ZAKOPANE

MARCH 2-3
There's no better way to enjoy a lingering Winter than taking a 5 hour bus ride down to Zakopane where the south Poland border touches Slovakia. Seeing the beautiful Tatra Mountains, hiking through the trails to find the frozen waterfall - couldn't have asked for more!

Standing on the Poland-Slovakia Border!


 The Tatra Mountains are the highest range of the Carpathians Mountains and they stretch across the Polish Slovakian Border. A quarter of the range is Polish, and it was formally declared the Tatra National Park in 1955.
Traditionally, the lands behind here belonged to Hungary, but by the mid-17th century, the Ottoman Empire (Poland's traditional enemy) had managed to creep up to the Tatras. As the Empire crumbled, the Hungarians moved back in, and they regained a friendship with the Poles. Today, it is the Slovakians who live behind the mountains.
The highest Polish peak is Mount Rysy, which rises to 2,499 meters above sea level. There is also the cross-topped summit of Giewont, which is affectionately known as the the 'Sleeping Night'. The lower and middle parts of the range are covered in forest. It's not unusual to see some wildlife such as seder, wild boar, lynx, and brown bears. The Tatras also boast a number of caves. This is a very popular aspect of the Tatras, and steeped in legend. The region was once inhabited by outlaws - the famed 'zbojnicy'. Another popular feature of the range are the lakes, the most famous being Morksie Oko (the 'Eye of the Sea').
A cable car ride will take you up to the summit, where you can stand with one foot in Poland and one foot in Slovakia.
Excerpt taken from the Academic Programs International, Krakow-Poland 2013 Student Handbook

Zakopane is at the northern foot of the Tatras. It is considered the most famous mountain resort, and it attracts about one million tourists per year. However, the resort wasn't always this popular. The village wasn't "discovered" until the late 19th century when the famed doctor Tytus Chalubinkski visited and began making use of the healing properties of the climate as part of this therapy. Soon after the village became one of the country's prime tourist hot-spots. The resort served as sort of the Mecca for artists and writers who were inspired by the magnificent scenery and the riche 'goral' (highlander) culture. The best known are the composer Karol Szymanowski and the artist and playwright Witkacy. The after of the latter, Stanislaw Witkiewicz (1851-1915), was inspired by the traditional local architecture and created the so-called "Zakopane style" of wooden architecture. Some of the buildings he designed are still standing.
Excerpt taken from the Academic Programs International, Krakow-Poland 2013 Student Handbook 

By the 1920s, Zakopane had evolved into one of the most popular holiday destinations in the country, and it is a haven for skiers an duikers. The resort offers a mixture of commercialism and folklore, which is clearly evident when you take a stroll down the main street called Krupowki. This only adds to the character of the place, and above all, Zakopane is palace where people come to have fun.
Excerpt taken from the Academic Programs International, Krakow-Poland 2013 Student Handbook

In the image below, the top left corner displays my attempt to climb down icy stairs. How lucky I am to have my picture taken mid-fall

 

Avalanche level 2! Look out for bears?! Uh-oh! But check
out the vintage style hotel below! Cool-ish fact: the
hotel isn't vintage on purpose….it literally
hasn't been updated for years...

Thick wool socks! And what the town is also known for: smoked sheep cheese with raspberry jam

15.8 Credits. Consider me an overachiever…

FEBRUARY 25-28
Courses registered and finalized. About time! It is utterly convoluting when attempting to plan a course schedule that allows me to gain enough credit hours equivalent to one semester's worth of credits at LFC. But alas! I was to register for 15 credits, but the overachiever that I am, I've registered for 15.8 instead. Actually, this was the only way to figure out a class schedule that gave me at least 15 credits, but I don't have a problem bragging a little ;). The downside is that I didn't really have much choice in choosing what specific classes I wanted to take, but oh well!
There isn't much to discuss about courses, except that they're only once a week Mon-Thurs, which is pretty great!

SPRING 2013
SPIRITUALITY AND IT'S DEVELOPMENT: PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
       Good news! We all emailed the professor asking to bring back the class and he came through!  
       Apparently he wanted to teach the class almost as much as we wanted to take it, we just needed to
       find a few more students to sign up!
THE HOLOCAUST AND IT'S CULTURAL MEANINGS II
        This is probably my favorite class. I never realized little I actually knew about The Holocaust, and
        I am truly enjoying every minute of learning about The Holocaust and all of it's seldom discussed
        aspects. I also adore the professor - maybe it's because she's a sociologist which as we all know is
        the best kind of scientist :)
JEWISH CINEMA THROUGH PHILOSOPHY II
        The professor is funny and has a young personality that makes him even more entertaining. I am
        not really familiar with Judaism or philosophy, so I am somewhat concerned about the final paper
        at the end of the semester….but we watch a movie every meeting so I can't complain!
POLISH CINEMA
        Not going to lie, this is probably one of the most boring classes I have ever taken. The professor is
        pretty interesting and friendly, it'd be cool getting to know him better, but the class honestly puts
        me to sleep. The films we watch, the discussion of the films we watch….I really try to focus but
        they're just lullabies that sing my attention into the abyss of boredom.
POLISH LANGUAGE CLASS
        The language class is actually two times week. Polish is by far, one of the most difficult concepts I
        have ever tried to grasp. I just don't get it. I don't know if its the rapid pace, the dozens of changing
        word endings, or the fact that we use polish words that we don't know to begin with to teach us
        other polish words…. At this point, I could care less about the grade I'll get - I just hope to pass…
        One thing that bothers me a little is that we are being taught all sorts of different vocabulary, but
        not how to use them in a conversation, let alone learning how to have any sort of conversation at
        all….

