August 27, 2009

Thought for the day: “When you stop giving and offering something to the rest of the world, it’s time to turn out the lights.” George Burns

By Pete

Pancakes with a delicious plum sauce, a great start to another glorious day. But wait, is that thunder we hear? And rain!! No problem, our illustrious leader has it well in hand. Hardly batting an eye Dorota had our classes all rearranged to the indoors and carried on with the show.

We then discussed the day’s events. Due to the inclement weather the planned baseball was cancelled, a less than democratic vote opted for yet another Will Smith movie to be shown the third and fourth period. Those opposed swallowed hard keeping in mind one of our team goals” “Flexibility.” Before dispersing for our respective classes, some of us decided to take a late afternoon field trip. Zack staying at camp to work on the Friday skit.

Chicken for lunch as we reported our class activities. John’s class did some brain teasers, cut up newspapers to make their own headlines and talked about the Friday skit.
Judy and Ryan class worked on the skit but would not divulge any details; they also did some word puzzles and made some greeting cards for a fellow student.
Dorota was less secretive and led her class in the final preparation of “Joy to the World” and “Yellow Submarine” followed by a fierce game of scrabble.
Kasia and Caroline, the more serious teachers amongst us worked on adjectives, played bingo and finished with an objective word puzzle. The lesson is to find various objects hidden in a picture. Marge challenged her gang with what to take if stranded on a desert island followed by Word Bingo, instead of just calling off letters and numbers she required them to come up with an English word beginning with that letter. Jane’s class played Scrabble until the boys accused the boys of cheating at which the girls dumped the board ! Jane then led a lesson on positive thinking and the importance of a right attitude. Pete’s class is obsessed with the Friday skit. Encouraged by Zack, at one point Pete was politely asked to get out of the camera view and retreated to his room and CNN. The class regrouped for the second period and allowed Pete to conduct a lesson on colloquisms.

Sadly, we had to talk about airport arrangements and the details of departure, just as we were getting to really know our students and their personalities, the bold and the shy, the tall and the small, we are all agreed they are a great bunch and the future of this great country is in good hands.

In the late afternoon after classes and prep, the culturally inclined boarded the bus to see a nearby castle while Dorota dropped off Judy and Caroline in Siedlce where Judy did errands and Caroline visited her dad and grandparents.

We converged at dinner and Judy regaled us with her adventures in town. She actually met a lady with whom she had become acquainted when serving with Global Volunteers at Reymontowka two years ago. The conversation then turned to marriage and life after one loses a spouse. After the ladies gave their various opinions, Jean (John) and Pete declared they would stay with the status quo. To close the evening the students put on a fashion show, what talent these kids have! Just can’t wait for those skits tomorrow.

August 26, 2009

Thought for the day: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every oppourtunity; An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty... Winston Churchill

By Jane

We had our usual breakfast meeting. There are only several more! We discussed last night’s camp weddings and congratulated Caroline on her behavior in the face of pressure. We also spoke about the passing of Ted Kennedy. After that, we got an insider’s look at the dry-cleaning industry thanks to Pete.

At classes today, the number one concern was getting ready for our skits. Rehearsals could be seen and heard all over the grounds.

Caroline also did worksheets with her group and said it was successful. John’s class was seen playing a lively game of Scrabble by my class, and I had to pry them away. There was also a game of cards going at the same time. Marge led her group in a Morse code exercise, something unique that she has knowledge in. Kasia continued with telling time exercises and rhyming bingo. My own group wanted games instead of work sheets, so we tried UNO and Zingo. While looking to play a game of table tennis, we got treated to a rehearsal of “Yellow Submarine”. It sounds like a hit!

For the third and fourth sessions we watched a movie together, “The Pursuit of Happiness”. In the end it was an American success story, but during the film we witnessed that desire to work may not always be enough. Perseverance was the key for this family

At 2 p. m. we had a wonderful recital by Kacper. He played one piece from Chopin, and then a more contemporary piece. He spoke about his plans to move, and left us wanting more of his music.

