COMMENCE LEADER SCHOOL

If I could sum up the past day and a half in one word, I would have to say, "exhaustion." And I'm not the only one. From 2pm yesterday, we have been nonstop! Met our trainers in the hotel where we then had 20 minutes to change into formal wear where we were met with Polish politicians for our inauguration. I was then interviewed for TVP Polonia, being the only one in my group who doesn't speak Polish, and had to come up with a Polish sentence on the spot. (Of course, saying that when I leave my aunt in Rzeszow, I say, "Kocham cie." We then changed into casual attire and went on a two hour tour of Warsaw - which is all the photos you'll see below. After that, dinner at 8:30 at a great restaurant in the stare miasto (old town).

Today was spent in workshops with our cohorts. (There are three.) We began the day with breakfast at 7am. We did a little icebreaker outside the Ibis Hotel in Warsaw and then around 9am, headed to the bank to get the 1700 zloty cash reimbursement for our plane tickets. We were then on our way to Bialobrzegi, where the majority of our conference will be held. We had a quick tour of the campus and had a half hour to sit/unpack. We then went to our cohorts where we talked about expectations and rules, and then identity and what identity means. We had lunch and then came back into our cohorts for outdoor team building activities. If you're on facebook, you can see some of this here. I'm not usually a fan but they were pretty good and all related back to teams and how we can be better leaders. This went until 7pm when we broke for dinner and then continued on from 8:15 until 11 tonight.

Until tomorrow, photos...

Hotel Bristol - the most expensive hotel in Warsaw and also the original. It lasted through the war because it was the headquarters for the Nazis.

This is where the eternal flame is housed, to honor all Poles who died during the war.

On the walk to stare miasto



 

Zegrze Lake in Bialobrzegi