Classes End, a Mall Takes Shape, Sausages Grill and Poland's Lake District Dazzles
With two weeks remaining in my Fulbright appointment to Poland, our schedule seems to become increasingly packed with activities. This post takes you from Poznan to Gniezno (1,000 years ago, Poland's first capital), to Poland's fantastic lake district, called Mazury. We begin with the conclusion of my teaching during this Fulbright fellowship.
Final Class Presentations
In my International Public Relations and Corporate Communication classes, students worked in small groups to complete a final project and class presentation. In International Public Relations, I told students they were account managers with a PR firm in Manchester, England, hired by a multinational company headquartered in Mumbai, India. The fictitious company, a manufacturer of plastic tubing used for cosmetics, toothpaste, etc., was expanding its operations to another country and sought the PR firm's advice and counsel on navigating the cultural and structural communication issues they would face. For example, how would an Indian company launching manufacturing facilities in Chile prepare for internal and external communication challenges: employee management, media relations, social media engagement, community relations, corporate social responsibility, etc.? This required the student groups to research both Indian cultural characteristics and assigned nation cultural characteristics. They also needed to explore media structures, community expectations, and legal and ethical issues related to communication. Each group prepared a detailed report and summarized it in a 15-minute briefing. The in-class presentation scenario assumed that the student group, as the PR firm account team, was addressing the Indian company's CEO and top leadership. The student teams did an exemplary job, demonstrating the knowledge and skill sets they acquired during this semester.
Similarly, my Corporate Communication student groups were tasked with developing a corporate communication policy document for a real organization of their choice. Student groups needed to address such areas as employee communication with the media, employee use of social media, internal channels of communication including 2-way channels, meeting planning and protocols, recurring communication events, fundamental crisis communication procedures, communication training modules for employees, e-mail protocols, etc. Again, student groups researched and prepared substantive policy documents and presented summary briefings in class. Student groups did a splendid job. As a result, I feel confident these future entrepreneurs and business leaders from Asia and Europe have enhanced their likelihood of success in their professional careers.
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A Corporate Communication student group representing France, Greece,
Russia and Spain explains its proposed communication policy document. |
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| This Corporate Communication group includes students from Portugal and France. |
Touring Central & Eastern Europe's Largest Mall
Late last fall, I arranged for my students to tour the construction site of what will be the largest shopping mall ("Galeria" in Polish) in Central & Eastern Europe.
Galeria Poznania (be sure to click on the virtual tour video) will feature more than 100,000 square meters of shopping, dining and entertainment space (roughly 1.1 million square feet) and 3,300 underground parking spaces. Earlier in June, I again arranged for my host university's future entrepreneur student group to tour the facility now that it's approaching completion. About 25 Polish and Ukrainian students joined me for this fascinating experience. The massive construction project presents interesting cultural challenges as the managing company is French while most of the several thousand workers are Polish. Several project leaders, both French and Polish, provided insights into how those cultural challenges are being managed. Donning protective shoes, vests and hard hats, the students spent two hours talking with site managers and exploring the facility rapidly taking shape.
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| Our tour began with a briefing from project managers. |
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Touring the colossal Galeria Poznania covers a lot of territory. Project managers provided
helpful explanations all along the way. |
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Our guides were a wealth of detailed information and patiently
answered students' questions. |
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| Of course, an event such as this demands a group photo. |
A Picnic in Gniezno
About 45 minutes by train from Poznan is the city of
Gniezno, Poland's first capital beginning in the 11th century. It is also where Pastor Richard Nungesser of the church we attend here in Poznan lives with his wife and children. Richard and his wife, Brooke, came to Poznan from Arizona in the United States around 15 years ago. They graciously hosted a picnic for our congregation, bringing together church members from about a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.
Poznan International Church provides worship and service opportunities for a congregation including international students, expatriates and Poles. In addition to Sunday worship, Richard and other staff members and volunteers lead an aggressive program of social support to regional communities, especially to the homeless. Of particular merit is PIC's Bread of Life ministry that includes a men's shelter where men dealing with addictions can receive lodging and other support including vocational and life skills training. PIC has been a central part of our time here in Poznan, and we will very much miss our PIC family.
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Pastor Richard Nungesser (center, in orange T-shirt) along with me and a young
man from Ukraine diligently monitor the kielbasa and chicken on the grill. |
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Richard's wife, Brooke (center, with red eyeglasses) chats with my
wife, Robin, and a young man from Taiwan. |
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Three engineering students from India enjoy the U.S.-style picnic
atmosphere and traditional food. |
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| The game of horseshoes is a new experience for PIC members from Great Britain, India and Ukraine. |
Poland's Lake District
Robin and I spent an extended weekend recently in Mazury, Poland's beautiful lake district. The U.S. state of Minnesota boasts on its licence plates, "Land of 10,000 lakes." Poland's response could be, "Is that all you got?"
