POLSKA!

Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, kiedy my żyjemy...

"Poland has not yet perished, so long as we still live..."

It is with much joy and excitement that I can now write, after three years of anticipation, that I have been to the beautiful and historic country of Poland! Although I was only there for the weekend, it was a transformative experience, and now I can't wait for next summer to roll around, so I can go back!

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: This will be a long post, filled with excessive photo and video content.

FRIDAY "DAY"

Today in class, we had our second of two Referats, or projects, for the term. My friend Junyi and I gave a twenty-minute presentation on what we had seen and experienced on Wednesday in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (see last post for details), and although we really only had one day to prepare for it, we each did our own research, wrote up our own talking points, and it went really well. I'm still awaiting my grade, but I'm not too worried about it.

Random class notes--an extensive chart our teacher made for us to help us in cementing the different location prepositions used in German.

To give us a bit of a break, after our Referats were completed and we had eaten lunch, our teacher, Hyoun-A, took us on our own little "mini-excursion" to one of her favorite places in the area. I'm not sure what to call it, but it was a big, open field with a farm--horses, cows, and a goat--somewhere in the town of Dahlem. It was a relaxing end to yet another fast-paced week, and for me it was especially nice, since it gave me some time to just chill before undertaking my Great Polish Adventure. Here, we did a laid-back review of the grammar and vocabulary that would be on our test today (Monday).

Peace, quiet, and kids in the background playing Fußball.

FRIDAY EVENING

At 3:30, class officially ended, so I left the field in the middle of nowhere to meet Matthew. We found each other, hopped on a bus, hopped on a train, and arrived at the station, where we would catch another train, this time one that'd take us across the border and into Poland. Contrary to what I originally thought, the train was no German train, but a real, authentic, Pole-filled, Polish train, and the picture below can prove it! :-D

Free newspapers on the train.

We were on this train for about three hours, from Berlin to Poznan, and it was on this train that we (a) crossed the border into Poland and (b) made our first Polish friend. Unfortunately, we didn't get his name, but we had an excellent conversation, which he initated by saying with that familiar Slavic-English accent, "So, I see you're learning Polish..." (he had seen my Polish pocket dictionary).

We discussed why we were going to Poland, which led to a long discussion about football, but he also gave us a brief run-down of some of Polish history, including a story about his grandpas' involvement in the army during World War II. His friendliness and deep love for his country would have been enough of a warm reception to Poland, but to top it off, after talking for about half-an-hour, he decided to go to the restaurant on the train and order a drink. Matthew and I went back to working on homework and talked to each other about how nice our new friend was, and then all of a sudden, he returned...two small, Polish beer bottles in hand. "Welcome to Poland!" :)

We sipped on our Piwo Dawne niepasteryzowane (an unpasteurized beer, popular in Poland) while he told us more about his life, his country, and his predictions for the Euro match we'd be attending the next night, and when it came time to part with our new friend, we took our first steps on Polish soil and walked to our next train, smiling all the way...

We've crossed the border!

FRIDAY NIGHT

...until we realized that our train was departing...you see, when I bought the tickets, there was never any information given regarding the time our second train was leaving, so we kind of went blindly. While I wouldn't recommend traveling to Poland or anywhere else that way, we were lucky--JPII was certainly watching over us, and we ran and jumped on the train just as the doors closed and the train began rolling out of the Poznań station. We shouldn't have made that train...

A shot out the window of the train as we departed one of our stops, at Czempiń, out in the beautiful Polish countryside.

On this train, we didn't make any new friends, as it was about 8 PM, and the people in our cabin were sleeping, for the most part. So, Matthew and I took turns exploring the train, just walking up and down the aisle and sticking our heads out the windows of the old train. It was SO. BEAUTIFUL, and so different from When I first put the window down, we were passing through the countryside--this whole leg of the journey was a trip through rural Poland--and there was an older man standing at the crossing, and he gave a big smile and waved. He's not in the video below, but it was a nice gesture, and again something nice to experience upon entering this country I've waited so long to visit.

