and other activities for themselves. We were able to meet some of the students of that program as well and even purchased some of their art!

After the school, we went to visit a plant where they can energy drinks. The factory is owned by a friend of Piotr's and was interesting for us to see, even though most of us either knew before or found out that we weren't very interested in energy drinks. The factory cans drinks that are shipped all over the world and our tour guide provided us with samples, but I think that Piotr and Jerry were the only ones who sampled them. They'll have to let us know if they experienced the euphoria promised by one of the drinks! The woman who gave us our tour was very nice and showed us the different parts of the factory.

After the factory, we had an excellent lunch at Hola Amigo, Piotr's restaurant. The food and service were great. Following lunch, we visited the main Lodz fire station, where we learned about Lodz's great fire brigades. They have a fire brigade olympics here every year with fire brigades from many countries. Lodz always wins! It was interesting to see their facilities and equipment. Seth and I were even able to sit in one of the trucks.

We spent the rest of the afternoon touring with Piotr and then made our first Rotary Club Presentation in the Rotary Club of Lodz, the oldest and, according to them, best Rotary Club in Lodz. We had a nice dinner and made it through our presentation. We taught several of the Rotarians the hula during our presentation, which we and they enjoyed.

Barbecues and Auctions - Sunday, May 14

2006-05-15T13:42:00.000-05:00

Originally, we were told that we would have the first day in the country on our GSE to rest and get ourselves together. However, our Polish friends were ready with activities from the beginning! Ann and I got up early and went exploring on our own a little. We took a taxi into the city center and walked around before attending our church services.

For lunch, we all met at the Summer Home of Andrei Dolinski, a Rotarian, in Grotniki, outside of Lodz. We had a barbecue with Andrei and his family and several Rotarians. It was a great chance to get to know some people and the food was great. We had fun talking and eating and spent several hours enjoying the fresh air in the country. It rained off and on, but not too hard. This is a group picture taken at the barbecue.

A highlight of the barbecue was when Michael, another Rotarian, came with his Bentley, of which he is the "original owner." Actually, I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I believe it was owned by the English consulate and prior to that, the German government.

Following the concert, we attended an art auction held by one of the local rotary clubs (and organized by Eva, our hostess) to benefit the poorest children in Lodz. It was in a beautiful building.

After the auction, Eva's son, Stan drove us around and gave us a great tour of Lodz. Lodz was and is well known across Europe as a major manufacturing town. There are several large older factories that are no longer in use, some of which people are just starting to restore. We had a great time learning about the history of Lodz and the past and future industries here. He took us all over and we had a great time. These area couple of pictures of the oldest textile factories in Lodz.

We finished out the evening on Piotrkowska street, a famous shopping and dining street in central Lodz where we saw a live concert of a band from Southern Poland and ate a nice dinner in a traditional polish restaurant. There are several monuments on Piotrkowska street and this is one of them, a famous Polish poet whose nose you can rub for good luck.

The Adventures in Poland Begin - Our Arrival

2006-05-15T13:26:00.000-05:00

Our trip from Dulles International Airport to the city of Lodz (pronounced Wudzh), Poland took from 5:30 p.m. Friday to 7:30 p.m. Saturday! Okay, so it wasn't really 26 hours, but it felt like it. We lost six hours en route so it was really only twenty hours and was uneventful, in a good way. We were sent off at Dulles by District Governor John and Norma as well as Scott Mills. The lines to check in were quite long, but the lines for security were surprisingly short.

We arrived in the London Heathrow airport at approximately 7:00 am, London time, and left there around 10:30. We arrived in Warsaw Poland at 2:30 and found our bags quickly. We were greeted at the airport by Elzibieta, the District 2230 GSE Chair and spent about three hours in the airport waiting to catch a 5:30 bus to Lodz. Seth, Ann and I spent a lot of the time exploring and even found some great Italian ice cream.

This is Seth upon arrival at the Warsaw airport.

The bus to Lodz was packed and the Polish people weren't too excited to see four Americans with a lot of luggage trying to get on. But, we got on and made the two-hour bus ride to the Lodz train station where we were met by Rotarians from each of the four Rotary Clubs in Lodz. Our first impressions were that they Rotarians were very friendly and excited to have us in Lodz. Ann and I are being hosted by the same family in Lodz and are staying in the hotel of one Rotarian, Eva Radominska. Her hotel is Hotel Avia and it is very nice.

Everyone made their ways to their respective residences. The cooks at the hotel made us a great Polish dinner, Golumpki. This literally translated is pigeon in English, but it was not pigeon and it was delicious. We went to bed pretty quickly and I think everyone except Seth (he's staying in a bachelor's pad) got a great first night of sleep.

7610 District Conference

2006-05-11T11:08:00.000-05:00

Our team had the privelege of attending the District 7610 Conference in Fredericksburg, VA the last weekend in April. It was a great opportunity to learn more about Rotary, to get to know the members of the District and to spend time with the incoming team from Poland. We would like to thank the District, the GSE Committee, the Rotary Foundation and all of those present who made us feel so welcome! We look forward to meeting more Rotarians upon our return when we will be available to make our presentation (with hula if requested) at the clubs in the District.