The Mazury and Warmia region is in northeast Poland, directly north of Warsaw. It is dotted with irregularly-shaped lakes, extensive forests and rolling farm fields. Picturesque towns and villages are scattered throughout the region about 20-30 km apart (9-14 miles), and each is home to a castle or two, a magnificent church, ancient walls, scenic rivers and other intriguing features. The area is rich in history including the era of the Teutonic Knights (beginning in the 13th century) through important World War II sites.
We stayed in the beautiful city of Olsztyn, home not only to a scenic old town area and a verdant riverside park, but also host of an annual country and western music festival -- no kidding. I've included a few photos from our visit here, but the full collection is available here:
Olsztyn/Mazury Photos.
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| A pastoral scene on the shore of one of Mazury's countless lakes. |
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| The view from a bridge in Lidzbark Warminski, about 30 km north of Olsztyn, |
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| This lake was just one street from our accommodations in Olsztyn. A pathway around the entire lake offered a 3-mile/5-kilometer walk. |
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| Climbing the tower of the castle in Reszel, 40 km northeast of Olsztyn, provides this spectacular view. |
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| While in Mazury, we visited our Poznan friends Darek and Ola. Their family owns a lake cottage near Olstyn. Here Robin and Ola savor the sunset on the pier in front of their cottage. |
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| Not far from Olsztyn is the site of the July 15, 1410 Battle of Grunwald, when King Jagiello of Poland and Duke Witold of Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Knights, marking the beginning of the end for that group that had occupied much of what is today Poland. An estimated 45,000 soldiers fought in the battle. The monument above depicts the positions of the various military units on both sides. Visitors can explore the entire, expansive battle ground, virtually unchanged in the 600+ years since the event. |
Many places in Poland boast of their association with the brilliant Polish astronomer Copernicus. As an Air Force navigator (pre-computer, pre-GPS), I learned and used Copernicus's calculations in conducting celestial navigation, so I'm always interested in learning more about him. In Olsztyn, where the genius spent several years, I learned that he was also a lawyer and highly skilled accountant.
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Copernicus and I share a keen interest in the orbital mechanics of celestial bodies.
This is a statue of the astronomer in Olsztyn. Copernicus is on the right. |
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On display in the Olsztyn castle are a number of Copernicus-related artifacts, including this ledger
in which the astronomer recorded observations and calculations. |
Not far from Olsztyn, near the town of Ketrzyn, is
Wolf's Lair, Hitler's wartime military compound -- the counterpart to the Pentagon in the U.S. Hitler spent about three years on this compound in Nazi occupied Poland (out of reach from Allied bombers), and this is where, in July 1944, there was a nearly successful assassination attempt -- Col. von Stauffenburg placing an attache case with a bomb under the conference table in one of the bunkers. Nearly 5,000 people, alleged conspirators, were executed in the aftermath of the attempt. From Wolf's Lair (Hitler's nickname was Wolf), military orders affecting all fronts were sent. The complex is larger than I had imagined; it was eight square kilometers (nearly 2,000 acres) and included about 80 main structures. The compound was surrounded by minefields and security fencing. Dense woodland and numerous surrounding lakes made any approach extremely difficult. Already existing nearby rail lines permitted delivery of construction materials.
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| A map at the entrance to the Wolf's Lair describes the walking tour. |
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| Walls of each bunker, including this conference building, were several meters thick. Ceilings were even thicker (eight meters or more than 25 feet) to defend against potential aerial bombardment. The compound is embedded in thick forest, and roofs were covered with grass and shrubbery to conceal the facility from the air. This is the conference building, the site of the attempt on Hitler's life. |
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Hitler's top staff lived on the compound with their families. This structure
housed the offices of Chief of the Operational Staff Alfred Jodl. |
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| With the Soviets approaching from the East in 1945, the Nazi leadership attempted to destroy Wolf''s Lair. Despite using 1,000 pounds of TNT for each bunker, most structures merely cracked in a few places around the outer walls. This breach in the wall illustrates the thickness of the walls. This was Herman Goering's bunker. |
Parting Word
Although summer took its good time arriving here, and we've still had chilly spells well into June, last week had most Poles longing for autumn. Temperatures reached the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius). That can be challenging when few buildings are air conditioned, including my office and our apartment.
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| This was last Saturday afternoon. |
The weather quickly turned more seasonable, with temperatures in the 70s Fahrenheit (lower 20s Celsius) this week. During the brief hot spell, though, Poznanians made excellent use of some of the city's best features such as the
Indoor/Outdoor Waterpark, the Warta River, and Malta Lake.
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| When the temperature tops 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), the grassy shore of Malta Lake is a fine place to spend Saturday afternoon. This is a 20-minute walk from our apartment. |
As always, thank you for visiting my blog. With a lot of preparation to do before we depart in two weeks, I'll probably have time for just one or two more short posts. In the meantime, do widzenia!
