It
has only been this week that I have really seen how different the Polish
culture is, mainly due to our Polish language classes.
On Tuesday Marisa, Brian
and I attended our first class, and after arriving five minutes late, we were
shocked that the class were already reading the alphabet! The lecturer seemed
very formal, unlike the lecturers in Stranmillis, and instructed us to call her
‘Pani Doktor’. After some time, the
lecturer began to warm to us and explained that within Polish society there are
many divides, which are only beginning to be broken down now. This can be seen
within the university, as students and lecturers are divided, even when it
comes to the canteen they eat lunch in.
During
our second class she pointed out that many of us were smiling all the time and
explained that Polish people, especially the older generation, may think we are
crazy. Polish people do not ‘fakely’ smile at strangers or exaggerate their
emotions, and if they do this it is usually to suggest romantic interest. This
explained a lot for me, as I often had smiled at people on the trams and received
odd looks. I also told the class a story about a man standing outside a shop a
couple of days before. He had an extremely cute dog on a leash and I screamed
and got down on my knees to pet the dog. The man looked at me as if I was
mentally insane! The lecturer confirmed that he would have thought I was crazy
and the whole class erupted into laughter!
 |
| At Stary Renek |
We
also attended our second ‘Poland for Beginners’ class which seemed very long
but interesting. We discussed the History of Poland and what has shaped it to
be the country that it is today. I was very surprised how many times the
borders of Poland have changed throughout history, which has effected how some
older people feel about areas of Poland, as they were once part of Germany or
the USSR. We also discussed the many Wars that Poland has been involved in, with
particular reference to WWII. Even though our lecturer was relatively young,
and never experienced the pain of the war, it was very obvious that Polish
people still feel hurt by what happened at this time. However, Polish people
are strong; “The soul of Poland is
indestructible... she will rise again as a rock, which may for a spell be
submerged by a tidal wave, but which remains a rock” (Churchill, 2005).
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| International School of Poznan |
This
week we also visited our placement school, ‘The International School of Poznan’.
The teachers all seemed very happy and friendly and kindly gave us a tour
around the school. They even invited my boyfriend, Seán, on the tour, who had
surprised me with a flight over that morning. Although this visit was over
lunchtime hours, it was apparent that the school was laid back, informal and
relaxed as the children were very loud and hyper! I got the impression I will
be very content in this school for placement and cannot wait until we start on the
following Monday. I am also very excited as the schools strives to teach the
children to develop as ‘citizens of the world
– culture, language and learning to live together’ (INSP, 2013) which is
directly linked to my dissertation topic for next year!
 |
| My little bit of home! |
Until
next week,
Do widzenia.
References:
Churchill,
W. (2005) ‘Maxims and Reflections’ Kessinger Publishing.
INSP (2013) available at http://isop.pl/en/mission-statement/
accessed on 01/03/2013
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