Here are some pictures from the conference:

This is our team and the incoming team from Poland with Lester Schoene, GSE Chair. Back Row: Renata, Seth, Jacek, Lester, Ann, Piotr, Karolina; Front Row: Tomac, Sara, Jerry.

The next two pictures are from our presentation that we made at the District Conference and will be repeating in Rotary Clubs in Poland. Seth is our very talented ukelele player and taught us the hula. If only we'd known it was so easy to entertain Rotarians we would have planned more singing and dancing. Jerry's club especially enjoyed seeing him doing the hula. (These pictures may NOT be used for blackmail.)

We really enjoyed getting to know the incoming team better. It was exciting to hear more about Poland and their hometowns, some of which we will be visiting. We became close friends and that increased our excitement to travel to Poland and get to know more Polish people as well as the culture.

The keynote speaker at the Paul Harris Dinner on Saturday night was Representative Jo Ann Davis, representative for parts of District 7610 in the US House of Representatives. It was great to hear her speak and meet her following the dinner.

April 22, 2006 Meeting and Airport Trip

2006-04-24T23:17:00.000-05:00

We had our final group meeting before our trip to Poland on Saturday. As you can see from the following picture, we were excited to receive our jackets with the Rotary symbol embroidered on them. Lester brought them to us as well as several (shiny!) pins, our business cars, maps, an our plane tickets.

Picture: Seth Billings, Jerry Foltz, Ann Steele and Sara Menlove (me).

Our preparation meetings have been very entertaining and this one was not an exception. Between reviewing the presentation a couple more times, practicing the hula, square dancing and singing, and eating, we got a lot done.

We were very excited to get our rain jackets (picture above) and immediately were given the opportunity to test them out. We went from Jerry's house to Dulles International Airport to greet the incoming team from District 2230. While we were on our way to the airport, a downpour started and we arrived at the airport fairly wet!

Our team met the team from Poland along with District Governor John McKone, his wife Norma Jean, Lester Schoene, and JoAnne Johnson. It was fun to greet Jacek, Karolina, Tomac, Renata and Piotr. They were excited to arrive in Virginia, but wanted to know when the rain would stop. We escorted them to their hotel and will meet them again at the District conference this weekend in Fredericksburg.

Watch for more pictures following the District conference!

Rotary International Group Study Exchange

2006-04-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

"The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program of The Rotary Foundation is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 and in the early years of their professional lives. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits between paired areas in different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's institutions and ways of life, observe their own vocations as practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas. (from http://www.rotary.org/foundation/educational/gse/index.html)"

The GSE manual encourages team members to keep a journal of their experiences during preparation and during the exchange. This blog will help our team keep a record and will allow our friends from District 7610 and other friends and families keep up with what we are doing.

We are representing District 7610 (http://www.rotary7610.org/) and exchanging with District 2230 which covers Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. We will only be visiting Poland, but will have the opportunity to associate with Rotarians from Belarus and Ukraine during their district conference.

District 7610 began recruiting applicants for its 2006 GSE program in the summer of 2005. A friend of mine works for a Rotarian, so she told me about it and I decided to apply. Applications were accepted and interviews were held in November. By the end of November, we were invited to join the team. I remember Scott's phone call well because I was in the Virgin Islands for Thanksgiving when we spoke. Our team originally consisted of five members, but we are now down to four. This is an outdated picture that will be replaced if I remember to bring my camera to our next team meeting:

From left to right: Ann Steele, Seth Billings, Jerry Foltz, Harsha Roa (no longer on the team), and Sara Menlove.

The following short bios appeared in the December 2005 District Foundation Newsletter:
Ann Steele - Fair Lakes RC, sponsor (Vocation: Civil/Infrastructure Engineer responsible for construction and project management of an environmental research project in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest)
Seth Billings - West Springfield RC, sponsor (Vocation: Foreign Service Institute with specialized interest in former Soviet states)
Jerry Foltz, Team Leader - Dulles RC (Vocation: Associate Conference Minister, United Church of Christ, Central Atlantic Conference)
Sara Menlove - Fair Lakes RC, sponsor (Vocation: U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs: Monitoring and State Improvement Planning)

We have been meeting about twice a month since December to plan our visit and the presentation that we will make while visiting Rotary clubs in Poland. It has been a learning experience. Thankfully, Seth was able to get our presentations translated to Polish and even get us a tape of a native speaker reading them. However, even with that help, I'm still struggling with the language.

Lester Schoene and Scott Mills have been integral members of our team during the preparation process. They attend our meetings, have arranged our travel, teach us square dancing, etc. :) They have really helped us to understand GSE better and to be better prepared for our exchange.

We depart to Poland on May 12th and will be there until June 10th. We leave in only 36 days and have a lot of preparation to do, but we are really excited.