At a late lunch we were honored by the presence of the Siedlce County Governor Zygmunt Wielogorski. He thanked us profusely for our contribution of time, talents and money to help the Polish youth. There were many interesting subjects discussed including Polish culture and the complicated country of China where he had been as a weight lifting judge during the recent Olympics. In regard to Poland’s historic opponents, he believes that the younger generation in Poland will be able to move forward strengthening relationships with Germany. He spoke of Poland’s recent decades of peace, stating it is better to spend the money on the country’s needs than weapons.

We had a hair-raising supper tonight discussing the ups and downs of air travel. It was especially stimulating since we are all making international flights in a few days.

Following dinner, we experienced the end result of many hours of preparation by our students: Polish Night. All students took part in one way or another. We saw a history of how Poland began, we took part in a quiz about Polish personalities, enjoyed a traditional dance and listened to songs about the country of Poland. At the end we were presented with a beautiful hand-made keepsake of our stay here. If there are plenty more of young people like the ones we’ve gotten to know during our stay, the future of this wonderful country is going to be in good hands!

August 25, 2009

Thought for the day: "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them".~ Walt Disney

By Ryan, Age 13

The day started out with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and the usual bread with Nutella followed by cheese fritters and orange juice.

Caroline and Kasia split the eleven-year-olds from the nine-year-olds apart this morning to better meet their vocabulary needs. Caroline taught her section to play ultimate Frisbee using English – of course – and she and Kasia plan to teach them “Farmer in the Dell” for Parents’ Night. Dorota taught Megan’s class using a worksheet that asks students to form words of many sizes out of the supposedly longest English word “Supercalifragilisticexpialidoshus” from the movie “Mary Poppins.” Another Morse Code worksheet that must be translated into English words was well received. Our students enjoyed working picture puzzles with the fastest finishers reading the English words aloud. We also decided what to do on Parent’s Night and worked with each student practice their part.

Two groups played the Siedlce bingo game created by Jean (John). His students practiced the script he prepared last night for their Parent Night presentations. Jane’s group tried the green Apples to Apples game followed by volleyball. They also practiced singing for Parents’ Night and requested some programs to help their parents sing the lyrics. Zack’s and Pete’s class played cards in English. Marge’s kids changed their minds about their skit but discussed new options in English as to what would work and not work for their presentation. They considered doing a commercial or singing a song from the “Lion King.” Then they played Jingo in English for a while.

During 4t hour the volunteers taught football and dancing. Lunch included tomato soup with noodles along with pork loaf and potatoes. The afternoon meant more class preparation and tennis, dancing rehearsal and fun for the kids.

Marek invited us to see a famous Polish tennis player in a match with Madzia’s dad, the camp tennis instructor right after supper. Madzia’s dad did well especially since he is a lot older than his opponent.

At about 7:30 p.m., everyone started to prepare for the campers’ wedding ceremony for four “couples” including Caroline and my pal Peter. The tent was set up like a church with flowers and an altar. Zack dressed up and loaned me a white shirt with a collar and tie for the ceremony that went just fine. Marge, Jane and Pete sat on the bride’s side in the front row. Caroline wore a pair of lace curtains over her clothes and carried a huge bouquet of wild flowers Judy and Jane picked fresh from the field next to Reymontowka. John wore a suit to be father of the bride and Alesha from the eleven-year-old class wore peach-colored curtains as Caroline’s maid of honor. The time after was spent at a “reception” with dancing.

Yes, looking back as I type this installment of the journal this was a very good day.

Tak, bardzo dziekuje.

August 24, 2009

Thought For The Day: “Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something.”
~Will Smith, "The Pursuit Of Happiness"

By Zack

We started the day with discussing our weekend adventures. We all had a great time at Warsaw. So today it seemed like many of us were really looking for skits to do this Friday. Judy and Ryan had success with vocabulary puzzles. Their students selected states and facts to present this Friday. Jane played bingo with her kids. The boys won three games out of four against the girls. Then she had them do crossword puzzles. They also discussed their skit. Those students went head over heals for the English slang expressions. Jean (John) taught his kids to play cards in English including a game called 99. Then they worked on the skit.

