I have to admit that my professional transition from El Salvador to Berlin has not been a warm-and-fuzzy one. At my old school, I had built a reputation with my students and their families, and their parents would regularly come up to tell me how much they appreciated their kids being in my class and how they wished that I could have stayed to teach their younger sons and daughters. At the end of my first year, an entire group of kids went to talk to the administration to request for me to move up with them to the next grade. Former students would come back to visit me, and even now they are sending me emails to let me know where they are off to next year for college.
When you move to a new school, for better or worse, you start off anew. You leave whatever reputation you have built up behind you -- the respect that you have gained from your colleagues and the administration, the affection from kids whom you've known over multiple years. Most of all, you leave behind the trust of your students and their families. When you move schools, you start again at the bottom of the totem pole and have to prove yourself every step of the way, to everyone who might be watching.
In my case, I took on the slower-paced classes in two grades this year, because 1. I didn't really mind, I enjoy teaching things at a manageable speed for the kids, 2. I wanted to make sure the kids at the bottom would get the extra attention/support that they needed. Well, in those two grades, I have had various resistance from a few kids who feel that they should belong to a faster-paced group. Those kids care not for fun learning or meaningful tasks; they just want to move along faster through the topics. How do you convince these kids that conceptual development is worth taking the time to get right?? I refuse to short-change their conceptual foundation in order to speed through the topics, and I don't believe that it is good for their mathematical growth in the long run, or good for their problem-solving abilities. (Case in point, one of those kids moved up to a faster-paced group on a trial basis, and went from getting 100% to getting 25% on assessments.)
ARGH! It is frustrating to feel like the new kid on the block. ...I know that being new doesn't mean I am less qualified to teach these kids, or that I'm making bad decisions for their learning. But it does mean that what I value carries a lot less currency around here, as far as my kids are concerned. sigh.
Christmas break cannot come soon enough. The last week has been fairly demoralizing, and I don't have a lot of umph left in me before the holidays. :(
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Updates from Deutschland
I thought I'd take a minute and do some life updates. Time is flying by!
Things are going smoothly over in Berlin. I had put in a lot of work (ie. over 10-hour work days daily) from August to November to learn the new curricula and to earn the trust of my colleagues and student parents, and finally I was ready to re-focus on what I needed for myself. So, in a non-trivial gesture, I'm back doing yoga on a weekly basis and am LOVING it more than ever. (My new yoga teacher is really tough, but I love him!) I've also arranged for a private German teacher to work with me starting in the new year, since I feel like I cannot commit to 6 hours of classes like Geoff does during the work week. Socially, things are good and we've met a lot of fun people. :) Overall, despite the weather getting colder and the days getting darker, we are enjoying our first winter in Germany!
Recently, we got some free tickets to check out a Christmas market outside of Berlin, so we took the local train there last Sunday. It turned out to be a fairly small market, but the town was very charming!
The town had a lot of old people on bikes. I did not see a single young person riding a bike that day. I told Geoff that some day, we're going to retire to towns with old people on bikes. :) The town also had statues that looked like they were from old Grimmes' tales.
There were gondolas ferrying people back and forth between the two sides of the Christmas market. The ride was long and a bit chilly, but we had blankets and people were drinking hot mulled wine ("gluhwein"), which is common at Christmas markets and really all around Germany at this time of year.
We also saw a for-rent sign next to this cute little barrel of a room. It's even smaller than our apartments in NYC!!
Geoff took a photo of some locals moving a tractor via two gondolas.
All in all, it was a lovely day away from the city, and a much needed break from all of the stress I had been feeling from nearing the big semester exams. :)
I am looking forward to checking out some of Berlin's very own Christmas markets this weekend. Gluhwein, here we come!
Things are going smoothly over in Berlin. I had put in a lot of work (ie. over 10-hour work days daily) from August to November to learn the new curricula and to earn the trust of my colleagues and student parents, and finally I was ready to re-focus on what I needed for myself. So, in a non-trivial gesture, I'm back doing yoga on a weekly basis and am LOVING it more than ever. (My new yoga teacher is really tough, but I love him!) I've also arranged for a private German teacher to work with me starting in the new year, since I feel like I cannot commit to 6 hours of classes like Geoff does during the work week. Socially, things are good and we've met a lot of fun people. :) Overall, despite the weather getting colder and the days getting darker, we are enjoying our first winter in Germany!
