The Big Finish

Once upon a time, there was a wise man that used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one.”  Attributed to  Loren Eiseley  and shared by Sara.

The sun came up around 4:30 and ushered in a very hot morning for our last day at this language camp. We each had two individual sessions with our classes. Practice continued for the evening program during the classes.

For Lessons 3 and 4 we offered the campers the choice of several different types of activities ranging from sports to putting together puzzles to playing Uno. Each camper could choose two activities. And then suddenly our teaching responsibilities which had seemed so daunting two weeks ago were all done.  We sincerely hope we also have made a difference.

The afternoon was quiet and passed by quickly, since obiad ended about 2 PM and kolecja was early today at 5 PM.  Parents began arriving about this time and were helping the children pack their belongings and move them to the cars.

At 6 PM we all gathered in the tent for the evening program.We all enjoyed seeing a display of the art projects the students had done during their camp experiences.

 Marek Błaszczyk. Director of Reymontówka, introduced all the camp staff, Dorota, and we volunteers.  We were also honored to have the Siedlce County (our local host organization) Deputy Governor attend the program. She graciously greeted us.

The program began with the theatre performance. The presentations by the English teaching groups were interspersed between dance performances. It is always a pleasure to see the students show off their other talents. We can’t forget, too, that the program closed with a terrific piano performance by one of the campers.

Sara’s group presented The Three Little Pigs. The students did an excellent job with this. Lynn’s group presented the song, Head and Shoulders. Both of these groups did their performance without use of audiovisual support!

 Lori’s group did the song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.”  They also stood up and sang the best they could!

 The group taught one week by Carol and then one week by Dorota presented Farmer in the Dell. The evening closed with a terrific piano performance by one of the campers.

Then all went to the bonfire area for kielbasa. The students enjoyed getting autographs on their shirts.

All the campers left with their families and Reymontówka suddenly became the same quiet place we had found on July 14.

Movie Night

Again today we each taught two sessions for our individual classes. Sara’s class worked on Reading Theater, Lori presented "Sentences in a bag” to her students, while Lynn’s group played number bingo.  This group will need more work on the speaking and understanding numbers in English so Bingo will be repeated Friday.  "Word Thief" was very popular with the boys in Lynn’s class

For sessions 3 and 4 we all gathered together for the movie, "Night at the Museum 2.” This film was shown with the English audio and Polish subtitles. 

 In the afternoon Lori started reorganizing the workroom. Sara and Lynn went to Pierog, a tiny nearby village. There they took photographs of animals, old buildings, and rural scenery.  A local couple offered tea and coffee.  An elderly guy walked with them as they returned back to Reymontówka.

The evening activity for the campers was a scavenger hunt.  Teachers began sorting and packing for the long flight home as well as planning for Friday parent's night.

Camp Tradition

Today we each taught two sessions for our individual classes. We could see that practice is underway for the program to be presented on Friday evening. Then we joined together in the “Big Room” for presentations. Sara shared a PowerPoint presentation prepared by her second grade class that helped us all learn about plants and animals that live in Arizona.  The students were highly amazed that people in Arizona do not put fences around their homes. They also couldn’t figure out why people used rocks instead of grass for the front lawns until Sara explained one doesn’t have to water rocks. Students had many other follow-up questions for Sara.  Lesson 4 included presentations about New York City and Toronto, provided by Diana and Keshav.

After obiad, we spent some time with the Polish English teachers planning the special stations we will have for Lessons 3 and 4 on Friday. In the afternoon, Sara, Lynn, and Lori went to Siedlce to do some shopping. They returned by train just before kolecja.

The students’ evening program was the traditional camp wedding ceremony. The desk for the wedding ceremony was decorated and placed before the mirrors left behind by dance camp. This made a beautiful scene for the weddings. Six couples exchanged vows which included promises to cheer at futbol games for the grooms or dance together at any future camp discos. Cheers arose when the evening program director announced it was time for the wesele.  Observation revealed, however, that the beautiful brides had already lost their husbands, boys enjoying other activities already such as futbol.

In the late evening I mentioned to one of the Polish English teachers that he had missed the weddings. He laughed and said, “I’ve been to so many. It’s a Polish camp tradition.” So I guess we learned something about Polish culture!

History Lesson

Today started off with breakfast and lessons as usual. In Sara's group, the students began practicing their Reader's Theater play, The Three Little Pigs. The children are preparing the play for the Friday night performance in front of their parents. The other groups also worked preparing their skits and songs. The children had many opportunities to practice their conversational English skills while identifying, labeling and using vocabulary words in sentences.

