Preliminary results indicate that Civic Platform (PO), led by Donald Tusk, leads the voting with approximately 42% of the total. The ruling Law and Order party (PiS) trails with 32%. The Left and Democrats (LiD) coalition and Polish Peoples' Party (PSL) received about 13% and 9% respectively. Other, smaller parties make up the remainder. Articles detailing the results can be found at CNN and Al Jazeera.
This means that Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the current prime minister, will be replaced by Donald Tusk. Kaczynski's twin brother and current president of Poland, Lech, will not be up for reelection until 2010. The PO is most likely to join with the PSL in order to form the necessary coalition for a stable government.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Election Day
National elections are being held today that will decide the makeup of Parliament for the coming years. Every single seat in both houses of Parliament, 100 in the Senate and 460 in the Sejm, will be up for grabs. Articles about it are available at CNN and Al Jazeera.
In short, the ruling coalition led by the Law and Justice Party (PiS) broke apart, forcing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski to call elections two years early. PiS, a nationalist, right-center party, is being challenged by the less conservative Civic Platform (PO) and a coalition of leftist parties called the Left and Democrats (LiD). LiD is led by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and contains former communist elements. Also in the running are the Polish People's (or Peasants', depending on where you are) Party (PSL), the League of Polish Families (LPR), the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland party (SRP), and the Polish Labor Party (PPP).
More information on the election is available at Wikipedia, though I will post the results when they come in.
In short, the ruling coalition led by the Law and Justice Party (PiS) broke apart, forcing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski to call elections two years early. PiS, a nationalist, right-center party, is being challenged by the less conservative Civic Platform (PO) and a coalition of leftist parties called the Left and Democrats (LiD). LiD is led by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and contains former communist elements. Also in the running are the Polish People's (or Peasants', depending on where you are) Party (PSL), the League of Polish Families (LPR), the Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland party (SRP), and the Polish Labor Party (PPP).
More information on the election is available at Wikipedia, though I will post the results when they come in.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wrocław
Our bus departed the hotel around 7:30 am. I managed to pass out for most of the uneventful five-hour drive to Wrocław. After our arrival, we had little time to rest before being rushed from our housing to Wrocław University's Academy of Fine Arts, which contains a small cafeteria, where our lunch was waiting. Lunch was followed by a lecture by the rector of the University on the history of higher education in Poland. Dinner was at the same place as lunch. After walking around the city a little, I walked back to my room and well asleep at the uncharacteristically-Will hour of 8:30 pm.
At the end of World War II, the borders of Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union were shifted by the Potsdam Agreement. Poland gained Prussia, Silesia, and Western Pomerania from Germany while losing its eastern third to the Soviets. With the territorial change came the forced resettlement of ethnic groups to their "native" states. Breslau, one of Germany's largest population centers, was rechristened Wrocław (pronounced "Vraught-swav;" the 't' is very soft) and the German population was shipped out, and Poles from the newly-Soviet areas in the east(primarily from the city that is now L'viv, Ukraine) moved in.
Though Wrocław was heavily bombed during the war, there is little remaining evidence. The many churches and historical buildings have all been rebuilt. The city reminds me a lot of Krakow, which I visited last year when I was studying in Prague. At the center of the city is the Rynek, a large square closed to traffic. Ringing the Rynek are restaurants, coffee shops, night clubs, and flower stands if it is the right time of year. The Rynek is only slightly smaller than Krakow's Main Market Square. In the center of the Rynek is both the new town hall and the beautiful old town hall, while several cathedrals reside off to the sides.
While in Wrocław, our time was strictly regimented. On weekdays, there were Polish language lessons during the mornings. Though there were a broad range of abilities, Fulbright group was divided into beginners and not-beginners. In the afternoon were lectures on various subjects. Some examples of these lectures include "Highlights of Polish History," "National Polish Minorities in Poland," "Polish-German Relations, and "Subjective geography of Polish Music." The Polish lessons and lectures were held in Wrocław University's Faculty of Philology. The lectures ranged in quality. Most of the group, myself included, already knew a fair amount of Polish history so these lectures held less interest for us. The English ability of the lecturers also made some of the lectures hard to follow. The amount of time spent in a classroom everyday was slightly overwhelming, especially when you are still adjusting to a new time zone. I found myself skipping certain lectures and I certainly wasn't the only one.
