Well I've been in Poland for about three weeks now and I'm still trying to work out what exactly I've gotten myself into. Everything is so - well to be banal – foreign. The landscape, the architecture, the weather, the food, the language, especially the language ... There certainly would have been less culture shock if I'd taken the job in Japan.
Everyone asks why I decided to come to Poland. I always feel uncomfortable answering. I daren't tell the truth, that I really wanted to go to Russia and decided that Poland was good enough or that I came because they offered me a job. I usually say something along the lines of 'well I didn't study Poland directly but I studied a lot of German and Russian history at university ...' This is normally enough to satisfy people.
First Impressions
As I walked up the slightly charred passage from the aeroplane to the terminal I was a tad aprehensive. After 30 hours of travelling - most of it in darkness - and a rather hideous stop over at Frankfurt, I was exhausted and emotionally fragile. I was greeted with the smallest, dingiest terminal I'd ever seen in my life. Customs was virtually no existant, which was a good thing as far as I was concerned, but I couldn't believe this was the international airport of the capital city. As I was waiting for my baggage to appear part of the ceiling above the other baggage carosel collapsed. Luckily the airport was almost empty and the carosel wasn't in use otherwise I have no doubt that someone would have been killed. Not perhaps the best omen, it's not what you want to see in your first 15 minutes in the country you're to call home for the next 6 months.
As I was driven from the airport to my new home I was provided with a running commentary on which country was investing in what company, who built what new building. I was more interested in the old than the new but none of that seemed to be worth a mention. One minute we were driving by buildings that looked hundreds of years old (the majority are replicas of buildings destroyed during WWII), the next some ultra-modern 'symbols of the new Poland' sitting right next to some big old Soviet monstrosities.
Living Arrangements
I was pleasantly surprised when I was shown where I would be staying (after the roof collapse I wasn't optimistic). It turned out to be a huge, modern two-story flat above one of the schools. I've got a large bedroom (can't say I care for the bed) with a shared balcony and a bathroom all to myself (inc a bath, the shower kind of sucks though). On reflection I think it may be a bit too modern. It's easy to forget that you're in Poland when you're sitting inside watching the League of Gentlemen on BBC Prime. I've briefly glimpsed inside a traditional Polish apartment and I wish I was living somewhere a bit more like that but I'm sure it would have it's drawbacks. There are 5 bedrooms but only 3 are in use so if anyone finds themselves in the area you could probably have a room all to yourself if you give me enough notice. There are 3 other people living in the flat, a Welsh teacher, an English teacher and his Polish girlfriend. They all seem nice enough, even if one does monopolise the internet connection ...
Techinically I don't actually live in Warsaw, I live in a small town on it's border called Lomianki (pronounced Womyanki). It's about 30 mins from the centre but because it isn't 'Warsaw' I have to change buses/trains to get home as the Metro doesn't come out this far. It's so stupid. I've been told Lomianki is where 'all the rich people live'. I have absolutely no idea why. It looks more semi-industrial than suburban and there isn't exactly a lot to do. Oh well, the supermarket is just across the road :/~
Teaching
Hmmm, what can I say? I arrived on a Tuesday and they wanted me to start teaching on Thursday. At which point I politely informed them that at that stage I could barely speak English, let alone teach it. Therefore they kindly moved my first day to Friday :/ They helped me with couple of lesson plans but after that I was pretty much on my own. So much for additional training.
I'm teaching all different age groups from five-year-olds to 70-year-olds. I prefer the kids classes, even if one is full of the next generation of prison inmates. It's not just because the classes are about half the length of the adult ones. Kids are just more fun.
My First Full Week
My schedual for my first week pretty much looked like this:
6:00am – Get up, eat breakfast, shower.
6:45am – Start planning lessons.
1:00pm – Quick lunch.
1:15pm – Check over all lesson stuff
2:00pm – Head off to wherever I'm teaching
3:00pm – Start teaching
8:20pm – Finish teaching
9:00-10:00pm – Get home, quick dinner
10:15pm – Start on lessons for next day
12:00am – Bed.
I was pretty exhausted and slightly insane by the end.
I was also feeling more than a little bit trapped. The owners insisted on driving me everywhere. It was nice at first but after a little while I just wanted to come and go as I pleased. I really don't like feeling dependant on virtual strangers.
Some lovely person also turned the thermostat down on the water and the heating so I was lucky enough to have a week of cold showers in an increasingly cold flat.
The feeling that I was living in a Sepia photograph was also adding to my mental decline. Brown and grey, brown and grey. I went outside and they were the only colours I saw. I started to cheer up considerably after it started snowing, goodbye brown!
Also, everything was so flat. I saw one hill my in my first week and it was made a garbage. I've yet to see anything else that could be described as a hill. Not that I'm complaining about a lack of hills.
The Weather
I think I've adapted rather well to the weather. Now and then I look up the weather in Warsaw and the weather in Brisbane and I feel glad that I'm here. The cold really doesn't bother me. I'm really surprised that my lungs haven't decided to play up yet. I think it's just a matter of wearing the right clothes. Oscar, my green coat, is easily one of the best purchases I've ever made. I feel a bit like a giant blimp wearing all those layers though and it takes me three times as long to get in and out of my 'outside clothes' as everyone else. Hat hair has become the bane of my existance. I'm very close to having my hair cut very short.
It was when I got a cold headache after drinking some water that had been in my bag all day that it really dawned on me that the average maximum temperature is slightly lower than that of a fridge. One day when I was in Krakow (that's another entry) I realized the reason I was having difficulty talking was because my mouth had gone numb in the cold, who needs novacaine?
As I've already said, snow definately does improve the appearance of Warsaw but I haven't really grown to love the stuff. Maybe it's because I haven't had a chance to enjoy it yet – no snowballs or snowmen. It makes it really hard to walk around. I got off the bus one day and found myself thigh deep in the stuff. It also feels similar to sand when it's blowing into your eyes, I now carry sunglasses with me when it snows.
The Language
I saw some Russian writing on a train and got really excited because I could read most of it. Give me a while and I'm sure I'll get the hang of it (I hope) but at the moment I'm not even going to attempt to read Polish. I've taught myself a few phrases but mostly I've been getting along on pointing and bluffing.
I'm living the life of an illiterate mute.
It was terrific when I bought a copy of 'Learn Polish in Four Weeks', the shop assistants didn't even attempt to talk to me in Polish. Yay!
I went to one of the Polish lessons they provide for the teachers. I don't think I'll be going back. The people who've been going since September couldn't follow it, I had no chance. I only went to listen in but the person taking the class actually expected me to know the answers to some questions. I just wanted to know how to say hello :(
It never dawned on me how large my German vocabulary was until I moved here.
I really do want to learn some Polish. I hate the thought of actually living in a country and not being able to communicate with ordinary people.
