FROschTOsch

by Julita Kowalów, Karolina Krukowska, Magdalena Mańkowska, Katarzyna Sielaczek (LOG)

Sport is one of the most famous way of spending free time in our school. It’s very important for young people’s health and mental condition.

Our students take part in many competitions and they attend many extra ordinary lessons after school. They devote their time for improving their sport skills. Also our teachers commit themselves to training pupils.

We have 3 school representations: volleyball team, football team and basketball team. They achieve many successes in regional competitions. Our biggest achievement is the fact that we have been champions in our region for 7 years in volleyball and basketball as well.

We are proud of our sportsmen and we wish them more and more success.

by Julita Kowalów, Karolina Krukowska, Magdalena Mańkowska, Katarzyna Sielaczek (LOG)

Euro 2012 is  organised in Poland for the first time. As we all know it’s associated with many changes and improvements in our country’s infrastructure.  It’s  a great opportunity to promote our country in the world. It is  also a great entertainment for football supporters.

The sports stadiums are being built in Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław. These buildings were designed not only for sports competitions but for other kind of entertainment like concerts or shows. We also started to renovate our railway stations and airports. For example we built a new terminal in Łódź and we are building many motorways.

Euro 2012 is a chance to cooperate with neighbouring countries mainly  Ukraine. Poland and Ukraine are planning to organize  the final together. During the sport event in our country there will be about 3500 journalists who will be reporting championship for millions of people all over the world. Communication network area’s preparation are connected with cooperation with Ukraine, therefore it is a task  which must be mastered together.

On the other hand, it is a big responsibility to cope with such a duty. There are some complications with infrastructure. There are some delays, the motorways may not be built in time. Chinese consortium which is building motorways in Poland doesn’t  pay Polish subcontractors on time so they went on strike. Problems are also appearing in roads’ investments and building of National Stadium. The disparity between official work plan  and actual situation is 16 per cent. But authorities think that these problems won’t disturb in completing the task on time.

There are 361 days left to the Europe Championship and despite of some complications we hope that everything will be successful.

by Philip Kulej (BvA)

From the 8^th up to 13^th June the German Comenius group of Langenfeld had a visit to their partner city Gostynin in Poland. When we arrived at the hostel in Gostynin, I went towards my room.

But after  ten minutes, Mrs. Arnold called me and asked me to come down to her and Mrs. Śniecikowska – she is the wife of the major of Gostynin and our hostel leader.

Because my whole family is from Poland I know this language and could help to translate a few things at the morning for example when the breakfast should start. After our breakfast we went to the school, the Liceum Tadeusza Kościuszki in Gostynin and had there a German-Polish guide who showed us the school. I understood  everything the Polish students talked about  us .

On the trips to Plock, Torun and the old town of Warsaw, the Polish students got to know me better and were surprised when they heard I can speak Polish. So sometimes I had to translate  between the German and Polish students when they had problems to communicate in English.

One afternoon Mrs Arnold, Martin and I met  the mayor and his wife at the hotel by coincident and had a difficult conversation about the Polish and German school system. The conversation was very intensive and long. So I had sometimes difficulties to translate things but Martin can speak Polish too, so we helped each other and had a successful conversation.

At our last breakfast in the hotel we had a special guest, the mayor Mr. Włodzimierz Śniecikowski,  who talked to  us about the history of Gostynin  and other things. All in all my  unexpected translator job in Poland was very exciting and was a lot of fun.

by Marta Lewandowska and Małgorzata Leonarcik (LOG)

School is really important in every youth’s life. Education determines our future career – our job, our status, our satisfaction. This is why deciding on our path is such a serious matter. In every field, we need different qualifications. School can help us develop our abilities.

When we decide on our school life, we also choose our leading subjects. That means we learn the subjects we need in our future job, e.g. Maths for engineers, Biology for doctors. However, when choosing a path, we are still very young and inexperienced. It is hard to make a proper decision. Youths are likely to change their mind as they learn new things and find their new passions and interests. It means that even if someone has been learning History diligently for 2 years, he can suddenly go on to learning Physics and taking a path of an engineer.

