Memories in Poland

Europe is known to be a very romantic place in the world and I've proven that, so to speak. I may fail to do my rounds in the whole parts of Europe, to say the least, but the experiential I had could not be traded.
Going there isn't easy, I went to a rigid & thorough way of working my papers; in other words -  it took me a year before I completely have done & got my final flying.
Hopelessness, frustrations were among that weakens me at times & the long waiting could almost unbearable. Henceforth, I landed in a country that never popped out in my mind.

A walled city in Warsaw.

Old Town, Warsaw (my fave place in Warsaw)

Warsaw University

Long before I got my voluntary job in Poland, its name was already a recognized place as the killing fields of a massive murder of Jews, Gypsies, and other European races who went up against Nazism's horrendous occupation. Thanks to the movies I've had seen (like Surviving Sobibor, Schindler's List, The Pianist, and The Diary of Anne Frank book) which the facade of Poland's past history was enough an emblematic of what I expected about the country, of course exceptionally apart from its culture, environment and the weather.

 An American Jew who survived the Holocaust...I was emotional while she was sharing her story.

Among the kids being experimented on by the Nazis.

at Auschwitz Concentration camp, where the Jews and others were being kept till the war ended.

Lo, Poland was the most damaged country during WWII still the atmospheric picture of what is known to be Europe's romanticism has remained as it is.
The structure of the buildings is so immensely grandeur & elaborate. The surroundings are lushed, bordering the sprawl of colorful vegetation when Spring comes.

An ordinary type of Tulips in Poland.

Old Town market in Warsaw.

Among the grandeur churches in Poland.

Colorful buildings are so common here.

It was only in Poland that I got the full chance to experience the four seasons which I had been dreaming to see and feel about. I saw how they constantly change from freezing snowy to the rebirth of plants from its long hibernation down to a warm sunny to a crisp cooler foliage autumnal season.
Psychologically, I noticed the season also affects people's moods, caused by the changes in the weather that shifted their behavior. It was also in Poland that I was racially being stared at head over heels. People would keep their distance & they looked steadily at me with wonder & curiosity. At first, it was offensive & annoying that it came to a point that I was becoming so conscious of myself when someone glued their eyes on you wherever you go, but I adjusted after a while upon realizing that I'm a colored person surrounded by white & blondes.
And that made me so proud of my color anyhow as Asian and as Filipino.

Summer in Poland, with fellow Pinoys.

Autumn in Poland.

My winter chill in Poland

Springtime in Poland.

My voluntary teaching in Poland was a great avenue to prove that I could practically manage European kids. It was quietly tough & challenging too. Been educating foreign kids since I was in the pinnacle of my graduating year in College, & that gave me a fuller maturity in handling foreign students. Teaching Polish kids was so hard at first because of the Asian background I have plus the classroom management I used to do was based also on Asian culture and beliefs. Yet, the feeling of being with them on the other hand was so glorious to celebrate as both parties were so naive about each other's differences.
Nevertheless, I believe that I have done my part as a teacher and praying that they had absorbed it, would be so mightily happy seeing them successful in their lives when they grow up.

My primary students as they had their Polish lesson.

My students, the one who covered her face was half Polish-British, and Maja a mixed-blood Polish too.

Lastly, life would be so boring without Pinoys around you. Indeed, wherever you go around the sphere there's always Filipino..it could be so unhomely without Filipino friends around. To sum it all, I really do love Poland, and I am praying that God would pave the way for me to go back there or somewhere in Europe. There's no place like Europe, so to speak. I have drawn to their romantic places and food so as the weather.

Among my closest pal..

with the two sexiest during Phils. Independence Day in the Phil. Embassy

Was Featured in a School Promotions in Poland

I was featured in a Christian Primary School- School of Montessori in Poland with my co-Filipino teacher.
The school was trying to promote its new curriculum program about making its Bilingual school as a School of Montessori.
'Am just happy that the school has trusted me to teach in the school though I don't have much skills on handling kids.