We thought we were getting in at 1 AM, but we actually got in at about 10:30, so that was a nice surprise. Upon arriving in Wrocław, we stepped outside, breathed in the fragrant Polish air, and looked back at our train station. This gorgeous work of architecture below is what we saw:

We then wandered about the city seeking our hostel, as Google Maps said it was only a ten minute walk away. Well, Google Maps was right, but at night it was difficult to find the street signs, which were almost all on the sides of buildings, so it took us a bit longer. But again, I think JPII was watching out for us, as it was a smooth journey all the way around, and we won out against the odds several times when we shouldn't have.

We got into our hostel safely, and we were greeted by a loud group of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian men, all about ten years older than us, and all a tad intoxicated, we think. One man in particular was named Łukasz, and he was from Poland originally but has been living and working in the UK for the past seven years. He, too, was a bit tipsy, so he kept repeating himself, but the message that he was getting across was a pleasant one, and in short he kept saying that he was impressed by and happy for us, as Americans being bold enough to step out of the comfort zone of the US and into the wild world of Europe. Our friend on the train told us that, as well, and honestly it was kind of nice to get some affirmation from Europeans, especially in light of Americans' "ugly" reputation abroad.

SATURDAY MORNING

Matthew and I had the hostel room again to ourselves, like we did in Halle/Saale, so we got lucky. The hostel, Wratislavia, is very chic and modern and "hip." Interestingly, this one was not a youth hostel, but just a hostel in general--definitely aimed at young adults, but not kids, like the last one we stayed at.

So, Saturday morning Matthew and I slept in as late as we could in order to still go downstairs for breakfast, which was about 9:30--a treat after waking up relatively early again for classes during the week.

Part of the room. Really nice furniture and everything, and reaaaaally comfy beds!

Wrocław-themed wall art in the room.

A shot going down the stairs. Check out the cool tiled floor!

At this point, my camera was again dying, so I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I had hoped to; thus, the photos I did take of the inside of the hostel are pretty poor. But anyway, really great hostel, nice people, and the breakfast. The breakfast. I must emphasize the whole Polish hospitality thing. And Polish food. Honestly, it was the best breakfast I think I've ever had, and definitely the best breakfast on this trip so far. Fresh bread, jams, juice, herbata (tea), coffee, hard-boiled eggs, different cereals, cheeses (for those who eat cheese), tomatoes, cucumbers, and of course kiełbasa. Especially on the first day, Matthew and I went way overboard, eating a combined total of eighteen or nineteen pieces of bread with jam, but...in this case, it was absolutely necessary. (I should also mention that we hadn't really eaten dinner the night before, so we were kind of ravenous come morning.)

The photos below are from looking out the window across the street from our room. We were on Ulica Komuny Paryskiej, and it was really super. The street had character, and it was completely different from the Berlin styles of architecture.

A EURO 2012 Polish flag, of course! We saw lots of these during our short stay in the city.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

After breakfast, Matthew and I walked into the main Old City center on our way to the Municipal Stadium, to await the game. On the way, we simply passed many beautiful old Polish buildings, Polish cars, Polish people. And MANY Polish football fans! :)

On the way to the stadium, we passed by a giant mall, as well, so we went inside to check it out. It had five floors, and we ended up staying there for nearly two hours, just looking at all of the different stores. The different styles of clothes here in Europe interested me, and I wish I could've just gotten a whole Polish wardrobe. Some of the stuff was really cool. Also, though, the stuff was pretty expensive in terms of złotys (Polish currency), though the exchange rate is favorable when going from Euros or USD to PLN.

In the mall, we came across a huge sporting goods store, which naturally had a large football selection. Pops, here's a picture of their football area, though it was too large to capture all in one picture.

This store had great deals on Polish national team gear, so Matthew got a Polska hat and banner/scarf for 20-something złots, and I got an authentic Polska football backpack and a Polska flag. Oh yeah, and before we found this store, there was a kiosk selling traditional Wrocławian (?) goods and also Euro gear, so I got a Polska football hat, which is featured in some of the pictures below. :) Combined with my Polska jacket and jersey, I was a walking promo for the national team, but Matthew and I had fun just walking through the mall and seeing others just as decked out--if not more so--than we were. Even in the mall, fans were screaming the Polish cheers. It was really a big deal.

