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This trip was eye opening not just from a historical perspective but from a viewpoint of today. I've realized things that happened in the past are happening today in our faces, but we are desensitized to it in a way, and things that people back then said they'd fight against is literally happening right now, and I would like to say under our noses' but most just have blinders on or just aren't willing to see it. This trip mostly reminded me of how grateful I should be, because even though there is a lot going there is a lot and I do mean a lot of things I could be wanting for.

Interview 10 is missing because I couldn't get a second interview from Zakopane

The last of my interviews

Interview #11

Name: Kasia From: Warsaw, Poland Age: 46

1. What did you think of Poland's economy now and when you were growing up?

When I was growing up it was in the 80s times were harder then. Lines were long waiting for food, and there were no choices in stores. Then Poland's economy was weak, now it's getting stronger. More people have jobs, and people can travel now, even I have traveled places. Even now shops are full. Now instead of poor everything is expensive, and prices are going up, it's not easy for everyone.

2. What was Warsaw like back then?

Warsaw was grey and sad. Many buildings were damaged from the war, and everything was quiet. But we made our own fun, playing outside, and making games. Now it's better, the city is colorful, and busy, and there are lots of different cultures.

Interview #12

Name: Marek From: Krakow-Warsaw, Poland Age: 60

1. What was it like for you growing up in Poland?

Growing up here during the 60s and 70s wasn't easy. My family had one TV, but it didn't work so we always played outside even in winter. Sometimes our parents would tell us stories about the war or parts they'd remembered. Life was simpler, better in someways.

2. What do you remember about how your family lived?

We lived in a small flat, two rooms for 5 people. My parents worked really hard, my mother was a schoolteacher, and my father worked in a factory. We didn't have a car, but we later got a TV. And on Sundays my mom would cook, and we'd all eat dinner together which was special because we didn't do that every day.

3. How is Krakow and Warsaw different from each other?

Krakow and Warsaw are like 2 different worlds. Krakow is older, and slower, you can walk through old town and feel the history. Warsaw is faster and modern and always changing. Tall and busy streets.

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We went to Zakopane today I really love it there. It was an amazing Place. I loved the scenery and how quiet it was, and I even managed to get an Interview. But today we learned the definition of genocide and what R2P is.

Interview #7

Name: Antoni From: Krakow, Poland Age: 45

1. Did you grow up during communism?

Yes, I did, I was a kid when Poland was under communism. I used to stand in line with my mom for food. Life was simpler but harder.

2. How is life now compared to what you remember about then?

Life is much better now. We have more things; we can choose many things. Back then, it was harder to find jobs and people didn't have money. Now, life is easier for so many other people.

Interview #8

Name: Conrad From: Krakow, Poland Age: 38

1. Do you feel like the economy is good here?

Like um before all the bad things happened... I mean from Covid. In the Polish economy was the fastest growing. That doesn't mean we we're the richest, we were the fastest growing, now we are slowly getting back there. We are going up, up, up. I will say it's not bad, it's not very good but not bad. It's okay.

Do you have a positive feeling about it?

Yes, I mean I'm not very positive, but I think we are good

2.What was it like growing up here?

Different now, I was born in communism 1987. So of course, I don't remember much communism fell 2 years later, but I can say that communism wasn't good for Poland. I can only say from my parents' perspective. It was ok everyone had a job maybe not much pay but pay was much, much lower but everything was much lower of course. So, people were able to build their own houses, people were able to partially live equally of course now more pay but it is much more expensive. I guess like all over the world. So, if you'd build your own house now it would cost more compared to your salaries.

Interview #9

Name: Jadzia From: Zakopane, Poland Age: 54

1. What was it like for you growing up during communism here in Zakopane?

Growing up here wasn't easy, but it was normal for us back then. We didn't have much but my mother did what she could. Supplies were hard to get, and we had to wait in long lines, but we had the mountains, and we had our neighbors who helped each other. But life was simpler then and I liked it, a lot of small joys like skiing, homemade food and music from tapes.

2. How do you think it was different from growing up in Krakow?

Zakopane was better for me it was quieter than Krakow. In the city it was under more control, but there was more culture, schools and jobs. But in Zakopane there was only animals, mountains, and tourism. So, things were even more free.

