Home » Poland » 2006 Eastern European Adventure (part IV: Leaving Chełm)

I just finished working here in Poland with the PEACE (People's Enthusiasm Acting for Cultural Education) project run by AIESEC SGH at the Warsaw School of Economics with support from the United Nations Development Programme. It was a 2 month internship in which I was promoting Canadian Culture (along with others from around the world promoting their cultures) as well as tolerance and cultural understanding to secondary school students in villages and towns throughout the country.

2006 Eastern European Adventure (part IV: Leaving Chełm)

Andrew Wozniuk
2006-04-03 12:05:58

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Sunday, March 05, 2006
Leaving Chełm (Pronounced Khewm)

Well, it's the morning of my departure to Biłgoraj from Chełm and I have many mixed feelings. My time here has been amazing. I wonder whether in my posts the words I use get over-used, but really, this project is a great experience which I know I will never forget. I will try to sum up the last week as best as I can and hopefully without making this post too long.

We arrived on Sunday and were greeted by the Principal, the families we would be staying with, and Agnieszka - one of the English teachers who was responsible for the project at this school. The first night we spent with our families and we got some well-needed rest. My family took me downtown for a late-night walk and a bit of a tour. I have been improving my Polish and communicating with the family was not that difficult. The kids have pretty good English skills (obviously the older ones have had more classes than the younger ones - there was 3 kids in my family).

On Monday we started our classes and one thing that set this school apart from the last one I was at was the kids. This was a primary school and junior high school, so the kids were younger than at the high school we were at in Łuków. As a result, they were much more excited to see us (especially the little kids). We were like superstars! Kids were running up to us saying hello and asking us for our autographs and pictures with them. At first it was quite cute, but after a while it became a little tiresome. One has to understand that these small towns rarely see many outsiders so having a group from Canada, China, Peru and Nigeria (we had an extra person join our group in the evening) was not only quite the spectacle, but also exciting for everyone. I now appreciate what celebrities go through a lot more because every break between classes we would be mobbed by the kids, my hand would even hurt sometimes from signing all the ...