Recently, we got some free tickets to check out a Christmas market outside of Berlin, so we took the local train there last Sunday. It turned out to be a fairly small market, but the town was very charming!
The town had a lot of old people on bikes. I did not see a single young person riding a bike that day. I told Geoff that some day, we're going to retire to towns with old people on bikes. :) The town also had statues that looked like they were from old Grimmes' tales.
There were gondolas ferrying people back and forth between the two sides of the Christmas market. The ride was long and a bit chilly, but we had blankets and people were drinking hot mulled wine ("gluhwein"), which is common at Christmas markets and really all around Germany at this time of year.
We also saw a for-rent sign next to this cute little barrel of a room. It's even smaller than our apartments in NYC!!
Geoff took a photo of some locals moving a tractor via two gondolas.
All in all, it was a lovely day away from the city, and a much needed break from all of the stress I had been feeling from nearing the big semester exams. :)
I am looking forward to checking out some of Berlin's very own Christmas markets this weekend. Gluhwein, here we come!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Math in Psychology
Since my Kindle got fixed mid last week, I've been reading a rather delightful book called Thinking, Fast and Slow. I've read books like this one before, on the clever psychological experiments that people have managed to design over the years and what they reveal about the human mind. But this book, in particular, pulls together a lot of interesting bits that I've either read or heard over the years and organizes them into one cohesive and surprisingly elegant theory. (I won't spoil the book for you here, but it's worth looking into. The theory is elegant and seemingly simple, but the details are very interesting and not always so predictable or obvious.)
I am also surprised by how mathematical the author is and how easily he ties abstract math ideas into concrete experiments. For this, I highly recommend the book to math teachers. For example, the author talks about how if you get one person to look at a jar of pennies to guess at how much money is inside, that person might over- or under- estimate by a lot. But then, if you repeat the experiment with a large number of people, their average errors will actually approach zero (in the absence of a systematic bias), and therefore if you average all of their guesses, that average is actually going to be quite accurate. This is a logical idea that kids can grasp, and it's a nice extension of the absolute-value error concept. By the same token, he ties this in general to public opinions. If you survey a large enough sample population on a certain issue, in the absence of a systematic bias, the average of their answers will represent the truth.
Another issue that the author addresses is basic numeracy when reading current event reports or statistics in the media. He illustrates with a simple picking-colored-balls-out-of-a-box example why, with small sample groups, we end up with more extreme values more often. And then he extends this to why when you poll different counties for health information, it's easy to see rural counties with more extreme health statistics. Again, it's not impressive math, but the ease with which he ties math to something real is delightful.
And, as an aside, try to answer this question:
"How many animals of each type did Moses bring into the ark?"*
If you're like me and (the author so says) most people, you let your mental image of the ark prevent you from noticing that Moses is the wrong biblical character here in this context. Our mind has the tendency to smooth over the little inconsistencies using preconstructed expectations, in order to make its job easier. And that's both advantageous and troublesome, depending on the context.
Anyway, so far, I thoroughly enjoy the book! :)
Addendum 12/07/11: I've reached a part of the book where the author talks about how we let our stereotypes affect our judgment of the likelihood of certain combined events. For example, after being exposed to a description to a liberal woman, people -- even those who are mathematically inclined -- would rank the probability of her being a "feminist banker" to be more likely than her being a banker, even though any added details should diminish the overall probability! --What an interesting intersection of math and psychology!!
I am also surprised by how mathematical the author is and how easily he ties abstract math ideas into concrete experiments. For this, I highly recommend the book to math teachers. For example, the author talks about how if you get one person to look at a jar of pennies to guess at how much money is inside, that person might over- or under- estimate by a lot. But then, if you repeat the experiment with a large number of people, their average errors will actually approach zero (in the absence of a systematic bias), and therefore if you average all of their guesses, that average is actually going to be quite accurate. This is a logical idea that kids can grasp, and it's a nice extension of the absolute-value error concept. By the same token, he ties this in general to public opinions. If you survey a large enough sample population on a certain issue, in the absence of a systematic bias, the average of their answers will represent the truth.