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At this point I'm really not sure if I'm supposed to be summarizing what we talked about in class then talking about what we did since the last journal but that's what I've been doing so I'm going to stick with that. Today we talked about we have spent around a trillion dollars just servicing our debt instead of paying it, also how the 2008 housing crisis is starting to look eerily similar to what's going on now.

Interview #5

Name: Gabriella From: Budapest, Hungary Age: 28

1. How do you feel about the economy now?

-Bad

-Why is it bad?

-Because the Hungarian People are not so big on equality, they judge everyone.

2. In your opinion does communism or capitalism fit Hungary better?

In Hungary everything is bad

-the president is bad

(she didn't understand the question we were asking too many questions all at once)

-I think in the next years we have to change everything.

Interview #6

Name: Jozsef From: Budapest, Hungary Age: 32

1. How is the present-day economy in your opinion?

Hungary's economy is starting to get better but still has some problems. People's wages are going up which is good but were paying "large" prices. Fewer people are working, and the country isn't selling as much to other countries.

2. What so you think about the Hungarian economic policy?

The government has big plans to fix the economy by lowering the debt and helping families, and they've made tax cuts for moms with kids. But there is some issues Hungary lost some major funding because of arguments with the EU, and prices are still high.

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In class we learned the world powers that have veto power in the U.N. WHICH ARE the powers who won WWII. We went over why we individually believed why Russia invaded Ukraine, I believed it was because Putin wanted to regain the control, he believed Russia lost after WWII, and because he wanted to bring back the Soviet Union. We also talked about how quality control went to crap.

I've learned about Dracula and energy vampires form that amazing tour. We also went on the fairs wheel. Honestly there's not much to say about this city it's a great city, very beautiful but it's like every other medium sized city I've been to. What I can say is that there are some great people here the people are really friendly and easy to talk to, they have lots to say about their government and political system if you can find the right people to talk to, But many still don't want to be recorded so I don't have many voice recordings of my interviews which is very annoying. I think I got a bit off topic, but you get me.

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Some things we've learned in class in Bucharest are:

Capitalism: In theory a free market-based system where in theory nothing is holding you back and nothing is pulling you forward.

The flea markets are the only real-world example of the free market system.

Meritocracy: it's fine as long as it chooses who wins.

A social system, societally, or organizations in which people get success or power because of their abilities, and not because of their political party.

Socialism: A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates for the community to regulate the production, distribution and exchange of goods.

We also learned about communism vs. Socialism and how they both want collective ownership and a more equal distribution of wealth, but the difference is that communism is a more radical form of socialism, and it results from a violent overthrow of the state's government.

We learned how fascism is not all authoritarianism, and it is defined by 8 ideas.

On the tour of the Palace of Parlement I've learned that it is one of the largest and most famous buildings in the world. That it was designed by a woman by the name of Anca Petrescu who's the youngest person was ever to become the chief architect at the age of 28yrs old, and that over a million people were working on this project with only 20% being contractors and about 40% being indentured slaves brought from the prisons, and the rest being volunteers. We've learned that it started being built during the reign of Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu. It has the largest chandelier weighing at 5 tons with a platform and an elevator of some sort inside of it. The palace has over 1,000 rooms and its 12 stories tall, and 8 levels underground (I believe she said 95 meters underground). And it was built entirely out of materials found in or made in Romania.

Today we went to Vlad the Impaler's castle it was pretty nice, but it definitely was bland for a castle the torcher chamber was pretty cool though and we also went to Peles Castle, and it was so amazing they were very obviously detail oriented and cared what people thought of them, I especially lover the weapons rooms and how you could see weapons from all over the world from different eras.

My Interview

Name: Alexandra   From: Bucharest, Romania     Age:39

Did not want picture or video I did get a voice memo

https://C:\Users\Nailah Wood\Downloads\Alexandra Interview #1.m4a

1) What is your opinion about the current state of your national economy?

We have a large deficit, so my opinion about it is bad

2) What is your opinion about the economics of communism as it existed for you, your parents, or your grandparents?

Well for my family communism wasn't a good thing. We were lacking in everything, again there was public debt that they'd tried to pay off, but the country eventually went bankrupt. There were very hard times. The economy was thriving I think only in the 60s then it took a nosedive. Communism as an economic ideology isn't practical it will always end up destroying the country.

