Polish Prom

Every American knows what prom is. Likewise, every Pole knows about Studniowka. This is a special celebration that occurs 100 days before their Matura (exit) exams begin. In essence, this is their last night to party and have fun before they really settle into their studies and stress out about these exams. It's a very special evening that involved students, teachers, and their parents and that goes until the morning light, even though the morning light isn't until 7am.

The night began at 7pm, so of course we left the flat at 6pm in order to drive three towns over and up the side of a snow covered, ice overed mountain, and therefore started getting ready at 3pm. Everyone was dressed to the nines. The boys were all wearing suits and ties, and the girls were in gorgeous dresses. Not poofy like American prom dresses, but elegant and in various lengths. No two dresses were quite the same, and everyone looked stunning. Most of the students brought dates, though I wasn't quite sure if everyone was together or if some of them were just friends. Most of the teachers were there and were also dressed up. Also, a lot of parents were there. However, parents didn't stay for the whole night, just for the first two hours or so.

The program had a several different components. First, two of the students welcomed all of the guests and invited the director up to give a speech. Her speech was short, and I didn't understand any of it. Apparently, it was about the importance of studying. Second was a nice champagne toast. 99% of the students are legal to drink, so it wasn't a big deal. The good stuff came next.

Third the students put on a skit that they had created. The traditional skit pokes fun at the teachers, but this year the students got really creative and wrote a more entertaining skit. They all pretended to be various fairy tale characters from the Three Little Pigs (and a fourth with swine flu), Little Red Riding Hood, and Tinky from the Teletubbies. Again, I didn't understand any of it. After the skit, which was really well received, the students presented videos they had created. The video from 3a featured pictures from the students over the years, participating in a variety of activities-a touching montage. The video from 3b was a more creative presentation. They pretended like they were meeting to have a reunion after 20 years so it showed all of the different jobs that the students had. It was really funny.

The fourth part of the program took us outside. The students had bought these lanterns that act like hot air balloons. Though it was freezing out, the group managed to light them all, and they looked beautiful floating up into the air. It was a special touch they had designed and it was wonderful. We headed back in for the last part of the program. The students presented flowers to all of the teachers and thanked them for various things. You could tell that they really had good relationships with the teachers and were genuinely appreciative for all that the teachers have done for them.

The next part of the evening was dinner! I was really excited to eat because I was starving. The meal was huge and delicious. Luckily, I have learned to pace myself. Naturally we started with soup and then came the main course with three different types of meats, three salads, potatoes, and dumplings. Everything was wonderful.

After we ate, the DJ turned up the music and the dancing began! We listened to music in all different languages: Polish, English, and even Spanish. Watching and dancing with the students was a lot of fun, and it was great to be able to connect with them in a slightly different way than the regular teacher role.

Though, one might think that we would be full from the huge meal we ate at 9pm, but this would be false. Apparently we were still hungry and the following food options were provided during the rest of the night:
10:30pm - cheese, meat, bread, and salad trays for picking over.
11:30pm - ice cream
1:30am - a hot meal of rice and meat on a stick
3:00am - beet soup.
Sadly, because I left at 2ish, I missed the final course. But everything was absolutely wonderful.

The night was a lot of fun, and I really loved being able to see everyone dressed up and share in their special night. My all time favorite moment was dancing with my students to the YMCA and teaching them the moves. They had never seen it before! Even though I was dead tired the next day, it was totally worth it!

Peace,
Colleen