A Lovely First Day!

Except for the weather!

Today was my first day of Polish high school and I'm happy to report that it went well! I woke up about 7 am, had breakfast, got dressed and then my host mother gave me a ride to school.

The first day of school here in Poland is different than what I've expereienced in the US. Everyone starts school on September 1, which is fun because you know that every other student is doing the same thing you are. On the first day all Polish students dress up wearing black and white. I wore a black skirt, a white shirt and a black sweater. Some students don't dress up, but most were. Guys were in suits, girls in black pants or skirts. There are only a few schools in Poland that have an actual uniform, but on the first day it seems like there is an official national uniform. It's nice because you can tell who is going to school!

Different schools start at different times. For example, my host sister had to be at school at 8:30, while my school didn't start until 9:00am, however I got there earlier to meet the director and teachers. I really wasn't nervous for school until this morning, but then when I entered the school building I felt better. For me, school has always had a calming affect. Somethings don't change - there are still teachers and students and an excited tension. This is the way it was at my school this morning too. The director brought Gerardo and I up to meet the school's teachers. They were very friendly, though most don't speak English. I did meet an English teacher who is actually a friend of my host mother. She is extremely kind and told me to come to her with any problems.

I was placed in Level 2 (there are three levels in a Polish high school) and the students met in their classroom (kind of like homeroom, but called something else). My homeroom teacher was late so Pani Monica, the English teacher, introduced me to the class. There are 33 students and they seemed very nice. One girl was absolutely wonderful and translated things for me when the my homeroom teacher showed up. My homeroom teacher is a Polish teacher and a few years ago she hosted a Rotary exchange student, so she understands what is going on, which is nice. We were in our homeroom for about 45 minutes, got our schedules (which is way different in Poland and will have to be discussed later!), talked about a upcoming field trip (i'm not sure where to) and they got assigned to read a book (which I'm going to watch the movie with subtitles). We were then realeased and I came home with my host mom. Overall, school was great!

Tomorrow I have to be at school at 11:05 (part of the crazy scheduling) and I think I'll end about 4? Not quite sure! I have geography, physics, math, polish and pe tomorrow, should be quite an adventure! : )



Mariah