Life has been crazy busy lately. I went to Barcelona for 8 days and had an amazing time! While there I decided I am going to learn Spanish. It is my new goal that in the next 2 years I will learn Spanish. If any Oregon teacher is reading this and knows... Can I make Spanish lessons from a company that just teaches Spanish (not a college) count towards my whatever it is I need to renew my teaching license in Oregon??? I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone!
I went to Barcelona with 3 other teachers from my school. We did a great job of relaxing, partying, and site seeing. I think it was the perfect mix. We spent one day sitting and laying on the port people watching and enjoying the sun, another day laying on the beach and exploring the beach front area, we did a free walking tour of Gaudi's buildings, we went to Park Guell, we went up to MontSerrat, a montasery with an amazing view, shopped, explored the city, went to the big outdoor market, walked La Rambla, went to some small pubs and big clubs, met people from all over. We had 2 French guys and 2 German guys in our hostel that we became pretty good buddies with. It was amazing! One night Lauren and I sat at a bar and talked with 2 guys from Spain. They would teach us Spanish and we would trade and teach them English, it was awesome! While I was there I decided I think I was meant to live in Spain. Everyday I would wake up late and go get a chocolate croissant from a small bakery 3 doors down from our hostel, usually go get a Starbucks, do whatever we were doing for the day, have a siesta (I swear these were invented for me!), have a late dinner with 3 desserts, which we all split :), go hangout at the hostel for a bit and then go out. The Spanish daily time schedule is so much better for me than the American or Polish one. They sleep in late, have a siesta in the middle of the day, and go to bed late. Why can this not be everywhere?!?!?!?!
The week we got back was crazy! It's amazing how crazy kids can become after being away from school for only one week. It's like they don't remember any of the rules that they have been following for the past 3 months... It was a rough 4 day week, but it ended well and this week is better. That's the good thing about teaching everyday is totally different. You can have a terrible day one day and the next day can be a great day. I am learning just how important it is to be a good parent... If I ever have kids I swear I will be the strictest mom. My staff is amazing and so supportive though. I love all of them and am so happy that I am at a school where everyone gets along, everyone supports each other, trusts each other, and helps each other.
On Sunday (11/7) I went on a hike with 10 other teachers in the Czech Republic. It was amazing! The hike itself was really easy and not even really a hike, but the views and nature were crazy! The whole place used to be underwater and there were these huge sand stone rocks that are like nothing I have ever seen in the U.S. I'll post pictures on facebook. We also got to see the source of a river and saw the bubbles coming up from the sand were the water was entering into the stream, it was pretty neat. It rained the whole time we were on the hike, which made me think of home and actually made me miss Oregon a little. It's funny a lot of the teachers were bummed that it was raining and it just seemed totally normal to me.
This week we only have a 3 day week because Thursday is some Polish holiday and then Friday is a bridge day because its silly to just randomly not go to school for one day in the middle of the week. So anyways, I don't have school on Thursday or Friday, so I leave tomorrow night (Wed. night) for Scotland!! I'm so excited!!! This means that my country count is up to 6!! The U.S., Canada, Poland, Germany, Spain, and now Scotland...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Loving Life!
I am still loving Poland and everything it has to offer!!
I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and it was so much fun! We slept in a tent that we rented (I guess) for the 2 nights. When we got to the site the girl in charge of checking us in said we could have unlimited beer at the campsite all weekend for 10 Euro. So, needless to say everyone there was there to party and have a good time. I could never tell if it was night or day because people were always awake lol. The festival itself was so neat! It was different than the Oregon Brewfest (don't judge it's the only point of reference I had before going). The beer halls are actual halls/buildings. You aren't in makeshift tents. There are live bands singing all kinds of fun German drinking songs as well as fun American songs. Everyone is drunk and therefore very friendly and happy. I met people from all over the world, shared stories, drank, laughed, pretended I spoke Spanish, and almost missed my flight home :) It was quite the adventure and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about going.
School has been gong pretty well the kids are starting to get all of the routines down and I'm able to have a little more fun with them. They are adorable and can usually make me laugh just when I think I can't take anymore. On Thursday I got to school and there were kids coming out of my room when I was bringing up the class in the morning. At first I was like what are you doing you know the rules blah blah then they handed me roses. I was like umm wow thanks what are these for? And they responded "It's your day" I'm like ok... and the girls were like "you know your teacher day". It was Teacher Appreciation Day in Poland! It was such a nice surprise and my kids were so cute about it. I am actually REALLY excited about school next week. This is a run down of the week: Monday-assembly for UN Week, Tuesday-a goodbye party for one of my students leaving (who I love, but still a party) :(, Wednesday-A birthday party, Thursday-Field Trip!, Friday-1/2 day and an assembly and then I LEAVE FOR BARCELONA!!!!!! And just to put perspective on things. Birthday parties are a huge deal here. Parents bring full lunches for every student in the class, the other kids all bring presents to school, the thing takes a minimum of one hour. It's very fun!