After the mall, we finally found the city center, including the official UEFA Euro 2012 Wroclaw Fan Zone. Just outside the Fan Zone was this young Pole, playing what sounded to us like traditional music. He was really good, so we stopped to listen for a few minutes.

The street musician and surrounding area, just outside the Fan Zone.

WE MADE IT! On the side of the Fan Zone, Polska football hat and backpack in tote.

Just as we were leaving the Fan Zone to seek out the stadium, however, Matthew and I were approached by two young Polish women, who came up to us speaking rapid-fire Polish. :-X
Mowię i rozumiem tylko trochę po polsku, I managed to inform them. Po angielsku? they retorted. Tak! And the end result...I got interviewed for Polish radio. :) It felt really good to be asked why I was there and why I was wearing red and white and what I thought of Wroclaw and why. So, even though I may not be able to claim Poland as my fatherland, being interviewed like that made me feel like my "Polish pride" was really being accepted and validated, and, more than that, welcomed.

As I told the interviewers with Radio ESKA, one of the things I was enjoying about Wroclaw was its beautiful architecture and history. This is a church building (I think) that we passed en route to Stadion Miejski.

Well, after the interview, we pulled out our map, saw that there was a JPII Square nearby, and got a bit side-tracked. :) It was a REALLY hot day, too, which neither of us was expecting, so we were pleasantly surprised to find a fountain when we reached the square.

Cooling off under the fountain.

Another picture in the area of the fountain.

After sitting by the fountain for a few minutes, we continued on our journey to find the stadium...before getting distracted again by the river (the Odra?) and its pleasant surroundings.

According to Google Maps, the walk to the stadium should have been fairly easy, though long, but since we kind of blazed our own trail, we got pretty turned around and confused. We walked all over the place, found nothing, stopped seeing Euro 2012 signs that pointed in the direction of the stadium, and then decided it was time to resort to the public transportation system, so we bought day-long passes. Unfortunately, it wasn't until several hours later that we realized we had free public transportation already, because we had Euro Cup tickets...

Before we caught a bus, when we were still wandering around, though, we came across a really pretty church along the side of a quiet street. It was locked, but you could go in the main doors and stand or kneel to pray behind a glass screen, so I was still able to get a picture of the inside of the church, and we were able to look around a little bit. Naturally, there was a Divine Mercy painting with St. Faustina.

The inside of the church.

We got on a bus, took it to its last stop, which was a sort of bus depot, and then, in a mix of Polish and German, learned from a bus driver that we were in the completely wrong area, but that he could give us a ride to the stadium. So, then it was back on the bus, until he stopped at a streetcar crossing. The bus driver was really sweet, and he tried speaking in English a bit, when he learned that we were from Ameryka. He was such a nice man, he even waited to drive off until he made sure that we were getting on the right streetcar. Because of the language barrier, we went to the wrong one, so he honked, pointed us in the right direction from the driver's seat of the bus, and gave us a big smile and a wave before driving off. As I had told him in my broken Polish as we were getting off the bus, he was very kind and helpful. :)

SATURDAY EVENING

So, we got to the stadium at about 3 PM, and the stadium was really kind of in the middle of nowhere. There were lots of stops for public transportation, but we were starving by this point, even after our ginormous breakfast, and there were seemingly no food venues in sight, so we walked around the stadium to try to figure out where to get in. Since the gates wouldn't open until 5:45, we had a while to wait, so we sat under a big shady bridge where fans were beginning to gather, and we observed some of the Polish cheers. A little while later, we set out in search of food, and essentially there were only hot dog stands and Polish gear kiosks, so we each got a hot dog. I think it was the best hot dog I've ever had, and I ended up getting two more later during the game. Polish sausage or something with ketchup, which tasted different and more tomato-ey, pickles, which I normally don't like, and some sort of crunchy stuff on top (potato crisps?). Yummm!

Wrocław wita ("Wrocław welcomes").

After hours of waiting, the gate finally opened, and Matthew and I were at the very front. By this point, we were used to the noise and excitement, and we, too, were pretty pumped for the game. The rhythms of some of the cheers had been drilled into our brains, so we were ready to go!

