The long trip home... This post also turned out VERY long!

So, most of you have probably heard this story or at least some of it, but everyone has told me I have to write it on here so I don't forget.  Here begins the long story or how I finally made it back to Portland...

The journey started on a snowy Friday when everyone at school was a little stressed about whether or not their flights were going to go out.  I was taking the train from Wroclaw to Poznan and then from Poznan to Berlin.  I had gone and gotten my ticket a few days before with some other teachers help to make sure I did not screw it up.  I was told I could take any train to Poznan, but then I had a certain one with a certain seat and time that I had to get on in Poznan.  I got to the train station in Wroclaw with plenty of time to catch the train, but for some reason freaked out and couldn't figure anything out.  I dragged my suitcases up and down a few sets of stairs before finding what I thought was the right platform.  A lady took pity on me and apparently could read from my face that I was ridiculously confused.  She told me that I was in the right place and that the train went to Poznan.  So, I got on the train, found a place to sit, dealt with my gigantic bags and thought the hard part was over.  Never have I been so wrong in my life!!

The ticket guy came around and thankfully asked a few people before me so I knew what he wanted.  I handed him my ticket and he started speaking in Polish a little angrily.  I gave him a blank look and said "I only speak English".  He seemed to get more mad at this point asked everyone around me if they spoke English and a guy finally did.  He translated to me that I was on the wrong train.  I told him I had been told I could get on any train, blah, blah, blah.  Apparently I couldn't get on any train.  The ticket guy then said I had to buy a new ticket, I was like whatever stop yelling at me and handed him my debit card.  He then got mad and translated that they don't take cards.  I showed him that all I had was 10 zloty.  He became very angry at this point and was yelling Polish words at me.  The guy translating said I had to give the ticket guy my residency card.  I gave it to him and he came back a few minutes later with it and yelled at me some more about having to pay when I get off.  Thinking back on it I never should have given him my residency card, but I was a little flustered.  So, whatever I'm in trouble they didn't kick me off, I'm fine.  Well I then realize that they do not announce where we are on stops, they do not have anything that says what stop we are at, NOTHING, and the windows are almost entirely iced/fogged over.  This is when I just started freaking out.  Not only was I on the wrong train, but I had absolutely no idea where I was supposed to get off.  The train ride was supposed to take 3 hours, it took 5 so by this point I'm sure that I have missed the stop and am just 100% screwed.  Thankfully, as I'm seriously starting to flip out the girl next to me looks at my ticket that I keep frantically looking at for some sort of answer and points to herself and says Poznan.  I got off with her and had about 25 minutes till my next train.  I decided I was not going to risk missing it, somehow figured out what platform I was supposed to be on and decided I was standing there till the train came even if it was beyond freezing outside.  Right about when my train was supposed to come and it hasn't I'm starting to again freak out because, well lets be honest, this has been a disaster so far.  Somehow, again I think I have a panic look that people must be able to read from miles away, a guy comes up and says something in Polish, I again say I only speak English and miracle has it he speaks English.  We're waiting then he tells me the train is delayed an hour.  Great.  I go inside and am waiting and waiting (ok honestly texting Meg and Tony and telling them how I hate Polish trains).  Then, as I'm about to go outside and wait again it comes up that the train is now delayed 4 more hours.  I am sure that I will not make my flight now.  I try to stay calm, wait in the information line, the lady speaks no English, no one in the entire line speaks English, so I give up sit on my suitcase call Meg (her flight was cancelled out of Frankfurt) and we discuss how we currently are hating life because there is literally nothing I can do and I am going to miss my flight.  Somehow, after at least an hour someone comes up to me and says something in Polish.  I am normally very nice, but I am tired and pretty upset so I grumpily say "I don't speak Polish", he says "I know" in English and says he will help me.  We get in line and get up to the counter the guy is trying to tell the lady my situation and ask if there is a bus etc. but his English isn't great so he tells me to wait because he's going to get a friend who speaks better English.  Well, the couple who had been behind us speak English so they just decide to take over in helping me figure out where I need to go, tell the lady at this new counter that I need a bus, I'm going to miss my flight, etc, etc.  They get me a ticket and then saying they're going to walk me to where I need to be.  I try to refuse, but they insist.  The guy then takes my bags from me (I again tried to refuse), they walk me to where I'm supposed to meet the bus, circle the number on my ticket thing, and tell me every detail I need to know.  They were maybe the nicest people ever!  I'm waiting for awhile and a guy comes up who had gone in the one place looking for a bus at the same time as me.  He too speaks English and we're talking.  He tells me he's getting on a later bus because I got the last seat, but he wants to wait with me so he can see what the bus looks like.  This was not true.  He wanted to make sure I got on the bus and wanted to help me.  He again carried my bags to the bus (which actually turned out to be a van) when it came, told the driver everything about me that he needed to know, and wished me luck.  Again, nicest person ever!  I don't know how I got so lucky!  I'm paying the van driver while he loads my bags and he says "American, girl" I'm thinking that's weird.  I get in the van (I am sitting between the driver and a big Polish guy in the front seat) and the van is filled with 6 other drunk Polish guys going to Milan to watch a big soccer game.  They offer me a beer, which at this point I gladly accept and we head on our way.  I was hoping to sleep a little in the van. No!  The drunk Polish guys insist that no one can sleep because we are partying.  Please keep in mind I woke up at 6:00 that morning and taught 5 year olds all day, I am exhausted.  The van ride takes an extremely long time because a) they needed to stop and pee and smoke every 30 minutes or less b) the roads were terrible and c) a lot of roads were closed because of wrecks. 