On a side note, if you are wondering about national minorities in Poland, there aren't any. Following the forced resettlement and territorial shifts of WW2, Poland is one of the most homogeneous nations in the world. Minorities make up less than one percent of the entire population.
The Poles are sort of like hobbits when it comes to food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided everyday, as well as a mid-morning snack and maybe an afternoon one. Breakfast consisted mostly of bread, cheese, and meat and was served at our residence, the Dom Studencki Ołówek (it is the tall building in the picture and, yes, it is a student dormitory). Lunch and dinner were at the Academy of Fine Arts. Lunch is largest meal of the day and soups and potatoes are staples of meals. Once someone found out that I was vegetarian, the kitchen staff began preparing something special for me as the main entrees were usually meat.
As I mentioned before, we were housed in the student dormitory, the Dom Studencki Ołówek. It is about a 25-30 minute walk from where classes and lectures were held. I had my own room on the sixth floor, but I shared a suite (kitchen and bath) with another Fulbrighter. The room was probably meant to hold two students, so I had plenty of room.
A note, the next section on my weekend is best read while viewing my pictures of Wrocław. Contrary to the way the images load, you will wish to start with picture 001.
On Saturday, September 22, we were taken on a day trip around Wrocław. The first stop was the Church of Peace (Kościół Pokoju) in nearby Świdnica. The church is a very early Protestant church. It is built entirely of wood (stone wasn't allowed) and richly decorated inside. It reminded me far more of a Catholic church than any Protestant church I've ever seen. The next stop was Włodarz, a former Nazi site. None of the group is really sure why this was included in the trip. Włodarz consists of a grid of tunnels dug into a mountainside. That's it. No one knows what the Nazis did there. The tour guide for Włodarz kept saying statements like, "It could be a small Nazi headquarters...or it could be a chemical weapons factory! V2 rocket research! Hitler and Eva Braun's secret love nest!" In truth, Włodarz was far too small (both in overall size and the size of the tunnels) to be anything important. The most exciting (or scary...) part of the tour was when the entire tour group was herded into three boats and, propelled via arm strength and a rope on the ceiling, along flooded tunnels to a larger chamber and back again. I ended up in the heaviest boat and was not really looking forward to falling in 50 degree water.
Lunch was at an old estate at Morawa and was quite delicious. The estate originally belonged to a German family who fled the approach of the Red Army at the end of WW2. After the fall of communism, one of the children who grew up in the house restored the estate, and currently operates a kindergarten out of it. The estate serves meals to tourist groups to help raise revenue. The child who restored the estate is now a very well-spoken, elderly (and probably quad-lingual) German woman. She, through a Fulbrighter fluent in German, told us the history of the estate and her family. Amusingly, the elderly woman would break into English to correct a wrong translation by the Fulbrighter. Following lunch, I sat around on the playground and chatted with the husband of a Fulbrighter and father of two of the young children who were present.
Dinner followed on the tails of lunch and was at the Museum of Industry and Railway in Jaworzyna Śląska. The museum is actually an old train yard lined with train engines. The owner/operator also had a collection of motorcycles (primarily US, but also others). He seemed far more interested in his motorcycles than his trains. We received a tour of both the motorcycles and the trains. I made friends with a rather dirty black and white cat wandering among the trains. I also got a workout on one of those little hand-powered rail carts. After we returned to Wrocław around 8:30 pm, a large number of us went to the bar/club across the street from our dormitory for drinks and conversation.
On Sunday, we were given a guided walking tour of the city center. The tour started at the main building of the University. In that building is the Aula Leopoldina, where important ceremonial functions of the University are held. The room absolutely screams "Hapsburg" in its decoration. The building also has a tower offering a wonderful view of the city and a small museum about the University. Church services let out while we were on the tower. It was quite beautiful looking out across the city with bells ringing and people streaming into the streets.