Another issue that the author addresses is basic numeracy when reading current event reports or statistics in the media. He illustrates with a simple picking-colored-balls-out-of-a-box example why, with small sample groups, we end up with more extreme values more often. And then he extends this to why when you poll different counties for health information, it's easy to see rural counties with more extreme health statistics. Again, it's not impressive math, but the ease with which he ties math to something real is delightful.
And, as an aside, try to answer this question:
"How many animals of each type did Moses bring into the ark?"*
If you're like me and (the author so says) most people, you let your mental image of the ark prevent you from noticing that Moses is the wrong biblical character here in this context. Our mind has the tendency to smooth over the little inconsistencies using preconstructed expectations, in order to make its job easier. And that's both advantageous and troublesome, depending on the context.
Anyway, so far, I thoroughly enjoy the book! :)
Addendum 12/07/11: I've reached a part of the book where the author talks about how we let our stereotypes affect our judgment of the likelihood of certain combined events. For example, after being exposed to a description to a liberal woman, people -- even those who are mathematically inclined -- would rank the probability of her being a "feminist banker" to be more likely than her being a banker, even though any added details should diminish the overall probability! --What an interesting intersection of math and psychology!!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
My Favorite Student
My favorite student (this year) is someone who is not particularly quick at picking up math concepts. After she got the first test back, she cried. She came to see me everyday during lunch to go over a section of the test at a time. We did the corrections together, and then when she went home, she re-did the problems at home that we had worked on together earlier that day. It took us several days just to go through the entire test. And then, because she had worked so hard, I offered to give her a re-test not for grade, but just to see if she now knew the material. On the re-test, she made no conceptual mistakes, and only some arithmetic errors. When she went home and did corrections again (this time, unprompted), she thought the corrections were very easy.
This kid works so hard that when I announced that we were having a big exam in December, she came to me within a couple of days to start working on the topics that will be included. We sat down and made flashcards for strategies while approaching problems, and we did some practice problems and put them also on the flashcards. She has been reviewing the flashcards since at home, and she says that they are very helpful as a starting point to solving problems.
This favorite student of mine came to me yesterday after school to ask me to teach her long division, because all of her friends are able to divide 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers and she couldn't remember how to divide. I was running a fever when she came by after school yesterday and my body ached all over and I longed to go home, but hearing her question warmed my heart. Big time. She is my favorite kid because she isn't embarrassed to get help, and I know that some day she will master all of the skills that she lacks, if she can keep up that amazing spirit of hers.
That's my favorite type of student. Over the years, I have seen other students like her grow into excellent math students, who can connect the dots faster than anyone else and to work quickly through complex scenarios of problems. As a teacher, may I always remember to appreciate when a kid has the willingness for hard work, regardless of what they currently achieve.
This kid works so hard that when I announced that we were having a big exam in December, she came to me within a couple of days to start working on the topics that will be included. We sat down and made flashcards for strategies while approaching problems, and we did some practice problems and put them also on the flashcards. She has been reviewing the flashcards since at home, and she says that they are very helpful as a starting point to solving problems.
This favorite student of mine came to me yesterday after school to ask me to teach her long division, because all of her friends are able to divide 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers and she couldn't remember how to divide. I was running a fever when she came by after school yesterday and my body ached all over and I longed to go home, but hearing her question warmed my heart. Big time. She is my favorite kid because she isn't embarrassed to get help, and I know that some day she will master all of the skills that she lacks, if she can keep up that amazing spirit of hers.
That's my favorite type of student. Over the years, I have seen other students like her grow into excellent math students, who can connect the dots faster than anyone else and to work quickly through complex scenarios of problems. As a teacher, may I always remember to appreciate when a kid has the willingness for hard work, regardless of what they currently achieve.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Introducing Limits and Derivatives
I know you non-IB people probably cannot fathom this, but Calculus is only one of many units in the IB curriculum. I am introducing it to my kids now, and it's the last big topic I plan on teaching before we start to do mixed review in the spring time.
The reason why Calculus is condensed into a single unit in the IB makes sense to me, actually. Although there are so many applications of Calculus, I would be just as happy if a kid can walk away from Calculus knowing the big ideas of limits, differentiation, and integration, and to be able to do basic differentiation/integration of polynomials by hand without a formula sheet. Everything else, I'm OK with them relying on a formula sheet in order to remember the mechanics. So, it's very do-able as a single unit and to still develop the relevant concepts as a class.