We conducted a survey at our school. We wanted to find out opinions of our schoolmates that chose different majors. The questions was their future job and their reason for picking it out. We think that the survey made many people think about their life.

The results of our work are quite interesting. We found out that people that chose Science as their main subject (and also Biology, Geography, etc.) are more likely to take jobs connected with it. People learn Biology and Chemistry because their plan for life is being a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist.

If one spends much time on Maths, he probably dreams about being an architect, a banker or a businessman. The reason for that can probably have something to do with a specific character of the subject. A student needs to think logically and to understand many rules and laws of the nature.

There’s a difference in regard to humanistic subjects. The subjects are rather not very specific and it may be the reason why students’ plans differ so much. It is quite common to find people who want to be psychologists, lawyers, journalists, but others prefer being geodesists and doctors! They don’t care that it’s difficult to take this path, while they aren’t used to learning Science. They want to fulfill their dreams no matter what. Maybe humanists are just such full of passions people that think with their heart and not their common sense…

We also asked about motivations of young people. Most of them chose… money. Maybe Poland is still a poor country and that’s the reason why every one dreams of being rich. Wealth can help fulfill all the dreams and aspirations. Isn’t that sad?

However, many people choose their job according to interests. When someone likes drawing, job of an architect is actually perfect for him. One can realize his potential and be satisfied in his life. We are also proud that some of our schoolmates just want to help others- that is the reason for being a doctor or a policeman. Other causes can be: a contact with people, traditions in family, travels and prestige.

However, it is also quite disappointing that not every one has a good reason for choosing a particular path. Life is sad when one doesn’t have a motivation. It is harder to achieve your goals, when you don’t feel like really achieving them. That is why, our young age can actually create a problem. We are still indecisive and we don’t know much about the world. We can dream, but we can’t be sure… And (for good or for bad) it is the most important time for us, when our future life is being determined.

Let’s take this challenge!

by Dominika Lewandowska IIe (LOG)

I was born in a small mystery town called Gostynin, where maisonette castle was built on the hill which used to be densely crowned with wood. At present townsfolk have had the castle reconstructed, but spirit of old one is still present in many legends and memory of the oldest people living here…

The modest, wooden but really comfortable castle was overlooking the mingy village. Nowadays at the same place the sun’s radiance is given back by Kocioł Lake tract. In the stronghold a foreman with his beautiful young wife were living. Their peaceful existence was interrupted by Tatar’s breaking into Polish land. The foreman had to go fighting with the pagans, unfortunately he was taken captive. One day a young and handsome knight came to the castle. The forewoman was jaded, she hadn’t got any message about her husband and because of her loneliness she fell in love with the knight. A few months later  emissaries arrived to the castle. They were to take a ransome for the foreman’s life, but perfidious knight had them incarcerated and he said no word to the forewoman.  By-and-by a message was brought to the citadel telling about foreman’s death. Unfaithful wife and the knight got married. During pompous wedding the spirit of the foreman appeared and damned traitorous woman and sneaky knight. The castle with wedding’s guests caved in the ground and on its site Kocioł lake came into being. The sole relic of old castle was crucifix, which was sticking out the lake’s tract. One day a country woman was washing underclothes, she caught the crucifix and invoked. Just then the roob disappeared for ages, but during the full moon, they say, it emerges in the moonlight.

Kocioł lake is frequent motive in Gostynin’s legends and the next tradition will be about it too. In the castle a prince was living, whose daughter married a plebeian in spite of her father objecting. The outraged prince killed the bridegroom while a priest was blessing newlyweds. The church, which had been situated on the hill, disappeared under the ground and now people can see there Kocioł lake.

