First Day

Today was the first day of classes.  I awoke to an email from my mother saying, "It's a school night."  So she continues the streak.  Class went well, quite a long day but the classes seem good.  Mostly review.  Many of the young kids were fairly lost when we went over organic chemistry because in the states chemistry is strictly taught inorganically in high school.

It was very interesting having instructors teach these subjects in their second language.  I commend them!  There are a lot of ehhh or ummms as they think of what to say but that is very impressive nonetheless.  One thing I noticed today was the size of the paper.  All the handouts we received were larger than 8.5 x 11in.  It was more like 9.5 x 12.

I was going to get one of these cooked half or full chickens from the P and P store.  It is Pawel i Pietor, or P and P for short, but the did not have any.  Looks like I'll have to go next door and get more pasta with meat sauce.  I did get one of the elusive books and an upper classmate will let me borrow her other two.  Time to eat and relax before another long day tomorrow.

School Night

Today is what my mother would call a "School Night."  Slightly bummed that she hasn't said that to me yet.  I can confidently say she has told me that EVERY night before a new year of school.  Today nothing really went on except for a book sale that got interrupted by some showers.  I went to try to find at least one of the three books I will need for the next few weeks, but unfortunately I was unsuccessful.  I asked some other upperclassmen I know for their old ones and I'm waiting for a reply.  I can get two of them at the local bookstore and one, the most expensive, I have located online but many places do not ship to Poland.  This girl I know did not have any luck finding the right books either, so I'm not the only one.  I do have an hour break between classes, which I will use to hunt down these elusive books.  Many people got some books for the year but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.  The bookstore has a lot of used books, decently priced as well so I did not feel the need to rush.  Here is a video of the room that is feeling more and more like home.  We still need to eat better and do better cooking.  Maybe I should speak for myself because Dennis cooks these interesting stews.

 My apologies to the angle of this video.  During this post, Dennis made his dinner and put some stew on pasta, topped with a hard boiled egg.  I was able to capture him preparing one of his famous dishes.  Yummy?

Time to get ready for the day tomorrow and go to bed early tonight.  

Do widzenia

Sunday

Woke up and did the thing I normally do first, check out sport scores and news.  Looks like the Angels lost Mike Napoli also.  Fuentes hurled a 1 out save yesterday.  I slept pretty well last night on my new pillow.  Today will consist of getting prepared for class tomorrow.  I got out all my notebooks and pens.  At the REAL store yesterday I did confirm the notion that in Poland you cannot find notebooks with lined paper.  All the paper in these notebooks is graph paper.  Strange.  The weather looks to be quite wet the rest of this week.

I'm actually kind of looking forward to class.  It's been since the fall of '08.  It'll be nice to keep busy with these classes and should be cool as one of the older students.  The 6-year program I hear is at a slower pace than the 4-year.  I've spoken to second years in the 4 year program and they say I should do great with the pace considering the educational background I've had.

Good End to a Good Day

We have recently set up our wifi in the room so now I can hook into it with my iPhone and use this very amazing MLB application where I can listen to every game.  Laying in bed listening to the Tigers vs Blue Jays game is a great way to end the day.

Good Night

REAL

Today we went to the REAL store.  It is much like a Target, you can get anything and everything in there.

Some say this is a statue of male fertility.  Can you see it?

On the few kilometer walk to REAL, we walked along one of the main roads that is being redone for the Euro Cup.  There were no barricades, signs, cones, or anything prohibiting us from walking in their construction zone and everyone does.  In America if I trip on a stone they had out I could sue and probably win a pretty penny saying they didn't tell me to be aware of the construction.  I like this relaxed atmosphere here.

It really is like a huge Target.

The roommate Dennis Adjpong.  Not very happy as his debit card was just declined.  

Upon leaving the store, it was pouring but also blue sky was visible.  Typical unpredictable Poland weather.

Precourse

Precourse is pretty much academic boot camp.  I think it's designed to filter out the weak ones.  I heard that the grades do not really count and a lot of people don't go to many of the classes.  Here is my schedule:

0800-0930 Chemistry
0945-1115 Polish
1130-1300 Chemistry
1330-1500 Physics
1715-1845 Biology

Luckily all the classes are in the Collegium Stomatologicum on 70 Bukowska Street.  That is right around the block from my dorm so it will be very accessible.  Here is a shot from inside the building.  My classes will be held on the third floor basically opposite this photo.

I've had a little trouble finding the books.  There is a website medicalbooks.pl that is the official store to purchase our books but I can't find exact matches to the titles and you cannot search very well on that site.  One is sold out too.  I'm going to see what others are doing then make some choices on which to get and where to get them.  

My roommate right now is cooking some interesting stew with items that he purchased at a very dirty roadside merchant.  The store AND the food was pretty dirty, I am not going to eat that.  Especially if he adds anchovies to it.  That was number 1 on his grocery list.  He actually searched for the cheapest anchovies from the grocery store and got them, they were 3zl or $1.  I feel that fish products are worth spending a little extra on.  I've found a nice Italian place close to my room.  It's good to get some warm food, you can only eat so many sandwiches and ramen bowls.