Here is the run down of the next 3 weeks for me:
Next week: Barcelona, Spain for 8 days
The next week: A bunch of the staff is going to hike the Table Mountains. It looks amazing here is a link to see it:
I'm seriously so excited about all of the trips coming up! I feel like every weekend is a vacation :)
I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and it was so much fun! We slept in a tent that we rented (I guess) for the 2 nights. When we got to the site the girl in charge of checking us in said we could have unlimited beer at the campsite all weekend for 10 Euro. So, needless to say everyone there was there to party and have a good time. I could never tell if it was night or day because people were always awake lol. The festival itself was so neat! It was different than the Oregon Brewfest (don't judge it's the only point of reference I had before going). The beer halls are actual halls/buildings. You aren't in makeshift tents. There are live bands singing all kinds of fun German drinking songs as well as fun American songs. Everyone is drunk and therefore very friendly and happy. I met people from all over the world, shared stories, drank, laughed, pretended I spoke Spanish, and almost missed my flight home :) It was quite the adventure and I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about going.
School has been gong pretty well the kids are starting to get all of the routines down and I'm able to have a little more fun with them. They are adorable and can usually make me laugh just when I think I can't take anymore. On Thursday I got to school and there were kids coming out of my room when I was bringing up the class in the morning. At first I was like what are you doing you know the rules blah blah then they handed me roses. I was like umm wow thanks what are these for? And they responded "It's your day" I'm like ok... and the girls were like "you know your teacher day". It was Teacher Appreciation Day in Poland! It was such a nice surprise and my kids were so cute about it. I am actually REALLY excited about school next week. This is a run down of the week: Monday-assembly for UN Week, Tuesday-a goodbye party for one of my students leaving (who I love, but still a party) :(, Wednesday-A birthday party, Thursday-Field Trip!, Friday-1/2 day and an assembly and then I LEAVE FOR BARCELONA!!!!!! And just to put perspective on things. Birthday parties are a huge deal here. Parents bring full lunches for every student in the class, the other kids all bring presents to school, the thing takes a minimum of one hour. It's very fun!
Here is the run down of the next 3 weeks for me:
Next week: Barcelona, Spain for 8 days
The next week: A bunch of the staff is going to hike the Table Mountains. It looks amazing here is a link to see it:
http://www.skaly-adrspach.cz/en/The next week: 3 days of teaching and then off to Scotland for 4 days!!
I'm seriously so excited about all of the trips coming up! I feel like every weekend is a vacation :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hopefully the craziest kinder day of the year....
Everything has been going really well lately. I'm settling into school and waking up early better than I thought I would. To the point where I suck at sleeping in even on weekends anymore...who saw that coming NOT ME! I have been really prepared with every lesson lately and I just totally felt like I was getting in the groove of school and figuring out my class and getting all the issues under control. I wish this was the case.... I got a new student like a week and a half ago now. His mom had told me how she was really worried he was going to freak out blah blah before he started. He was fine, no problems, one of the better behaved boys in my class, he was great. Well....I still am not exactly sure what happened but yesterday he freaked out (understatement). His mom came and waved to him in class or something and all of a sudden he was out my door and sprinting down the stairs. His mom carries him back up to the room and tells him to stay, we're talking to him and trying to convince him to calm down for way too freaking long, then he just flips. He is crying and screaming and clutching his mom. I am trying to hold him back, but he is freaking out. The secretary hears all of the commotion from downstairs and comes up to see if I'm ok. She goes and gets the PPY coordinator who is then trying with the mom and I to talk to him. Completely useless...arguing with a 5 year old is the most pointless thing ever! Finally, she says Megan's just going to take him and your just going to run out of the room. The mom says I know he will hit and punch her. I'm like great...... Keep in mind the other 12 children in my class are still in the room now probably wrestling on the carpet. So, the PYP coordinator (thankfully) decides I don't need to be beat up and she will take him. She grabs him, I pry his fingers off of his mom's hair, and his mom runs for the door. The PYP coordinator is holding him and he is screaming at the top of his lungs, crying, punching, kicking, and hitting her. Finally, as all the children in my class are plugging there ears and saying "Too loud" "Too loud" she takes him out of my room and with the P.E. teachers help carries him to the gym because testing is going on in the upper grades and when he won't stop leaves him in there and shuts the door LOL. Well apparently he stopped screaming after like 20 minutes and came back to class pretty much ok. I'm thinking okay it's over for today, it's just a morning thing. WRONG! Later he refuses to go to Art, so I make him sit and do nothing while I work and everyone else is at Art. I know you're all thinking I'm the meanest person