Stephanie's Abroad Stories

9/21/13

Even though the weather is wet and a little chilly, I had a fun time in Zamosc with my Lublin Ladies. Ashley’s (ME) host father took Sunny, Lana (Brazil), and I to Zamosc to visit the city. We walked around the beautiful Old Town. The buildings are painted vibrant blue, green, yellow, and purple. If the sun was shining today it would display the colors more beautifully.

We ate dinner at a restaurant undergrown in the Old Town. It looked to be a wine cellar but it was made for a restaurant. Lana and Sunny had trouble ordering with the menu being in English so I ordered for the girls also. We had hot chocolate and spaghetti Bolognese. It was warm for the weather but delicious as well.

Then we went to a small shop where I bought a pin saying Zamosc for my Rotary Blazer. There was also a plate with Zamosc painted on the front and gold spots decorating the tops of the buildings. I want to put it on the book case next to the fire place back at home in New Jersey. When I go shopping in beautiful Old Towns, I try to find objects that are uniquely beautiful for my book case.

Sunny and I decided to take our flags out and take pictures with the beautiful buildings. When I was walking back to Ashley and Lana I heard, “USA!” I got extremely excited and screamed “Yea USA!” I never realized how patriotic I am for America until I got to Europe and wanted everyone to know I am American. I now draw big USA letters in my notebook and on bathroom walls.

Ashley’s host dad took us to a gorgeous old church where the man who founded Zamosc is buried. We went to the town next to the church and at the top you can see over all over Zamosc. After taking hundreds of pictures, we head over to the old synagogue in the Old Town. I am shocked this building had survived all of WWII. The building is now turned into a museum to education others about the history for the Jew in Zamosc before and after WWII.

We had plans to visit the Zamosc zoo because it is a historical zoo but the rain made it impossible for us to visit. We instead visited the gate that allowed the only access to the city centuries ago. It was a nice adventure.

Stephanie Raquel

9/20/13

Happy 1 Month Anniversary to Me and Poland!

Every counselor, inbound student, or past exchange student has told me that the first month of exchange is the absolute hardest. It is the month of adjusting, learning, adapting, and emotions. This is the time where you test yourself for the strength deep down in your body to pursue the next 9 months of the exchange. The hard times are not over and won’t stop until years after your exchange. I have pushed through the heartache when my boyfriend broke up with me, the homesickness when I severely missed my family, and emotions when the kids from school were too scared to talk to me but gladly talked to the other exchange student sitting right next to me. In this past month I have eradicated some stereotypes about America including always eating at fast food places; introduced American culture to other exchange students like Miss America; and grown closer connections to the other American exchange students instead of focusing on the friendships back in New Jersey. There have been many things out of my control such as being available at certain time for the people in New Jersey, but I am in control of my happiness in Poland.

From this month forward I declare a promise to myself:

            I will hereby not think about activities occurring in New Jersey and say, “I wish

            I was here.” I will try everything new here, eat new things, and travel to new places.

            I will also focus on the people around me and make great connections with them. I, Stephanie Raquel Kneble, will be super happy during my exchange and be grateful               towards everyone and everything even after I return.

Being a student ambassador for the USA is a huge responsibility and I will represent my country with great pride. This is only the beginning of the thousands of things I will accomplish over the next 9 months.

Stephanie Raquel

9/17/13

Riding 6 hours back to Lublin didn’t seem so terrible, but that ride turned into 7 long hours. This ride was extended because a high speed train was behind us and our train needed to get out of the way. At the Warsaw station we were delayed for 15 minutes because the train’s engine needed to be checked. This delay caused our train to get in the way of other scheduled trains. For 30 minutes we sat on side tracks while 2 high speed trains passed us. It was a long 7 hours that was complete torture. I listened to my playlist on my iPod 10-15 times because I had it on repeat, now I know all the songs by heart.

My morning started off well with Nutella filled crepes and apple juice. Without this delicious food, I would have been beyond cranky on the train. I also packed some cookies and chocolate bars in my bag for the ride. Sadly, I did not pack 7 hours’ worth of food to keep me happy.