For the fourth lesson, everyone gathered inside for Lori's presentation on Minnesota. The children learned all about the Mississippi River, as well as buildings, animals, plants, and sporting events in Minnesota. They especially enjoyed watching the Red Bull video clips!

In the evening, the children had a blast spending time together and singing karaoke to Polish songs!

During the afternoon, Sara, Lynn, and our Polish-based teen volunteers, Diana and Keshav, went on a journey to Treblinka. They were accompanied by Wojceich, who acted as the translator. (Wojciech is a former camper and works over the summer in some of the language camps as a counselor.) It was a long and bumpy ride, but well worth the trip. We walked through the museum and were especially interested in the photographs on the walls and the model of what the camp used to look like before it was destroyed. We walked through the forest and saw large blocks, representing the guards and border walls. We encountered a large stone memorial in honor of all of the people who died. The large stone was surrounded by smaller stones that were carved with the names of the cities whose people were killed. People had placed candles, flowers, and small stones around the memorial.

While I remember reading about these events in history books in school, it never really felt "real" to me until visiting Poland. I wish more people today would realize how important it is to understand the events of the past, so we can learn from them and make a better future.

Back to Work

After an adventurous weekend in Warsaw, Monday was back to work day.  English-learning projects for the day included building an ideal city or emphasizing the basic who, what, where and when words.  Another group played word bingo and the antonym memory game.  Another group used letter stickers to make their name and then found words for each letter of their name, totaling 30 words by each student. Once they had identified these English words they added the Polish translation.

The fourth hour lessen was a presentation of Great Britain by Niki, one of the Polish English teachers. His students  first presented basic facts about Great Britain in both English and Polish. Then followed many questions for Niki, many of the questions centering on futbol.  The boys at camp at last found a well-informed teacher who could describe his favorite players and teams.

The campers also met two teens visiting their Polish family. They will be volunteering at camp this week.  They will do presentations about their homes in the United States and Canada later this week.

In the afternoon we went to the nearby village, Cisie, to visit a primary school at which Global Volunteers has provided teaching volunteers for many years as well as financial assistance through the Poland sponsorship program. The principal showed us the classrooms which contained a bright colorful atmosphere for learning.  It was impressive.

 

After supper (delicious cheese pierogi), the campers had a game "Blind Date.”  Our own Sara was a candidate and was chosen for a date!

End of the Week

We had our usual team meeting and then Dorota took our team picture. She also found most of the classes today for a class picture, too.

Today some different things happened in classes. Dorota videotaped a bit of Sara’s class. Lori brought along her computer so that the students could view the videos of themselves doing the Poland night activities reported above. Kamil, one of the Polish English teachers, took his class on a bit of scavenger hunt.   In Lori’s class the students also learned that very is the word to add to windy to express how the wind was acting today.

During the 4^th hour classes were moved into the Big Room because of the wind. All joined together for presentations by two volunteers. Lynn first did a presentation about Milwaukee with some additional information about Wisconsin. The students had many questions for her.

Carol followed, discussing primarily Chicago with some additional facts about Illinois. Julia, a camper who lives in the United States, described her school day. At the end of Carol’s presentation, her students presented her with their thanks along with a Reymontówka T-shirt.

We volunteers all traveled to Warsaw by train. Sara, Lynn and Lori checked into a B&B and Carol left her luggage there for a bit. Lori went back to the train station quickly and took a train to the Ursus area of Warsaw to meet one of her former students. Sara, Lynn, and Carol had a Polish meal with all the specialties – bigos, pierogies and nalesnikis. Then they got Carol off to a hotel at the airport where she stayed overnight in anticipation of her flight to the Chicago on Saturday.

Games and Field Trips

This day truly fits the English – and what I think is also a Polish expression – if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes. First we saw light rain, then heavy rain, then sun – and then the cycle would begin all over again. We held our usual morning meeting. During this time, Carol—who is leaving on Friday – reviewed the team goals and reported she believed we were meeting the goals.

 Classes, such as those held in the outdoor bonfire area, were moved indoors. Carol found a magical fairy had already created a space for her outdoor class within the tent—complete with a dry table and chairs.

Every teacher continued trying to help the children expand their English vocabulary and speaking skills. However, part of everyone’s class was spent on preparing for a new 4^th hour activity—charades. Some of the volunteers found that the students didn’t have enough English to understand and they, as teachers, didn’t have enough Polish to explain. However, as always someone was available to translate.