ever, but if I let him do something fun he will never go to any special. Then, I make him come with me to get the kids. I'm checking on the boys who are having fun flooding the bathroom while washing their hands after Art. I get to the room and the kid is gone! I search the room and then his sister brings him down. He had run to her classroom to see her. He freaks out when I try to take him from her and I get to hold him as he cries and screams yet again and refuses to go to P.E. In the end after 15 minutes of dealing with him he goes to P.E. AND craziest part today (the next day) he is fine, completely normal like nothing happened. I expected him to freak out for like the next 2 weeks every time his mom left him....nope (well not today). Seriously please keep your fingers crossed that it was a one time thing. I don't know how many more of those days I can take. Today was a good day though and I got a box from my parents so it was extra good! I'm still doing ok, just way over crying!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Crazy Poland
This week was good, but kinda crazy. I feel like I say that a lot...maybe that goes along with teaching kindergarten? On Wednesday we had a health inspection at our school because it's the last step in completing our PYP accreditation. Apparently, we aren't a registered school in Wroclaw because their laws are so crazy. The school's board thinks we wouldn't be able to teach our curriculum and that we would have extra crazy rules to follow or something, but in order to be accredited we have to be a recognized school in the country, hence the health inspection. So anyways, we are told we have a health inspection the next day, then we get an email saying all the guys need to wear collared shirts and ties and all the girls need to put their hair up, and that we can't have any food in the room (my kids keep their lunches and snack in the room and eat both in the classroom). Then, when I get to school on Wednesday I'm told that Pre-Kindergarten (we have like 16 kids in this class) does not exist as of today, they will be going on a field trip and we are supposed to say it's a community room, that we have registered as a community center not school to avoid the crazy rules, so our kids need to be doing arts and crafts while they come in, and that my kids are only allowed to use certain bathrooms and I am only allowed to use other ones and it has always been that way... WHAT?!?!?! So, I figure out a crafty lesson the kids are doing during the time when their supposed to be inspecting and guess what they don't come and we're told won't come till the very end of the day so the kids might not even be there. YAY! Ohhhhh guess who shows up as all of my kids are eating their lunch in my classroom....All the inspectors! We'll see how we fare, we don't have the results yet. It was a crazy day and one of those days where you think "this would never happen in the U.S." Poland's laws are just so old and people are afraid of changing them and just scared in general. It's like their so scared of ever going back to Communism and being ruled by another country that they just want to keep everything as it has always been because that is how Poland was, even if it makes no sense! Another funny story semi related, but I learned this when I first got here. The head of our school is really into technology and very North American, so he wanted t wireless internet in the schools. The board head (semi like superintendent I guess and an extremely educated, smart, great guy) won't allow us to have wireless internet in the school because he thinks then people could watch us. To me this idea seems insane, but I also didn't grow up in a country that was strictly ruled and people were watching you and telling you what to do all the time. It's the little things that make me take a step back and remember "Oh ya I'm in Poland!"
We had a school potluck for both campuses yesterday and all the parents and staff were invited and asked to bring a dish from their home country and then label the countries origin. I had a really hard time thinking of food that was American, because I pretty much each other countries foods only in the U.S. I discovered. I decided to make apple crisp. It actually turned out really well and people liked it!! The potluck was amazing though! There was so much food and it was so interesting to try foods from all over the world. I have now had authentic Korean food 3 times and I like it! I like sushi. I actually don't know if I disliked anything I had and honestly don't know what everything I ate was :) I'm loving the international experiences and cultures I'm learning from the kids and all of the families from all over the world that are in our school and my class.
We had a school potluck for both campuses yesterday and all the parents and staff were invited and asked to bring a dish from their home country and then label the countries origin. I had a really hard time thinking of food that was American, because I pretty much each other countries foods only in the U.S. I discovered. I decided to make apple crisp. It actually turned out really well and people liked it!! The potluck was amazing though! There was so much food and it was so interesting to try foods from all over the world. I have now had authentic Korean food 3 times and I like it! I like sushi. I actually don't know if I disliked anything I had and honestly don't know what everything I ate was :) I'm loving the international experiences and cultures I'm learning from the kids and all of the families from all over the world that are in our school and my class.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Loving Sunny Fall Days!