A bad picture from far away of the 40,000-seat Municipal Stadium, Wrocław.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Once we were in the stadium, we were immediately drawn to a band that had started playing as soon as the gates opened. Make sure you pause the music at the bottom of my page before playing the video, but please do check it out. These guys were excellent musicians, and in this clip they are playing--and fans are singing along to--the "Polska biało-czerwoni ("white-and-reds") chant.

I would upload all three videos I got of the band playing, because they played for a while, Matthew and I were up in the very front, and they were just that good...but I'll restrain myself. For anyone who wants to check it out, go to my photos page, click on the slideshow, and then click on "Week 5: Euro" to see all of my pictures and video from this trip.

And while the band was playing, there were two young guys--one in Ukrainian blue and yellow, and one in Polish white and red, who came out of nowhere and started juggling footballs, rolling around on the ground and doing all these tricks. It was awesome (so unfortunately, I somehow didn't get a video of them!), and at one point, the Polish guy lost the ball. Since I was right up front, I tapped it, juggled it a couple times, and passed it back to him. After the band started to move on to a different part of the stadium foyer, I naturally ran after the gorgeous Polish guy, tapped him on the shoulder, and asked, "Foto, prosze?" :-D

My biggest mistake ever: Not asking his name...I'm still kicking myself for that one.

::swoon::

When we found our seats, we were towards the very top, just to the right of mid-field. We may not have been in the first row, but we had an amazing view. And since we were there so early, we had the opportunity to wander around a bit and to admire the design of the stadium before it filled up with people.

And, naturally, we had the chance to take pictures. :)

We got some food and sat down to eat, but then, all of a sudden, there was commotion--everyone was flocking to the "windows" (almost more like a mesh net creating a barrier around the stadium) to see a caravan of buses and policja cars arriving. Sure enough, it was the Polish team, and they were arriving in their official Euro 2012 Poland bus! Once they drove in, everyone clapped and cheered, and then stood around waiting for the Czechs to pull up. Matthew and I went back to our seats, and within minutes, a large group of well-dressed young men took to the field: the Polish national team players themselves! :D

This was our first look at the eleven-plus men who'd be representing Polska, and even though relatively few people were gathered in the stadium at that point, those of us who were there gave the players a warm welcome as they walked around to do an inspection of the pitch.

After an hour-and-a-half of building anticipation and excitement, exacerbated by the MC and the pre-match performers, the time had come: The game was about to begin! Below is a video of the players coming out of the tunnel from their locker rooms and onto the field. The Poles are on the right side, wearing white, and the Czechs are on the left side, wearing red (It was kind of confusing looking at the audience because EVERYONE was wearing the same colors!). Notice the kids coming out alongside the players, and, of course, the kids holding the flags and UEFA Euro 2012 banner at mid-field. Talk about exciting! :D

The crazy, slightly-intoxicated Polish fan in front of us. Nice guy, though.

So, the players took to the field, and all was well. But then came the moment I've been waiting for for over a year now: the Polish national anthem. :) See below to experience a sampling of Polish national pride. The stadium was roaring with strong Polish voices shouting, Marsz, Marsz, Dąbrowski...! 

Keep an eye on the giant Polish flag, by the way.

The game itself was exciting, of course, and in the first half it really looked like the Poles were going to win. They had so many shots on goal, though not so many on target, unfortunately, and the Czechs just didn't have anything going for 'em. But sadly, the second half rolled around, and the Poles began fouling the Czechs left and right. Yellow card after yellow card was given out by the ref, and it was at that point, just minutes into the second half, that I got the feeling the Poles were going to lose. They were playing as if they were desperate, and the Czechs started to smoothly out-maneuver them. I'm not sure what minute it was, but the Czechs got one break-away down the field, and in a split-second, they scored a goal... It was a sad night in Wrocław, but to my knowledge there were no riots or fights, and the Poles handled the loss better than any other crowd I've been in. Even after the game, the cheers continued, and they would continue throughout the next day--in the train stations, on the trains, and on the streets, everyone everywhere was still celebrating, as if the Poles had won.

Action shot!

