Welcome to my Poland section. I made this section to show my friends and my church the things I learned, observed, and thought during the preparation and process of my trip to Poland to teach English for a year.
My mother said this has been the cheapest ten-day vacation she's ever taken. What with all the train travel I've done and the taxi rides, it's been one of the most expensive ten-day periods I've spent in Poland. I'm not complaining. It was worth every grosz. It just goes to show that living here is very inexpensive by American standards.
We spent a quiet holiday relaxing, reading, walking into town, and playing games, mostly cards. I also did a good deal of writing, and my main novel project is almost finished. The other novel I'm actively working on needs quite a bit more. My mother suggested I might have a one-track mind, because I sometimes ask questions about my novel when we haven't talked about it in several minutes, but I don't think I do. I think about many things... I just keep coming back to writing.
My mother insisted that she had to walk on the lake before she went home. I didn't like the idea, before Christmas because the lake hasn't been frozen that long, after Christmas because it has been above freezing every day since Christmas, and I didn't want to go swimming. But she insisted, so we stepped out onto the ice, and I led her along the shore. She wanted to go across, but I am cautious. This turned out to be good, because we had to scurry closer to the shore twice when we heard the ice cracking. But we didn't fall in, the ice didn't open, and we even got a couple of pictures of ourselves standing on the ice. Mom got the best picture; hers has a bouy in the background, frozen where it floats.
We also went to Ostro'da one day. We visited the church there, climbed the bell tower, and had tea with the pastor. We then walked to the local castle. It was very small (smaller than it used to be, because there was a magazine in one wall, and the magazine exploded years ago), but it was interesting. After that, we had to catch our train home.
On New Year's Eve, we ate dinner and relaxed for a few hours, then headed to bed. I was reading my Bible when the countdown happened. I wasn't listening for it, but I heard it: "cztery, trzy, dwa, jeden," and then a non-word cry. Singing right after the count is not a tradition in Poland, but apparently fireworks are. I looked out my window and saw fireworks everywhere I looked. Not bottle rockets and black cats; real fireworks. The kind that go up and make big, bright spheres when they explode. The whole sky was on fire. Mom and I watched for a few minutes. Then, we went to bed, trying not to think about the fact that someone was setting off explosives not 100 paces from the front door of the building.
On New Year's Day, we rose, ate breakfast, and relaxed. Near noon, we went for a short walk. When we returned, Kris had lunch ready for us. We ate, and then we were off to the train station to go to Warsaw. In Warsaw, we took a cab to the place where we would spend the night, and then we looked up Joanna. She was very happy to see us, and we were happy that she was willing to spend the evening talking to us, because everything is closed on January first. At around nine o'clock in the evening, we left there and went looking for a restaurant. Only two places within walking distance seemed to be open: and Indian restaurant (That's India Indian, not American Indian) and a KFC. Neither of us likes curry, so we had chicken. I ordered a chicken sandwich, and mom got the Colonel's popcorn chicken, which I enjoyed also, as she couldn't eat it all. My order came with fries, which were very good. I told Mom that I would probably not see french fries for another three months.
This morning, we went to break fast with Joanna, because she had invited us the night before. Then, we headed to the airport. There, I found a luggage cart, got Mom's bags loaded onto it, and we said our good-byes. She told me not to worry, to trust God, and that she would find the right gate in plenty of time. I returned to the rooms where we stayed, gathered my things, and walked with Joanna to a store where I hoped to buy a chess set. My mother and I had had a conversation about gifts, and I had said I didn't want anything, and anyway, I could only think of one thing I even vaguely wanted: a chess set I had seen in Warsaw for 50zł (about $12 at the time). I don't remember exactly our conversation, but she had said something like, "Well, why don't I get it for you?" So, since Mom and I didn't have time to go look for it, Joanna walked with me to the store (because I couldn't remember where it was). When we got there, the chess set in the case was 240zł, and it wasn't the same one!! I didn't have that much Polish money with me, and the set they had was ugly, so I decided I would just look for one in Iława. I walked to the train station, and by that time, it was almost time for my train. I got back to Iława, took a cab to the church, and arrived ten minutes before my first class. Nothing like cutting it close. I had three classes today, and expected to do a meeting of English practice club, but no one came for the club, and most of my third class didn't come. All in all, though, it's been a good day. I hope Mom's flights all go smoothly, and that she gets on the first available flight every time.
God bless you all. Happy New Year!