Aaron Luster - Our man in Poland
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Aaron Luster - Our man in Poland
Aaron Luster - Our man in Poland...
Aaron Luster - Our man in Poland...
Our man in Poland...
After graduating in University Honors in May 1999, Aaron Luster set off to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Poland where he is serving as an English instructor. Aaron majored in political science and wrote his thesis on the foreign policies of five Central Asian republics which were formerly incorporated in the Soviet Union. An enthusiastic traveler, Aaron worked for a year in the International Programs Office assisting and encouraging students to take advantage of the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP); through ISEP, Aaron spent a semester studying in Finland, with other side trips in Europe including Russia. Aaron has been kind enough to allow us to post reports of his experiences in Poland.
... in which our young hero takes on the establishment(1/23/02)
...in which our young hero sets out to conquer another country (8/30/01)
...in which our young hero morphs from "our man in Poland" to "our man in Slovakia" (8/8/01)
...in which our young hero muses on "Home, sweet Swidnik" (4/13/01)
...in which our young hero anticipates shutting down the Peace Corps in Poland (5/26/00)
...in which our young hero anticipates going to jail (10/13/99)
...in which our young hero gets pinned (8/23/99)
...in which our young hero finds out what the fates have in store for him (8/12/99)
...in which our hero reflects on the relative price of salsa to beer (8/5/99)
...in which our hero introduces Polish students to a foxy lady (7/17/99)
...in which we find out what our hero thinks about (6/25/99)
...in which our hero is inconvenienced by the Pope (6/13/99)
Letters to Luster:
Aaron Luster
Zapad 3/ byt 25
028 01 Trstena
Slovakia
Packages:
Aaron Luster
Gymnazium M. Hattalu
Zelezniciarov 278028 01 Trstena
Slovakia
For more information on the International Student Exchange Program, call the International Students Office, x-2329. The office is on the second floor of the International Education Center.
...in which our young hero anticipates shutting down the Peace Corps in Poland
...in which our young hero anticipates shutting down the Peace Corps in Poland
Date sent: Fri, 26 May 2000 14:06:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Aaron Luster
Subject: bardzo od dawno nie rozmawialismy!!!
hey there everyone! greetings from poland again. sorry it's been a while since i was last in touch, but as you can imagine, life settles down and isn't quite as much worth putting into writing as time goes by. at any rate, i thought i'd drop a few lines to appraise everyone of the situation here on the ground.
well, as far as working is concerned, things are going well. the polish schools are open until late june, so i have about three more weeks of serious teaching in front of me. a strange thing, the final marks are due about two weeks before the end of school, so for the last two weeks, students come to school for no apparent reason, just to learn. of course, they tell us to expect about 3 people per class for those last two weeks, but i'm still working then. teaching is pretty fun and i've gotten the hang of it finally. i can't wait until next year when i actually know what the hell i'm doing! should be pretty fun!
with school i was able to take a trip a few weeks ago to holland. i was responsible for about 30 polish kids, along with another polish teacher. we had a really good time and i didn't do much of anything for a week except drink dr. pepper, eat doritos (don't have them in poland!), and enjoy dutch hospitality. we went into amsterdam for a day and it was pretty crazy, but the great thing was that i got to meet my good dutch friends, whom i haven't seen in a long time! so we got to see each other for a couple of hours, and then i was late getting back to the bus...i'm on the polish schedule these days! :-)
life in swidnik goes well. my apartment has taken perfect shape, i've got the tv, coffee maker, and a nice assortment of ikea plates (on sale, i'm in peace corps, remember!) the city will host the prime minister of poland, jerzy buzek, later this summer. swidnik was one of the first cities in poland to go on strike during solidarity, and the citizens of swidnik at one point instituted a trend in poland of going for a walk during the evening news, since it was full of shit then. that trend spread to many parts of poland, and so the prime minister is coming here to mark 20 years since the start of solidarity. it should be pretty fun, and there's a big airshow along with it.
this summer, i'm doing a little bit of travelling. in early july, i'm going to prague to see lenka for a bit and see that wonderful city. i'm going to take the long way of getting there and see some of the southern polish countryside along the way. then around my birthday, my dad is coming over on his first (of many) european adventures. dad, i still don't know what the hell we'll do, but i'm sure it'll be fun. don't worry! :-) then, in august, i'm going to try to get back to my friends in the netherlands for a short visit, and maybe stop off in germany to see my german friends (hint, hint, guys!!) so it should be a busy summer, and then i start back school at the first of september.
one thing that will be interesting next year is that this is the last year of peace corps in poland, so there will be ceremonies marking the end and maybe a parade or some kind of party. another interesting thing is that i'm thinking about staying on with peace corps for another year after my time in poland is over. since poland will be finished, i can hopefully go to a nearby country, either lithuania or slovakia, for another year to be there when they close out as well! it's still up in the air, and i might also try for estonia (close to finland!) as well, but we'll just see how it all works out.
at any rate, thank you guys for all the emails i've received over the past few months and thank you jenn for the kool-aid!! lemonade is a rare commodity over here!! :-) take care wherever you might be in the world and hoist one up for me.
do zobacenia
z aarona
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By Anonymous (medfield.net - 74.92.11.121) on Monday, May 21, 2007 - 2:03 pm: Edit Post |
rofl copter g nubs magee
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By Anonymous (165.29.32.193) on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 3:57 pm: Edit Post |
poland is were my great grandpa zudinski came from!!!!!!
this picture is true poland at its best.
i love where i come from & respect it.
this picture makes u appreciate life & what your given.
matska pooshka shrint damadia
Semper Fidelis
-Always Faithful-
-Nayy
I LIKE TO FIND A FRIEND IN POLAND