Vahsowich-shveeawnt

That is my phonetic "Merry Christmas" in Polish! Haha Don't ask me to say Happy New Year...it's a doozy! (Vehsowago nihvago rohkoo...or something).

What I've learned about Polish Christmas:
-The big meal is on Christmas eve...12 dishes to be exact, and no meat. This includes perogies (with mushrooms and cabbage inside), fish, and "little ear" soup...the little ears are little perogies stuffed with mushrooms.
-They set the table with hay underneath the tablecloth. This represents Jesus being born in a manger.
-They always set an extra place, because at Christmas people are always welcome.
-Presents are opened on Christmas eve.
-On Christmas day there is lots of meat to be had. This is a day for family.
-The second day of Christmas (Boxing day) is a day for more eating, visiting house to house among friends.

OFFICIALLY ON HOLIDAYS!!! Heading to Heather's to open our mail together, then off to Vienna tomorrow! Fingers crossed our trains work out...apparently a piece of the track between Radom and Warsaw is missing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR! LOVE LOVE LOVE! xo

Melting

...me that is. With warm fuzzies.

I was given more artwork today by my 7-year olds in Kozienice. One of the little girls came up to me and sang to me, "I wish you a merry Christmas". Very heart-warming indeed.

With my teenage boys, the three that didn't show for the exam last week were here today (and the three who wrote the exam were absent)! I was surprised that these boys skipped actually. They're very smart and are good students. Anyways, that's besides the point. At the end of the class, when I was wishing them a merry Christmas, they all stood up, as if they had prepared a speech. They all took a turn and said really wonderful things - wishing me a great holiday, hoping that all my wishes and dreams come true, and that I always find a reason to smile. It was so endearing! Then they went on to say that they wouldn't know what to do with themselves because they won't see me for two weeks. These are the boys that "found" Stanley in Warsaw. Gentlemen in the making! So touching.

Apparently there are a few guys at the gym now, with their eye on me, reports Dominika. She says I can have my pick now! haha

ONLY ONE MORE DAY OF TEACHING!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow Heather, Cathy, and I will open our mail together. THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT SOME!!!

Speaking of melting though, the weather is supposed to warm up in Vienna this week...like +10 and raining. This makes me sad because I really wanted to wear my red coat, but I don't think that heavy wool, rain, and mild temperatures are such a good idea. There will be plenty more winter though. I have to let this go.

Well, in case I don't blog before I leave Wednesday morning, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I miss you dearly, and will be thinking of you! I can't promise that I'll blog while I travel, and I don't know how much I'll be online. In that case, happy new year too! I'll be back early January sometime! MUCH LOVE. xo

P.S. I totally wore green tights today, and a red and white top. Yup.

You'll shoot your eye out

Oh Christmastime, with its fa la las. There's always reason to sing!

I stopped traffic today. I think it had to do with my red coat. And that's a big deal here. NO ONE stops for pedestrians trying to cross at the zebra crossings. And get this - the man stopped and waved me to go, AND SMILED! Then he was turning down the street I was walking and SMILED AGAIN! Seriously. Have I mentioned that people here don't smile? And that they look at me like I'm a crazy person when I walk down the street smiling? So perhaps the Christmas spirit got the better of this man. It made me happy.

Starting Wednesday this passed week I've been able to do Christmas lessons with my students. With my Thursday and Friday groups, I played Michael Buble's "Let it Snow" and they had to put the lyrics in order. I paused the song after each line. Often they wanted it repeated, but rather than constantly rewinding the song, I just sang the lyric for them. Haha I even did this for my power plant men on Friday! Hope they didn't mind! Oh the joys of being a teacher.

My 7 year olds on Thursday were decorating Christmas trees on a paper template I gave them. Most of them didn't want to take them home to their families...rather they gave them to me! So I have put them up on my wall in my flat. So cute.

Heather's sister arrived Thursday evening! So I met with the girls Friday morning for tea, and to meet my second travel buddy. CATHY IS AMAZING! She brought us candy canes and mini eggs and Quaker oatmeal (maple and brown sugar), oh my!! We did request these things. They made me promise to save one of my bags of mini eggs for the train ride on Wednesday when we set out for Vienna. North American readers - you may get an emergency call Tuesday night. Urgent: please send overnight one bag of mini eggs! Haha I think I have more self control than that...

Back to the candy canes. You can't find them here! This came as a total surprise to me. I had wanted to pick up a bunch to give out with cards I was making for the Polish teachers. Nothing. Instead, I got them hot chocolate. However, with Cathy's arrival, I've starting giving out candy canes too. Two of the teachers yesterday commented on how pretty they are, and that they've never had them!

The Christmas tradition here is to have your big meal on Christmas eve...but NO meat and NO sweets. Their meal? Perogies and fish and soup. I do love discussing these things in class!

