From Poland, With Love
I've only been in Warsaw for about two months and it feels as if I've already seen three different seasons. I left France ready to start my next adventure and especially ready to no longer live out of a backpack. Unfortunately, I also left with a head cold and hearing loss in one ear. When I was waiting for my flight from Istanbul after my one-night layover and my ear popped while having a coffee, it may have been one of the highlights of the trip. Having hearing in only one ear while trying to find a hostel at night in a foreign, non-English speaking country is a once in a lifetime experience. I hope.
Once I got to Warsaw, I was expecting trouble at the desk, if only because when they inevitably asked the question, "How long are you staying?" My response would be, "Three years. And no I have no proof of work or residency. Yay!" Surprisingly, there was no issue and I was able to get through to meet up with my welcome party, which turned out to be a fellow English teacher and the assistant director of the school. We hopped in a cab to my new apartment and quickly went over the usual welcome information: map, phone, keys, directions to school, bus pass, good luck! My assistant director left and I was now with a fellow American who had volunteered to show me a place to grab groceries and how to take the bust to work. Time was tight and my tour guide had a movie to attend, so my first night in Warsaw I took the bus alone back to my apartment with my groceries where I made a salad and had my first Polish beer in Poland.
The next two weeks saw some of the heaviest snow of the winter, prompting the immediate purchase of a pair of waterproof boots. Easter was celebrated with the usual festivities, plus the creation of the largest snow bunny I have ever made or seen. He was very popular with everyone entering or exiting my building, and I was highly entertained by all the pointing and picture-taking while I had my morning coffee the day after I made him.
I learned fairly quickly that school does not get cancelled for a measly 8 inches of snow, as that would mean there would be no school from October to April. I also learned that getting 3 year olds ready to go out in the snow is a monumental task involving more layers than an onion. According to my Polish friends, this is actually a saying. Dress like an onion? Well, I guess layers make sense when you have 6 or 7 months of winter. From a Texan point of view, this is a fairly daunting thought.
Once the snow finally melted, though, I learned just what people were looking forward to. It was almost as if every tree, shrub and vaguely green area realized on cue that winter was over and spring had begun, so the entire city exploded in flowers. I was expecting to be constantly carting around a box of tissues, but my allergies were surprisingly mild (read: non-existent). All I had to do was swap my winter coat for my lighter jackets, use cotton scarves instead of wool and there we go, Spring. Of course, that lasted about three weeks and then it was suddenly in the mid-seventies and felt like summer. All the boots disappeared from the stores and suddenly everything was sunglasses and beach prints and swimsuits.
With summer comes weekly Chopin piano concerts in the park, something I had been looking forward to since I heard about it my first day in Warsaw. Two Sundays ago was the first such concert of the season, and the weather seemed to decide to go along with the theme of summer vacation, because it was sunny, hot and muggy. We laid on the grass and listened to Chopin under a perfectly blue, cloud-studded sky and followed that with a picnic in my backyard which included all the junk food under the sun plus enough dandelion wishes to make the chances of one actually coming true a little more likely.
Overall, the last two months have been a blur of new people, new routines and new things to fall in love with. I am absolutely positive there is more to say about everything that has gone on in the past couple months ( pretty much anything to do with work), but as it's taken me two months to even write this, I figured a general overview would be better than attempting to detail everything that's happened. Hopefully in the next few months I'll get into a better habit of writing and then I'll be able to talk more about work, my kids, a few of my adventures in Warsaw, etc.
Warsaw as seen from a bonfire on the banks of the river.
Once I got to Warsaw, I was expecting trouble at the desk, if only because when they inevitably asked the question, "How long are you staying?" My response would be, "Three years. And no I have no proof of work or residency. Yay!" Surprisingly, there was no issue and I was able to get through to meet up with my welcome party, which turned out to be a fellow English teacher and the assistant director of the school. We hopped in a cab to my new apartment and quickly went over the usual welcome information: map, phone, keys, directions to school, bus pass, good luck! My assistant director left and I was now with a fellow American who had volunteered to show me a place to grab groceries and how to take the bust to work. Time was tight and my tour guide had a movie to attend, so my first night in Warsaw I took the bus alone back to my apartment with my groceries where I made a salad and had my first Polish beer in Poland.
The next two weeks saw some of the heaviest snow of the winter, prompting the immediate purchase of a pair of waterproof boots. Easter was celebrated with the usual festivities, plus the creation of the largest snow bunny I have ever made or seen. He was very popular with everyone entering or exiting my building, and I was highly entertained by all the pointing and picture-taking while I had my morning coffee the day after I made him.
I could only convince one person to play in the snow with me. Apparently six months of the stuff will exhaust even the most enthusiastic of snow-lovers. We'll see.
I feel like I should have named him, but instead I just gave him a carrot that somewhat resembles a cigar.
I learned fairly quickly that school does not get cancelled for a measly 8 inches of snow, as that would mean there would be no school from October to April. I also learned that getting 3 year olds ready to go out in the snow is a monumental task involving more layers than an onion. According to my Polish friends, this is actually a saying. Dress like an onion? Well, I guess layers make sense when you have 6 or 7 months of winter. From a Texan point of view, this is a fairly daunting thought.
I couldn't resist building a snow fort. My first ever!
Once the snow finally melted, though, I learned just what people were looking forward to. It was almost as if every tree, shrub and vaguely green area realized on cue that winter was over and spring had begun, so the entire city exploded in flowers. I was expecting to be constantly carting around a box of tissues, but my allergies were surprisingly mild (read: non-existent). All I had to do was swap my winter coat for my lighter jackets, use cotton scarves instead of wool and there we go, Spring. Of course, that lasted about three weeks and then it was suddenly in the mid-seventies and felt like summer. All the boots disappeared from the stores and suddenly everything was sunglasses and beach prints and swimsuits.
I have no idea what these bushes are, but they were absolutely everywhere. They smelled amazing and made my daily commute significantly more pleasant.
Wilanow palace, which is a 15 minute walk from my house. Somewhere I have pictures of the gardens, but those will have to wait for another day.
With summer comes weekly Chopin piano concerts in the park, something I had been looking forward to since I heard about it my first day in Warsaw. Two Sundays ago was the first such concert of the season, and the weather seemed to decide to go along with the theme of summer vacation, because it was sunny, hot and muggy. We laid on the grass and listened to Chopin under a perfectly blue, cloud-studded sky and followed that with a picnic in my backyard which included all the junk food under the sun plus enough dandelion wishes to make the chances of one actually coming true a little more likely.
The lovely string quartet that entertained us while we found places to sit under the trees before the concert began.
Overall, the last two months have been a blur of new people, new routines and new things to fall in love with. I am absolutely positive there is more to say about everything that has gone on in the past couple months ( pretty much anything to do with work), but as it's taken me two months to even write this, I figured a general overview would be better than attempting to detail everything that's happened. Hopefully in the next few months I'll get into a better habit of writing and then I'll be able to talk more about work, my kids, a few of my adventures in Warsaw, etc.
The only tulip in my backyard was droopy, so we used it as the centerpiece for our Alice in Wonderland-esque picnic.
Nice blog Helen! And those yellow bushes are forsythias. :)
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