Talking to a Teacher and Detained at the Polish border, seriously.

This is St. Marien Church in Neubrandenburg...it is now used primarily for concerts.

On Friday, June 1, we walked through the chilly air in the city of Neubrandenburg to the City Office Building. We were given a talk around a huge map about the city. It was a city of about 90,000 in 1989. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the town had new industry and different housing structures. The town grew in size, but the city's population decreased (with more than 3,000 flats unoccupied. Unemployment is still high. They are in need of young people and workers with special skills. It is an industrial town ...as it was in WWII. They built parts for planes and bombs.
We were then escorted to a room filled with a round table, chocolates, water, coffee and all kinds of fruit with toothpicks already in each slice. It looked like my mom (this is my mom)

had fixed up the room. We met with the coordinator of educational projects and members of the city's project network. One teacher joined us, Ms. Shoemaker, even though it was her last day of school. They told us how the children go through the early years of school and then they are told if they will be going to the Gymnasium (an academic program) or going into a vocational program. I am confused, as the children might be who are not selected for the Gymnasium, as to what happened to make this decision so early in their school years. I'm sure I don't understand it all, but I have the teacher's email and plan to talk to her. She is an English teacher by chance! She did say that the top 3 challenges for teachers today include having older facilities, the change in the government over the last 22 years and the great need for new, young teachers. It is not attractive to young people to be a teacher. Also, it is possible to make much more money in the western part of Germany and so many young people leave Neubrandenburg. It was really interesting to talk to the panel and I wish we could have stayed longer. However, we had to get to Poland.

NOT!

Off we went on our andventure to Stettin in Poland. We all dozed and were awakened when we arrived at a truck stop/gas station. We were told the that because it was July 1, a new law went into effect that coach busses could no longer have a sticker on the bus to drive the autobaun into Poland, they needed this new ez-pass kind of deal. Okay. So our driver goes to get it and we are told to use the bathroom (WC - Water Closet)-and their toilet paper is brown...thought you'd want to know-and we would be ready to go. No...we were informed that the driver was in line and that he was number 10 in line. On average, it was taking 20 minutes per driver!!!!!!!! So, no this is not the end of the story... Our lunch date and tour would have to be changed. And no, we can't just turn around and go back...we are already in Poland. Irony...we only need to go to the first exit inside Poland.

Okay, so everyone is sent into the truck stop. Our guides, the most patient Monika and Gerrit, take drink orders. Now, it should be noted that water and sodas are bottled. They are not fountain drinks, however, beer is on a self-serve center island! After delivering our drinks, they arrived with salads. They had ordered for all of us. The salad was a little bit of beets, coleslaw and pickles. Next came the main dish, perogies. It was a lot of food. We ate, we passed on the ones we didn't eat and we sat and talked, played on the bus, sat outside, ate ice cream and waited. Our driver had made it to the head of the line, but the "gate guard" wouldn't take a credit card. It would need to be cash (Polish money.) So, off he went to do that. We waited. Nicole wrote a funny story about the whole adventure. (I added it in another blog) John told us all why the Red Sox were the best team ever and we laughed at the irony of all of it. We waited 4 hours and 10 minutes to go just to the first exit. Yea! Henry, our driver got his pass and we loaded up ready for our couple of minutes drive. BTW, no one asked for our passports, so we don't have a POLAND stamp. Bummer...especially after all of that.

So, finally we are in Stettin. In Polish, it is Szczecin. According to the Goethe info page, Stettin has been regarded as an important Baltic Sea trading hub since 1278. The city has belonged to Poland since 1945. The line of the border in this region was the subject of negotiation between the Allies at the end of WWII. It was a center of the Polish trade Union movement Solidarnosc (Solidarity.) We met our most guide and a clock tower that was incredibly sophisticated and intricate. It was given to the city by the Sweds in 1697. It is in the Castle of the Pommeranian Dukes.Next, we visited a very old and beautiful church...St. Jacobs. Services were just ending as we arrived and the congregation had left but the organist was still playing the 5,000 pipe organ. It was beautiful. We took a long time at the church. There was so much to see. It was the grandest church I've ever seen. The sound of the organ was breathtaking. There were all sorts of little nooks in this church to honor different people of groups. This one honored those killed in the concentration camps. We then walked over to the statue representing SOLIDARITY...this area was where Lech Walesa helped create the first non-communist party controlled trade union. The statue is known as the "Angel of Freedom."We then walked down to the festival to see how they have revitalized the harbor. There was a fair going on, but the industry in the harbor has picked up substantially and this was a good thing for the city.

John (MA) gave one of his gifts, a Red Sox jersey, to our guide. Both of them were very touched. The picture was taken on the bus as we waited for permission to enter Poland and get off on the first exit! John (MA) and Nicole (PA)

Time to head back to the hotel. We are cold, tired and hungry. As we approach Neubrandenburg, Geritt and Monika ask if anyone wants to stop for pizza. Most do. The rest of us went back to the hotel, got a snack at the Burger King (remember to ask for water with NO GAS!) and went to bed. Like I am going to do right now. Night.