Is it wrong that I told one of my classes that for Christmas I wanted their picture because they're my favourites? They're 10 and 11 years old, in Kozienice. Eva, one of the Polish teachers told me that she heard all the students in the hall after class telling their parents that I said this and that they were super excited about it! With my equivalent class in Radom, I taught them "mistletoe". After this they said, "teacher, boy?" to which I told them, no, I don't have a boyfriend. There is one boy in the class, so the girls all said, "Jan!" So I said, "yes, Jan can be my boyfriend". The poor boy.

The drive to Kozienice is particularly pretty right now, through all the snow-covered trees. A little fairytale winter.

Remember how I broke the ignition key to the company car? Well, the secretary in Kozienice was away Friday and will be gone Monday as well. Because I teach in Koz both these days, on Friday after locking up the school I was given the keys for the weekend. Of course the joke is that everyone's nervous about the fate of the keys (I have continued to be the butt of the jokes since the ignition key incident)! I'm getting suggestions that I should wear the keys all weekend so I don't forget them Monday. Feel free to send reminders my way! haha

A quiet weekend for me - laundry and organizing for my travels, getting in touch with people, relaxing. Met up with some girls for lunch today at Totu. It was a perfect winter day - bright sunshine making the snow look extra inviting, no wind, and crisp. Ahhhh.

LET IT SNOW!

It's still snowing! Yahoo!!

Yesterday with my 8 year olds, I played Christmas music during the lesson. I put on "Last Christmas" (not the Wham! version, but the Glee version) and they all started singing along. It was adorable. (The Wham! version is all over the radio here...just like at home! haha)

More warm fuzzies. Last week with my 7 year olds, we were practicing writing names, with a capital letter at the beginning. Then in their workbooks they had to write their name and draw a picture, then write a friend's name and draw their picture. THEY DREW ME AS THEIR FRIEND! Then about five of the girls attacked me at once with a group hug. How can you not smile?

At the gym today, Heather and I spoke French. We've decided to speak more French to each other for practice. An added benefit is that people can't eavesdrop...! Haha

I learned the following "ten things about myself" to say in Polish to my adult class today:
-My name is Leah
-I have one sister and two brothers
-I am from Canada
-I am a teacher
-I like pizza
-I like reading
-I can swim
-I can count to ten in Polish
-I love the snow
-I'm finished!
Ok so that last point isn't about me, but I'm attempting some humour. Wish me luck!

That's all for now. Happy birthday, Dad!

(look at me...FINALLY playing around with the pictures! haha)

The HOLE is greater than the sum of its parts

I have a really hard time throwing away socks and tights that have holes in them. I don't know why I get so attached. Today, however, I would do my mom proud. I threw away a pair of grey tights. How bad did I let them get? Runs were showing, regardless of the length of the skirts or dresses I wore with them, and both my heels were fully exposed, such that about half of my foot wasn't covered. On my walk home from school this evening I finally convinced myself that they had to go. I did, after all, purchase a replacement pair a couple weeks ago in Warsaw. So there. The hole won.

Still feeling especially teacher-y. Most of my classes have exams this week. With the younger students, we have an oral test in the form of a game, as a whole class. I then fill out evaluations and comments for all the students. With teenagers and adults, they write a test in my class (prepared by the Polish teacher) and I call them out from the test in pairs, to speak with them, and this I evalute. Giving grades...look at me go!

One of my adult groups gave me homework last week (I needed some motivation to learn more Polish). They told me to learn ten things to say about myself. TEN!! Overwhelming at first, but I'm working on it! And hey, I'm learning Polish out of it!

It's officially a winter wonderland here. We had the first sprinkle on Friday evening, and snow's continued to fall a little every day. We don't have lots, but there is a thin white blanket on the outdoor surfaces. The temperature is sub-zero...perfection. I AM SO HAPPY!!! This also means that at last I was able to bust out my red winter coat - the coat that made the airmail journey from Canada in October (thanks family)!

The party (and I use the term very loosely) that Heather and I organized for Saturday night taught me/us a lesson - we can really do without Radom nightlife. It was a fine night; we had fun as we always manage. There was a decent turn out, peaking at about ten people at one point (keeping in mind we know maybe fifteen people here), so that wasn't the issue. It's just draining when people at the bar stare at you because you speak English or because clearly you are from a different culture. Throw in the language barrier, and it's just hard in general to meet other people. Not that that's what it's all about - but I am a spectacle every day. It would be nice to go out on the weekend and not be for once! That's why going out in bigger cities is always so great - we don't stand out and it's easier to just BE and meet other people. Radom weekends are much better spent watching movies and saving money so that we can have nights out when we do travel to other cities, inside and outside of Poland. Anyways, the feedback from others was positive. It was a good group out - a mix of Native English speakers and our Polish friends. Yey! Highlight of the night? We cheers-ed to immaculate conception. Uh....

My last day of teaching before the holidays is December 22, next Tuesday. This means that starting tomorrow I won't see some of the classes until after the new year...which means Christmas lessons! Woo! I'll definitely be playing Michael Buble's "Let it Snow!" many many times.

