BajaBlanca - 6-24-2015 at 01:40 AM
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ADDED UPDATES.
The other day when I went to visit my Polish teacher from 6 years ago:
I asked her if I could talk to the students in the English classes at the school. She got the OK and last Monday I went to talk with them.
The school has 500 students and the classrooms are large and have many windows which makes them quite airy and bright. They still use chalk and green
boards - I cant remember the last time I used chalk either in the States or in Mexico.
THE ENTANCE TO THE SCHOOL:
VIEW TO THE LEFT:
VIEW TO THE RIGHT:
OF THE THREE CLASSES I VISITED, I HIT IT OFF WITH THIS ONE! THEY ARE SO FRIENDLY AND SPEAK SO WELL...IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BE WITH THEM. WE HAVE
PLANS TO GET TOGETHER FOR CHATS AND PIZZA TOMORROW:
I BELIEVE THEY WILL BE OFF TO COLLEGE NEXT YEAR. MOST STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY WANT TO DO, SO THAT WILL BE ONE TOPIC TO CHAT ABOUT TOMORROW.
I ASKED THE STUDENTS IN LA BOCANA IF THEY WANTED TO PEN PAL WITH THESE STUDENTS - IMMEDIATELY TWO SAID YES, SO THAT WILL BE ANOTHER TOPIC TO DISCUSS.
THE SCHOOL SEPARATES STUDENTS INTO TWO MAIN CATEGORIES - SPORTS AND BUSINESS. MY ENGLISH CLASS WAS THE BUSINESS PORTION (DUHHHH) AND LES HAS A NIECE
IN THIS SCHOOL WHO WAS AWAY ON A SPORTS EVENT LASTING ALL THIS WEEK.
SPORTS HERE INCLUDE SOCCER, VOLLEYBALL AND BASKETBALL.:
ON AN ASIDE: I AM HIJACKING MY OWN THREAD HAHAHA
In talking with the students, they asked what I liked and disliked about Poland. My likes went on and on....the crafts, the food, the beauty of the
old towns, the architecture, and family of course.
What I don't like was that NO ONE smiles on the streets. You can pass by, they don't say hi or good morning unless they know you personally. I guess
we are spoiled in Baja because I LOVE that everyone buen provecho whenever they walk by you in a restaurant. I love that I wave to every car that
passes by between Abreojos and La Bocana - whether I recognize the people in the car or not. and even in San Diego, if you walk your dog, everyone
who passes will say good morning.
And I guess I am not alone in feeling like this! One of the classes spent a day handing out flowers and smiley cards to random people on the streets
and named the video: smile
They showed it to me and it was amazing how grumpy people suddenly broke into huge beautiful smiles!
I will update this post 6/25 after we have pizza! and 6/26 for surveys. Do you have any questions you want me to ask the kids?
[Edited on 6-26-2015 by BajaBlanca]
Russ - 6-24-2015 at 06:56 AM
Does Putin scar them as much as he does us?
SFandH - 6-24-2015 at 07:24 AM
Thanks for the posts. I'm enjoying your visit to this small Polish town. Cool that you went to the school. You're a good ambassador.
What's the popular music on AM radio like? Better than the Mexican top 40? 
Ask the kids where in the United States they would like to visit.
I wonder what they know about Mexico.
[Edited on 6-24-2015 by SFandH]
BajaBlanca - 6-24-2015 at 09:24 AM
great questions! They knew about tortillas and tacos. So I told them about burritos, mayans and Aztecs, pyramids, Mexico city and LA BOCANA of
course. We looked at a map and followed all the places I have been to.
I haven't listened to the radio - but the music I hear in restaurants is really soft pop and quite nice.
I will ask them about where they would like to visit.
No one else have any good questions I can ask?
gallesram - 6-24-2015 at 10:24 AM
I have a few questions for them:
1. Which English-speaking countries do they want to visit the most and why?
2. Do they watch English-speaking TV shows? If so, which ones do they like the most and why?
3. I'm not sure if you care to get into politics but I actually thought Russ's question was a good one about Putin; I'd like to know if they find him
scary or if they really don't give it much thought.
Not a question but more an observation about the picture; it was funny that all the girls were in the front row & all the boys were in the back
row!
I'm enjoying your trip to Poland; I have never been and frankly hadn't thought about going but your pictures and observations are really interesting!
BajaBlanca - 6-24-2015 at 07:56 PM
Russ -I forgot about your question, sorry .....I will ask them what they think about Russia/Putin - I do know that they have three options for foreign
languages in their business program: English German and Russian.
I can tell you that I studied Russian in college and would love to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg. Les hates them so much that he cannot fathom the
thought of our going or even my going. And all of his generation feel that way as far as I can tell.
Re traveling to English speaking countries: I remember in class that one of the students mentioned going to New Zealand and asked why I had never
been.
You are right, how interesting that they split up with girls in front.
I am noting down the questions so I don't forget any!
The weather has been lousy for days now and neither Les nor I handle that very well.....gray skies day in and out, rain off and on day in and out.
One does get very spoiled in Baja - a true blue sky is ever so gorgeous and uplifting.
The cost of living here is ridiculously inexpensive - that part we are loving! Food is cheap, beer is not so cheap. I had a tequila sunrise at the
restaurant next door to us yesterday for $5. I wanted a Brazilian caipirinha but they had no limes.