Auschwitz Concentration Camp – Visit

Was blog absent for over a considerable number of days, our internet connection at home is disconnected still - the reason I was inconspicuous online. Amid that, I was on a long weekend holiday in Krakow southern part of Poland for four days. My long weekend vacation was ungratifying as I’d say it, four days weren’t enough which Krakow has so many sightseers to offer and one of that is the WW II historical place Auschwitz. It is only one hour & a half by bus from the center of the city of Krakow which the fare was as low as 20 zlote back & forth. There’s a lot of tour guide agencies in the city that offers good services, charging 125 zlote for adults and 105 for students going to the most visited tourist place in Poland.
Upon knowing that it’s possible to travel to Auschwitz without a tour guide, I immediately went off to the bus station early at 7 in the morning to be an early bird. It took me an hour curiously observing around since I didn’t know whom to approach & everything was in Polish like the signs and schedule. My desire to investigate & learn had led me directly to look for a bus departing for Auschwitz. Rightly then, I found my way boarded on a bus with fellow foreign visitors. As we closely arrived, I could see far-off the principal face of the Concentration Camp I - was already rounded with buses, cars, and tourists. In spite of the bad weather ( it was raining & partly freezing) it didn’t prevent us to see the so-called death camp. To get a bird’s eye view of the camp & a way of looking at its brief history, everyone has to go through a film screening about the holocaust though it wasn’t a must. If you are a lone traveler & wish to go around refusing to join an English group tour without staying much longer is the easiest way. Or you could go around by yourself renting a walkman type of radio with recorded voices on it in different languages to feel the holocaust history deeply while wandering around. The tour of Auschwitz Camp I begins by passing beneath a replica of the infamous ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ ( Work Makes You Free) entrance gate, which is oxymoronic because nobody was freed instead ended up in a gas chamber.

On entering the camp, the feeling of aghast & mostly disturbing was indeed incomprehensible, observing along with the circuits of the camp, goggling the notable pictures inside the barracks that was once an atrociously dwelling place of the victims of holocaust was an extravagantly pathetic experienced I had on my travels, that sometimes in the history of mankind a horrendous mass slaughter took place.

The most stirring part of emotions was meeting up close to a holocaust survivor while I was blending with the American-Jewish High School students by chance inside the barracks. Everyone became so tacit when an old lady stood up in the midst of the crowd introducing herself while we were staring at a huge picture of the Jewish kids framed with burb wire around. The entire room was completely mounted with emotions, tears were visibly seen on every cheek of the spectators (including myself) while listening to her tear-jerking story of how she survived the pangs of death and cruelty inside the camp. Without getting the chance to pass – I asked her several questions & of course taking pictures with her.

A tour guide pointed to the picture of the holocaust survivor.

Another gooseflesh scene was inside the gas chamber, I could feel the pain & agony of those innocent lives exterminated inside the incinerator. That’s when the group of American-Jewish students and their guardians started to emit a long uncontrollable doleful sound of cry while inside the gas chamber offering a prayer and a chant in remembering their ancestors. I honestly felt restless being inside the incinerator looking at every nook and cranny of the small dark room imagining how those 350 Jews cramming inside with fear helplessly without the chance to escape. The walls, ceilings, and the fume still marked the dark soot of incinerated souls of both kids & adults when they were forcibly thrust to get in the gas chamber.

I didn’t expect in my life that I could get a quick vis-a-vis of a holocaust survivor on that day, of course getting the opportunity to visit Auschwitz was a rare chance. My attention grew even more greatly to learn about the holocaust. This summer vacation here in Europe, paying a second visit to Auschwitz is a primary option in mind aside from trekking to other concentration camps close to Warsaw like Treblinka & Sobibor.

International Pillow Fight Day in Warsaw - Poland

Obviously, I haven't posted any recently not just because I wanted to build the anticipation but I was in the hiatus for a while, just for awhile. April 2, was a special day for the Polish people in Warsaw the capital city and to some countries participating this Pillow Fight Day.
Since it's already spring and the weather is perfect for any outdoor events. The weather is warm, sunny and a bit cool, so no winter coats are needed. So,the plaza in Warsaw was filled with participants and expectators,I had no idea till a message posted in Couch Surfing forum inviting everyone to participate or simply watch the event. I took my camera with me to take some shots proving that I was there.
I met familiar faces from Warsaw Couch Surfing chapter, we had a little chit chat and taking pictures. The festival as they may say it lasted for 1 hour only, of course, who would like to be hit by a pillow for long hours. According to the event website:

One of our goals is to make these unique happenings in public space become a significant part of popular culture, partially replacing passive, non-social consumption experiences like watching television, and consciously celebrating public spaces in our cities as our “urban living rooms.” The result, we hope, will be a global community of participants in a world where people are constantly organizing and attending these happenings in every major city in the world.

A GLIMPSE OF THE OLD TOWN (CITY OF WARSAW)

Last Sunday (Feb.20) I was in Warsaw again with my housemate to get a full glimpse of the city's pride the Old Town. As it was also my housemate's desire to see the Old Town, I toured her around in the midst of a snowy cold Sunday.
I thought, there'd be few visitors on that Sunday around the Old Town but it was filled with both locals & foreign visitors.