As I have done my whole academic life, I probably fill my notebooks with doodles rather than notes…but hey, at least I'm productive!

First Day of School?....Maybe not...

February 25 2013

First, I’d like to start this post with the unique finds you might see in Krakow. Here, we have some very friendly gentlemen dressed up to help advertise something related to plant growth…?

So it’s Monday, and the first class I have this week is supposed to be at 1:15pm (or as they use military time in Poland, 13:15). My roommate has class at the same time so we begin our day with a much needed morning run, shower and breakfast/lunch.

Remember what I said about registration? You don’t register for classes the way we do back home – you show up to the first lecture and sign your name on the attendance sheet and I suppose that indicates that you’ve registered. We leave early thinking our classroom might be filled with students all trying to get into our class. I find my building easily and sit outside the classroom 30 minutes before it starts. At least I’m not late!

20 minutes go by and I don’t understand what’s going on. The classroom door is locked and nobody has come to open it, nor have any other students come by even though there are many passing through the hall to get to their other classes. 5 minutes slowly pass and two girls come over and we confirm that we all did in fact come to the right place at the right time, but have no idea what the deal is. Alex, a Canadian girl my age who studied here last semester makes the decision to go to the secretary office to see what’s going on.

Long story short, apparently we were supposed to register online (neither of us knew this) and only one student registered so the class was canceled because 6 students is the minimum. Awesome. I was starting to actually look forward to this class – Spirituality & Development: Psychological Theories.

HUGE disappointment. Plus I’m starting to panic about my credits because I have to take six classes, that’s right, SIX – two additional instead of the normal four to receive enough credits for any of them to transfer back to my school. How freaking fantastic.
Positively, I did make two friends! The three of us left to go get something to eat and talk, making the entire event well worth it.

restless legs syndrome

February 23, 2013

Woke up mid-morning feeling anxious. Definitely needed a run. My roommates were still in bed so I made myself some instant coffee and cereal and got ready for the day. 

          NOTE: instant coffee sucks. They don’t have coffee makers for the home (at least that I know of) 

          and I can’t afford to buy a latte every day (they don’t sell regular drip coffee in the café’s). I don’t 

          know if I just can’t figure out how instant coffee works, but it’s either super water or I feel like 

          I’m literally drinking coffee grounds. This is something I have to force myself to get used to… 

Desperately needing a run, I went out to search something to use as a running route without running through the town and all of the busy people. There’s a scenic path that circles around the outside of Old Town called Planty so that’s were I sought out to find, which wasn’t that difficult to do. Although I have to run the path at least twice since it is only about 4 kilometers, I was excited to run it later. 

We had one final meeting with Piotrek regarding the apartments and everything that goes from living with a roommate to using the appliances and saving energy and all that. Julianna and I nestled ourselves in a little café to enjoy hot coffee and take advantage of their Wifi.
         NOTE: We have not had Wifi or hot water at our apartment since we’ve gotten here. I     

         understand how spoiled I sound by complaining, but it is very frustrating because these 

         things have already been paid for since before we arrived and there really is no rhyme or 

         reason why we don’t have them yet… I can live without the hot water, and also the Wifi – 

         but it’s been very difficult to not be able to reach my family because I am starting to get 

         very homesick (I never thought I’d ever say that…)
It was nice to be in touch with the rest of the world again, even if it was for just a short while but it was time to go. My battery was dying and Julianna and I wanted to run before it got dark out. I forgot to mention how great it is to find a running partner – my roommate!
The run was wonderful, mainly because it felt good to get my muscles moving again. A quick supper, shower and nap took up the rest of my evening before our group went out for the third night in a row. I can honestly say, this is a record for me. 

We took it easy tonight (meaning just one beer each) and settled in a pub with a welcoming appearance and a good, clean atmosphere. The great prices were a sweet surprise and the all day and night open kitchen was very appealing – I’ll have to come back again to try some of that mesmerizing soup that filled my nostrils the entire time. The way the interior was decorated was also pretty unique and fun!