Around 7 pm, we all started becoming restless and hungry. Agata, Szymon, and I walked to the restaurant car of the train and ordered ourselves food. It was very interesting to see all the different seating arrangements in the train cars along with all the strange people sitting in the seats. It was a nice break from the boredom I was experiencing in my own train car. In America it is very rare someone needs to take a train from place to place but in Poland and anywhere else in Europe it is very common. I enjoy taking train rides here, but next time I will pack more food and download more songs.

Our food finally arrived in our train car as soon as we started moving towards Lublin. Another 2 hours to go, I enjoyed my Russian styled perogies which were filled with cheese. They were topped with caramelized onions and accompanied with salad. Agata ate Parmesan chicken and Szymon ate a Greek Salad.

When we finally arrived at the train station, my host mom picked Agata and me up. At home we ate beat soup and mushroom blintzes that Babcia Maria had cooked. The combination of being stuffed with warm food and being showered made it easy to fall asleep quickly.

Stephanie Raquel

 

9/16/13

The Lech’s Brewery looks different on the outside compared to the inside. Today I saw how Lech Beer brands are made and packaged. After the tour around the factory, we got to drink a glass of the Lech Beer. Honestly, it was pretty good. They have a Lech had their own bar and there were men sitting on stools watching the soccer game on TV. It partially looked like an American bar scene just missing the American football game on TV and English language.

 

For lunch/dinner, we went to the Plaza in Poznań. The mall used to be a brewery and the owner of the mall is super rich. The stores in the mall are elite brands like Calvin Klein or Michael Kors. On the first floor of the mall is a Starbuck, so I bought my first European Frappuccino. It didn’t taste like the Frappuccino that I get in New Jersey but it was like slurping on a little piece of home. The pizza parlor we ate at was cute, but the pizza in America cannot be matched in Poland. I ate a red pizza topped with mushrooms and ham, a red pizza topped with cheese and sliced tomatoes, and a white pizza topped with curry chicken and arugula. My favorite pizza was the chicken curry and arugula pizza because it was similar to the pizza back at home. The tomato sauce served here has an odd taste and they lightly cover the pizza dough in sauce. Instead the sauce is placed in cups on the side to be added by the consumer. I prefer the sauce smothering the dough and having the cheese merge with the tasty sauce. Polish people prefer smothering their pizza with garlic sauce, tomato sauce, or bottles of ketchup.

 Lego Store at the Poznan mall! 

Once we finished eating we head over to the train station to buy our train tickets back to Lublin. I then had the opportunity to talk to my host sister, Agata, more on the tram and bus. We talked about clothes, shopping, and our sisters. Gina and Ula are very similar in the aspect that they have an eye for fashion. Agata and I are similar in the aspect where we have an eye for accessorizing and glamorizing. Agata said shopping in Krakow is amazing which makes me very excited to go shopping there.

Back at Aga’s flat we played more games. We played charades and I had to act out Justin Bieber…that was incredibly hard. I ended up sticking my hard in my pants to indicate a penis which of course made every laugh. Then I lip sang “Baby” to Vicky and she ended up guessing who I was pretending to be. Everyone joked about my poor acting skills but pretending to be Justin Bieber was very tough to make up on the spot.

The next game is where you have a sticky note placed on your forehead and by asking the group questions, you have to guess who you are. I was Eminem, the rapper, which was extremely hard for me because I don’t know anything about Eminem besides the fact he is a white rapper. The group had to practically give me the answer.

For supper we ate spaghetti carbonara which is noodles, eggs, basil, and bacon. It was extremely delicious but I couldn’t keep my head up long enough to finish it because I was absolutely exhausted. Michał and I ended up going to be first while everyone else went into the kitchen to talk. At first I felt bad for not staying awake to get to know my host sister’s friends but my exhaustion is much more powerful than my guilt. I have many more days to get to know everyone.