Poland has some amazing cities - Gdansk and Krakow being my absolute favorites.....I have not been to Warsaw and the students told me that it is too
big and ugly but that the historical older downtown area is nice.
If anyone would like to visit while we are here -come on over!
EDIT TO SAY THAT TODAY IS AN ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS DAY....true blue skies have come back! yahoooooo!
[Edited on 6-25-2015 by BajaBlanca]
4Cata - 6-24-2015 at 07:57 PM
Blanca, as a retired teacher myself, thanks for doing this and thanks for sharing.
I think my international travelling is done, so I'm really enjoying your trip vicariously.
BajaBlanca - 6-25-2015 at 12:01 PM
The teens and I met at 1:00 for lunch - I had paper and pens ready for them to answer the questions we put together.
We decided on two HUGE pizzas,soda and juices all around and then we talked a bit about Russia, since they really do have pretty negative feelings. I
just wanted to make sure they did not generalize all Russians into a pot of hate:
I asked them to write down who their favorite Polish singer or band was and Kuba (kid in photo) said that his shirt promoted his favorite band - the
number 2tm2,3 on the bottom.
This pizza place called PIZZERIA PEPERONI (sic) is right next to our apartment here in Wegorzewo. One of the good things here, since there really
aren't that many restaurants, is that any age group can go. They cant drink without proof of age, but they are allowed in.
Our pizza was Pizza Polo and it came with cole slaw on top! It was really delicious! sounds odd but it was really tasty.
the other gigantic pizza was half pepperoni and half cheese:
It was such fun getting together! We will do it again even though they are on vacation. Drinks for all plus the two giant 60 cm = 24 in came to 103
zloty or $28
I covered the meal plus gave them all a pen for writing for me 
))
BIG SPENDER!!!!
desertcpl - 6-25-2015 at 12:24 PM
Blanca,, love your posts
jimgrms - 6-25-2015 at 03:38 PM
Don't see any spiked purple hair ,Boys ear rings , All the kids are dressed well I am impressed with there appearance ,They seem to be nice nice
well behaved kids !!
BajaBlanca - 6-25-2015 at 07:25 PM
They really are well behaved kids, and they are so friendly. I am blown away by their warmth.....hugs all around after lunch.
The teacher was invited to the lunch but the 4 teachers that I met had already told me that they wanted no contact with any kid after school. None of
them are on facebook so that they don't see what the kids are doing after school. This really isn't such a big town, so I was kind of surprised at
this attitude. Probably the same in the States??? I am not sure. In San Diego, I taught at a private school where all my students came from abroad
to study English and teacher-student activities were encouraged. Many of my students from all parts of the globe are still in touch with me.
One Russian student posted the other day that she had been in the US now for 15 years and that I was her first English teacher when she arrived with
zero English. Now she has graduated from UCLA, married another Russian and started a family in San Francisco!
One of the Polish students' dads owns the port here - if I liked boats more I would be made in the shade!
BigBearRider - 6-25-2015 at 08:53 PM
Bardzo dobry!
BajaBlanca - 6-26-2015 at 03:02 AM
really good indeed! are you of Polish descent BigBearRider?
So, here is a glimpse of what the kids wrote:
1- where wd u like to visit (English speaking) and why:
usa because it is great,it is my dream,
Australia due to wildlife, ocean
NZealand because of THE HOBBIT
England - want to sightsee in London n I like Sherlock Holmes
2- what cities in the US n why:
Miami beaches
don't know enough about the US
NY because it is famous, NY to see group EMIGRATE
Malibu because it is warm
Detroit because of tv show HARDCORE PAWN (someone is in for a surprise!)
3-TV programs:
Adventure time -I guess it is a cartoon????
Penguins from Madagascar
Hardcore Pawn
America's got talent
Discovery Science
Analogy of Stupid (no idea what this is)
4 what do you know about Mexico - almost nothing, mariachis, they speak Spanish, it is hot (quite a few put that Mexico is hot), sombreros.
5 what countries are you not remotely interested in visiting:
north korea
Russia - a few put this down
Germany because I study German and I hate it
south Africa
one put china and korea because they eat dogs!
6 I had them write down things that they are good at - in Mexico my kids have a hard time with this question. These kids had no problem at all and
their answers varied from playing insturments, to singing, one wrote he is good at making people angry hahaha - cooking and English
7 what professions might you be interested in?
astrophysics, architect, doctor (2), dentist, singer, surgeon
these are some awesome kids......
and I also asked them about Russia and Putin - I left this question for last and they were pretty verbal in their lack of love for this country:
3 said I have no opinion, I am not interested in politics
2 said I dont like Russia, it is a scary country - it is old -
and I don't like their president
1 said - great people but the politics is sure not democratic
1 said "I was at camp with teens and they were OK. I don't like the Russian gvt
It was not a happy topic for sure.....I did tell them about my experiences with Russian students (they were great) and from the last kids answers,
for sure we should have more student exchange programs to see if we can really get some change in this world. I told them that Russia has amazing
architecture, crafts, music and art. Certainly worth a visit.
David K - 6-26-2015 at 08:13 AM
Thanks Blanca... very interesting!
BigBearRider - 6-26-2015 at 09:57 AM
Moja żona jest.