During 4^th hour we gathered with our classes in the tent. Each class acted out the title—without words – of a film, book, or fairy tale about which the students should be familiar. The students were told their teachers could not help them – they had to try to figure out themselves the correct title and write it in either Polish or English on a white board. It proved to be great fun! Thanks to Sylvia, one of the Polish English teachers for coming up with this great idea.

After obiad, Sylvia went with the volunteers on a cultural field trip. The first destination was the old manor house at Sucha.  The guide there gave us a very nice tour and answered everyone’s questions.

 The second destination for our cultural field trip was the castle at Liw (photo above). We were greeted by a guide who wished to use his English skills for our tour. We learned a great deal about weapons as well as protection from weapons. Sara and Lynn also climbed the tower.  We returned to Reymontówka through pouring rain.

At 8 PM we gathered in the tent for the Polish Night Presentation. It opened with the campers presenting the Polonaise.  This was followed by a presentation of Polish geography, history, and information about famous people.

The programs closed with a rousing rendition of Kocham Cie Polsko.  After that the American dances were played and many more children danced than had done so the first time these were all presented.  It was delightful, too, to have the Siedlce County Deputy Governor join us for this event.

Many Talents

Today we had our third day of English lessons at Reymontówka. Students were very excited to begin the lessons, as usual! Sara's group focused on reviewing letter names and sounds and identifying numbers in word, symbol, and picture form. Carol's students worked on using a calendar to identify the days of the week and months of the year. Lynn's class practiced their usage of question words, who, what, when, where, and why, while exploring outdoors with tools such as a flashlight, compass, ruler and magnifying glass. Lori’s class worked on words such as big, little, tiny as well as short and tall.

 For the last session, students gathered together in the tent for dancing. Most students enjoyed the Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey, YMCA, Macarena, and Cotton Eyed Joe. Some of the children weren't as enthusiastic, but hopefully there will be more participation next time when they feel more comfortable with the songs and being silly in front of each other! Many of the older children were good sports and showed the younger children the dance moves.

 In the afternoon, the volunteers took a brief trip to Siedlce, where they explored the city, sipped coffee, and of course did some shopping!

That evening, everyone gathered in the tent for a Talent Show put on by the children. Many talented performers impressed the audience with their dancing, singing, and piano playing skills! The evening activities are quite entertaining and are sure to be remembered by everyone!

Activities

Following breakfast, we had our morning meeting.  The morning activities included reviews of yesterday’s lessons  and new engaging lessons.  This included numbers, weather, and hobbies. Sara brought a new idea. Using plastic picnic plates, each student had a personal “white board.” She asked questions about numbers to determine if students knew how to spell in English the number words.

The fourth lesson was a song fest with each group presenting a song and encouraging the other groups to become involved.

Following obiad, we were off to Siedlce to meet with Zygmunt Wielogorski, head of the county government.  Our discussion included changes in Poland, a little about ourselves, and comparing Polish students to American students.  The Starosta was very gracious.

Then Dorota gave us a walking tour of the central area of Siedlce including the park, cathedral, shops, and restaurants. 

Campers presented a fashion show in the evening. Lori was one of the judges.

We Begin

Our morning began with a brief meeting with Dorota. Then we all shared in a delicious breakfast of crepes filled with cheese.  Tomorrow’s activities will include a trip to Siedlce in the afternoon to meet with the county official.  Today is the first day of classes and everyone is excited to begin interacting with their classes.

The four of us enjoyed our first day and agreed that the last period of the day would be shared singing and perhaps dancing in the tent.  We will all contribute a song and teach it to the group of students.

After obiad, we met briefly with the entire group of teachers and each of us shared a teaching technique which had worked well for us today.  Lori described a cut and paste activity, Sara described having the students draw their face and label parts, Lynn shared a technique for eliciting sentences, and Carol spoke about a conversational  lesson  Dorota offered a ride to Kotuň for anyone interested.  Lynn and Sara rode to town, explored, and walked back to Reymontówka. 

We enjoyed kolecja with Iza and Kamil and their two little sons.  Later Sara, Lynn, and Lori observed the camp initiation evening activities.

Welcome

We gathered for breakfast at 8:30. Following this we went to the work room. Dorota welcomed us all to Poland and most particularly to the language camp. She reviewed a bit of the program history again. We discussed health and safety concerns and also Global Volunteer policies and principles.

Dorota introduced the daily meeting, explaining there will be a thought for the day and a journal reading. The volunteers will go in the order for journal as Lori, Carol, Lynn and Sara. Carol will start the order for thought of the day followed by Lynn, Sara, and Lori.