To that end, I have already introduced instantaneous rates vs. average rates. Then, after that I wanted to pull in the idea of limits, which the kids had already seen a little bit of in the context of geometric series. So, I gave the kids this worksheet, and as they worked through it, we set up a huge grid of comparison charts on the board to go over when a "forbidden x value" inside a rational function will be a vertical asymptote, versus a "hole".... and to highlight the idea that a limit is what happens to the theoretical output as you approach those "impossible" x values. We are not done with the worksheet yet, but my hope is that by the start of the next class, the kids will fully grasp the idea that a function with a "hole" somewhere (as opposed to a vertical asymptote) can still have a limit at that breaking point, and many functions also have limits at extreme values of x. That (along with the previous instantaneous rate intro) will prime us for going into talking about the mechanics of differentiation in this next intro to differentiation lesson. One of the things I want to immediately tie into differentiation is that you can check your sensibility of your answers using a graph. I will also right away tie differentiation to the algebraic meaning of turning points. This way, they are immediately exposed to the key concepts in an integrated manner before we do any further practice.
Thoughts?? It's my first time teaching Calculus, so I'm still muddling my way through it while doing my best to sequence the concepts clearly. Your feedback is welcome!
The reason why Calculus is condensed into a single unit in the IB makes sense to me, actually. Although there are so many applications of Calculus, I would be just as happy if a kid can walk away from Calculus knowing the big ideas of limits, differentiation, and integration, and to be able to do basic differentiation/integration of polynomials by hand without a formula sheet. Everything else, I'm OK with them relying on a formula sheet in order to remember the mechanics. So, it's very do-able as a single unit and to still develop the relevant concepts as a class.
To that end, I have already introduced instantaneous rates vs. average rates. Then, after that I wanted to pull in the idea of limits, which the kids had already seen a little bit of in the context of geometric series. So, I gave the kids this worksheet, and as they worked through it, we set up a huge grid of comparison charts on the board to go over when a "forbidden x value" inside a rational function will be a vertical asymptote, versus a "hole".... and to highlight the idea that a limit is what happens to the theoretical output as you approach those "impossible" x values. We are not done with the worksheet yet, but my hope is that by the start of the next class, the kids will fully grasp the idea that a function with a "hole" somewhere (as opposed to a vertical asymptote) can still have a limit at that breaking point, and many functions also have limits at extreme values of x. That (along with the previous instantaneous rate intro) will prime us for going into talking about the mechanics of differentiation in this next intro to differentiation lesson. One of the things I want to immediately tie into differentiation is that you can check your sensibility of your answers using a graph. I will also right away tie differentiation to the algebraic meaning of turning points. This way, they are immediately exposed to the key concepts in an integrated manner before we do any further practice.
Thoughts?? It's my first time teaching Calculus, so I'm still muddling my way through it while doing my best to sequence the concepts clearly. Your feedback is welcome!
Friday, November 25, 2011
IB: Flash Cards for Concept Retrieval
I admit, I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about what I can do to help my 11th and 12th graders excel on the IB exam. Maybe that makes me a bad math teacher to be thinking about the test so much, but I think my instruction can still be independent of the test, but I have to keep the test in mind as our collective end goal, in order not to veer too far in my attempt to bring good mathematics into the curriculum.
One of my latest conclusions is that doing well on a math test requires two skills: 1. that you can read a problem and retrieve the correct key concepts and/or procedures. 2. that you can apply the procedure without mechanical (algebraic) issues.
(Of course, being a good math student requires much more than that. I want my kids to know where procedures and formulas come from, so that when they apply a formula, it's not just blind application and they don't falter just because one small thing has been changed. I also want them to see the layering of the building blocks and be able to guess at the next logical step. I also want them to see where math is applied, to understand how to model real-world situations using math, and to ask insightful questions. But, ultimately, when they sit down in front of that big math test, I still want them to kick ass and thereby gain the confidence they need in order to do all those other things!!)