3) What is your opinion about the economics of capitalism as it currently exists?

I think it suits human nature better. I'm pro liberal economy. I think more people thrive under capitalism than anything else. Although I do prefer capitalism that is nuanced by social welfare. I think unbridled capitalism is not suitable for a country either. I think there are some sectors of economics, or public life that shouldn't really be left all to capitalism like healthcare. We should have private hospitals, but the but the basis of it should be universal healthcare, like pensions also private pensions, but also the universal norm should be state pensions, education as well you know you have to have a balance. Capitalism within a social welfare context.

This relates to what we've learned today because Economics is about choices and scarcity

Economics is about making choices because resources are limited, and the societies have to decide what to make, how to make it, and where it is allocated to. Alexandra talked about how it was for her family living under communism, where there wasn't enough of anything to go around and the poor planning mad life hard. This shows how economic choices can lead to scarcity. She believes capitalism is better because it gives people more freedom to choose and work, but she does also believe in some government assistance, like free health care and pensions. This is what a mixed economy is, where both private businesses and the government paly their respective roles. Alexandra's worry about the nations national debt is a big issue that effects the entire country. Which is what is called macroeconomics. But her ideas as they involve health care, pensions, and education are microeconomics because they affect individual people and families. We also learned about the PPC which Alexandra said didn't work under communism, because the resources were used poorly. She supports people starting businesses and thinks capitalism within the social welfare context is a good thing.

Interview #2

Name: Stefan From: Bucharest, Romania Age: 56

No recording (didn't want to be recorded)
1) What is your opinion about the current state of your national economy?

It's not very good, but not bad either young people can work and make good money, better than before, but for people my age, life is hard more expensive, and less money. There's two Romania's, one rich and on poor.

2) What is your opinion about the economics of communism as it existed for you, your parents, or your grandparents?

Ah- Communism, I lived it, my parents lived it, my grandparents lived it.

It was different. For my parents and grandparents, life was poor but stable. Everyone had jobs, nobody sleeps on the street, there was food sometimes. No freedom, No choices. You want meat then you wait in line for 2 hours.

For me the 70s and 80swas hard. Ceausescu paid the debt to the west, so the people suffered. The economy was planned but planned very poorly. Nothing in the stores, but propaganda that says, "we grow", Everyone is equal. but equally poor, but some are more equal.

3) What is your opinion about the economics of capitalism as it currently exists?

It's working, btu not perfect. Many jobs in factories and tourism but everything is more expensive. If you don't have a good job, it's hard to have a good life. A lot of big companies came and built things its nice but small people still struggle. Many are still working for little money. Capitalism is good but not the same for everyone.

Interview #3

Name: Dora From: Brasov, Romania Age: 60

No recording (got cut off)

1) What is your opinion about the current state of your national economy?

It's really bad for a lot. You know I grew up here ant it not much for a lot of people.

2) What is your opinion about the economics of communism as it existed for you, your parents, or your grandparents?

It was so bad for people lived on the street and I knew people who died. We had ration card but no food like everyone else.

3) What is your opinion about the economics of capitalism as it currently exists?

Capitalism is a sometime good. It's good but only for some people, still many are poor and can't eat.

Interview #4

Name: Andrei From: Brasov, Romania Age: 27

No recording (I didn't have my phone at the time of the interview)

1) What is your opinion about the current state of your national economy?

It's good for younger people we can get jobs, and we can make money.

2) What is your opinion about the economics of communism as it existed for you, your parents, or your grandparents?

I don't remember it but for my mom and grandparents it was hard they never had food they always starved.

3) What is your opinion about the economics of capitalism as it currently exists?

It's good for me I have a good job but for some of my friends they can't live, they have 2-3 jobs to eat.

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Today was a very long day, I was overly exhausted and could barely function. I'll try to ask more questions to get a better understanding of what is going on in my classes. I'm not exactly sure what else to write so I'm off.

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My hopes for this study abroad are that I will learn a lot about Poland, Hungary, and Romania. That I will get plenty of information from the locals in my interviews and that I will get to see many places. I don't really have any expectations for this trip, I just want to have a good time and take lots of pictures of beautiful places.