Dorota also explained the forms we need to keep in order to demonstrate for a possible IRS audit that we truly did volunteer work.  Dorota also provided the names of the expected students and gave us each a worksheet with tips for teaching English.

Next we reviewed the daily schedule. English classes will begin at 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, and 12:30, and continue for 45 minutes with a break of 15 minutes between the first three classes. We agreed that we will begin joining together for songs and dances in the 4^th hours, probably starting on Tuesday. We will use the third and fourth hours on Friday to do presentations about home states.  The students will take a field trip on Saturday to a Warsaw destination, yet to be determined.

We adjourned training so that volunteers might attend Mass. Dorota drove Sara, Lynn, and Carol to the picturesque wooden church in Zeliszew Duzy. The return trip included a brief tour of Kotuň, giving the volunteers some idea of where to find necessities such as an ice cream or the Bankomat.

We returned to Reymontówka for obiad. We found camp staff organizing on the patio. Meanwhile campers and their families were arriving.  After obiad we enjoyed a coffee and Dorota helped us learn a few Polish words.

At 4:00 we gathered in the tent. The volunteers as well as the Polish teachers of English introduced themselves. The camp staff also introduced themselves. Students introduced themselves, this exercise being used to assess their English skill level so that classes can be created with students of similar abilities. Then we took a break while consideration was given to class organization.

At 5:30 we gathered again in the tent. We each were assigned 7-8 students. We met with them for a short time to get slightly acquainted with our students.

Then all of us – students, volunteers, and staff enjoyed kolecja. We are sharing our evening table with one of the Polish English teachers, his wife who is serving as the camp doctor and their charming two little sons.

After the evening meal everyone was busy planning for the classes that will begin tomorrow morning.

Arriving

Our team assembled at the Warsaw airport. Carol and Lynn walked across the street from the Courtyard Marriott Hotel, having arrived in Warsaw yesterday. Dorota and Lori flew up from Kraków, having just completed a language camp in Zakopane.  Sara arrived on the LOT flight from Chicago. Soon we were all on our way to Reymontówka. We were greeted with the traditional ceremony of bread and salt.  We   enjoyed obiad together. Following the meal each volunteer introduced herself and Dorota provided a brief historical presentation of the Global Volunteer program in Poland.

Then Lori gave the arriving volunteers a tour around the Reymontówka campus. The late afternoon was spent getting settled into our rooms. We enjoyed kolejca with particular raves about the dessert. In the early evening we all took a walk together up towards the horse stable crossroads corner. Then we settled in for a very quiet night.

Presentations and More Games

Today has a chillier start and lots of clouds, but it was sunny by the start of classes at 9 AM.

During the morning we discussed having the volunteers make a presentation about their home state or city during the 3^rd and 4^th classes on Wednesday. Dorota asked everyone to stay for a short meeting after obiad. We also discussed the field trip for Tuesday, and the plan to have teachers sit with students on the bus so that English could be spoken during the ride.

In the morning classes Val and Gillie had the students translate newspaper and current magazine articles. They also did a version of 20 Questions, an activity found in the teaching manual. They also discussed weekend activities and made a trip to the store. The boys played Macao with Gillian and the girls read their horoscopes in Polish and then translated them into English.

Jackson’s class went to the store to get provisions for the boat ride and hike on Tuesday. They also played Scrabble and Uno. Nicholas has been a valuable translator for the group.

Students in the class taught by David and Nancy discussed what all did over the weekend. They also played a spirited game of Uno and also made a trip to town. Marek BŁaszczyk, Reymontowka Director, arrived at the hotel and was able to meet with David and Nancy for a few minutes.  He also greeted the other volunteers.

Martha’s class created a presentation about Kraków. The students amazed Martha and Kathy with the fact that there is a stone from Wawel Castle in the Tribune Tower in Chicago. Martha learned about her students’ lives and family through the pictures that they showed her – pictures on their mobile phones.

Kathy’s group worked on anagrams for the names of fruits and vegetables. They also discussed the hike taken on Saturday, a hike in which Martha and Kathy also participated.

The class taught by Brandon and Bev gave their teachers a high compliment. They told Martha that their teachers were cool. Today this class divided into two groups to create a country. One country was named Ameripdishi and the other named after cheese.

Lori’s class did the Talking Cards game found in the teaching manual. They also enjoyed a game of Apples to Apples.

Good times were had by all teachers and students this morning.

At lunch we discussed the various Polish spices used in their cuisine.

