8/23/13
Today was officially my first day in Bydgoszcz, Poland. I woke up at 7:30 am but barely slept all night. I was checking my phone every time to see if my parents called or texted even though I told them to leave me alone. I didn’t cry today though. I am feeling really good today.
At breakfast I asked the other American girls for advice regarding being homesick. A girl named Alyssa from Colorado said, “Keep your mind busy, stay outside, and surround yourself with people. When you are alone, you tend to over think things which will drive you insane!” —This advice seriously helped me!!
At 10 am we went as a group to the town hall of Bydgoszcz to meet with the mayor. He was nice but didn’t know any English so the Rotaract members had to translate. After the speech we had a tour of the building then went outside for pictures. Thank goodness I brought an American Flag!!!! The other Americans didn’t think to bring one. So out of 20 Americans we had 2 flags.
In gym class we played Polish games but they are similar to American games. Playing hand ball was definitely my favorite game out of them all. There is Polish baseball but without bases, Polish dodge ball but with a queen, and Polish football but called soccer in America. My team, The Green Team, is super awesome! GO GREEN TEAM!
I know this is going to be super gross to read but….after gym I took a well needed shower but there was little to no shampoo. In hotels there is no soap and instead shower gel so showering gel and little shampoo definitely doesn’t get the job done. Throughout my stay in Bydgoszcz I can already tell I won’t smell the best compared to the kids who brought shampoo and soap with them. NOTE: Ask mom to ship me soap and shampoo from home.
I had my first Polish lesson today! I learned how to say, “Mam na imie Stephanie. Jestem z USA!” Meaning “My name is Stephanie. I live in USA.”
Later, we went to a play at the theater…it was all in Polish so I didn’t understand anything! 5 minutes into the show I got extremely tired. I couldn’t keep my eyes open at all. So I ended up collapsed on my lap for a short nap. It felt really good to sleep. The jet lag really hit me hard like a brick wall to my face! After the show I took pictures with my new friend Ashley! She is from New York and is staying about 10 hours away from me in Gdansk. We are planning on visiting other places in Europe together. She is also on the Green Team which makes it really fun to hang out together.
After autographs and pictures with the pianist and the other exchange students, we went to the supermarket!! At the store I bought shampoo (thank goodness!!), soap, razors, and chocolate bars. Thank goodness we went to the store! I would have smelled like poop the rest of the time at the camp. Cleaning routines and products are different in Poland.
At dinner it was really nice talking to the other American girls. They are becoming my home away from home.- My American Sisters!
Dobranoc! = Good night!
Stephanie Raquel
(Stephanie NJ, Ashley NY, Megan TX)
Leave a Reply