Marge has two skits planned for Friday. Her students had a little trouble with idioms. Then three groups played Jingo. They had an interesting conversation about a situation in which a person dies in a car accident. Caroline and Kasia gave their students preposition worksheets. They talked about the difference between the uses of “a” or “an,” then played Uno. Dorota met with Megan’s kids for the first time. Then they wrote postcards with a first draft in their notebooks. They had success discussing Friday. Then they enjoyed a game of soccer. Zack and Pete gave out a baseball worksheet with a hidden picture and word search. After that was hangman. Then for the rest of class they successfully figured out their Friday plan.

Lunchtime we review our team goals and then we enjoyed a wonderful folk dance performance. Dinner followed with a discussion on economy.

August 21, 2009

Thought for the day: "The Reward of a Thing Well Done is To Have Done it" ~ Anonymous

By Jean (John)

This thought for the day expresses as none other can the spirit of the Global Volunteers in service this August at Reymontowka: they serve not for gain or glory but for the reward of having done it. As the week progressed, we learned more about each other, and there has been an inexorable bonding among the volunteers.

· Megan, the elementary school teacher from Philadelphia, who captivated the camper-students with her ever-present radiant smile and fluid choreography of Cotton-Eyed Joe, honed no doubt by her natural athletic ability as a volleyball player at the College of William and Mary. On Friday, she finished her one week engagement and departed. She is missed.

· Marge, the retired nurse, medical administrator, ballroom dancer, licensed pilot, and inveterate world traveler from Colorado Springs, from whose wide experience we all benefit.

· Judy, the Twin Cities MBA night student, mother, and Global Volunteers insider, whose indomitable cheerfulness is infectious.

· Ryan, Judy’s young son, whose eclectic pursuits defy classification.

· Peter, the retired Napa Valley dry cleaning mogul, whose frequent and varied volunteer adventures are the stuff off legend.

· Zack, Peter’s grandson, whose mealtime passion for Nutella is matched only by his addiction to pineapple jam, and whose musical abilities and Southern California good looks inspire the boys and drive the girls wild.

· Quiet Caroline from Connecticut, visiting Siedlce for a family wedding, who helps out with her facility with the Polish language.

· Jane, the retired nurse from New Jersey, who imparts to her camper-students social consciousness and noble thoughts and evokes from them profound and ponderous discussions of public policy.

· Kasia, the attractive, quiet Siedlce teacher whose command of the American idiom is flawless.

· Jean (John), the recovering lawyer from Alameda, California, who, as the humble author of this segment of the Journal, is not really so humble after all.

And Dorota, our mother hen, who is the glue that holds it all together, keeping us focused on the goal with her gentle but firm guidance.

Another of the gradual but noticeable changes as the first week drew to a close is the comfort level of the students with us and we with them, again a product of getting to know more about each other. There is more talk at our dinnertime roundtable of what worked well during the instructional periods and less of what did not work.

Friday started on in interesting note – hot dogs for breakfast. It was also a day of scola brevis. What would have otherwise been the third and fourth hours of class time were devoted to individual presentations by the volunteers about themselves and their lives back home. We got as far as hearing the presentations from Jane, Megan, and Marge. Jane described her Polish family heritage, her work as a nurse, and the brighter side of New Jersey. Megan, aided by some Power Point photos, told about her home, family and friends in Philadelphia, her life as a teacher, and her days as a volleyball player in college. Marge presented photos showing a panorama of the Rocky Mountains visible from her home in Colorado, described the environs, and told about her varied career, including he exploits as a pilot of her several private airplanes. Each presentation was followed by some probing questions by the camper-students and answers by the volunteers.

The week, which had begun with anticipation for all of us and anxiety and apprehension for some of us, has come and gone in the blink of an eye and passed into the realm of fond memories. It now all seems so natural, and we commence the second week knowing at the end that we will have done well the job our Polish hosts engaged us for.

August 20, 2009

Thought for the day: We must reach out in new direction in order to change and grow.

By Judy

It was a very busy day at Reymontowka brimming with action from beginning to end. The weather was perfect with plenty of sunshine and no wind.