I had a Christmasy afternoon on Sunday. I watched the cartoon "Grinch who Stole Christmas" cuddled on my couch with a blanket, hot chocolate, and a clementine. Just what I needed.

Scattered thoughts. I apologize. Talk soon! Hope your holiday preparations are going well!

I've taken up second-hand smoking

The first step is recognizing the problem though, right?

They really need to be more strict here with their smoking laws. Seriously. Supposedly there is no smoking inside buildings, but people still do it. They smoke in the Radom school building, for goodness sakes! (The classrooms are on the second floor of a building that also houses a dance studio and a salon. It's the women at the salon that take their smoke breaks in the halls! There are CHILDREN everywhere. NOT cool. I cough obnoxiously whenever I walk by them smoking indoors. I'm awfully tempted to spit.) Also, the bars are just as bad. A night out results in smelling like smoke for a good week after, despite washing your hair several times.

I've felt extra teacher-like as of late. I've been busy prepping revision classes and exams. It's that time of year, with the first trimester coming to an end! I can't believe how quickly it's gone. I am so looking forward to the holidays. Less than two weeks!! My fingers are crossed oh-so-tightly for some snow, still. Everything else is set - the lights, the markets, the spirit. LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW!

The teacher who took off last week has been replaced. One of the teachers from last year (who lived in my flat!) happened to be in Prague looking for work. So she started Monday. Quick turnaround eh? I have yet to meet her. Heather and I have organized a gathering/invited people out to a local pub Saturday night so I hope to meet her then! No reason for the event, just because! We're hoping to have a good mix of the Polish teachers we've gotten to know, the Native speakers, and a few others we've met thus far.

Heather and I had a rocking good time in Warsaw last weekend. I still cannot grasp the reality of how much we laugh. On the train ride there, there was a point where I had water in my mouth and SERIOUSLY considered spitting it out because I was losing my ability to breathe, from laughing. Always causing a scene, we are. I somehow managed to swallow the water, which was followed by fits of coughing. Oh dear. We were beyond thrilled with our hostel. It was right on one of the main streets, overlooking the pubs we went to a couple weekends ago with Mariusz! And we had decided we'd have sushi for dinner...the hostel was above a sushi restaurant!! So after settling in (and paying less than half price, thanks to our friend's brother!), we went to Coffee Heaven for a drink. There were two teenagers going at it...like full on making out, at noon! Can't say I've seen that before. Haha There were markets set up on the street too. The hustle and bustle of this time of year is so energizing! We headed back to the mall though (right by the train station) as we had intended to have a day of Christmas shopping there. Then we went back to the hostel, dropped our things, and went out for sushi. SO GOOD! And of course we made friends with the chef. We told him we'd be back. Then we met up with Mariusz (who brought along a friend) and we did a little bar-hopping (it was Heather's birthday after all). So many cool little nooks and crannies pubs around! Heather and I carried on just the two of us, after midnight. We found an indie/alternative bar with a dance floor, and got our groove on. It was a great place! Chatting in the washroom line with some girls they all asked "WHY DO YOU LIVE IN RADOM?" This is always the question we get. Haha So good to hear English! Then we befriended some British pilots (MORE ENGLISH!!) who were flying out to Bucharest the next day. We had a great time dancing with them. Fun and crazy guys, like us! And before you know it, it was 5:30am to bed at the hostel....it's never the intention. These things just happen!

The next day we headed back to the mall. We were useless. We ate subway, and just laughed and laughed about the previous night's events. We took an afternoon train back to Radom, where we saw P - correction, he HEARD us and came over. P doesn't work for English College anymore (we drove to Kozienice together on Mondays) so we filled him in on what was going on. And that was that! Monday at the gym Heather and I felt like zombies, still half asleep!

As for my school week, not many stories to share. Review classes, like I mentioned before. The power was out in the Radom school yesterday, but it came back on before my classes started. Irene, however, taught one of her classes by candlelight!

I can't believe it's almost the weekend again already! Sending love and Christmas cheer...!

Oh, and we totally brought Stanley the third (the ones my students made) to Warsaw with us. Haha

My life is awesome

Eating clementines, gingersnaps, and drinking peppermint tea are my methods for willing the snow. So far, no such luck. However, the days have been cooler - around5 degrees - and almost freezing at night. And it's been sunny and dry!! So just give me some of that white fluffy stuff and I'll be set.

The town centre is a winter wonderland (sans snow). There are lights everywhere, lining the cobble-stoned streets. There is a huge tree in the core, right by the school. There are wooden cabins/shacks being set up, selling festive wares. I LOVE IT!!! It looks like Waterloo Park, walking through town.

So with all this talk about the holidays, I should probably mention that WE HAVE SOME HOSTELS BOOKED!!! I'll be in Vienna over Christmas and Budapest for New Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (With Heather and her sister, Cathy.)

And speaking of booking trips - HEATHER AND I BOOKED FLIGHTS TO SPAIN IN FEBRUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a tad excited, to say the least.