Stephanie Raquel

9/15/13

Today I left for Poznań with Agata, Vicky, and Andzrej. We took a 6 hour train ride from Lublin to Poznań where we are staying in Aga’s flat. Aga attends the university in the city and lives with two roommates. This is kind of a house warming party to break in her new flat.

When we arrived after the 6 hours, Aga was waiting on the platform for us. She walked us back to her flat. We ended up taking a tram and a bus back to the building. She doesn’t live close to the train station, unfortunately.

On the train I also met a guy named Michał who was very nice. He lived in London for 2 months while he worked at McDonalds. His English isn’t the best but good enough to communicate with each other. He asked me what Americans think about Poland. I said people think they are stupid and cold. Of course not all people in Poland actually are cold or stupid but someone people I have met so far, are stupid and cold. This is the same in any country though.

Back at the flat we ate chicken curry with rice that Renata cooked. The chicken had way too much curry on it that the meal was difficult to eat. Michał was dying that he drank so much Coca-Cola to cook his mouth. I also drank a lot of Coke. My mouth at one point was begging me not to eat any more. I looked around at everyone else and saw them also having a hard time finishing their meals.

For supper we went out to The Mexican Restaurant that is known for their large margaritas. I had a strawberry margarita but the small version. I thought the waitress was bringing out vases as a center piece but that turned out to be our drinks. I didn’t know if I could finish it all, but by the end I had drank it all. At the end of the meal, the Zorro brought me out a cheesecake with a giant sparkler on top. Michał and I were in the middle of dancing to a Spanish song in front of the table when the lights just turned off. I heard gun shots and strong music when the Zorro came out with the sparkling cake. Everyone had a bite of my cake but it tasted nothing like the cheesecakes from America. This cake was like a sponge and stuck to my teeth. The texture was gritty so I felt the sugar. But dancing to the Spanish music wish Michał was a lot of fun. Aga was taking a video of us, but I didn’t care. I am on exchange! I have fun and don’t care who sees.

At home we played games like hum a tune and everyone had to guess the song. I sang “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. It was a lot of fun but I couldn’t wait to go to bed. Luckily everyone else was tired too so the night didn’t last much longer.

Stephanie Raquel

9/14/13

Exhausted, drained, but loving life. At 8 am we went to the Old Town of Lublin (my town). We saw buildings, the castle, monuments, and the city. I saw one of the most upsetting things though, it was the memorial dedicated to the Jews that died in World War II. There is a lamp positioned next to the bridge and is always lit. The lamp is pathetic because it looks like a regular street light when it really means something significant. There are millions of people that died and I am positive a dinky lamp does not do their painful death justice. It really upsets me.

 <<< Monument to honor the Jews that died!

There we went for delicious American ice cream! It of course didn’t taste like American ice cream because it was buttery and icy. Ice cream in America is so beyond better.

Next we stopped at a Heritage Park nearby Lublin that has a huge windmill and old huts. It was kind of boring to just walk around this park, but doing it with my friends actually made it fun. We all joked around and took fun pictures like Colton acting like a duck in the flowers.

Back at the hostel we changed into our Rotary Lublin t-shirts and Rotary blazers. Dinner was chicken and cold salads. I sat with my girls and joked around with the other students like Soffi and Regina from Mexico. The Rotarians also told us about future Euro Tour plans and other trips like Italy Ski trip and London trip. I immediately messaged my parents with dates and prices. I cannot wait to see the rest of the world! There is so much to see and it will be even better with my friends.

Rotary then set up at boat ride for us around the city. We walked around the ferry for 2 hours taking pictures, singing, joking, and eating. We even saw cows standing on the beaches near the river. Ashley made me laugh so hard that I started crying. My lack of sleep also added to the burst of tears. When I am tired, I burst out laughing with a few tears.

In the hostel, it was a lot of fun! Sam, Grace, Ashley, and I drank a little bit of coke with rum. With the lack of sleep, my temper was extremely short. I ended up screaming at Levi for being a bad friend because I didn’t talk to him the whole trip. I ended up saying some crazy things to a few other people. But the talent show was actually really fun. I dressed up as a Miss America pin-up girl because Miss America was originally held in Atlantic City. Another exchange student even camp up to me and told me that I could be the real Miss America. This is a super big compliment! I feel so special!