I'd also like to say farewell to Angels closer Brian Fuentes.  I finally do not have to watch you blow games.  

I just received a text message during this post.  I will share it with you:

Witaj w Orange POP. Tylko z tym starterem mozesz SMSowac za 1gr w Orange przez 3 miesiace.  Wyslij SMSa o tresci BONUS pod nr 268 (koszt SMS w Orange).  Translate anyone?

Speaking of the Polish language...  I will attempt to record my roommate during one of his Rosetta Stone lessons.  And I thought I sounded funny trying to speak Polish.  

Freshman Party

Last night we had the annual freshman party at the Club Eskulap.  It's behind the dormitory Eskulap and it's University owned.  I went with a couple friends and it was actually very fun.  Some good music, singing, and dancing.  After that, it was one of my friends' 22nd birthday so we went downtown near the Stary Rynek to this club Chocolat.  The clubs and bars here don't close at all.  You can dance and drink 'til the morning.  We ended up leaving around 5am.  Good times.

I've noticed here in Poland that they amount of money for items is the same, but just difference currency.  5 for a beer, 7 for a pasta dinner at a take out place,  3.50 for gas, 20 for a round of drinks, etc.  But it's just the dollar in the states and the zloty here in Poland so the amount is divided by 3.  Very convenient.

I got my phone's SIM card yesterday.  Not sure exactly what I purchased as there was a language barrier during the transaction but I got something that went in my phone and now I can call.  The carrier is Orange, which is the best in Poland from what I gather.  Who knows how many minutes or texts I have one it.  Today I might go to Ikea, depending on how the birthday boy is feeling this morning.  It might be nice to get a pillow and some silverware/dishes.  Tonight there is an annual pub crawl for incoming freshman.  Might have to twist my arm to attend that one!

Yum

First beer consumed.  The label is backwards... well for all I know it could be the right way. 

First Important Purchase

Just purchased my first Polish beer, Lech.

Mmmm

School and City Tour

Today was a very long and exhausting day, I don't know if I'll have much energy for the Freshman Party later.. oh yess I will!  We were led by upper classmen around parts of the school, those that we most likely will need to know.  We then went into the Stary Rynek (Town Square) and got a tour from an actual Poznan tour guide.  The group started big then people kept dropping like flies and it ended up being only myself and a guy from Sweden and another from New Jersey.  Roughly a 5 hour walking day on cobblestone, which is pretty demanding.

Here is my bed.  It is roughly 2 inches thick.  The sheets don't fit properly.  As you can see there is a few inches on each side that is sheetless.  I placed the blanked on the sheet to add comfort.  My pillow I smash into a little ball so it supports my head.  It is a square pillow that is so soft that when you put your head on it, your head basically hits the bed.  At least I have a bed though.

This is a DDS (dental) building that we will be having our precourse classes in.  These classes are the first month that consist of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Polish.  It is from about 8am-6pm for 3 and a half weeks.  I hear the classes themselves are fairly easy, high school caliber, but it is designed mostly to scare us.  Although supposedly the actual classes we take are more laid back and the hours are much better.  Inside this building is as great as the outside of it.

Oh no a roundabout, watch out for the Hicks' driving through, at least here they drive on the right side of the road.

This is freedom square.  It's located down the street from the Stary Rynek.  The visa building, museum, and other important Polish buildings are located here.  

Today it rained off and on.  Nothing too severe but luckily I had my umbrella my mom insisted I brought.  I do love the greenery and moss that these amounts of annual rainfall bring.

Back at the Stary Rynek.  It is still as amazing as it was the first time.  Notice the digital numbers in the left side of the screen.  This is a countdown to the Euro Cup in 2012.  652 days 3 hours 54 minutes and 19 seconds left!

Lovely statue here.  I spy an even more lovely Polish lady sitting on the stairs.

And the rain begins.  There was a wedding taking place to my right during this, I wonder how that went.

Here is one of the churches close to the Stary Rynek.  It was build in the 1500s and took 100 years to complete.  The structure took 50 years and those pillars you see look like marble.  When you touch them they are not as cold as typical marble; they are actually a fake marble composite that took a long time to get perfect.  The other 50 years took to decorate it inside.  It's one of handful of churches in a special cultural church group throughout Europe.  

Here is a video from inside the church.  It was really incredible.  The ceiling looks like a dome that was painted.  It actually is a painting of a dome, which does a very good job at fooling the eye.

In 1736 the Poznan flooded and the square flooded up to this marker, roughly 5 feet high. 

The view from atop a park looking over the town.

 

Another very beautiful church atop this hill.  The outside looks like a normal building but when you go into it, it's a very different story.  

When people stepped up into their seats (photo on right) they would step on top of the dragons of sin to enter the aisle.  

Saw this on the street.  "Welcome to Poland" it says.  Somewhat visible ( I was sparing you guys, believe me) is an old lady naked with blood on her knees and a horrifying face.  There supposedly is an 'abnormal nudes' show that is here.  Will definitely NOT be seeing that one!