To help them with skill #2 (applying the procedure), I've decided that spiraling is very important. Every test I give in class is made up of old IB test problems, and include not just the current topic but also old topics we have already studied. The more we hold kids accountable for skills that we have already learned, the more they will retain them over time. To help them with skill #1 (recognition of cues and retrieval of relevant concept), I've recently introduced to my students the idea of making flashcards for math. It's very simple:
On the front of the card, write down some clues in the problem. (Such as, "This quadratic equation has only one distinct root.") On the back of the card, write down the concept or key math skill that the problem is looking for you to apply. (Such as the discriminant.)
As the kids work on practice problems, they should learn to recognize those major clues in the problems and make flashcards. Each time they sit down to do practice problems, they should first quickly run through their flashcards to re-inforce the cue-concept connections, and then try to approach all problems without looking back at the flashcards. They can also make a few clear example problems on flashcards. (Question on one side, work and answer on the other.) This way:
1. They can study quickly without re-doing the same problems a gazillion times.
2. It makes explicit the cue-procedure connections that "strong math students" implicitly rely on.
3. Over time, if they keep reviewing the flashcards, they will eventually not need them anymore and will hopefully internalize those connections.
4. Particularly anxious or slow test-takers will benefit from having clearly retrievable facts stored on their minds during test time.
5. It's a great way for them to accumulate invaluable study material/improve their study habits over time!
What do you think? Have you tried something like this? I am recommending it to my strugglers in lower grades as well, as a way to reinforce their test-preparation skills. I am helping my entire Grade 7 class build these flashcards this semester, as we review for the December "big exam." I'll survey them afterwards to see how many of them actually used them before doing the practice problems (like I recommended), and how many of them think it actually helped.
PS. Happy Thanksgiving!
One of my latest conclusions is that doing well on a math test requires two skills: 1. that you can read a problem and retrieve the correct key concepts and/or procedures. 2. that you can apply the procedure without mechanical (algebraic) issues.
(Of course, being a good math student requires much more than that. I want my kids to know where procedures and formulas come from, so that when they apply a formula, it's not just blind application and they don't falter just because one small thing has been changed. I also want them to see the layering of the building blocks and be able to guess at the next logical step. I also want them to see where math is applied, to understand how to model real-world situations using math, and to ask insightful questions. But, ultimately, when they sit down in front of that big math test, I still want them to kick ass and thereby gain the confidence they need in order to do all those other things!!)
To help them with skill #2 (applying the procedure), I've decided that spiraling is very important. Every test I give in class is made up of old IB test problems, and include not just the current topic but also old topics we have already studied. The more we hold kids accountable for skills that we have already learned, the more they will retain them over time. To help them with skill #1 (recognition of cues and retrieval of relevant concept), I've recently introduced to my students the idea of making flashcards for math. It's very simple:
On the front of the card, write down some clues in the problem. (Such as, "This quadratic equation has only one distinct root.") On the back of the card, write down the concept or key math skill that the problem is looking for you to apply. (Such as the discriminant.)
As the kids work on practice problems, they should learn to recognize those major clues in the problems and make flashcards. Each time they sit down to do practice problems, they should first quickly run through their flashcards to re-inforce the cue-concept connections, and then try to approach all problems without looking back at the flashcards. They can also make a few clear example problems on flashcards. (Question on one side, work and answer on the other.) This way:
1. They can study quickly without re-doing the same problems a gazillion times.
2. It makes explicit the cue-procedure connections that "strong math students" implicitly rely on.
3. Over time, if they keep reviewing the flashcards, they will eventually not need them anymore and will hopefully internalize those connections.
4. Particularly anxious or slow test-takers will benefit from having clearly retrievable facts stored on their minds during test time.
5. It's a great way for them to accumulate invaluable study material/improve their study habits over time!
What do you think? Have you tried something like this? I am recommending it to my strugglers in lower grades as well, as a way to reinforce their test-preparation skills. I am helping my entire Grade 7 class build these flashcards this semester, as we review for the December "big exam." I'll survey them afterwards to see how many of them actually used them before doing the practice problems (like I recommended), and how many of them think it actually helped.
PS. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
(Semi-Recent) Trip to Poland
I have been so bad about doing updates about our journeying! Part of it is because on our last trip, we didn't really take any pictures. Geoff had imagined that our camera would charge itself via the USB connector, and when that turned out to be not true, we didn't really want to fork out 50 Euros to buy a charger in Krakow. So, instead, Geoff took some pictures on his dinosauric iPhone 3GS, which made everything seem gray and romantic and more or less unrecognizable afterwards. :) (We even tried to take photos in the dark while "catching" someone else's flash. Sad times.)
