New video about Poland

This serene look at Poland shows you some of the natural beauty of the nation.  Beyond the charm of Krakow and the energy of Warsaw, the capital, you can find lovely scenery, centuries-old architecture, and a wonderful landscape.  From the seaport of Gdansk, Poland sweeps upward as we head south to the Carpathian mountains and the majestic peaks.

click here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbu_FRg8vuU#t=12

Spring arrives in Poland

Have you mastered the mental shift from Fahrenheit to Celsius? Can you interpret that 2 in Celsius is about 35Fahrenheit in Des Moines?

Although we tell people the weather is just slightly warmer in Poland than Des Moines, sometimes it is hard to imagine.  

If you look at this photo taken today, it may help.  Here are crocuses in plentiful bloom in Poland today, the first day of Spring.  I daresay we see no crocuses in bloom today in Des Moines. 

Poland in Social Media

This is not an exhaustive list by any means.  Here are a few accounts I "like" or "follow" about Poland.  You may want to take a look.

The Best of Poland - beautiful color photography, with English captions
https://www.facebook.com/TheBestOfPoland 

The U.S. Ambassador to Poland - may use English or Polish in his tweets.
@SteveMullUSA

The U.S. Embassy - all in English
@PolishEmbassyUS

The official portal of Poland - mostly in English
@PolandGOV.pl

General news and photographs - in English
@AllAboutPoland

Daily photo from Poland
@LinkToPoland

The Polish Tourism Bureau
http://www.poland.travel/en-us/

Travel Seminar Itinerary

Here is a tentative itinerary we've created for the travel seminar in Poland.

Day of Trip	Day of the Week	Date	Location	Program
1	Su	4-Jan	USA	depart from O'Hare to Krakow via Munich
2	Mo	5-Jan	Krakow	orientation tour by bus after airport pick-up, and hotel check-in
3	Tu	6-Jan	Krakow	holy day - all businesses closed.  We will attend parade and festival, evening meeting w/ faculty
4	We	7-Jan	Krakow	half day walking tour, followed by debriefing/prepping for next day by faculty
5	Th	8-Jan	Krakow	full day in Zakopane via private motorcoach
6	Fr	9-Jan	Krakow	morning lecture, afternoon immersion
7	Sa	10-Jan	Krakow	full day in Auschwitz and Birkenau via private motorcoach, evening debriefing
8	Su	11-Jan	Krakow	morning lecture, afternoon immersion, evening meeting
9	Mo	12-Jan	Warsaw	departure by private motorcoach, orientation city tour, and hotel check-in, evening meeting
10	Tu	13-Jan	Warsaw	morning lecture, afternoon immersion, evening meeting
11	We	14-Jan	Warsaw	morning tour and workshop, afternoon immersion, evening meeting
12	Th	15-Jan	Warsaw	morning tour, afternoon immersion, evening meeting
13	Fr	16-Jan	Warsaw	morning lecture, afternoon immersion, evening meeting
14	Sa	17-Jan	Gdansk	departure by railway, hotel check-in, evening meeting
15	Su	18-Jan	Gdansk	morning tour, afternoon lecture
16	Mo	19-Jan	Gdansk	morning tour, afternoon lecture, evening immersion
17	Tu	20-Jan	Gdansk	morning final presentations by student groups, evening farewell dinner
18	We	21-Jan	USA	departure from Gdansk to O'Hare via Munich

Videos about J-Term 2013 in Poland

Thanks to Chris Snider (see http://chrissniderdesign.com/blog/about/teaching/) and his Mobile Gadget Lab students for making these videos! I think they are very well done.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbSc0e1DPHA

Listen to Sami talk about her reasons for selecting this J-Term experience in 2013, and what she got out of the travel seminar.


-  -  -  -  -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVf1pXltq4

Here is a video of me talking about being in Poland and reflecting on the 2013 trip.

See Krakow via webcam

Old Town Square
This is a webcam showing the Old Town Square in Krakow.  You can see Sukiennice, the old cloth hall built in the 13th Century, and Kosciol Mariacki, the church of St Mary (built in the 14th Century) with the famous gold altar created by Wit Stwosz during the 15th Century.

http://www.krakow.pl/multimedialny_krakow/3222,artykul,widok_z_ul__brackiej_na_rynek_glowny_.html

By the way, the temperature is shown in Celsius in the lower right corner.  If you see it is 7 in Krakow that equates to 45 Farenheit.

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Wawel
This is a webcam showing the Wisla River with Wawel Hill in the background.  The Hill contains the old fortification including a castle and cathedral. The Wawel Hill was first the site dedicated as the property of the capital of Poland in the 12th Century, and the first castle was constructed in the 13th Century.

http://www.krakow.pl/multimedialny_krakow/1849,artykul,wawel_i_zakole_wisly_.html