My Polish vocabulary is increasing rapidly. I know the words for "ice cream" and "waffle" now.

Since I've been busy with the conference and forming new physics acquaintances (some worthwhile, some not), I haven't had much time to update.

Thursday was the beginning of it all. I got to meet the third winner of the SPS. I'm quite excited that I got to meet her and her roommate that goes to Cambridge. They are both extremely nice and were willing to allow me to tag along on their venture into Krakow.

The architecture here is pretty exciting. It's subtle and obviously very eastern European. I'm enjoying the change from the architecture I typically identify as European.

This is just a typical street in Krakow. Alright, so it's not "typical"...this is in the city center which is known for it's more touristic approach to Polish life.


Friday was the fun of my presentation. Here's my debut as a lecturer at an international physics conference...even though the conference may really just be a week-long party for physics students...

Let's just hope those that see this on my résumé don't know that last tidbit. Anyway, I took my talk very seriously...unlike some others that don't know that talks at conferences should be on original research.

That night was the "National Party", which involved us all bringing food and drink from our countries for everyone to sample. It was fun to see everyone so excited to share their cultures. There was a lot of country pride going on. It was quite the fun night.

The fun had Friday night was harshly contrasted by the sadness of Saturday. This was Auschwitz-Birkenau visit day. I took a bunch of pictures, but I honestly don't know if I ever really want to look at them again. I'll put two up to just begin to show the expanse of the place. I won't, however, mention much about it. It was intensely sad, and the words of another cannot even begin to describe the emotions one gets when walking through the halls of these buildings.

I have a tendency to get upset at intensely sad places, so I wasn't surprised when I just was overwhelmed and didn't want to go to Birkenau after having spent several hours in Auschwitz. Alas, it was part of the trip.

Auschwitz was small compared to Birkenau. This picture doesn't even begin to show the size. It went on as far as the eye could see in most directions.

Saturday night was then a night to go into Krakow. The other American, her English roommate, and I went into town and saw Polish nightlife. They love the tragically bad American and English pop here. I don't think we heard a song all night in the club that wasn't in English.

And now, it's time for some sleep. A recap of Sunday-present will be up soon. Hopefully, I can get some good pictures in.