Stephanie & Ethan: Day 7

Stephanie

Over 30 hours of travel time, some good meals and a good night’s sleep, the volunteer experience at The World Games 2017 commenced. Before the day’s work, a casual stroll through the calm and quiet streets of Wroclaw, Poland to the charming bakery on the corner for a delicious pastry and a coffee became essential. Thankfully there are enough days to sample each pastry at least once, as there are so many that commanded the nose’s attention. Before heading back to the dormitory, which became our new home, it was nearly impossible to walk past the fresh grown fruit stands accompanying the path of the walk to and from the bakery without stopping for a carton of blueberries or a few apples. Once the morning shift met in the lobby, it was time to for the mile or so walk to the stadium for a six hour shift with the American Football crew. With the sun shining and the heat of the sun, the morning walk served as an exceptional warm up to the day.

Each day volunteering involved numerous different activities. One of the most memorable experiences was standing on the field soaking up the sunshine and supervising photographers while watching a classic game of American Football. The job required monitoring vest colors of the photographers to ensure each were in their designated zones. If they were to step into a zone in which they did not have access to, it was up to us to inform them and possibly even remove them from the field if they did not comply. Luckily, no photographer stooped to that level.

The first game brought together the Deutschland and North America with a tough game of Germany versus USA. In the end, Germany defeated the American’s at their own game. The development of other countries at an American sport quite exceeded my expectations. While the first

game involved watching Germany versus USA in the sunshine, the other memorable experience was less than glamorous. Although we stood in the pouring down rain with a semi-waterproof raincoat for the final game of Germany versus France, it was still an adrenaline pumping experience. Majority of the game, France was up 7-6. Each team fought tremendously through the pouring down rain, sliding through the mud, fans cheering, and players yelling for a hopefully victory. By the end of the game, Germany fell to France with a 14-6 win. As soon as the game clock ran out, so did us volunteers with the medals for the players. There were so many different emotions lurking the field such as the excitement of sweet victory, the depressing signs of defeat, and the careless satisfaction of just being able to play in The World Games 2017.

            Other victories in The World Games 2017 come from a sport called Orienteering, or the “thinking sport”. This sport involves using an orienteering specified map and compass in order to find one’s way through an unfamiliar territory to the finish while passing varying control points in a

predetermined manner. The athlete must use their tools to find the best possible route to the finish. What makes the sport unique is the ability to make quick decisions while running at a relatively fast speed. There are three different races- sprint, middle distance, and sprint relay. The men’s sprint winner comes from Sweden and goes by the name of Jerker Lysell, who won with a margin of two seconds in his favor. The women’s winner is Maja Alm from Denmark. The women’s middle distance winner is Helena Jansson of Sweden and the men’s middle distance winner is Matthias Kyburz of Switzerland. Finally, the mixed team relay winners are from Denmark, including the women’s sprint winner, Alm Maja.

            As these athletes use minimal resources to venture through Wroclaw, us, students were using our phones and the traditional technique of “word-of-mouth” to find our way through the city. We searched to find various activities to do, sights to see, and good foods to eat. The first food stop was at a serene little Greek restaurant across from the biggest mall in Wroclaw. Although there wasn’t much attention surrounding the area, the outer décor is what intrigued our appetite. This restaurant is where I enjoyed a savory Mediterranean style chicken breast paired with potato wedges, Greek salad,

and Tzatziki sauce. The second food stop was for the traditional Polish Pierogi after exploring the City Centre and climbing over 300 stairs to the top of St. Elizabeth Church. This restaurant was tucked away in the City Centre, but filled with many lively people enjoying these dumpling-like entrée’s with the company of their friends and family. Another exquisite meal was a Japanese cuisine accompanied by a long day’s work for American Football and searching the city for souvenirs. After spending much time repeatedly reading the menu, I finally settled for a mango chicken salad paired with a phenomenal mango dressing that was light and refreshing for the warm evening. Following dinner, it was only necessary to complement the meal with rolled ice cream while watching the sun set into the night.

            Up to this point, I can confidently say the food is phenomenal, the prices are astoundingly inexpensive, and the experience is to remember for a lifetime. The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland has sincerely diversified my knowledge and perspective on people and the world through sports. It is truly a privilege to be able to travel with the University of Louisville as a part of the CEHD International Learning Program to supplement the progress towards earning my Masters Degree.

Ethan

 Not many times during a volunteer experience is the volunteer going to be more experienced than who they are volunteering for. In my personal experience with my volunteer placement with American Football I was used to help keep stats for two out of the four games played in Wroclaw. I was working side by side with people who knew very little about American Football but were very interested in it. I was keeping track of scoring plays and making the Swiss timing people aware of timeouts that were called on the field. Everything that I did was kept track of to put on the tv broadcast of the games. I was able to watch the game at real time and then watch it on a delay in the press box. I explained penalties to them as well. I tried to contain my excitement for the game but I also wanted to help spread enthusiasm. I was extremely lucky with my volunteer experience. During games I was able to sit down in an air conditioning while others were either getting scorched by the sun or getting drenched during the gold medal match. I also had very little communication issues because my supervisors spoke English very well. Many of the others in our group had a much tougher challenge while volunteering. I am proud to be part of a group who has taken all of the challenges head on during volunteering. 

With my entry to the blog being one of the last ones. I don't want to repeat many of the experiences my peers have already talked about. We are currently on the bus on the way to visit Auschwitz and this is our final day of group excursions. For me all of the little experiences have really surprised me the most. I had a great deal of anxiety when it came to communicating with people in Polish. As to my surprise many people speak English here. Many restaurants have English menus. I was imagining being hangary and trying to order off a menu in Polish which would take unprecedented amounts of patience. My favorite experience was the hike in Park Narodowy Gor Stolowych. We climbed around 700 stairs to reach the top of the mountain. Along the way we had an excellent tour guide who told us all about the "mountain spirit." The hike was not nearly as challenging as we had anticipated. It took me around three days to get the word for thank you down. Now I say it all the time because I want the people of Poland to know how thankful I truly am for their hospitality and patience. 

Karate was my sport. Unfortunately I was not able to see my sport in person but was able to watch some on a stream. I was intrigued instantly. For some reason I thought karate did not have any contact but I was wrong. In Karate a person scores based on attacks and counters. Scoring is based on the part of the body you attack with and where you make contact. For instance a kick to the head would be worth more than a strike to the abdomen. The matches only last 4 minutes and the clock continually runs.  The fighters almost look like they are dancing on the mat. They are continuously hopping in an athletic stance to find the right opportunity to strike. The athletes move with such speed and grace it's hard to actually see what is happening. Women and men both compete in many different weight classes. The fights are broken into a tournament style field. The only American to make it to a medal match lost the bronze. Poland had three representatives make it to medal matches with one winning the bronze. 

Update: We're are just know arriving back into Wroclaw after our excursion today. It's around 11 pm local time. I could have never expected the experience we had today. I was blown away at the size of the grounds. I also had no idea that there was two parts of Auschwitz. Auschwitz 2 "Birkenau" is 25 times larger than Auschwitz. I also didn't know there was a difference from a concentration camp and a death camp. It's hard to connect to the events when you learn about these horrendous actions in history classes but it really hits home when you see personal belongings like dishes, suit cases, brushes and large amounts of hair. This experience still has not truly sunk in yet since it is so new.