I finally made it to the airport with just a little under 2 hours till my flight left (it was supposed to be leave at 7:15am), I find the gate, wait in line, and they tell me I'm not allowed to get on my flight because I have a connecting flight, but they already booked me a new trip.  I just follow the people in front of me and we wait in a line that is huge.  The line takes literally 3 hours so I become pretty good buddies with a women from Texas, a guy from Michigan, and a guy from somewhere in the U.S. who is living in Berlin that are all in line with me.  After 3 hours of waiting in line I get up to the counter and the lady tells me she has nothing until 2 days later.  I tell her I will go to Seattle, Vancouver B.C., anywhere just get me to the U.S.  She keeps looking at her screen, typing, shaking her head, and saying "I have nothing".  After she says this about 20 times I start to fall apart so I just stop responding because I know if I open my mouth I will start bawling.  I think she started to realize this and finally says ok I think I can get you on a flight that leaves tomorrow morning.  At this point I'm happy with tomorrow.  It is now about 9am.  The people I met in line and I decide to get breakfast and they say their going to tour around the city and try to make the best out of the situation.  I agree this is a good idea.  The women from Texas also tells me that she can't believe I'm still awake and that her company pays for her room and I'm welcome to stay with her if I want.  This may have been a little risky, but I was so tired I didn't care and gladly accepted.  We tour around Berlin for most of the day, eat an early dinner, and then I am seriously starting to not be able to open my eyes so we go back to the hotel room and I sleep :)

The next morning I get up and thankfully made time to take a shower.  I get to the airport like 3 hours before my flight is supposed to leave (I'm pretty paranoid at this point), the airport is full of stranded people waiting in lines, trying to get a ticket.  I had packed my bags perfectly so that if they lost my big suitcase I the warm clothes for Whistler in my carry on bag.  Then, after the whole ordeal the day before I added more to my carry on because I figured getting stranded was probably going to happen being as most airports in Europe were closed.  So, when I go to check in my bag (it weighed nothing it was half empty) the lady also makes me weigh my carry on.  I have never had anyone do this before this or after this.  I hate that women!  Of course my carry on is way over weight.  I explain to her that I keep getting stranded so I keep adding more things to my carry on and that is why it weighs so much and I will not pay for an extra bag.  I tell her I will put stuff in my big bag (which had already gone down the shute) but I won't pay.  She acts like she's going me some favor and tells me she will check my carry on and not charge me.  I then go wait for my flight.  I again met some a really nice couple from Australia and a really nice guy from Michigan to help pass the time.  The flight says "on time" up until 15 minutes before we are supposed to leave.  They then tell us the Paris Airport (that we're flying to) is closed and maybe it will open in a few hours.  We wait a few more hours.  They tell us it's still closed, but they're going to wait longer and that we can all leave and go get food vouchers because it will be at least another 3 hours.  We leave for about 30 mins. and then an announcement comes on saying my flight number is going to leave in 5 mins.  We all run to the gate, they rush us on the plane, and we sit on the plane for over 30 mins with nothing happening.  They then tell us they lost their landing window or something from Paris and we're going to have to wait another 3 hours, but we're not allowed off the plane.  By this point I don't even care.  I have missed my connecting flight by hours and I have pretty much given up all hope that I will make it home anytime soon.  We end up taking off about 30 mins, not 3 hours, later thankfully!  The whole flight actually cheers when we take off.  We have the worst turbulance and landing I have ever experienced and we still all cheer when we land because we are that happy that one of our flights actually left the airport today.  It is now like 8pm.

