Poland PCV Vincent Schommer's father Gerald and mother Barb were both Peace Corps volunteers in their own day - in fact, they met in Liberia and returned to the U.S. to marry in 1968.
Vincent Schommer
By Bram Elias
Daily Staff Reporter
Some people take following in their parents' footsteps a little bit too far.
Forty-eight thousand miles is more than a little bit.
Nearly 30 years after his parents met while serving Peace Corps missions in Africa, Vincent Schommer, a May LSA graduate, is busy teaching English as a second language to high school students in Witmica, Poland.
Schommer said he could hardly be happier with his Peace Corps experience.
"The people here have been really friendly, really helpful," he said. "I'd say that it was even better than I expected, but I really didn't know what to expect before I came here. It is a wonderful experience."
"Here" is Witmica (pronounced Veet-meeza), a small town near the western border of Poland. It is not exactly a burgeoning metropolis.
"There's really only two large cities in Poland, at least by American standards," Schommer said. "Warsaw is about eight or nine hours away by train. Krakow is probably 10."
The closest city isn't even in Poland. Berlin, Germany, is only two hours west of Witmica. The town's proximity to Germany can lead to some pretty funny misunderstandings, Schommer said.
"I was told when I arrived in Poland that the kids I would be teaching would know a little bit of Polish and German. I didn't know much Polish, so I tried German. We talked for about half an hour before I realized they weren't really listening."
The problem?
"One of my students finally told me that I should try English," Schommer said. "They hardly spoke German at all. I'd been talking for half an hour, and they hadn't understood a word."
Teaching Polish students hasn't been as hard as expected, Schommer said.
"The kids are really good," he said. "They really want to learn English and they're very motivated."
So is Schommer, pictured above with his sister Maija.
"A lot of work goes into this," said Schommer. "I'm in a semi-urban post, not one of the really remote ones, but culturally, we're rouging it out here. The commitment is incredible."
"It's definitely worth it."
Schommer's father Gerald and mother Barb were both Peace Corps volunteers in their own day - in fact, they met in Liberia and returned to the U.S. to marry in 1968.
And this summer Gerald Schommer hopes to follow in his son's footsteps - by visiting Vincent in Poland.
"We're very proud of him. We're pleased he chose the Peace Corps," Gerald Schommer said. "We're very happy for Vincent."
