5 December, 1999
Ahhhh…Sunday, lovely Sunday. A day of relaxation and leisure. I love it.
My week did end up going better. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday’s lessons all went very well. I was very happy. I did end up accepting the Exam Classes that needed to be taught and did so for the first time yesterday. They were GREAT!!!! I guess that since I have 2 classes with "little monsters" (young children) in them, one a beginner class and one an elementary class, I am now prepared to teach anything!
I had another quite pleasant experience yesterday. I went to a small market near to my flat to pick up a few items. At the check out, the lady (she was about my age) asked me something in "traveler’s sign language" (basically trying to get me to understand something using hand signals as she knew I didn’t speak Polish well) and I said "Si", yes in Spanish, then corrected myself and said "Tak" which is Polish for yes. She then said "Si es espanol" ("Si" is Spanish), so, asked her (in Spanish) if she spoke Spanish, and she did. It turns out that she lived and worked in Madrid for 3 years!!! We were so happy to be able to speak that language together (or in my case just be able to have decent communication with someone) that we spoke for ½ hour! I will definitely go back to that market!
The weather continued to be unusual (so I’ve been told) this week. The high winds have finally stopped. It had been windy all week. I don’t mean breezy, I mean WINDY!!!!! We’re talking HANG ON TO YOUR HAIR windy!!! I saw on BBC that there was a lot of wind damage in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia well as other parts of Northern Poland, although it didn’t say where. I assume it was up on the coast. The temperature has been around 0C (32F) during the day, and –5C (20F) at night, With the wind chill factor, it’s felt like –20C to –25C (–10F to –20F) day and night respectively. I am sooooooo glad I have the new winter coat I bought before I left the USA. It works very well.
Taxes are quite high in Poland. The federal tax for paychecks is 19%. The sales tax is 22%, however, it doesn’t seem like that much, as the price is added into the prices of the item you want to buy, it’s not added on top of it at the check out register as in the USA.
I have learned a little bit of the Polish language and am trying to pick up more every day. I am able to go to the store and ask for what I want and the quantity. It’s not much, but it’s a start. I’m doing okay for being here for only 3 weeks. My goal is to be able to get around and talk to people by June. I realize that fluency will take a while, but I have time.
I didn’t get a chance to make a day trip this weekend. I had planned on going to Warsaw on Saturday, but then I accepted the previously mentioned classes to teach that day, so I changed the plan to go to Warsaw to today. However, my last class on Friday (Adults – beginner level) invited me to go out to dinner with them at a local pizza shop tonight at 17h (see below for details), so I wouldn’t be able to make it there and back by that time. That’s okay, I had to grade papers and plan some lessons and activities, so I had plenty to keep me busy.
As mentioned above, I was invited to go to dinner with some of my adult students tonight. All I knew was that we were going to Pizza Margarita at 17h and some people would stop by my flat to pick me up. So, at 16:45 there was a knock on the door. Malgorzata (Margaret), Krystyna (Christina), and Malgorzata (yes, two people with the same name) were here for me. Just a quick interesting note. When they came in I welcomed them to my flat and I said "It’s small, but I like it. They said, "It’s not small." We walked to the restaurant, which was in the town centre (about 20 minutes). Once there, we were joined by two more of my students, Grzegorz (Greg) and Katarzyna (Kate). Shortly after that, in walked Krzysztof (Chris) and Anna two more of my students. The interesting part of that was that I had no idea that they were husband and wife. Krzysztof is in my H class and Anna is in my F class. They are in different classes that meet on different days and at different levels (Anna is pre-intermediate). I knew that Krzyzstof was married, but there was never any mention of his wife being one of my students. They said that they had kept it quiet to me, but that they both knew that they had the same teacher. It was a pleasant surprise, as I hold both of them in high regard, as I do with all the students in my H class. We had drinks and pizza (excellent pizza – it had pepperoni, paprika, ham, mushrooms, and corn on it) and talked. We finally left the restaurant about 21h. We had talked for hours about everything (life, stereotypes, cars, motorcycles, etc.)!! They wanted to know more about the USA, and I wanted to know more about Poland. It was a good time had by all. I was very grateful for them inviting me and they liked being able to practice their English in a less formal atmosphere than the classroom. No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn’t let me pay for anything.
Christmas is starting to happen here. I noticed around 1 December that stores are putting up and selling decorations. There are a few decorations around town also. It’s a nice change from the USA, where the overcommercialization (selling of Christmas decorations, etc.) has been going on since October. Poland is a VERY Catholic country and I think that Christmas will be great here. I’ve been told that the emphasis is more on family here than material things. However, I have also been told that they do like presents, but there is less money to give them with.
Do I miss the USA? Well, …….overall…….No, I don’t. Granted, it is a great place with a lot to offer, and, I will NEVER give up my USA citizenship, but, I hope not to go back (except for a visit) unless absolutely necessary (such as terrorism threats) for quite a while. There are things I love about it, but there also things I hate about it. I don’t miss the excessive crime & murders (an everyday reality in USA cities). I don’t miss the fact that many people in major cities live in poverty. However, I do miss my family, all of my friends, all of my favorite places (especially all of California, Vegas, Arizona, Florida, New Orleans, Philadelphia (and most of Pennsylvania for that matter…What a great state….), New York City, D.C, the diverse population, mummers, etc). Also, since I’m a teacher, I can visit, as I have summers off. However, unless there is a good reason, as of this time, I have no plans to move back.
Life is good and I am very happy here.
