July 28, 2009

Thought for the day: We do not quit playing because we grow old, because we quit playing.

We each created three hours of English classes, but for many classes, the third hour class was games outside. During 4th hour we sang English language songs. Nathalie is to be saluted for the work she did, first, in getting all the words for Do-Re-Mi onto flip chart paper, and secondly, for doing it in such a way that it actually made sense!
After lunch we discussed changing Thursday classes just a bit so that some of the students can be more exposed to native English speakers. Then we planned the scavenger hunt for Friday.

Later in the afternoon, we were pleased to see the woodcarvers arrive. Several of the volunteers made purchases, contributing to keeping this art form alive.

We left for Kisielany at 5 PM and found Ania, Lori’s former Zakopane student, waiting at the Kotun train station. She accompanied us to Zymuntowka and we enjoyed having kolacja with her. Soon Daria and Karolina arrived, too. They are also alumns of the 2009 Zakopane camp sponsored by Prus High School. All speak English very well. We learned that each of them is also studying a third language—Ania is learning Russian, Daria is learning German, and Karolina is learning French. We enjoyed conversation with them that ranged from how high school education is conducted in Poland, to political/current events, to philosophical conversation about religion. We found that they unanimously disliked their history classes.

We had a great time with these young Polish women.

By Lori