Following the University's main building, we walked the streets towards the Rynek, passing several gnomes and the Church of St. Elisabeth. As it was Sunday, we did not enter any of the cathedrals. You might be wondering about the gnomes. The truth is, I can't really remember what their purpose is. There are many gnomes around the old town in various poses and they apparently have large theft and damage insurance policies on them. After walking through the Rynek, we went to the park near the Academy of Fine Arts and the monument to Katyń massacre. Our tour ended on the banks of the Odra River, looking across to Sand and Cathedral Islands.
The Katyń massacre refers to the execution of 22,000 Polish citizens by Soviets following the 1939 invasion in which the Soviet Union split Poland with Nazi Germany. The executed were Polish POWs and intelligentsia. The Soviets accused the Germans for Katyń and did not officially admit responsibility until 1990. You might have heard something about Katyń in the States. It has been the news lately because the director of an upcoming Polish movie about Katyń accused the government of moving the celebration/remembrance of the event in order to raise nationalist feelings that would benefit the controlling PiS party in the upcoming election.
The rest of my week consisted primarily of the schedule I detailed earlier. On Wednesday, our group was taken to the Panorama Racławicka. The Panorama is an enormous circular painting that resides in its own building. The painting is of a famous battle in 1794 following the the second partition of Polish territory in which a Polish army led by Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Pole who fought in the American Revolution with distinction, defeated an occupying Russian army. Panorama of this style are supposed to bring the viewers into the painting and this one was so good it was dizzying. 3D effects were added by extending the bottom of painting towards the viewers (i.e., real fences were extended from painted fences). Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures.
That evening, we were invited to a jazz club by our University attache, a student with the very Polish name of Sandra Schindler. No jazz was played at the club the two times I was there. The first night there was a blues rock band playing a lot of Rolling Stones' covers and American 70s rock. When I was there again on Friday night, the band, who were pretty much the same people as before, was playing more bluesy stuff (hard blues and southern rock as opposed to 70s blues rock).
On Thursday, I skipped lecture to buy my train ticket. I figured I'd screw it up if I waited till the morning off my departure. I showed the clerk a print out of the exact train and day I wanted and was sold a ticket. Then, reading the ticket, I realized that it was for Friday and not Saturday (tickets are good for one day). I then had to find an English speaking teller to change my ticket. I was also charged a 15% surcharge to change it even though it was their fault in the first place. Needless to say, I was little annoyed.
The next day after the closing ceremony, the group went out for dinner at a pizza place. Everyone had a good time talking to each other even though we did annoy the manager with the size of our group. Following dinner, I went to a bar and the jazz club again with a smaller group, not returning until past 2 am. I got about 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up in order to catch my train to Gdansk at 7:15 am.
At the end of World War II, the borders of Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union were shifted by the Potsdam Agreement. Poland gained Prussia, Silesia, and Western Pomerania from Germany while losing its eastern third to the Soviets. With the territorial change came the forced resettlement of ethnic groups to their "native" states. Breslau, one of Germany's largest population centers, was rechristened Wrocław (pronounced "Vraught-swav;" the 't' is very soft) and the German population was shipped out, and Poles from the newly-Soviet areas in the east(primarily from the city that is now L'viv, Ukraine) moved in.
Though Wrocław was heavily bombed during the war, there is little remaining evidence. The many churches and historical buildings have all been rebuilt. The city reminds me a lot of Krakow, which I visited last year when I was studying in Prague. At the center of the city is the Rynek, a large square closed to traffic. Ringing the Rynek are restaurants, coffee shops, night clubs, and flower stands if it is the right time of year. The Rynek is only slightly smaller than Krakow's Main Market Square. In the center of the Rynek is both the new town hall and the beautiful old town hall, while several cathedrals reside off to the sides.
While in Wrocław, our time was strictly regimented. On weekdays, there were Polish language lessons during the mornings. Though there were a broad range of abilities, Fulbright group was divided into beginners and not-beginners. In the afternoon were lectures on various subjects. Some examples of these lectures include "Highlights of Polish History," "National Polish Minorities in Poland," "Polish-German Relations, and "Subjective geography of Polish Music." The Polish lessons and lectures were held in Wrocław University's Faculty of Philology. The lectures ranged in quality. Most of the group, myself included, already knew a fair amount of Polish history so these lectures held less interest for us. The English ability of the lecturers also made some of the lectures hard to follow. The amount of time spent in a classroom everyday was slightly overwhelming, especially when you are still adjusting to a new time zone. I found myself skipping certain lectures and I certainly wasn't the only one.
