It is very hard to believe that we are into the 2nd week in Poland already! We arrived last Monday, Sept. 18 and moved into our new apartment in Poznan. It is only about a 15 minute walk from Adam Mickiewicz University. Poznan is a delightful mix of old and new - there is a wonderful Old Town Square which is very close to the old brewery-now renovated into a very sophisticated new mall - Stary Browar.
First Night in Poznan - view from our apartment.
Some of my favorite buildings in the Old Square
Old Town Square, Poznan
Inside the STARY BROWAR Mall - many levels in this renovated brewery.
On Wednesday, Sept. 20 we headed to Warsaw via train for the 3-day Fulbright Orientation. The above picture is a view from the University of Warsaw Library, where part of the meeting was held (looking towards the Old Town).
Meeting my fellow-fulbriyhters was an incredible experience. We were 5 (old) professors, 18 English teaching assistants, and 16 student scholars from all over the U.S. The enthusiasm, creativity and talent in this bunch is quite amazing --- people are here studying/teaching everything from theatre, literature, law to- astronomy, physics and sustainability. We are stationed all over Poland, with larger concentrations of groups in Warsaw, Krakow, and Poznan - but also the towns of Rzeszow, Szczecin, Lodz, and others. The meeting was INTENSE (with lectures on all aspects of Poland), but a wonderful start of building a community away from home, thanks for the Fulbright planners in the Warsaw Office.
Poznan is in the Wielkoposkie region of Poland (central west). It was once under Prussian rule, but Poland will soon be celebrating 100 years of sovereignty in 2018. There are 5 of us here - me, Sasha(student scholar), and Deanna, Hannah, Olivia (all English TAs). We look forward to gathering often to share our experiences. See all of us below!
We returned to Poznan late Sunday night, and now the fun work begins. I had my first tour of Adam Mickiewicz yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 26, and was able to try out one of their beautiful Steinways (upon which I will hopefully be practicing soon! :) What a great welcome I have received - thank you UAM!
ALL of us America Fulbright Grantees - a wonderful and lucky bunch!
(This site, pamelahowland.com, is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author Pamela Howland and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.” )