At the afternoon meeting we reviewed plans for the hiking and rafting trip tomorrow. We met primarily to review our team goals. We agreed we are on target for all the goals. (Please see the journal entry for July 1 for these goals.)  Gillie had a personal goal of learning the names of every student in camp. We gave her “thumbs-up” for nearly achieving this goal by this date.

The campers went to a water park during the afternoon.

The evening activity was Polish Night. The student put on an amazing show for us. They began the program by singing the national anthem. Then they presented a short animated film showing Poland’s history from the year 800 to 1989. Patryk identified each of the Polish provinces. Three students presented the legend of the Wawel dragon. The program closed with the students asking volunteers questions about Polish history. The prize for a correct answer was candy, Krówka.

The whole camp moved out to the pavilion for an amazing bonfire where we cooked kielbasa. Marek reviewed the history of Global Volunteers’ work in Poland, centering on the language camps.

It was a great night and the volunteers were treated to some true Polish hospitality—appreciated by all.

What We Like So Far

This day began with clear blue sky. In this area you never know how long that will last. We had our usual meeting at 8 AM that included the thought for the day and the journal reading. Off to breakfast and full morning of classes.

 The group taught by Val and Gillian discussed the pros and cons of Poland using the Euro, played some games and walked to town to stock up on snacks for the hikes on Friday and Saturday. The class taught by Bev and Brandon played UNO and 20 Questions. This group also made a serious snack run. Kathy and Martha combined their group to everyone could present a Tourist Agency speech about his or her home town. The group on the back patio, taught by David and Nancy played some games. They also discussed the best and worst things about camp. Among the favorites: (1) Learning English; (2) Hearing native English speakers; (3) Making friends; and (4) the food! The dislikes includes: (1) Hikes (but only a complaint from one person); (2) the guide on the hikes; and (3) difficulty of sharing a bathroom with 3 or 4 others.  Jackson’s group played Scrabble and Uno.

For obiad we had another of the kitchen’s delicious soups – cauliflower this time. The meal ended with a treat – a tray of cookies.

 

Lori went to Tarnów, the hottest (temperature wise) town in Poland to do some research on the Roma people.

The other volunteers were off to Kraków to the tourist thing. There were visits to the Salt Mine, Wawel Castle, Auschwitz, and many churches. Much time was spent in the rynek, eating and people watching. What a great city is Kraków!

Creating Towns and Countries

Once again, church bells, singing birds, crowing roosters, and bright sunlight shortened sleep time for many of us. The usual delicious breakfast of yogurt, eggs, cereal, and tomatoes was enhanced by the addition of a wonderful kielbasa.

Classes started at the usual 9 AM.

Martha’s students drew an excellent design for a church which included a steeple, cemetery, stained glass windows, and paths. Everyone is invited to come and see what a nice job they did.

 In conjunction with Kathy’s class, the students are creating a town, complete with its own coat of arms. The students also developed a tourist agency for this town in order to persuade people to come a visit. Kathy’s class also prepared a map of the Mazovia region of Poland so students could locate their home towns. Kathy talked about rock music also, while Martha told her students about Global Volunteer work.

The students of Brandon and Beverly also created a mythical country, complete with features such a type of government. They also drew the Polish flag and noted the concepts associated with the colors of the Polish flag.  

The students taught by Val and Gillian also created a country. Val and Gillian also discussed idioms and slang words. The card game, Macao, was played. Indeed, several groups appear to have played Macao, a card game whose rules change depending upon who plays it. The game, Apples to Apples, seems to have universal appeal for everyone, and Scrabble is a continuing favorite.

Lori has a collection of interesting pictures. She has her students write descriptions of them.

After lunch (I do like those soups each day), the students, along with Kathy, Martha, Val, Gillian, and Jackson set off for a hike. Their plans changed when a thunderstorm developed right at the trail head. They instead hiked the Strażyska Valley trail instead and plan to hike the trail starting at the ski jump tomorrow. Even with the change of plans, all return wet, wet, wet!

Beverly, Nancy, David, and Lori went to the Zakopane; they traveled with the students into town and got dropped off at the bus parking lot. All got appropriately wet in the rain that started just as they left the bus. However, a couple hours later all were enjoying ice cream after visiting the old cemetery, the adjoining church, and doing some shopping.

Dorota arranged to have laundry done for the volunteers. Several set off with laundry bags to a nearby home prior to the evening meal. Jackson overslept and missed kolecja, but Dorota saved him some food. He enjoyed this during our evening volunteer meeting.

The students went to an athletic field at a nearby school to play volleyball and basketball. The returned at dark. Fortunately the rain stopped at 6 PM, and the evening proved to cool and clear.