Ashely (NY) dressed up as the Statue of Liberty, Sam dressed as a cow girl to represent Arizona, Ashley (ME) dressed up as a lobster to represent Maine, and Alyssa (CO) dressed as the, white, Michelle Obama. We held up the American flag behind Alyssa as she sang the National Anthem. She did a really good job. Some of the other Americans also joined in with Alyssa. It made me wish I hadn’t lost my voice from last night.

I had just a blast with my girls that I wish I never had to leave. I love spending time with them. We planned on hanging out again before the Christmas meeting on Dec 13. This girls will definitely be my lifelong friends, as I am to them.

Stephanie Raquel

9/13/13

I FINALLY GET TO SEE ALL THE EXCHANGE STUDENTS TODAY!!!!!

At school I counted down the minutes until I was done classes. I love my exchange student friends! Even though it’s only been 2 weeks since I’ve seen them, I miss them so much!

As soon as I saw everyone in the train station, they came running up to me giving me tons of hugs. At my host house, no one gives hugs to anyone so it was really nice getting hugs from my friends. Hugging my body also hugs my heart and warms my soul. It gives me a bit of happiness to be close to my friends. Grace and Sam gave me the biggest hugs though which was amazing because they are my best friends! A group of us sat in the train station waiting for the bus to come and pick us up.

Ashley was waiting on the bus when I walked on and finally got to see her! I gave her the biggest hug because she is honestly my best friend. I don’t know why we hit it off so well, I guess it’s an East Coast bond.

At the hostel, Ashley and I immediately chose to room together and Grace just joined us by sleeping on the floor. The beds are unfortunately uncomfortable but what do you expect from a hostel. It feels so good to be with my friends again.

For dinner we ate outside and had perogies with sausage. There was also a fire performer who tossed fire around his body. There was so much chatter throughout the kids because there was so much to talk about. We each experienced our first days at the Polish high schools and met the kids that might be our future friends. It is the most momentous time as an exchange student. We supported our friends when they cried about how kids aren’t interested in talking to them or when they don’t understand anything in polish or when their host family is mean towards them. . It is the hardest time of any exchange…this is when you need your friends the most.

Grace, Sam, Ashley, and I sat in my room until 2 am telling our life stories relating to the hard time with boys. (Private stories) I shared my personal stories along with everyone else. It was nice having the girls know some of past because it makes us have a closer bond. I want to know their past, present, and future. It is hard opening up to someone but it felt nice exposing some of the skeletons in my closet. Sure it a pity to hear your friends say hard things about their past but we did not judge each other or change our views on each other. I just feel closer to them.

Ashley and I ended up falling asleep at 4 am. We were completely exhausted but it didn’t matter until we talked about everything important in our life. The next day we have to wake up at 6 am…it is going to be a rough day.

Stephanie Raquel

P.S. Now I remember why I love being an exchange student, because I love my exchange student friends. No one has a bond like exchange students.

9/12/13

I skipped school today which felt great to relax, except my host mom came home from work and yelled at me. She was not happy that I didn’t tell her my decision about sleeping instead of going to school. Around 4 pm I decided to take the bus to school to try and make my last class. Earlier I missed English and Spanish. Turns out I missed the bus to school so when I finally got to school, I took the next bus right back home. It was a pointless run but it made my host mom happy knowing I was at school.

In English class though I try and teach Sunny Basic English while the teacher talks to the other kids in more complex vocabulary. I am only attending that class because Sunny needs my help and she asked for my help. If Sunny wasn’t there then it would be pointless for me to attend.  I usually sit there on my phone or write in my journal.

In Spanish class the teacher doesn’t know any English so she has no way of communicating with me. I’m positive the teacher didn’t even know I was missing from her class today.

