Our team began gathering from several locations in Poland. Rita and Robert left Zakopane with their Zakopane students who were returning to northeast Poland and arrived at Reymontowka about 4:30 PM. Meanwhile, Mary got to Warsaw a few minutes after 2 PM after having problems getting out of Minnesota due to thunderstorms. The Reymontowka van then collected Sherry, Bobby, and Lori. We slowly made our way to Reymontowka, delayed primarily by various road construction projects.

We all met each other at the dining table, each of us having a meal that fit our needs for our day’s travel. We also watched the festivities associated with a wedding that was taking place at Reymontowka After the evening meal had concluded Lori walked the volunteers around the Reymontowka grounds. We all retired to our rooms hearing the music playing from the wedding reception.

Sunday, July 17

We gathered for breakfast at 8:30. Following this delightful meal and discussions about the experiences of sleeping or not sleeping through the wedding reception, we went to the work room to begin the orientation experience.

Dorota began the meeting by describing the history of Global Volunteers work in Poland and sharing information about the host organization for the language camp. Next the team members reviewed Global Volunteer guidelines related to their service. Dorota then introduced the journal and thought for the day assignments. Robert provided an example from a Mark Twain quote related to how traveling stops bigotry and prejudice. Dorota also explained the service time logs.

The group next worked on establishing team goals and ended with four:
 To help camper students develop their English language skills;
 To exchange cultures;
 To have fun; and
 To grow as a teacher.

The group next worked on identifying the characteristics of an effective team, namely:
Respect, Cooperation, Offering praise, Sense of humor, Trying new things, Sharing, Flexibility, Establishing clear roles when doing joint classes; Patience, Empathy, Trust, Voicing concerns, Helpful, Considerate, Humility, Kindness, Sincere, Generosity, and Equal responsibility.

The group next identified team member skills and discussed teaching materials brought by members. Dorota provided a handout, Conversational English Teaching Notes. Dorota also provided an orientation to the wealth of teaching materials that have been provided by former Global Volunteers, now available in the Reymontowka work room.

Now the group adjourned and two team members went to Sunday Mass at the church in Źeliszew Duży. At 1:30 we all gathered for obiad. After the meal, Dorota provided a Polish language lesson.

At 3:30 we gathered in the tent with the camper students and all language camp staff, including the Global Volunteers introduced themselves to the students. The camper/students were interviewed to assess their English skills. At 6 PM we all again gathered in the tent and the students were placed into groups and then met briefly with their English teacher.

All then went to kolacja. Afterwards the work room was very busy with all the teachers planning their first day of classes, but some went outdoors for this task as the work room was quite warm.