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!