I somehow start talking to a guy as I'm getting off of the plane and he tells me he knows where we have to go.  I discover that the Paris Airport is HUGE!  It is a small city and without this guy I never would have figured out where I was supposed to be.  We find some worker who point us to a line that is a minimum of 5 hours long with of course only 3 workers that we are all filtering into to get new flights since all of Europe has missed their flights for the last 3 days.  After awhile we notice the line across from us that we were told not to go into is moving way faster.  One of the new guys I have made friends with goes over and gets his tickets switched over there, but says the line is supposed to just be for people checking their luggage.  The group of us that has made friends is now like 8 people strong.  We sneak over 1 at a time and get in the other line.  We make it up to the counter in like 30-45 mins.  Crazy faster!  I go up to the counter and the guy says where are you going, I tell him I don't know I need tickets, he says no where are you going, I say well I was going to Portland but I wasn't allowed on my flight so then I got tickets to Seattle, but that flight got cancelled and i would have missed it so now I don't know where I'm going.  He tells me I'm in the wrong line.  I look at him and say "So you're telling me I'm going to have to go back and wait in annnnooottther long line.  I must have had a pretty desperate face he starts typing, then send me to another guy, this guy spends 30 minutes looking for a flight for me.  I keep saying "I'm going to the worst place possible aren't I", "There's nothing isn't there" and he keeps saying "I'll find you something".  He was way smarter than the lady who kept repeating "I have nothing" to me.  After 30 minutes of searching (at this point I am literally laying on the counter, I was positive I was never getting home) he finds me a flight directly from Paris to Seattle the next morning!!!  I literally tell him "I love you, thank you so much".  He asks me if I have a hotel room and I say "No, but I don't care I just wanted a flight".  He gives me a room anyways.  I can't catch the bus for the hotel for about an hour so I go find food with some of my new friends.  I then get on a bus that drives for 45 minutes to our hotel.  Not a good sign when it takes 45 mins. to get there.  We are promised a bus in the morning, given room keys, and I go pass out for like 4 hours.  I think it was 3am when I finally got there and my flight left at 10am the next day. 

The next morning I go down to the lobby super early because I'm beyond paranoid now, the hotel guy tells me there isn't a bus until 10:30.  Helpful when my flight leaves at 10 NOT!  Genius airlines I tell you.  He orders me a taxi and tells me it will cost 70 Euro!!! (that is 280 zloty).  I am not happy about this so I call the room of a women I had talked with the night before whose flight left at around the same time.  She tells me her and her daughter will share a taxi with me so we can split the cost, but that the taxi only takes cash and only Euro.  I of course only have 6 Euro, but about 200 zloty, and about 150 dollars.  UG!  We then are told that there is actually only one taxi that will pick people up at our hotel because of course it is snowing.  Thankfully I was the 4th person to ask for a taxi so me, the women and her daughter, and a man get the only taxi and head to the airport.  The women pays for my fare and says she's writing the airlines and they'll be reimbursing her so it doesn't matter.  Again, nicest people ever!  I am about 3 and a half hours early for my flight, but I am still in a deep state of panic.  I now am assuming that everything will go wrong and am thinking of the worst case scenarios because they will probably be my day.  I find the security line and after a few minutes realize it's not moving and they aren't letting anyone through.  I go up to the front and politely ask what is going on and they tell me the airport is closed and point me to a guy standing near by.  I not so politely ask him what is going on and he again says the airport is closed.  I tell him that my flight does not say cancelled or delayed and therefore the airport is probably not closed and I need to get to my gate.  He tells me he doesn't know anything and that I should go wait in the AirFrance line.  This is probably the point where I lost it the most.  I tell him that I understand this is not his fault but that in order for me to talk to an AirFrance person I will have to wait in line for hours and that I have been waiting line for hours for days and that am I literally going to lose it if I do not get on my flight because they will not let me through security.  He's seems to understand that I am on the brink of a mental breakdown/getting arrested for freaking out at the security gate and calmly tells me I should probably just wait in line and if my flights not delayed or canceled they will open the gates soon.  I got in line and they opened the gates about 10 minutes later.  I got to my gate and sat.  I refused to ever leave that area again.  My flight said "on time" until 15 minutes before we should be boarding and then it got delayed an hour, this process went on for about 4-5 more hours and then miracle has it we actually boarded the plane!  Crazily, the new person that I had made friends with who was on my flight informed me that I was first class.  I told him I didn't think he was right.  He was!  In Berlin, the lady who kept telling me she had nothing, had put me in a first class seat (I'm assuming because it was the only one she could find), and from then on that was the ticket they saw, not my original one.  I'm pretty positive that was also the only reason I got on that flight!  So, thank you lady in Berlin!!!  The flight took off, landed in Seattle, I was able to text my parents right before it left so they could come and get me, and I arrived in Seattle.  Guess what didn't arrive in Seattle...my luggage!  So, I went to Whistler with only the clothes I had been wearing for now 4 days.  It gave me a good excuse to buy new clothes!  My luggage was a whole other fun ordeal but I ended up getting it in Portland 5 days later.

There is no moral to this story, but the whole ordeal did make me realize how many good and amazing people there are in this world in all countries, from all backgrounds.  Thank you to all of those people I will never be able to personally tell how much I appreciated all that you did for the frantic looking crazy girl who only spoke English and was hauling around 2 big suitcases.

Barcelona and since then...

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...

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:

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 :)

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!

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.

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.

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.