School:
This week was good, but so tiring. It was the kids first week of going all day and it was a little rough for them. By the end of the week I realized we needed to just play at the end of the day and we needed rest time. I literally turned off the lights and told them to just lay down on the carpet and relax. Poor little guys! We also had Parent Night on Wednesday. I was a little nervous about it, but so tired by the time it came that I couldn't even think. It actually went well minus that the parents didn't want to leave and pretty much had to be kicked out (nicely obviously lol). I wasn't too nervous and I knew the answers to all their questions. I'm realizing they are really supportive, they just want to be fully informed about everything that is going on and how their child is doing, which makes sense. The kids are still hilarious. There little 5 year old words mixed with their accents are so funny. I find myself talking to them with some random mix of their accents with the poorest grammar ever because I'm around them so much. Definitely need to work on this considering I'm supposed to be teaching them English along with the curriculum. In my defense another teacher said she found herself doing the same thing. I'm actually getting freaked out that when I come home I'm going have weird grammatical speaking skills. Advanced warning so no judging!
Me Time:
Jeff got here on Friday night so I've been showing him around a little bit. I don't know the city that well myself yet, so I'm not a great tour guide, but I try. We went to the Rynek (town square) and walked around the city. Saturday we went out with a couple other teachers. They took us to a bar called "Mexico Bar". It had Mexican food and it was amazing!! I seriously didn't know I would miss Mexican food so much, but I do! Actually, Mexican Independence Day is on Wednesday (it's not Cinco de Mayo like we think) and some of the teachers from last year are good friends with some of the Mexicans here (there are like 15 total in the whole city). Well, the Mexicans are hosting a big party and they invited us! I'm so excited for real authentic Mexican food! I know enough about food. Sorry! So, I'm doing that on Wednesday, which will lead to an interesting Thursday I'm sure. That's why I'm here though, to experience everything possible. Maybe we'll need an extra long rest time on Thursday :). Today (Sunday) was the most beautiful day I think since I've been here! It's definitely fall and the weather has been pretty cold and kind of rainy. Today was sunny and about 70 degrees. It was the perfect fall day! Jeff and I met up with two of the teachers and went kayaking on one of the rivers here. It was awesome! We were kayaking right by Cathedral Island, which is this place in Wroclaw that's not really an island, I don't think... Anyways, it has a couple of huge, beautiful churches, neat old buildings, and a really cute bridge where you engrave locks with your name and the name of the person you love then hook the lock on the bridge and throw the key in the water to signify that your love will be forever. Sappy yes, but really cute and fun! I know a little weird that I like it so much, maybe Poland's making me soft lol. Then we walked around the Rynek and got beers with the teachers at this neat pub I'd never been to where they have all kinds of crazy different beers (honey, caramel, chocolate). Oh, side note, in Wroclaw, and I think maybe the rest of Poland, lots of people order beer with raspberry suki (translated juice, but really syrup) in the beer. It sounds gross, but it is SO good! I'm hooked! It was such a fun and relaxing day! It did make me miss home a little, just because Portland and Eugene are just so pretty in the fall. I've decided if I could just have Duck football games and pumpkin spice lattes it would be perfect here :) And obviously all of my friends, but those are the materialish things that I find myself missing.
P.S. It is my goal today to post pictures on facebook, so if your wanting to see my classroom and some of Wroclaw check there. I haven't figured out how to put them on here/if it is possible.
This week was good, but so tiring. It was the kids first week of going all day and it was a little rough for them. By the end of the week I realized we needed to just play at the end of the day and we needed rest time. I literally turned off the lights and told them to just lay down on the carpet and relax. Poor little guys! We also had Parent Night on Wednesday. I was a little nervous about it, but so tired by the time it came that I couldn't even think. It actually went well minus that the parents didn't want to leave and pretty much had to be kicked out (nicely obviously lol). I wasn't too nervous and I knew the answers to all their questions. I'm realizing they are really supportive, they just want to be fully informed about everything that is going on and how their child is doing, which makes sense. The kids are still hilarious. There little 5 year old words mixed with their accents are so funny. I find myself talking to them with some random mix of their accents with the poorest grammar ever because I'm around them so much. Definitely need to work on this considering I'm supposed to be teaching them English along with the curriculum. In my defense another teacher said she found herself doing the same thing. I'm actually getting freaked out that when I come home I'm going have weird grammatical speaking skills. Advanced warning so no judging!
