So I'm not so sure of how on topic this will be, but hey. It was experience.
This past week has been incredible; I learned lots of new Polish phrases and I've made lots of new friends. I've adventured new places and sampled new foods. Well, maybe a little more than sampled. I am completely in love with how many cultures are present in this one building alone...there is a constant hum of life in this city, much like in Greensboro, but here it is so different. You don't walk by someone on the street and immediately realize that they are talking to their friend in English, or even in Spanish. I hear so many different languages in this place, I feel like I live in the tower of Babel.
The market place has probably been the only place I have felt rather uncomfortable. This past week, our Polish teacher took us to the local market to teach us what kind of food was what and how to say it in Polish. One woman had a plate of oranges as a sample out on her stand, and many of my classmates moved forward to taste a slice. She became angry and began rambling off at us in Polish, and our Polish teacher went to rambling back at her. After we had moved away from the stand, our professor explained to us that the woman had been upset because we were taking our samples and not buying her product. It was a bit awkward, because it was true, but my understanding of a sample was a free taste with no obligation to buy. I wouldn't call the definition of sample a cultural difference, but I found her reaction to our actions interesting. Our lack of ability to communicate or understand the way the woman felt must have been frustrating...
I'm finding that grunts and pointing are about the best universal language.