This is the Jesuit college.  It was the first higher education center in Poznan.  

Throughout the city are enormous university buildings.  You could easily mistake them for small castles like the one I posted a few days ago that was built for Hitler.  We actually have one right next door to that that looks very similar.  It will be somewhat daunting taking the tram into town at 8am in the snow for biophysics...

I am learning the lay of the land and could probably make it back and forth from the dorms to the Stary Rynek successfully.  I need to rest up for the party tonight that is held in a university owned club that is connected to the big dorm Eskulap.  

Orientation

Sorry no pictures so far today.  We met at 0840 and walked to one of the Auditoriums for our initial orientation meeting.  We had numerous speakers from the heads of the medical departments welcoming us to the university and wishing us luck on this journey, very cool!  The auditorium was absolutely gorgeous, it was clean, enormous, technologically amazing, the whole 9 yards.  We also had people speak who were historians, border authorities regarding our visas, bookstore owners, etc.  Basically everyone that we will be in touch with though the year gave us information that will be useful.  The Polish history is amazing and very sad.  We all know how Poland was throughout the Wars, but there other events that most people don't know.  For instance, Poland was divided and split up a few different times so basically erase Poland as a whole.  No fighting, just politics.  After some rebellion Poland regained identity but had it stripped away again in a similar fashion.  Only very recently did it gain its independence after it was 'given' to Russia following WWII.

Now at home I will need to read everything again and get the dates down.  Tomorrow we will be traveling to the city and throughout the school so hopefully more pictures.

Do Widzenia!

Tour of the City

Today I got up and accompanied my roommate back to the Dean's office as he is trying to find out if and when he can leave go to back home until his program starts and also if he could miss the first year.  We will find out this weekend.  On the way back I saw a Caucasian man mowing the lawn of our dorms, can't say I've seen that too much.  We met up with some friends and all walked downtown to the city square.  It's supposedly one of the best in Europe and I agree!

The weather has began to cool off some and began to get very windy.  The next couple days are supposed to be rainy.

We walked by the Biology building to PUMS (Poznan University of Medical Sciences), very nice!

Underneath this is an underground mall.  It is very weird but has a variety of shops.

This square is significant because it is the first place in Poland where the people resisted the invaders during WWII.  They have a statue and a cross that you can see on the left of the photo.

Here is a nice park just beside the place where the Polish rebelled.

This castle was built for Hitler during the war.  This balcony was also built as a speaking platform when he needed to address the Polish people.  

Here is a photo from inside.  We were not supposed to take pictures so consider yourselves lucky!  Strange that Hitler walked these halls.

Continuing to our final destination we walked by these large streets with many cool buildings.

another photo

Is my brother behind the wheel of this bus?

This town square was absolutely amazing.  It had cobblestone everywhere and very old buildings that were so cool!  It was literally a square with restaurants and stores in the middle so you could walk around the perimeter.  

We then went to a mall that was one of the largest in the world called the Stary Browar.  We got a wireless router so now we can both use the internet instead of swapping the ethernet cable back and forth!  After that we didn't want to walk all the way back so we got a 2zl ticket for the tram back towards our school.  

A long but great day.  Now we have a question and answer session as our first part of orientation.

Until next time.

Walk to the Dean's Office

My roommate had a few questions for the Dean so I joined him on a short walk to the Dean's Office taking a few pictures along the way.

My ID card: stapled photo and stamped university name and address

Some Polish Zloty (proper spelling has a line through the l) From one cent to 2 zloty in coins.  The exchange is 3:1 zloty:dollar.

A photo of our dorm room with many Christmas trees around it

A nearby hospital

Picture taken down the street Polna

Poznan is the best medical school is Poland!

Second day

Woke up from about 12 hours of sleep on a 1 inch mattress.  Ok maybe it's two, but not too comfortable.  I also have a large pillow that is so soft it is almost useless but I just have to fold it two or three times for it to support my head.  My roommate kept waking up to talk to his wife and son in Virginia.  He is from Ghana and speaks this wild Ghanian language that sounds really wild.  Kind of like listening to his talk.  Today I will explore the city and get my ID card.  My roomie and I went to the supermarket yesterday and it's very close and has a lot of items in it, which is going to be very convenient.  I should post more pictures of the city later.

Arrival!

thank you mother for the great photo

Just arrived in Poland.  It was a long but swell flight.  The Poznan airport had 2 small commercial planes and one small private plane and that's it.  There is a lot of construction going on as the country gets ready for the 2012 Eurocup.  I have a roommate who my dad and I met during the interview in NY.  He is doing the pharmacy program but might leave and start next year as there are some credits that he can get transfered (then I might get the room to myself) The room is fairly small but a lot of places to put your stuff.  There is one jack for the internet that comes and goes but it's been ok on my computer so far. Fingers crossed it continues to be this way.  Tomorrow I have all day to hangout and the next is orientation.  I am exhausted as I did not sleep much on the plane.