The game had started at 20:45, and we got back to the hostel at about 23:00 after taking a completely packed tram full of hot, sweaty, exhausted football fans and then walking a ways back to our street. After this, we were still in disbelief that we had just been to a Euro match and had seen in-person all of the things we've watched for weeks on TV. It was really the experience of a lifetime, and Daddy, I thank you again so much for the tickets and for making this all possible! Much more where that came from when I get home.

SUNDAY MORNING

Sunday morning, we woke up to find that we had roommates in our hostel room--two young women, one sleeping above each of us, and one snoring pretty loudly. So we crept around the room getting ready and trying not to make any noise, then went downstairs and feasted once again upon the delicious Polish breakfast food.

After breakfast, we had about half-an-hour before check-out time, so we took one last stroll through the area, this time in the opposite direction of the Old Town. Since things are so much more open here than in the States, we got the chance to go inside a really old apartment building, which definitely predated the War. Pretty much everything in Wrocław, or at least in our area thereof, looked this way. I felt like we were in a movie, strolling through the back-lot of a film studio, but we weren't... And there were such stark differences between Berlin and Wrocław, and even Berlin and the quaint little town of Halle/Saale, it was unglaublich (unbelievable)--in a good way!

Our street.

We also found a church on our walk, and we went in, genuflected, sat in a pew, and overheard the hushed recitation of what I believe was the Koronka do Miłosierdzia Bożego (Divine Mercy Chaplet). Some day, I'll make it back there and join them! But at this point, Matthew and I had to go back to the hostel to check out, which we did, and when we returned to our room, one of the roommates was awake. It turns out, the two girls in the room were from Texas and New York, respectively, and they had just travelled through Berlin on their way to Wroclaw for the Euro game, which they didn't see because a ticket deal with someone's cousin fell through.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

After checking out of the hostel, we made the six-minute walk back to Wrocław Glowny, the main train station, in order to await the Regio-bahn that would take us to Dresden, Germany, and from there back to Berlin.

We had almost two hours to spare, so I stopped to get lunch, and it was then that I realized I hadn't had a chance, other than breakfast, to try actual Polish food. The train station was huge, and they had this market filled with fresh foods, so I went in and ordered, of course, meat pierogi. So. Good!

Then, I got some smoothie with fresh berries in it, which was also fantastyczny. With smoothie in hand, I walked with Matthew to find our train, which would be leaving in about ten minutes. So, we went to the track, looked around, and wondered why there was no train there. When we had two minutes until the train left, we looked at each other in confusion. My thought process went something like this: "Hmm. Two minutes 'til train. We're at the right track. No train. Oh, wait. Look! A Regiobahn on the other side of the station!" ::looking around, grabbing tickets, inspecting:: "Gate 4. Track 4. Scheiße, THAT'S OUR TRAIN!" Matthew and I took off running, made it to the train huffing and puffing with all our bags (five in all--we left straight from classes on Friday, and then I bought a backpack in the sports store), jumped on, basically crawled into the remaining space on the floor, and off the train went. Again, I think JPII was watching out for us. We absolutely should have missed that train.

After a couple of minutes, Matthew and I adjusted to the new environment and decided to make ourselves comfortable. It was so packed that it was standing-room only, but somehow we managed to find "seats" on the floor.

Note the several pairs of legs pictured here. Just livin' the dream.

After about half-an-hour, I decided to try focusing on school-work, since Matthew was being so good and writing his Aufsatz (essay). I tried studying for my test, looked over some stuff, but it just wasn't working. So, when all else fails, write a postcard. That I did. (Dear Sisters, if you're reading, check the mail!) :)

And because I wanted to make sure the minimal Polish in my postcard was correct, I abandoned my pride and decided this was the only chance I'd have for a long time to be completely surrounded by the lovely Poles. Przepraszam, I began, as I asked the man standing across from me if he spoke Polish. Tak, he replied, i po niemiecku i angielsku. ("Yes, and in German and English.") Since my Polish doesn't stretch very far, I decided to try talking to him auf Deutsch, but he quickly responded that his German was no good, so we switched to English. I tried to explain to him that I would like for him to check something, and after a minute or two, we overcame the language barrier, he looked over my postcard, gave it the official Polish Seal of Approval, and sat down on the floor across from me. Thus began a long and beautiful conversation.