Heading to Warsaw this weekend. Gosia, the Polish teacher we hung out with on the weekend/had Chinese food with, got us hooked up at her brother's hostel for less than half the price. Woo! First overnight trip to Warsaw! We'll meet up with Mariusz again. It was Heather's birthday on Wednesday so it's time to celebrate! On Wednesday we met at the gym (as usual), but I got there early to set up the changeroom, as I had made a big poster with pictures and quotes for the occasion. She burst out laughing when she saw it, hanging up. Best reaction I could have asked for!

Hmm...it's been a crazy week. Planning revision lessons and exams for my students. AND there are now four Native speakers working for the school, instead of the original five. One of the gals had a change of heart and decided to take off. It had us all very worried. She's fine. Radom just isn't her scene. That's all I'll say on that. Rumour is that one of the teacher's from last year will come back to fill in the classes.

Okey dokey. Time for my (favourite) Friday classes! TGIF!

Oh. I should get some more pictures up on here!

(Pictures - at the gym! haha The sign, the building, and the changeroom. What you see is the extent of it!)

Stanley, or something like him

Some more anecdotes to (hopefully) amuse you. I know sharing them amuses me!

On Friday with my power plant men class in Kozienice (elementary-level speakers), they were practicing using adjectives. So I gave them different categories of things to describe. One was a piece of clothing they were wearing. (Sidenote - a lot of the English we teach is British - lift versus elevator for example. So to my students, trousers are pants, and pants are underwear. I digress.) ANYWAYS, one of the men says, "I'm wearing red pants". Everyone burst out laughing, including me. (Cheeky bugger...haha.) I was laughing so much though, in one of those moments where you can't stop and it's so embarrassing and every time you think you can pull yourself together you just start up all over again. The reason? All I could think about was the purple underwear I saw at the gym earlier in the week. I explained this to my students, and they got a kick out of it. I also wanted them to describe something in the classroom. When it was the last man's turn, the other students were whispering rather loudly and obviously to him, "say: pretty teacher!" Aww. I turned bright red. And then of course we were listening to Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" as the next activity. Haha

This weekend was low-key, and spent in Radom. Heather and I went hard at the gym Saturday morning. We did some errands at M1 - the shopping center. We even had CHINESE food for dinner, with one of the Polish teachers, Gosia. Who knew Radom had Polish food? It was pretty yummy! Turns out there is a joke about Radom Chinese food, done by a well-known Polish comedy group, with the butt of the joke implying that Chinese food from Radom is no good. But hey, at least this town is known enough to have a joke about it! Eh?

Despite popular belief, Heather and I are not actually attached at the hip. We are, however, planning a party!

Back to Kozienice, today I asked my 15/16 year old boys if they found Stanley in Warsaw. They said they did. So sarcastically, I asked them to hand him over. One of my students says, "Just a sec", and roots through his bag. HE PULLED OUT STANLEY!! Well, a rather beat-up and bruised Stanley, roughed up from the Portuguese tourists. My boys made me a new Stanley, to fit the story. HOW AMAZING ARE THEY?!?!?! Such good sports. So the Stanley I made is en route back to Canada, and now I have my own Stanley.

Marvelous Monday, indeed.

Here comes the sun

Are you there, sunshine? It's me, Leah!

THE SUN HAS RETURNED TO MY LIFE! Most days this week that magnificent yellow ball in the sky has made an appearance. It even has some kick to it. And it's supposed to continue for the rest of the weekend. The weather has been mild, temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, give or take. People in Radom dress for the month though, and not the weather. Yet they look at me like I'M the crazy one. I'm not the one sporting my twelve layers of winter clothing.

Why I'm the best (worst?) teacher ever - last week I taught my 8 year old students "fart". It was all in context though. We were practicing the "ar" sound, with words like star, park, dark, shark, sharp. I just wanted to add my own touch to their repetoire. And they especially enjoyed my acting it out.

With this same class this week, we were talking about farm animals. Before I knew it, they were doing to chicken dance!! And then yesterday, walking through the old town in Radom, the accordian man (that plays everyday) was playing the chicken dance!!! Of course I did the dance, while Heather was inside the bank. Maybe people have a right to think I'm crazy...

It's been 5 weeks at the gym now, with a constant rate of 4 times per week. Woo! Go Heather and Leah! It's clear the men there are more and more comfortable with our presence - giving us training tips with the little English they know, which always includes a game of charades. Heather and I always stretch in the aerobics room after our workout. For whatever reason, some of the guys leave their stuff there, instead of in the change room. On Tuesday, one of the regulars comes in with his stuff and says hello. Before we know it, he is changing RIGHT THERE. And he was wearing tighty-whiteys...except they were purple. No kidding. Heather unflinchingly carried on chatting with me, our heads down, avoiding any eye contact with the man. I'm impressed by our ability to keep down our laughter.