On the bus to school around 3:30 pm, I was sitting next to an older lady with lots of bags. I was sitting backwards so I couldn’t tell when my school was approaching. The lady next to me stood up and stared at me. I got all frazzled and figured she knew I need to get off now for school. When I stepped off that bus, I was beyond lost…again. It wasn’t my stop for school, instead it was 3-4 blocks away from my stop. I wasn’t sure which direction to walk or where my school was located. I ended up called my mom and dad in New Jersey to track my phone and tell me where I should go. My mom started to use google map on her computer while I read the names of streets to her. It was frustrating pronouncing streets over the phone because she didn’t know how to spell them so I just kept walking down the street. I ended up walking the wrong direction and had to go back where I started. My mom finally told me which direction to walk and I found the bus stop outside my school. It was completely pointless to go to school today but at least I know which bus stop NOT to get off at next time.

At home I made a sandwich with turkey lunch meat. In Poland they don’t have sliced lunch meat and instead just a block of the meat that you cut yourself. My host mom laughed at me when I asked her to teach me how to cut a block of meat. Since no one was home though, I watched an English movie on TV. I turned on “The Big Year” with Jack Black and put the voice in English. It was a relief to watch an American movie. I also needed a nice break from everyone in the house. I also got to take a really long, hot shower for the first time since I’ve gotten here. With all this amazing alone time, I called Grant, Gina, Mom, and Dad. It was nice catching up with everyone without having a time restriction. I miss everyone.

Stephanie Raquel

9/11/13

It is September 11, 2013…always a day to remember the horrible incident that occurred. But sitting with Antonio (cute guy from Spain) and Bohdan (cute guy from Ukraine) in the Wi-Fi room at school, I had a really good day. We had a funny conversation about Miss America Pageant, cheerleaders, and cars. Antonio has many questions about America.

The class called TOK, Theory of Knowledge, was super-duper boring. I fell asleep in the first half of class. I don’t understand how this class will better kids’ education. In the second half of class Sunny and I split a Milka chocolate bar to give us energy. The teacher babbled on about something unimportant involving boundaries.

After a long day of sitting around in school with my new friends, I took the bus home. I kept a close eye on the things outside to make sure I would successfully get off at the right stop. Agata happened to be waiting for me outside at the bus stop. She was eating at the restaurant a block away from the stop. I joined her and Aga at the restaurant for dinner. I finally got to eat American pasta! I scarfed down the spaghetti Bolognese that was covered in delicious cheese.

I was distracted by the delicious meal in front of me when my host mom called Agata. Apparently my headmaster called my host mom to tell her, “I would like Stephanie and Sunny to stay with me and my family in my lake house for a weekend.” He is known to taking exchange students to his house. My host mom, Agata, and I definitely were skeptical about this proposal. I am not comfortable sleeping in my headmaster of school’s house by a private lake. My host mom told my headmaster that she needs more information before we agree to anything. This offer is a HUGE red flag because in America teachers have strict boundaries when meeting children outside of school, especially a principal! I am definitely not in Jersey anymore.

Around 6 pm we finished dinner and took the bus over to the plaza. Aga went home but Ania took the bus with us. The movie theater is positioned in the mall (plaza) on the top floor. At the bottom floor of the plaza is a grocery store. When purchasing tickets for a movie, it is smart to make a reservation because you have more input on the seats you are given. In America you can choose any seat but in Poland you are assigned a certain seat. The seating in the movie theater also goes towards the ceiling dramatically like narrow steps.

The movie “Jobs” was disappointing because it ended at 2001 instead of extended to 2013 when he died. It was sad when he didn’t want anything to do with his own child. Having friends and family makes a person happier rather than improving your invention.

After the movie Ania went home and Aga met us at the plaza. Agata, Aga and I walked to the hookah bar nearby. I drank a Malibu which is vodka, grenadine, orange juice, and milk. It was very sweet and I didn’t even taste the vodka. We ordered a hookah with the flavoring of mixed fruits. Hookah doesn’t do anything to my body like alcohol. It is just flavored tobacco/water vapor going in and out of my body. This bar was pretty interesting because in the back was a disco playing loud, popular music. I also tried warm beer that had cinnamon and oranges. That beer was really good and will be perfect for the cold weather.