Over the course of the next hour-and-a-half or so, he spoke of Polish history, language, culture, music, his life, asked us about our lives, and everything in between. It turns out that he is twenty-nine and comes from Wrocław, but is relocating to Germany--Dresden first, and then elsewhere, as his job requires--where he'll be working as a plumber and welder. The welding profession is one that has been passed on for several generations in his family, which I found really neat.

At some point in the last twenty minutes of our trip, before we got off at Dresden and had to part, the conversation switched to language learning. He said he hadn't used his English for seven years, since he was last in school, but for not using a language that long, his English was great. But it was cool, as a language learner, to meet a language learner from another culture, trying to speak my native language. I had the opportunity to help him along with his English, which he insisted had a weak vocabulary, and on many occasions, we found ourselves passing my Polish-English pocket dictionary back and forth. SO COOL!

And then, he started asking about my learning Polish. I explained the whole SNM story, explained my love of and perceived connection to the culture and history, and explained that I took a three-week Skype course last summer, but unfortunately haven't had the chance to use or brush up on my Polish at all in the past year, really. We started talking about grammatical cases (say what you will), and then he told me to hold on a minute.

He walked up to part of the train, jumped up, and stood up, reaching for one of his bags in the luggage rack. Everyone in the area was staring at him, Matthew and myself included, wondering what he could possibly be getting. With a smooth jump and spin, he returned to his spot on the floor next to me and opened a little packet to reveal a chart of all the Polish cases and how they compare to German.

"You might wanna make some notes here," he said, and with that, I grabbed my notebook and pencil and started jotting away as he went through each of the seven cases and explained them in detail. Because of my knowledge of Latin, I was familiar with most of them, though they are used a bit differently, and the grammar is tricky even outside just the case system, but I had never ever just been sat down and explained to about all the cases like that, so I loved listening to him, and he made sure I wrote everything down precisely as it should be in Polish and as it would translate in English.

As we approached Dresden, I felt really sad to not only have left Poland but to also be leaving a train full of Poles, one of whom had just befriended me and who had just given me a crash-course of the Polish case system. He said he doesn't really use the Internet, so for now my memory of our train-ride will have to suffice, but naturally we got a picture. And his name, you ask? "Bartek. Like da Bart Simpson." :-)

I will always remember you, Bartek!

 

SUNDAY EVENING

Got back, unpacked, took a shower, ate dinner, remembered I had a test Monday, studied somewhat for the test, exhausted, tried to sleep, didn't happen, went back to sleep, too excited about the Euro, wanted to go back to Polska, finally went to sleep at some late hour of the night. So not ready for the test.

MONDAY

It was extremely hard to wake up today! I miss Poland and the Polish people, and the Polska biało czerwoni chant is permanently stuck in my head, I think. Class went well, but again, I was just SO tired from travelling and stuff that it was difficult to make it through the day. Oh yeah. We had a test this morning, so that was interesting... It actually went really well, much better than I had expected it to go, and it was nice of our teacher to not give us homework tonight since we had the assessment.

Our classroom.

Since I didn't have homework (a first, and probably a last, as well) and Matthew only had about an hour's worth, we decided to go to Stadion Lichterfelde, a football stadium/park a few bus-stops away from our apartments, to try out my mini-ball. Naturally, as soon as we got there, it started raining. Hard. More like a torrential downpour. Thunder, lightning, all that good stuff. We got completely drenched, but we kept on playing--and slipping and sliding and falling--until the lightning strikes got a little too close for comfort. Then, we finally left, entirely drenched, and waddled back to the bus stop, where we awaited our ride home. And, again, naturally, literally the minute we got back to the apartments, the rain came to a halt, and the sun returned to its normal, shiny state. But we had fun, and after returning to the apartments, I was able to go to bed early to catch up on sleep.


TUESDAY

Not much new today; just tackling this blog. However, I did get my grades back from my second and last Referat and from my first of two tests. I am happy to report that all is well on the "Grades" front.

I hope all is well for those who are reading.

Alles Liebe von Berlin!

-Monika