Yesterday us English teacher's celebrated American Thanksgiving at Irene's...what has to be the earliest dinner party I have ever attended. 11am folks! Haha It was either that, or after our day of teaching at 10pm. It was very delicious - complete with turkey, stuffing potatoes, cranberry sauce, veggies, bread, and pumpkin pie. We ate ourselves silly. Mmmm.

So I've made a new Stanley. If anyone asks, he had to have an operation after the Portuguese abduction. Or he's been coming to the gym with me and has slimmed out significantly.

WOO! It's Friday!! Hope it's fabulous! xo

(Pictures - Monday Kozienice teachers: me, Peter, and Dominika; Stanley the second; a church in Radom; Irene taking the pumpkin pie from the oven!)

Have you seen this boy?

Stanley: missing since November 2009.

We think he was kidnapped by the Portuguese tourists.

Some background - you are probably very confused right now: At the KW Bilingual school, Claire's class has a project involving a character, named Flat Stanley. Each student made a Stanley to send to different parts of the world, so he can learn about different cultures. I was hosting Claire's Stanley, here in Radom. We had a lovely time - he met my students in Kozienice, we went to the market together, and he even came to Warsaw with me on the weekend. We captured many highlights on camera. Unfortunately, Stanley did not make it back to Radom with me. He is somewhere in Warsaw, we think on the Wilanow palace grounds, hopefully living like a king. The Canadian address is on his back, so fingers crossed some kind-hearted soul finds him and sends him back! Thankfully I still have his journal and have been recording our adventures. This, along with pictures and postcards, will get sent back to Claire's class.

I teach a group of upper-intermediate teenagers (mostly boys) on Mondays in Kozienice. They met Stanley last week and were very fond of him. They are going on a field trip to Warsaw tomorrow. They are making it their mission to find Stanley! It was very sweet to hear this from them. The reason I was reminded to tell them about the loss of Stanley was because I heard one of my students say, "epic fail". Haha How amazing is that? So yes, my losing Stanley was an epic fail, indeed. (We were using future tenses in discussion today, making predictions about our lives: tomorrow, a month from now, a year, 5 years, 10 years. I said that in ten years from now maybe I will be married. One of the boys groaned, and said "oh man!". I asked him what he had against marriage. His friend said, "I want to tell you something, but if I do he [the first guy] will punch me". Then they told me that if I get married, they will lose me. Awwwwwwwwwww. My 15/16 year old boys are crushing. Maybe their efforts to find Stanley is their way of winning my heart. Teehee. Regardless, I had a most excellent class with them today. They are always so talkative, opinionated, and up for a good discussion. They are passionate about their views. It's refreshing!)

I still adore the group of power plant men I teach on Fridays in Kozienice. Even though they are an elementary level, they try so hard. Our topic last week was "at the hotel" and they had some pretty amusing questions - regarding a double room but with one bed, tipping, double whiskey, and asking for their room number in case they forget (likely relating to the previous comment). We were discussing jobs as well and they noted that "lawyer" and "liar" sound the same. Coincidence? These are clever men. So many laughs. I told them how much I enjoy teaching them. Once I am settled in a job somewhere, whenever and wherever that may be, I think I will teach adult ESL classes one or two evenings a week. I really love all my adult classes - it's social, the students want to be there, and you can have a lot of fun with them. It's a special thing to be a part of. I was so terrified when I first found out I'd have not one, but five adult classes. Now I look forward to them daily!

So I heard through the grapevine (Radom is small, remember) that I have an admirer at the gym. Teehee

Heather and I went to Warsaw on Saturday. We met up with Mariusz, the guy we met on the train coming home from Berlin. It was great! He showed us around the city - we went to Wilanow Palace and the park grounds (a palace built in the 1600s for the king of the time...it wasn't completely destroyed in the World Wars, but like most things, lots of restoration work had to be done). It was very lovely. We also walked around the Old Town at night. This was beautiful as it was all lit up, and the Christmas lights and decorations have been put up too. We saw the changing of the guards at the war memorial for the unknown deceased. And we went to a really cool little pub - it looked like a cave inside. Very low ceilings and dim lighting. Mariusz' friend, Ania, met up with us there. In Poland, at many bars you can get a flavour squirt in your beer. I had only tried the raspberry before. We had the ginger squirt on Saturday evening. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS!!

In advance of our arrival, Mariusz had arranged for us to stay over at Ania's if we needed to. So thoughtful of him! We did take the last train back to Radom that night, however. But we left on a note that we would likely meet up again. Yey for new friends!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Tata for now!

Sweet sweet music

Yesterday in Kozienice, my 7 year old students started singing "Honey, Honey", by ABBA. Obviously, I joined in.

In the car ride home last night, Peter and I were talking about movies. He mentioned "Remember the Titans" and went on to say how much he loves "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which he started singing. Obviously, I joined in. (The radio/any music player in the company car has been broken for who knows how many years, so this interlude was extra excellent.)

Today in Radom, my 8 year old students started singing "Wake me up before go go", by WHAM! Obviously, I joined in.

Do you see why I love my students?

13

Today marks 13 weeks since my departure in August. Just saying.

