Sunday was the start of my teaching week with Angloville. It’s a school that holds 5-day sessions in country hotels and resorts to teach English to people mostly from central European countries via “immersion” classes. Native English speakers like me volunteer our time to teach in exchange for free room and board at the resort, the opportunity for cultural exchange and to meet new people.
On Sunday morning, I checked out of my hotel and walked a couple of blocks to the Warsaw Palace of Culture to meet the Angloville organizers and volunteers for the bus ride to our resort, Debowa Gora Active and Spa, near the small town of Nowe Rumunki. About 25 people departed on the bus at 10:45, both English speakers and a few Polish participants.
I didn’t get any photos of the Polish countryside we traveled through for about 2 hours, but it was mostly flat agricultural fields and young, planted forests.
We arrived about 1 pm and were served lunch in the resort’s dining room. More Polish participants had joined us there. 18 Polish people and 18 to 20 English speakers were expected. Lunch was boiled potatoes, coleslaw and breaded chicken fillets. After lunch we were assigned our roommates and checked into our rooms. I’m rooming with Olivia from Edinburgh, Scotland. We got a break and then an introduction to the week’s plan by Angloville staff member Rebecca.
There was an introductory icebreaker at 5:30 in which we asked a Polish partner a few get-to-know-you questions and they asked us the same, then we introduced our partner to the group. Then we hand our first one-on-one session for 50 minutes. After that, dinner at 7:30. Dinner was baked chicken, boiled potatoes, and mixed vegetables, plus ice cream for dessert. All the time, we were talking to the Poles in English. After dinner, we could leave, but most stayed to continue talking. I left shortly before 10 pm to go to bed.
Lori's Travels 