Anyway, this particular trip happened in early October, during our school's fall break. We were too last-minute to book good airfare deals for going away, so we decided to rent a car to drive to Poland. FYI: Renting a car in Germany as a foreigner is not the easiest. Your non-European license is only valid within the first 6 months of moving here, and even then you have to rent from big companies that carry the international insurance -- which naturally means that you pay a bit more. Also FYI: Parking in Krakow is expensive and inconvenient. Supposedly it's not safe to just leave your German-plated cars on the street, because Polish people like to break in to German cars. So, if ever we intend on repeating this trip, we will be taking a local German train to hop over the border to Poland, and then we will take another local Polish train to Krakow.
Anyway, back to Krakow. You know, Krakow is poetic and beautiful, full of sad history. I didn't really know much about Poland before this trip, but I was intrigued to learn that it's really a country that has been continuously dominated by other empires and countries over the years, from Russian Empire to Prussian Empire to dominance by Austria, followed by a brief period of independence before it got dominated again by Nazi Germany. Also, we don't really think about this, but the Polish people were the second biggest group of victims, I think, in the Holocaust. Auschwitz was built originally to house the political prisoners from Poland, whom the Germans wanted to keep quiet and away from sight. Lots of them were murdered after swift "trials" at Auschwitz. The Polish people were not encouraged to attend schools during the war (and various strategies were used to prevent the intellectuals from gathering and studying), because Nazi Germany wanted to maintain a stronghold over the land and its people.
Anyway, when we went to Krakow, we visited Auschwitz and it was a very intense experience. The tour guides were superb and took their jobs very seriously, and it was very informative but obviously also very sad. When the Nazis evacuated the camp at the end of the war, they destroyed most of the evidence that it had ever been used as an extermination camp. There is only one small gas chamber that still remains, and we were able to go inside. It was very intense. The electrical barbed wire fences are still up and you can walk around and see the gutters that surrounded the camp and see the entrance to the camp and the train tracks that lead up to the entrance to drop prisoners off for sorting. Some of the sleeping quarters can still be seen, and even when we went in October, it was cold. One can only imagine what it was like in the dead of winter, when you are wearing next to nothing. Moreover, there are displays of all of the personal belongings, shoes, and even hair of the victims. The hair was haunting, because they weaved them into everyday products like rugs and resold them. It was deeply sad, and even though there are people who would argue that that place should not allow so many tourists to go per day, I cannot help but think that it is absolutely necessary for them to educate as many people as possible about the horrors that occurred there.
Besides Auschwitz, we also went by foot on our own and visited the old Jewish ghetto in Krakow, like featured in Schindler's movie. Much of the area still teems with old buildings, like they could have been around during the war. We visited an amazing and extensive museum on Poland's role and perspective in WWII, located inside Schindler's old factory. We also went into the small pharmacy that is famous for its Polish owner who refused to move out of the Jewish ghetto during the war, and who helped to hide Jews and to sneak in free medicine for people inside the ghetto.
We also saw the medieval Center of the city. It was beautiful, and filled with cathedrals, happening bars, and yummy restaurants. Our favorite was Marmolada, which is one of a mini chain of 4 restaurants that are all supposed to be different and delicious. This one was fantastic, from the wine to the food to the service to the price. It's also a 1-minute walk from the city center, right off of one of the little alleys.
Lastly, we visited a cheesy tourist trap of a salt mine in Krakow. You'd never think it, but there is a beautiful chapel that is carved entirely out of salt in the depths of a salt mine, made by 3 professional miners who did this as a hobby over the course of seventy years. They made it complete with statues and chandeliers and -- you would never believe this -- a breath-taking statue of The Last Supper, carved into the walls. Talk about a personal hobby project!
Last note is that the Polish roads are supposed to be horrific -- even my coworker's wife, who is herself Polish and native from Warsaw, said so. The funny thing is that on our way to Poland, while we thought we were still on the German side of the border, the highway started to get really bumpy. You couldn't really see any difference, except the car was going up and down and up and down as though the road was filled with potholes. We were joking that perhaps we were already in Poland, and sure enough, in two minutes we started to see road signs marked in Polish letters...