At 1:30 am we finally got home from the bar. Seems like such a bad day to have such great fun.

Stephanie Raquel

9/10/13

I took the bus for the first time with Agata to school. My first class was Spanish at 11:30 am. The bus ride is super long and I stay on there for 30 minutes. I even ended up being late for Spanish class by 10 minutes. The Spanish teacher speaks no English so Agata came into school to explain why I was late. The kids in my class then had to explain the activities we were learning. I could answer most of the questions on the worksheets but the teacher always called on me to give my answer for the problems I didn’t have an answer for. It was super frustrating and embarrassing.

After a 2 hour break between my classes, I attended English where I only wrote in my journal. The kids are learning very easy lessons in class and my teacher told me not to come to class anymore because it is a waste of my time. Sunny needs help translating words because the teacher doesn’t know how to explain terms in basic English words. Students also ask me for help in their assignments but I can’t attend class anymore.

I took bus 29 home at 4:59 pm for the first time, alone. When I passed Ania’s street, I knew I had to get off soon but I wasn’t sure what stop. My stop came and went with me still on the bus. The bus stopped about 20 minutes away from my stop and the driver kicked me off because I was the last one left on the bus. I called Agata because I had no idea where I was. Agata told me to stay where I was and wait for her to call back. That is when I called my dad in New Jersey. It was super upsetting to know I already got lost in Lublin and it’s my 4^th day in the city. Kids also told me I live in a bad neighborhood so I was becoming nervous while standing there. Almost all exchange students get lost at least once during the exchange, but I was hoping my experience would be postponed for another few weeks. My dad told me his story about how him and my mom got lost in Italy for a few hours and completely lost their way. This made me feel better because it happens to everyone. Plus I have a great host family who will help me find my way when I am lost.

My (grandma) Babcia Maria ended up finding me after 15 minutes and she embraced me in a huge hug. She was waving from down the street and I could see her orange hair blowing in the breeze. She is such a sweet lady! We couldn’t communicate with each other because she only speaks Polish and I don’t know many polish words yet. But we didn’t need words to communicate, our heart talked to each other as well as my hand gestures. She ended up walking me back to her house where she fed me a large meal. In front of her apartment she kept repeating building 6 flat number 39. It was an invitation that I am welcome to see her whenever I want. When I sat on the couch, Babcia Maria called Agata telling her to translate Polish to me. Agata said, “Babcia Maria wants to feed you cabbage soup and won’t let you go home until you eat it.” I of course agreed because after all these new experiences today, I was starving. I ate purple cabbage soup, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes with a few pickles. I haven’t been this stuffed in weeks. It feels good to be full for once. I tried my best to communicate hoe grateful I was to her and I think I did pretty good.

My grandfather was super proud when he came into the kitchen and started saying numbers in English. He had a grin on his face reaching from ear to ear. “One, two, three, four, five!” For tomorrow my grandfather will be waiting for me at the bus stop to make sure I get off at the right one. Everyone in my family is super helpful!

Apparently my other grandfather (my mom’s father) was waiting for me at the bus stop because he was also worried I didn’t get off at the right stop. Since I never came home around 6 pm, he was waiting there for me. My family is truly wonderful for worrying so much about me. Tomorrow I really hope I get it right!

When my mom came to pick me up from the flat, she came inside with a huge smirk on her face. Communication sucks between us and we aren’t close at all. Sometimes I even think she hates me or is annoyed at the fact I am living in her house for the year. She also has this nervous laugh that makes me upset. But this time when she laughed at me, I just kept a big, innocent smile on my face to show I was sorry and you shouldn’t be made at me for losing my way.

Tonight I finally Skyped with my friends back at home. They are all doing really good with college and at home. I find it silly though when my friends say they are homesick because Rutgers is only 2 hours from home. I am a 10 hour flight from home and about 4,000 miles. I am extremely homesick especially after losing my way in Lublin. I never understand what being homesick meant until I went on exchange.

Stephanie Raquel