Me Time:
Jeff got here on Friday night so I've been showing him around a little bit. I don't know the city that well myself yet, so I'm not a great tour guide, but I try. We went to the Rynek (town square) and walked around the city. Saturday we went out with a couple other teachers. They took us to a bar called "Mexico Bar". It had Mexican food and it was amazing!! I seriously didn't know I would miss Mexican food so much, but I do! Actually, Mexican Independence Day is on Wednesday (it's not Cinco de Mayo like we think) and some of the teachers from last year are good friends with some of the Mexicans here (there are like 15 total in the whole city). Well, the Mexicans are hosting a big party and they invited us! I'm so excited for real authentic Mexican food! I know enough about food. Sorry! So, I'm doing that on Wednesday, which will lead to an interesting Thursday I'm sure. That's why I'm here though, to experience everything possible. Maybe we'll need an extra long rest time on Thursday :). Today (Sunday) was the most beautiful day I think since I've been here! It's definitely fall and the weather has been pretty cold and kind of rainy. Today was sunny and about 70 degrees. It was the perfect fall day! Jeff and I met up with two of the teachers and went kayaking on one of the rivers here. It was awesome! We were kayaking right by Cathedral Island, which is this place in Wroclaw that's not really an island, I don't think... Anyways, it has a couple of huge, beautiful churches, neat old buildings, and a really cute bridge where you engrave locks with your name and the name of the person you love then hook the lock on the bridge and throw the key in the water to signify that your love will be forever. Sappy yes, but really cute and fun! I know a little weird that I like it so much, maybe Poland's making me soft lol. Then we walked around the Rynek and got beers with the teachers at this neat pub I'd never been to where they have all kinds of crazy different beers (honey, caramel, chocolate). Oh, side note, in Wroclaw, and I think maybe the rest of Poland, lots of people order beer with raspberry suki (translated juice, but really syrup) in the beer. It sounds gross, but it is SO good! I'm hooked! It was such a fun and relaxing day! It did make me miss home a little, just because Portland and Eugene are just so pretty in the fall. I've decided if I could just have Duck football games and pumpkin spice lattes it would be perfect here :) And obviously all of my friends, but those are the materialish things that I find myself missing.
P.S. It is my goal today to post pictures on facebook, so if your wanting to see my classroom and some of Wroclaw check there. I haven't figured out how to put them on here/if it is possible.
Monday, September 6, 2010
The First Monthish
So I made it to Poland!! I'm just a little slow on getting this started, but better late than never I suppose. I will try to be good about posting, but we shall see....
Boring Get You Informed Details:
I have a one bedroom apartment. It is really nice and pretty cute. I live in the same complex (it's huge) as 3 other teachers from my school. My school is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. My school goes Pre K-4th grade and then there's another campus that is 5th-10th that is about 10 minutes away tram time. There is one teacher per grade, which leaves me with lots of planning, but at the same time gives me lots of freedom. All of the teachers are amazing and super helpful!!
School:
School started last week. We're already in week 2. It's crazy! I'm like a real grown-up big kid teacher now! I LOVE my kids. They are adorable and so funny! I think I have 10 different ethnicities out of 13. Imagine 5 year old lingo with French, Swedish, Finnish, German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and the other accents that I'm forgetting. I want to post a pic of my kids, but I think it's not allowed... Anyways, they are great, obviously not perfect, but really fun and I'm really enjoying them and figuring out how little kinders know :)
Poland Life:
Everything is slow and the laws are a little crazy. It is a huge joke that when people don't want to let you do something they say you can't because of Polish Law and sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. For instance my landlord claiming he cannot give me a 2nd key and finally saying (through interpretation of the school secretary) that he can't because of Polish Law....sounds a little sketchy to me.... I am finding that I can find almost every food I could in the U.S. I have peanut better!! I found black beans and CHEDDAR CHEESE!, but the black beans are a little weird. I think my quessadilla eating is going to have to take a break for awhile. Everyone at the school has informed me of all the secret places to find cheddar cheese though and actually one of the parents. I didn't realize I was so attached to it lol. Polish food is pretty good, although there's really not that many Polish restaurants around. They have every kind of food here. My co-workers are getting me hooked on sushi...never saw that one coming. Not having a car and having to take trams and buses everywhere is a new experience I am starting to get used to. Going to the grocery store is not a quick thing. It needs to be planned ahead of time as I am learning. There's a square called the Rynek here and everything is in it. It's pretty much where you go to eat, go out, meet up with people. It has the coolest old buildings and churches. It's gorgeous and reminds me of why I so desperately wanted to come to Europe! There are so many bars, clubs, and restaurants in it that I don't think I'll ever be able to go to all of them. The people in Poland are amazing! They feel bad when they can't speak English to me, which is crazy to me because I'm in their country. A lot of people speak English though and I'm finding that it's really not that hard to get around without speaking it. I'm good at gesturing and pointing. There's a lady in the store under my apartment that teaches me words every time I come in. She is super patient and so nice without ever understanding anything I am saying. They park cars on the sidewalks here. I ran into a curb pretty hard one night because I forgot that the middle of the car, not the front, is where the curb begins. Cars are normal size here, there are some little smart cars, but it's more like the U.S. And obviously from the the boringness of these last few topics I am running out of information, so I will end this. I will try to take pictures soon!