The next big thing I'm looking forward to: German CHRISTMAS MARKETS!!!!
Anyway, this particular trip happened in early October, during our school's fall break. We were too last-minute to book good airfare deals for going away, so we decided to rent a car to drive to Poland. FYI: Renting a car in Germany as a foreigner is not the easiest. Your non-European license is only valid within the first 6 months of moving here, and even then you have to rent from big companies that carry the international insurance -- which naturally means that you pay a bit more. Also FYI: Parking in Krakow is expensive and inconvenient. Supposedly it's not safe to just leave your German-plated cars on the street, because Polish people like to break in to German cars. So, if ever we intend on repeating this trip, we will be taking a local German train to hop over the border to Poland, and then we will take another local Polish train to Krakow.
Anyway, back to Krakow. You know, Krakow is poetic and beautiful, full of sad history. I didn't really know much about Poland before this trip, but I was intrigued to learn that it's really a country that has been continuously dominated by other empires and countries over the years, from Russian Empire to Prussian Empire to dominance by Austria, followed by a brief period of independence before it got dominated again by Nazi Germany. Also, we don't really think about this, but the Polish people were the second biggest group of victims, I think, in the Holocaust. Auschwitz was built originally to house the political prisoners from Poland, whom the Germans wanted to keep quiet and away from sight. Lots of them were murdered after swift "trials" at Auschwitz. The Polish people were not encouraged to attend schools during the war (and various strategies were used to prevent the intellectuals from gathering and studying), because Nazi Germany wanted to maintain a stronghold over the land and its people.
Anyway, when we went to Krakow, we visited Auschwitz and it was a very intense experience. The tour guides were superb and took their jobs very seriously, and it was very informative but obviously also very sad. When the Nazis evacuated the camp at the end of the war, they destroyed most of the evidence that it had ever been used as an extermination camp. There is only one small gas chamber that still remains, and we were able to go inside. It was very intense. The electrical barbed wire fences are still up and you can walk around and see the gutters that surrounded the camp and see the entrance to the camp and the train tracks that lead up to the entrance to drop prisoners off for sorting. Some of the sleeping quarters can still be seen, and even when we went in October, it was cold. One can only imagine what it was like in the dead of winter, when you are wearing next to nothing. Moreover, there are displays of all of the personal belongings, shoes, and even hair of the victims. The hair was haunting, because they weaved them into everyday products like rugs and resold them. It was deeply sad, and even though there are people who would argue that that place should not allow so many tourists to go per day, I cannot help but think that it is absolutely necessary for them to educate as many people as possible about the horrors that occurred there.
Besides Auschwitz, we also went by foot on our own and visited the old Jewish ghetto in Krakow, like featured in Schindler's movie. Much of the area still teems with old buildings, like they could have been around during the war. We visited an amazing and extensive museum on Poland's role and perspective in WWII, located inside Schindler's old factory. We also went into the small pharmacy that is famous for its Polish owner who refused to move out of the Jewish ghetto during the war, and who helped to hide Jews and to sneak in free medicine for people inside the ghetto.
We also saw the medieval Center of the city. It was beautiful, and filled with cathedrals, happening bars, and yummy restaurants. Our favorite was Marmolada, which is one of a mini chain of 4 restaurants that are all supposed to be different and delicious. This one was fantastic, from the wine to the food to the service to the price. It's also a 1-minute walk from the city center, right off of one of the little alleys.
Lastly, we visited a cheesy tourist trap of a salt mine in Krakow. You'd never think it, but there is a beautiful chapel that is carved entirely out of salt in the depths of a salt mine, made by 3 professional miners who did this as a hobby over the course of seventy years. They made it complete with statues and chandeliers and -- you would never believe this -- a breath-taking statue of The Last Supper, carved into the walls. Talk about a personal hobby project!
Last note is that the Polish roads are supposed to be horrific -- even my coworker's wife, who is herself Polish and native from Warsaw, said so. The funny thing is that on our way to Poland, while we thought we were still on the German side of the border, the highway started to get really bumpy. You couldn't really see any difference, except the car was going up and down and up and down as though the road was filled with potholes. We were joking that perhaps we were already in Poland, and sure enough, in two minutes we started to see road signs marked in Polish letters...
The next big thing I'm looking forward to: German CHRISTMAS MARKETS!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)