On a side note, if you are wondering about national minorities in Poland, there aren't any. Following the forced resettlement and territorial shifts of WW2, Poland is one of the most homogeneous nations in the world. Minorities make up less than one percent of the entire population.
The Poles are sort of like hobbits when it comes to food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided everyday, as well as a mid-morning snack and maybe an afternoon one. Breakfast consisted mostly of bread, cheese, and meat and was served at our residence, the Dom Studencki Ołówek (it is the tall building in the picture and, yes, it is a student dormitory). Lunch and dinner were at the Academy of Fine Arts. Lunch is largest meal of the day and soups and potatoes are staples of meals. Once someone found out that I was vegetarian, the kitchen staff began preparing something special for me as the main entrees were usually meat.
As I mentioned before, we were housed in the student dormitory, the Dom Studencki Ołówek. It is about a 25-30 minute walk from where classes and lectures were held. I had my own room on the sixth floor, but I shared a suite (kitchen and bath) with another Fulbrighter. The room was probably meant to hold two students, so I had plenty of room.
A note, the next section on my weekend is best read while viewing my pictures of Wrocław. Contrary to the way the images load, you will wish to start with picture 001.
On Saturday, September 22, we were taken on a day trip around Wrocław. The first stop was the Church of Peace (Kościół Pokoju) in nearby Świdnica. The church is a very early Protestant church. It is built entirely of wood (stone wasn't allowed) and richly decorated inside. It reminded me far more of a Catholic church than any Protestant church I've ever seen. The next stop was Włodarz, a former Nazi site. None of the group is really sure why this was included in the trip. Włodarz consists of a grid of tunnels dug into a mountainside. That's it. No one knows what the Nazis did there. The tour guide for Włodarz kept saying statements like, "It could be a small Nazi headquarters...or it could be a chemical weapons factory! V2 rocket research! Hitler and Eva Braun's secret love nest!" In truth, Włodarz was far too small (both in overall size and the size of the tunnels) to be anything important. The most exciting (or scary...) part of the tour was when the entire tour group was herded into three boats and, propelled via arm strength and a rope on the ceiling, along flooded tunnels to a larger chamber and back again. I ended up in the heaviest boat and was not really looking forward to falling in 50 degree water.
Lunch was at an old estate at Morawa and was quite delicious. The estate originally belonged to a German family who fled the approach of the Red Army at the end of WW2. After the fall of communism, one of the children who grew up in the house restored the estate, and currently operates a kindergarten out of it. The estate serves meals to tourist groups to help raise revenue. The child who restored the estate is now a very well-spoken, elderly (and probably quad-lingual) German woman. She, through a Fulbrighter fluent in German, told us the history of the estate and her family. Amusingly, the elderly woman would break into English to correct a wrong translation by the Fulbrighter. Following lunch, I sat around on the playground and chatted with the husband of a Fulbrighter and father of two of the young children who were present.
Dinner followed on the tails of lunch and was at the Museum of Industry and Railway in Jaworzyna Śląska. The museum is actually an old train yard lined with train engines. The owner/operator also had a collection of motorcycles (primarily US, but also others). He seemed far more interested in his motorcycles than his trains. We received a tour of both the motorcycles and the trains. I made friends with a rather dirty black and white cat wandering among the trains. I also got a workout on one of those little hand-powered rail carts. After we returned to Wrocław around 8:30 pm, a large number of us went to the bar/club across the street from our dormitory for drinks and conversation.
On Sunday, we were given a guided walking tour of the city center. The tour started at the main building of the University. In that building is the Aula Leopoldina, where important ceremonial functions of the University are held. The room absolutely screams "Hapsburg" in its decoration. The building also has a tower offering a wonderful view of the city and a small museum about the University. Church services let out while we were on the tower. It was quite beautiful looking out across the city with bells ringing and people streaming into the streets.
