I am so excited to finally arrive in Poland in less than 10 days! We've learned so much about Poland in the past few weeks from Professor Mierzejewska, Konstanty Gebery, Sabina Klimek, and Professor Magda Teter. From them, we learned about the culture, history and current economic and political status of Poland. We also learned a lot from the academic articles about the different media sectors of Poland and how they work.
Having said all of that, I'm excited to see how all of what we learned is applied in Poland with my own eyes. I expect to see and experience the culture and meet the Polish students and talk to them about their way of life. I would like to see and understand how it compares to life in the United States. I think it will be different from the way we live, but I also think there will definitely be some similarities.
I am also eager to learn about the Polish radio stations and how they compare to ours. For my chosen academic article, I read about the history of student radio in Poland. I see we will be visiting Polish Radio Krakow, the biggest regional public radio station in Poland, so I would like to see how what I read affects their industry today. I also expect to gain some insights from Tygodnik Powszechny magazine. I'd like to learn how they deal with the disruptive effects of new technologies and how they compare to the way US companies are tackling the issue.
Finally, I absolutely cannot wait to try all of the different foods. In any trip I've taken abroad, I make it a point to try a different food every day. I think food is a very important part of a country's culture, so I'm glad that Professor Mierzejewska made an effort to have us try different meals throughout our time there.
This trip couldn't come soon enough!
