by Giovanna Hughes
We flew to Poland! It took my group about 19 or so hours to get to Poland (two hours driving to Chicago, four hours at the Chicago airport, seven hours flying to Germany, two hours at the German airport, and two hours flying to Kraków). The airport was incredibly crowded and stressful, but the plane ride itself was better than I expected. The meals were good and the view was nice. However, it was incredibly tiring—I got about forty minutes of sleep total today, and it was all on the bus on the way to the hotel.
Aside from travel, we spent time at a mall in Katowice. The mall was much bigger and more crowded than other malls I had seen), and it probably would have been more enjoyable were everyone not so tired. Overall, it was an exhausting day for everyone, but we made it!
It feels so good to finally be here after a year of looking forward to this trip. This is my first time being in a foreign country, so this is all very exciting to me. In spite of the long travel day, there were highlights: the hotel is far nicer than places I’ve stayed in in the past. We all had dinner together in the hotel, and it was good getting to sit with my friends and talk about the trip. On both flights and during the waiting periods, I got to meet people in the orchestra that I had never really had the chance to speak to in the past, and it was nice getting to know them a little. Overall, today was a slow day, but I am glad that it is over. I look forward to seeing what the rest of this trip brings us!