Following the University's main building, we walked the streets towards the Rynek, passing several gnomes and the Church of St. Elisabeth. As it was Sunday, we did not enter any of the cathedrals. You might be wondering about the gnomes. The truth is, I can't really remember what their purpose is. There are many gnomes around the old town in various poses and they apparently have large theft and damage insurance policies on them. After walking through the Rynek, we went to the park near the Academy of Fine Arts and the monument to Katyń massacre. Our tour ended on the banks of the Odra River, looking across to Sand and Cathedral Islands.
The Katyń massacre refers to the execution of 22,000 Polish citizens by Soviets following the 1939 invasion in which the Soviet Union split Poland with Nazi Germany. The executed were Polish POWs and intelligentsia. The Soviets accused the Germans for Katyń and did not officially admit responsibility until 1990. You might have heard something about Katyń in the States. It has been the news lately because the director of an upcoming Polish movie about Katyń accused the government of moving the celebration/remembrance of the event in order to raise nationalist feelings that would benefit the controlling PiS party in the upcoming election.
The rest of my week consisted primarily of the schedule I detailed earlier. On Wednesday, our group was taken to the Panorama Racławicka. The Panorama is an enormous circular painting that resides in its own building. The painting is of a famous battle in 1794 following the the second partition of Polish territory in which a Polish army led by Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Pole who fought in the American Revolution with distinction, defeated an occupying Russian army. Panorama of this style are supposed to bring the viewers into the painting and this one was so good it was dizzying. 3D effects were added by extending the bottom of painting towards the viewers (i.e., real fences were extended from painted fences). Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures.
That evening, we were invited to a jazz club by our University attache, a student with the very Polish name of Sandra Schindler. No jazz was played at the club the two times I was there. The first night there was a blues rock band playing a lot of Rolling Stones' covers and American 70s rock. When I was there again on Friday night, the band, who were pretty much the same people as before, was playing more bluesy stuff (hard blues and southern rock as opposed to 70s blues rock).
On Thursday, I skipped lecture to buy my train ticket. I figured I'd screw it up if I waited till the morning off my departure. I showed the clerk a print out of the exact train and day I wanted and was sold a ticket. Then, reading the ticket, I realized that it was for Friday and not Saturday (tickets are good for one day). I then had to find an English speaking teller to change my ticket. I was also charged a 15% surcharge to change it even though it was their fault in the first place. Needless to say, I was little annoyed.
The next day after the closing ceremony, the group went out for dinner at a pizza place. Everyone had a good time talking to each other even though we did annoy the manager with the size of our group. Following dinner, I went to a bar and the jazz club again with a smaller group, not returning until past 2 am. I got about 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up in order to catch my train to Gdansk at 7:15 am.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Warsaw
A note before I start, the locations mentioned will generally be found on the map to your right so you can see where I've been. I also hope to have some photos up soon.
A large group was gathered in the lobby of the hotel when I came downstairs. It was the other Fulbrighters on whom I will elaborate shortly. After making smalltalk for awhile, we crowded into two taxi vans and departed for the American Embassy. By crowded, I mean that I sat on my knees in between the seat and the side door.
Fulbright is by no means a program for recent college graduates. Besides students, there are also grants for professors and teachers. In our group of 28 people, only five of us had just graduated college. The rest were either in the process of getting post-docs or had tenure somewhere. Ages ranged from 21 to over 60. There were two couples with young children (being 15 mo., 4, and 6 years) and one woman with a 16-year old daughter. Some Fulbrighters brought their spouses, some didn't. Though we were from all over the country, an abnormal number were from Michigan or D.C. I am counting myself in the D.C. number.
Upon arrival at the US Embassy, I shook out my legs and proceeded through security. Inside, we were escorted to a room with coffee and breakfast materials. We were welcomed to Poland by the Deputy Director of Mission, whose briefing was the first of many. The DDM was followed by a Global Security Officer. It was his first time abroad and he was slightly nervous about it. The GSO was followed by a Consular officer, the head of Political Affairs, and a Cultural officer. Their briefings were all interesting and informative. We were also spoken to by someone on the medical staff, who warned about the infectious ticks rampant in Poland. Don't worry, while tick-borne diseases are more of a problem in eastern Europe than the States, they are still quite uncommon.