I feel so loved by my students. They give me really great hugs (the 7/8 year olds that is). I appreciate them for it. In one of my friday classes (11/12 years old), there are three boys that like to cause some trouble and they get off task easily. They are smart though, and they ALWAYS show up to class half an hour early! So I hang out with them and they talk to me. I adore it.

I had a very candid conversation with one of my adult students last week. She nailed Polish men to a tee - traditional. They like their Polish food, their beer, watching TV/sports and going to the pub. No travel. Very simple. I have noticed this about some of the men I have met here/teach/work with. If that's the case, a Polish man is not for me!

There are no laws here about pooping and scooping. This shocks me.

Last night I watched Lost in Translation, and at times felt I could relate. I then dreamt that I got engaged to a guy that I met in Japan. Perhaps this will be my next teaching destination.

I think as an English teacher I should be teaching "dreamed" rather than "dreamt", but I prefer the latter. I am learning so much about the English language while teaching it. There are so many crazy rules. I am grateful that it is my native language. I can't imagine trying to learn it. And unfortunately sometimes when the students ask "why?" I have to answer, "because that's the way it is!" So many exceptions. Bah!

There are some juicy plot lines in some of the texts I use for the adult classes. And by juicy I mean boy-meets-girl...will they end up together? Haha I find myself flipping through the units to find out!

Random, I know. Happy Sunday.

Remember

Today I listened to the latest episode of the Vinyl Cafe (CBC show) and it was about Remembrance Day - stories were shared about Dieppe and Vimy Ridge. It was a nice way to reflect on Canada's contributions in World War, and to be thankful and appreciative for our freedom today. I am so proud to be Canadian. And lucky.

(Thanks to Heather for getting me hooked on the Vinyl Cafe!)

Today is Polish Independence Day. I don't think much is really going on here. Plus it's very rainy and damp outside. One of my students yesterday explained that many Polish holidays are spent in church. There may be some celebrations going on in Warsaw - parades or something like this. For me, it's a day off, a day of rest, and getting things done. A day of rest because I have been under the weather since our return from Berlin. I am almost back to normal though! I was able to get some echinacea at the pharmacy here. This is my healer. Sadly Irene and Heather are not doing so well. They were hit worse than I was. Fingers crossed they recover soon! We blame the Swedish girls in our hostel in Berlin...for the messy state they kept the room. (This just in: there IS a parade here in Radom today!)

I suppose our sleep schedule (or lack thereof) on the weekend weakened us...it went something like this:
-Saturday up at 3:30am to catch an early train to Berlin
-Saturday night/Sunday morning Heather and I got to bed at 4:30am
-left Berlin Sunday evening at 8pm - slept on the train but had a transfer at 1am, so disrupted sleep, then on the second train we made a friend in our car so we were up til about 3am chatting...then just dosed in and out of sleep...up at 6am for our arrival in Warsaw, then slept on the train to Radom (7am - 9am)...eesh!

Berlin. I underestimate my love for big cities. I always say that I prefer smaller towns for living. Perhaps Waterloo is the exception to this, because I absolutely love Waterloo. But there is something about a big city...there is a feeling I have that I thrive off of. I already knew I loved Berlin from last summer, and this weekend was just a reminder. The people, the food, the history, the culture - it's multicultural. Everything so easily accessible on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains (I sure love the efficiency and reliability of German trains!). I could move to Berlin...like tomorrow.

Saturday we arrived early afternoon. Heather, Irene and I literally jumped up and down on the train as we approached our Berlin Ostbahnof station. The city was not new to any of us, so we all had our own sentimental reasons for being excited. We dropped our stuff at our hostel in the East and headed out for some food - CURRYWURST! This was one of my favourite discoveries from last summer. The girls even let me take them to the place where I ate last year. Yey! After this we took a leisurely walk along the East Side Gallery (it was the weekend two days before the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down, after all...how amazing is that?!) - so fantastic. After this we wandered the east neighbourhood - looking in some boutiques and second hand stores, and settled for some dinner. Sushi!!! This is not something we can get in Radom. (Irene opted for Sudanese food which unfortunately left her feeling ill for the rest of the night.) Our waitress was amazing. Here is the Haiku I composed for her (while waiting for the S train):
Our dearest tranny
Led us astray in Berlin
But we still love her....or him

You see, she told us there was a concert going on at Brandenburg Gate that night. She said there would be many hot men! Haha So we went and checked it out. (I had a Kirsch beer in hand, of course! That's for Catrina and Martin!) Unfortunately they were just setting up for the festivities for Monday, but we were not too disappointed. Seeing the gate at night was awesome, and there were other "wall" structures on display. There were food and drink stalls set up, so it was still fun. After this we went back to our hostel to get ready for a night out. Heather and I went to Fritz club. Our hostel was really close to where I stayed last year, and these are both close to the club - an old warehouse with separate rooms for different music types. Heather and I rocked all three rooms - the electro room, the dance/pop room, and the alternative room. We were total rockstars. We especially loved the latter room. Such a good time. Around 3:15am, Heather checked her watch. We both agreed that we could keep dancing, but decided to be sensible and head back. No night out dancing is complete without a food stop though. Falafel. Mmmm. We chatted with some people there. Some guys thought we were French. He said we looked the stereotype. Nope. Sorry.

