Liter of Cola

Classes:
It is an interesting experience adjusting to being taught only with people who have different accents. They all seem to have a strong command of the English language, but sometimes their pronounciations are different or they say certain words/phrases in an stranger manner (such as pronouncing words in English phonetics/alphabet - "Ja-gell-o-ni-an" - rather than the Polish way - "Yah-gell-o-ni-an" - to adjust to us Americans). I have not had much issue with comprehension and I have a lot of respect for people who know several languages so well (such as being surprised when professors use interesting or complex words - "undermine" is one that stuck me as unusual since I have no clue if I will ever know how to say that in Polish. :-P). All-in-all, I had three out of five classes (one I will start next week and the other in March) and they seem interesting so far. The Politics professor seems to be a nice guy and I learned about a lot of Polish history in his lesson today (especially earlier history with monarchies). There were only three other people from my program in attendance (making the class size a whopping four).

I cannot say enough good words about my Polish professor; she speaks to me and the other student in my class in mostly Polish. We go over heavy grammar and I am glad to be with two people who know a lot. My fellow student is SO GOOD since he is half-Polish and has taken classes before (I am a bit envious of his skill, but I assume I will improve a lot in time). He speaks pretty well and knows a lot of grammar. The teacher understands that I may not speak as much as him right now. She is very helpful if we do anything wrong or if we want to know something. It seems a bit relaxed and informal at times. She bought me a set of books for learning Polish - which I paid her back for - and we spoke about all kinds of topics during the class. It is an neat experience having a teacher that talks about clubs; she recommends clubs, restaurants, ice cream shops, and other places to visit. :-P She mentioned that she may have everyone from our small class and the ones in the beginner's class watch a Polish movie with English subtitles.

The Jews in Poland class was interesting as well (four other students with me! :-O Luckily, I don't mind small classes). I also learned a lot about Polish and Jewish histories. By this time I was feeling a bit tired and hungry (even the Polish language professor asked me if I was tired as she had yesterday, haha). I knew some information during the Jewish lecture and the teacher said I know a lot of history - sure... - and wondered if I was a major in it - no. I like to keep history as an interest because reading esoteric texts/books about history and writing essays about it can take the fun out of learning it, so I choose to pursue and retain information that I find enjoyable or "cool." Probably why I have not taken a proper history class in a while. ;)

Now I am off to do homework; so far it is nightly Polish "lekcja" or lesson/homework and now I have some reading for Monday for the Jewish class. Tomorrow I have a group meeting with others from the program and another Polish class. The school buildings are really nice; I have yet to use the coffee machines or other food machines, but I did pick up a can of soda (which are sturdier than in the US, so I am not sure what material the can is made out of) from a machine earlier today. I also may try one of the cafeterias soon. I do know that the only building I go to is across from a jail, haha. I have not really checked out many facilties at the academic buildings - library, stores, etc. There are also tons of other stores in the area - bookstores, markets, clothing stores, bakeries... not to mention what I will find if I venture out of the Mokotow neighborhood I am in and head to the central area or other ones in Warsaw.

Dorm facilities:
The showers are pretty good. I am still not completely used to the hose-like way they are set up, where I have to put the head in a holder if I want it to stay up, otherwise I can lean it on the temperature-setting knob or hold it in my hand. I also do not believe there is a lock on the door, just a knob to turn from green (vacant) to red (in use). There is also a common theme of being out of toilet paper in the stalls, having no lock at all, or having no soap at the sink - the latter two issues being more at the hostel and not so much at the dorm. Other than those points, adjusting to the bathrooms in Europe (push buttons for flushing, bowl shape, etc.) is not too difficult... They aren't too big on paper towels either, which is fine with me since it is "greener," but the blow dryer on my floor was not really working before. Also, the microwaves are interesting to use; the one at the hostel did not work so well, but the one here at the dorm did when I used it for the first time earlier. It took some time for me to figure it out... but it did a good job once I did. :-P There are mostly symbols and knobs with a few buttons on it - so it was more symbol-confusion than language- or technology-confusion. :-P I also have to pick up some kitchen supplies since it has been interesting figuring out how to eat certain foods without utensils or tableware on hand. I also sometimes become annoyed with having to make sure my residence card is at the ready when entering the dorm, but I know it is for security purposes and let it slide, heehee. Next up is using more of the kitchen, figuring out laundry, and maybe exploring some more (such as how the gym looks here or at the school building(s)).