Throughout the proceedings, three very large pictures of our president, vice-president, and secretary of state presided over the room. Other people in the room confessed to being distracted by the pictures throughout the briefings as I was.
After a meeting with the Polish Fulbright staff, we were driven to the American ambassador's house (you won't find it on the map) by bus for a reception. It was very overwhelming being among the Embassy staff as well as members of the Polish Fulbright Commission. I'm not very experienced with smoozing so after the ambassador's remarks I talked primarily to other Fulbrighters. I did, however, have quite a long conversation with the chief and deputy chief of the Consul Division, the former being interested in Prague and the latter having taken the Foreign Service Exam abroad. The ambassador inserted himself into our conversation and suggested we all (the other Fulbrighters and I) see the Warsaw Uprising museum. The ambassador was a former college roommate of George W. Bush and served in previous Republican administrations.
After arriving back at the hotel and taking a nap, I ate dinner with three other Fulbrighters, including the two other teaching assistants. We ate across the river from the hotel in a nice neighborhood (we passed the Indonesian ambassador's residence) and I had a delicious penne pasta pesto. I also saw a fox along the bank of the river, which is duly noted on the map.
I am now in Gdańsk and teaching, but my next post will be up shortly and will cover the Fulbright orientation in Wrocław.
A large group was gathered in the lobby of the hotel when I came downstairs. It was the other Fulbrighters on whom I will elaborate shortly. After making smalltalk for awhile, we crowded into two taxi vans and departed for the American Embassy. By crowded, I mean that I sat on my knees in between the seat and the side door.
Fulbright is by no means a program for recent college graduates. Besides students, there are also grants for professors and teachers. In our group of 28 people, only five of us had just graduated college. The rest were either in the process of getting post-docs or had tenure somewhere. Ages ranged from 21 to over 60. There were two couples with young children (being 15 mo., 4, and 6 years) and one woman with a 16-year old daughter. Some Fulbrighters brought their spouses, some didn't. Though we were from all over the country, an abnormal number were from Michigan or D.C. I am counting myself in the D.C. number.
Upon arrival at the US Embassy, I shook out my legs and proceeded through security. Inside, we were escorted to a room with coffee and breakfast materials. We were welcomed to Poland by the Deputy Director of Mission, whose briefing was the first of many. The DDM was followed by a Global Security Officer. It was his first time abroad and he was slightly nervous about it. The GSO was followed by a Consular officer, the head of Political Affairs, and a Cultural officer. Their briefings were all interesting and informative. We were also spoken to by someone on the medical staff, who warned about the infectious ticks rampant in Poland. Don't worry, while tick-borne diseases are more of a problem in eastern Europe than the States, they are still quite uncommon.
Throughout the proceedings, three very large pictures of our president, vice-president, and secretary of state presided over the room. Other people in the room confessed to being distracted by the pictures throughout the briefings as I was.
After a meeting with the Polish Fulbright staff, we were driven to the American ambassador's house (you won't find it on the map) by bus for a reception. It was very overwhelming being among the Embassy staff as well as members of the Polish Fulbright Commission. I'm not very experienced with smoozing so after the ambassador's remarks I talked primarily to other Fulbrighters. I did, however, have quite a long conversation with the chief and deputy chief of the Consul Division, the former being interested in Prague and the latter having taken the Foreign Service Exam abroad. The ambassador inserted himself into our conversation and suggested we all (the other Fulbrighters and I) see the Warsaw Uprising museum. The ambassador was a former college roommate of George W. Bush and served in previous Republican administrations.
After arriving back at the hotel and taking a nap, I ate dinner with three other Fulbrighters, including the two other teaching assistants. We ate across the river from the hotel in a nice neighborhood (we passed the Indonesian ambassador's residence) and I had a delicious penne pasta pesto. I also saw a fox along the bank of the river, which is duly noted on the map.
I am now in Gdańsk and teaching, but my next post will be up shortly and will cover the Fulbright orientation in Wrocław.
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