Sunday Heather and I went back to the area around Brandenburg Gate, Friedrichstrabe, to wander. We spent about two hours in a big book store. At the same time we each had a different St Germain album in hand and Heather asks "Have you heard this band?" Weird. We had a HUGE laughing fit (well, we do that ALL the time somehow) looking through a book called "101 Ways to Kill Your Boss". Like the laughing that hurts SO much and everyone is staring...you're trying to be quiet so you make funny noises and you cry...and then if you're me you fart. ANYWAYS. It was fantastic. We went took a special trip to the Hauptbahnof station for Millie's cookies - Heather's choice. SO worth it. THESE ARE THE BEST COOKIES EVER! Do you know how hard it is to find baked cookies in Radom? Cookies that aren't from a package? It's pretty much impossible. So we bought a baker's dozen...each. Mmmm...heaven. We wandered the Hackescher Markt area - to visit the Ampelmann shop and check out other little shops. We returned to the currywurst stand (for something else) for dinner, met up with Irene at the hostel, and headed for the train station for our long (and unwilling) return to Radom.

The guy Heather and I met on the train from Kryzy, Poland to Warsaw (Mariusz) was SO great. We commented on how decent the train actually was, and he said it's really not that great. Heather replied, "We're from Radom", to which our friend BURST out laughing. It was the most genuine reaction ever. Anyways, it was so fun chatting with this guy. We were telling him our many travel/train anecdotes, as well as some stories from our classes. We now have his phone number, so next time we're in Warsaw he can show us around!

I was relieved with how good cooperative my 7/8 students were on Monday, as I was beyond exhausted. My voice was almost gone. Having to speak really quietly keeps them quiet though! They were little angels for me. My other classes went well too. The last two nights I have slept for 10 hours. Much needed.

Berlin was totally worth it. Not a lifestyle I could maintain, but every once in a while it is good for my soul. I need to be crazy. I will definitely be staying put for the next little while though! Time to save up for Christmas travels!

I've been trying to put up pictures for my previous post but it hasn't been working today. I'll keep trying! xo

It's November already??

And it's Wednesday already? My goodness when did that happen?

The weather here has been chilly...but the last four days were sunny! Temperatures peaking around 2 to 5 degrees each day. Today it's back to overcast skies however. And what a nasty wind we have...brrr. Send warmth please!

What a weekend I had! It started bright and early Saturday morning, catching a train at 7:24am, en route to Krakow. We (me, Heather, Irene, and Jo) eagerly hopped on our train when it rolled into the Radom station, and before we knew it, we were on our way...or so we thought. We settled in our spots, and were just commenting on how we had very little time to board the train! Next thing we know the conductor is yelling at us in Polish, clearly not impressed with our stealthy ability to board the train so quickly. We were not supposed to. It was empty. It was moving out of the way for another train to come into the station. So he stops the train about 100m away from the station and kicks us off. Of course this meant we missed our 7:24 train. Thanks goodness there was a train at 7:42! It really never fails!! And we actually arrived in Krakow 20 minutes early. We had stopped at a station, and were chatting away. (Jo was in the bathroom.) Then we realize we're at our destination of choice, and with lightning speed gather our things and Jo's, run through the train, and bang on the bathroom door to get Jo's attention. Haha What a start to the day!

We met up with Irene's friend, Kelly (who we met in Warsaw) and went on our way to the hostel we had booked. It was super cute and clean and very centrally located, and an excellent price! Really can't complain. So after dropping our things, we wandered through the old town, and through the Jewish quarter. I spent the best 7pln ($2. 50ish) of my life on lunch. Open-faced sandwiches are a vendor specialty here. And they do it well. On a toasted baguette I had sausage, goat's cheese, pickles, and mustard. Mmmm. After lunch and the Jewish quarter we made our way to Wawel Castle. Heather and I got distracted in a store full of bags and jewellery and clothing and knitted things - all created by local artists (and lots of it done with recycled material). You KNOW this is my heaven. So we got separated, but we still all had a chance to explore the castle. Unfortunately we got there too late to see the dragon's den, but I will return. The castle is stunning. And with the bright sunshine we had, and the autumn colours...wow. Heather and I went into the "Lost Wawel" exhibit and saw the state rooms. (We even danced with each other in the ballroom.) The whole gang met up for drinks before dinner (mmmmint hot chocolate). A man came into the cafe and asked if we would give candy (that he gave us) to his kids who would be in to trick or treat. It was so cute!