Other legend says that before the ages, on the place where at present there is the Kocioł lake, was a sizeable town. Hard-working and opulent people were living there, however because of their vanity, they started sinnig against the Lord. The God punished sinners cruelly – the town caved in the abyss and from the hole surfaced the lake called Kocioł. The fishermen angling fishes there claimed they had been able to hear the voices and clang of a church’s bell during the Easter. It was said that a sinless girl who will be washing her clothes in the lake, may reverse the bad fortune and restore the town to the life, if she isn’t scared of a vision of it. Someday a young girl was washing her raiment in the Kocioł Lake and she felt she had touched something strange. The girl realized that had been a steeple, unfortunately she was shocked and a little bit frightened. The church had to stay in the darkness forever.

by G. Fiedler (BvA)

On March 23, 2010 the FROschTOsch project meeting had the privilege to welcome two very special guests, Ms Erna Funk and Dr. Stephan Lipski. They were both born into the German minority in Gostynin before World War II and told the FROschTOsch team about how Germans came to live in Poland 200 years ago, what life was like as a German among Polish neighbours and what they experienced under Nazi German occupation.

2 Germans born in Gostynin report

by Marta Milczarek (LOG)

Gostynin – a small town in central Poland. It is a place where people know each other very well. There are only a few interesting places like cafes, clubs or restaurants where people especially teenagers can meet, however they are really worth going to.  Besides there is one building, a very old one, famous all over Poland – a castle in Gostynin.

The Castle was built in the fourteenth century by the dukes of Mazovia. Originally it was a tower, which performed the defensive and residential functions. In the next years the castle was rebuilt several times, its look changed. In 1611 the castle became a place of detention of the Russian Tsar Vasily Shuiski and his brothers: Ivan and Dmitri and his wife Catherine. The Castle was destroyed in the years 1655 – 1660 during Potop Szwedzki – it was a war between Poland and Sweden and later by the troops of Catherine II in 1769. The castle was burned down but in the next few years it was built again. In 1825 the building was converted into evangelical church and then it was a Roman Catholic church. Now the castle has been renovated and now it is a very elegant hotel and restaurant.

Although the castle was renovated, its appearance has changed but many people are not satisfied with the function of which it is now. A lot of people think that the hotel it is not a good alternative. They think that it is a  place with rich history and it should be a museum. But other people think that it is good that the Castle was renovated.

The Castle in Gostynin is the most interesting place in our town. It is a place whose history is very interesting. Everyone knows a few things about it. Although it is a hotel, it is a magical and beautiful place and every tourist should visit it.

by Natalia Linska (LOG)

The place where I live is small. It is called Zwoleń and it is situated seven kilometres from Gostynin.  There are not many kinds of entertainment  like  a sports centre , a department store  or the theatre, but life here is calm and relaxing. There are a lot of green forests and beautiful lakes. Many people from the city come here on holiday to rest and relax.

There are a lot of holiday resorts and hotels nearby forests and lakes. In these resorts you can rent water equipment during holidays.

There are also stud farms, where everyone can learn to ride a horse or borrow a carriage with two horses and a driver to go on a horse trip.

You can go here for a long walk, breathe fresh air and if you are lucky  you can meet some wild animals e.g. deer, elk, fox, wild bear, badger, pine marten and many others. Occasional appearance of so many different  types of  animals makes perfect conditions for hunting. In summer  you can also pick up some berries, or in autumn if you wish to spend some time stepping on rustling leaves covering the forest bed you can go mushrooming.

My region is perfect for holiday. When the weather is fine and the sun is shining everybody  goes to the beach . They swim in the lake, sunbathe, build sandcastles, sail, catch fish, paddle a canoe or collect stones or pebbles.

On the fields grow beautiful and colourful flowers. You can collect them, make a bouquet and later in the privacy of your home admire their ephemeral beauty and scent.

My village is wonderful  for people who want  to get in touch with nature and spend holiday in a tranquil and peaceful place.