In the morning a delicious breakfast of pancakes filled with “jam truskawkowa” and dollops of whipped cream spurred a lively discussion of teaching ideas and strategies for the day’s sessions. Classes went well with the campers seeming better rested than yesterday and more engaged in the lessons.

During the first two hours Marge led her group through a fun and challenging directions guide. Jean guided his class through the steps of menu planning and ingredient shopping within a hypothetical $40 budget for which some students received change and made interesting choices. Zack’s and Pete’s kids went through a definition worksheet, played Scrabble and showed photos of Pete’s Cook Islands service program. Kasia and Caroline focused on teaching action verbs using pictures and lots of out loud practice. They also pronounced phrases like “stand up,” “sit down” and “catch me” before playing some games.

Megan’s sessions included a potpourri of games such as Hot Potato, UNO and Simon Says with Megan writing down the phrase in English and the children teaching her the phrase in Polish. Jane’s class covered categories from feelings to school supplies. Examples shared on the feeling of anger were a computer crashing and gossip. Judy’s and Ryan’s eleven-year-olds also went shopping and learned about American coins and paper bills. They incorporated their study of weather words into their dialogue with the rotating shopkeeper sometimes using an umbrella if they pretended it was raining.

The last two hours were spent learning good ‘ol American baseball with manager Jean (John) or making colorful friendship bracelets coordinated by Megan.

The prelude to dinner of chicken soup, pork balls and potatoes was Chopin played on the piano without sheet music by young camper Casper. The afternoon provided a small window of opportunity to prepare Power Point presentations of our home states.

Supper was served an hour early so some of us could attend the 17th annual festival of songs, dance and folklore in Siedlce. Dorota met us outside the ampitheater and we were seated in the front row next to the mayor. To our surprise, we were introduced to the large audience by the Director of Culture and were asked to stand when he thanked Global Volunteers for its longstanding friendship with the community amid resounding applause. The dancing was extraordinary and the folk costumes were stunning.

Especially meaningful was the song “Moje Siedlce” sung by an accordionist from the city. The audience joined him in the Polish lyrics that state “My Siedlce, my soil, my streets, my squares, all of this because I was born here.” While we were not born in Siedlce or even in Polska, we are grateful for the hospitality of our host, the expertise of our country manager and the willingness of the citizens to share their children and community spirit with us.

Yes, Thursday was a great day from beginning to end.

Reymontowka, hej, hej! (Campers’ cheer.)

August 19, 2009

Thought for the day: We must reach out in new directions in order to change and grow.

By Marge

We started the day with an unusual breakfast item ‘milk cereal’, also the remainder of the meal consisted of tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, sliced meat, rolls, bread, juices, etc.

Dorota shared the planning schedule for the rest of the week and our final day, being a presentation in the evening for the parents of the students, to be in English.

However, the best laid plans of mice and men do not always follow as scheduled: I had planned to continue with the homonyms, with verbal responses, to be followed by ‘likes and opposites’, the group continued to be very vocal, replying and adding comments to each presentation. So being, flexible, I had to go to Plan B. I thought a walking exercise would be more beneficial. I was wrong, so to plan C, discussing the rules and regulations of volleyball in English. As well as playing out the remaining time of the period. The boys won by one point.

As my watch was at a faster pace then the other groups, we broke ten minutes before the others. After discussion with Dorota, I suggested that we check our watches at breakfast in the future, to be on the same time frame.

During the lunch period ideas were presented for future lesson planning: supermarket shopping and purchasing; restaurant selection and ordering; monopoly; concentrations; and time phrases.
Discussion of future activities were: Thursday-girls to make Friendship bracelets and dancing, Megan, Marge and Jane to supervise; boys- volleyball with Caroline and Kasia; boys-baseball with Jean (John), Zack, Peter and Stefan.

The movie “Hitch” was shown and enjoyed by all, the showing had English auditory with Polish subtitles.

During evening supper, we had piano music, the performance was by an unknown camper, it was enjoyed by all.

The evening activity was a ‘talent show,’ we have many very talented people attending camp this session.