P.S. It's looking like my first trips are going to be 1. Munich for Oktoberdest 2. Barcelona 3. Scotland!!!!! I'm getting so excited!!! :)
P.P.S. The city is pronounced like "Fros-swoff" not like "Row-claw" HAHAHA It's taken me awhile, but I'm finally starting to think it the right way when I read it now...if that even makes any sense.
Boring Get You Informed Details:
I have a one bedroom apartment. It is really nice and pretty cute. I live in the same complex (it's huge) as 3 other teachers from my school. My school is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. My school goes Pre K-4th grade and then there's another campus that is 5th-10th that is about 10 minutes away tram time. There is one teacher per grade, which leaves me with lots of planning, but at the same time gives me lots of freedom. All of the teachers are amazing and super helpful!!
School:
School started last week. We're already in week 2. It's crazy! I'm like a real grown-up big kid teacher now! I LOVE my kids. They are adorable and so funny! I think I have 10 different ethnicities out of 13. Imagine 5 year old lingo with French, Swedish, Finnish, German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and the other accents that I'm forgetting. I want to post a pic of my kids, but I think it's not allowed... Anyways, they are great, obviously not perfect, but really fun and I'm really enjoying them and figuring out how little kinders know :)
Poland Life:
Everything is slow and the laws are a little crazy. It is a huge joke that when people don't want to let you do something they say you can't because of Polish Law and sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. For instance my landlord claiming he cannot give me a 2nd key and finally saying (through interpretation of the school secretary) that he can't because of Polish Law....sounds a little sketchy to me.... I am finding that I can find almost every food I could in the U.S. I have peanut better!! I found black beans and CHEDDAR CHEESE!, but the black beans are a little weird. I think my quessadilla eating is going to have to take a break for awhile. Everyone at the school has informed me of all the secret places to find cheddar cheese though and actually one of the parents. I didn't realize I was so attached to it lol. Polish food is pretty good, although there's really not that many Polish restaurants around. They have every kind of food here. My co-workers are getting me hooked on sushi...never saw that one coming. Not having a car and having to take trams and buses everywhere is a new experience I am starting to get used to. Going to the grocery store is not a quick thing. It needs to be planned ahead of time as I am learning. There's a square called the Rynek here and everything is in it. It's pretty much where you go to eat, go out, meet up with people. It has the coolest old buildings and churches. It's gorgeous and reminds me of why I so desperately wanted to come to Europe! There are so many bars, clubs, and restaurants in it that I don't think I'll ever be able to go to all of them. The people in Poland are amazing! They feel bad when they can't speak English to me, which is crazy to me because I'm in their country. A lot of people speak English though and I'm finding that it's really not that hard to get around without speaking it. I'm good at gesturing and pointing. There's a lady in the store under my apartment that teaches me words every time I come in. She is super patient and so nice without ever understanding anything I am saying. They park cars on the sidewalks here. I ran into a curb pretty hard one night because I forgot that the middle of the car, not the front, is where the curb begins. Cars are normal size here, there are some little smart cars, but it's more like the U.S. And obviously from the the boringness of these last few topics I am running out of information, so I will end this. I will try to take pictures soon!
P.S. It's looking like my first trips are going to be 1. Munich for Oktoberdest 2. Barcelona 3. Scotland!!!!! I'm getting so excited!!! :)
P.P.S. The city is pronounced like "Fros-swoff" not like "Row-claw" HAHAHA It's taken me awhile, but I'm finally starting to think it the right way when I read it now...if that even makes any sense.
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