With the early morning and the Halloween party Thursday night, Heather and I just grabbed a quick dinner and returned to the hostel for an early night and a good, long sleep. The other girls rolled in around 3am I think...? I was sound asleep before 10pm! Haha

Sunday morning we were up at 6am to get ready and catch a train to Oswiecim, the town where Auschwitz is located. We started the day off at the Auschwitz Jewish Centre (which is affiliated with the Holocaust Museum in New York that Irene worked at). As Irene pointed out, it was nice to start the day focusing on the life of the Jews, both before and after the Holocaust. One portion of the centre was dedicated to stories of survivors. There was a film montage playing of survivors telling their stories.

Next stop, Auschwitz camp I. If you didn't know where you were, you would swear it's beautiful. And I hate that I think that. They way the sun was shining on the brick barracks...hauntingly lovely. I can't express to you the feeling of sickness I carried in my stomach all day. The hair, the shoes, the suitcases, the clothing of babies and young children, the identities of these people....all lost yet all on display. There was information about Witold Pilecki, the Pole that is currently on display in downtown Radom. A very emotionally overwhelming day. I would like to return to see Auschwitz-Birkenau camp II...there is only so much one can take in in one day.

Heather and I left while the others ventured on. The thought of getting back to Radom after midnight on Sunday night was not appealing so we caught an earlier train. Well, these things are never as simple as planned. There were no more trains from Oswiecim to Krakow that would get us to the train to Radom in time for the earlier train, even though we had already purchased our ticket. So...we used our Polish and figured out a bus that got us back to Krakow instead. After Heather stopped one bus, opened its door to have the driver get very angry at her, and in the process get her glove caught in the door while trying to close it (and to have about 10 people witness this, while I peed my pants laughing), everything else was smooth sailing. (See? Heather and I are meant to be friends. That's totally something that would happen to me!) It did feel nice to laugh after a very solemn, sad, and bitterly chilled day. Training through Poland Sunday evening (in the dark) was beautiful, as we passed many cemeteries. November 1, All Saints Day, is an important holiday here. People go to the cemeteries and light (SO MANY) candles for their loved ones, praying for their arrival in heaven. Seeing all the light was magical.

In other news, Irene and I have less teaching hours than the others, so we will be teaching demo lessons in the locals schools from time to time, to advertise the school and expose students to Native speakers. I am very excited about this! I am always open to a change in my routine. Keeps things interesting.

Heather and I are still rocking the gym.

Berlin this weekend!! WOO! Very excited.

Pictures will come. I promise.

More travel plans? Heather's sister is coming for Christmas and the three of us are going to travel together - Budapest, Vienna, and Bratislava are the plan. Of course, these things can change. I am thinking I will go to Spain in February when I have a break, and Latvia early April when we have time off for Easter. I feel so lucky every day for this experience!!

That's all for now. Almost time for work!

(The first photo is from the Jewish quarter, the second and third from Wawel Castle, and the fourth and fifth from Auschwitz.)

Punny Halloween

Halloween came early this year for me...last night in fact! An American girl in town (the girlfriend of the Cuban, Siri, who plays for the local volleyball team), Phatty, had a birthday/Halloween party at a bar in Radom. Because Phatty and Siri have been living here for a year, they know the volleyball team, and other locals who know some English! Woo! So us English teachers actually got to socialize with some other people! It was fun! This can also be an exhausting task...socializing at a place where there is loud music can be difficult as it is. Throw in a language barrier...! Still a nice change though. And everyone (most everyone) dressed up! Heather and I were the black-eyed peas...haha. Oh! And I learned some Polish dancing! It's very lindy-hop/swing-like. SO GREAT! Can you believe I went out on a school/work night though? I got home at 2am! And the drink here is (bison) vodka and apple juice. Now I am not a vodka person, but the Polish vodka with the right juice is DELICIOUS. Don't worry, I didn't have too much. I felt just fine this morning...tired more than anything!

Halloween is really not celebrated in Poland. October 31 is more of a somber day for Polish culture; a day for visiting the cemetery. With my adult classes this week, we had some fun talking about superstitions, as a Halloween-esque activity. With my 7/8 year olds, playing memory with Halloween pictures/words, making masks, and colouring and counting pumpkins and black cats and ghosts is simply the most exciting class ever.

Totally off-topic...I absolutely adore my 9/10 year olds. I have groups both in Radom and Koz (my "group 8s"). This puts them at grade 4. Such a delight to teach. I can still be silly and make them laugh, but they are old enough to have fun with/joke around with. SOOOOOOOO wonderful. Today my group was asking about my husband and kids (because OBVIOUSLY at age 23 I am supposed to have these things). Too funny.

Oh. And if you were wondering, Heather and I made it to the gym 4 times this week! The men are very insistent on shaking hands when they arrive! We were adjusting one of the machines, and a guy interrupted - we thought he wanted the machine or we were doing something wrong. Nope, just wanted to say hello with a hand shake! haha

SOOOOOOO exhausted...and I still have to pack for Krakow! Happy Halloween to all!

EXTREMELY quick gym results OR I broke the ignition key to the company car

Let me explain.

Last Monday, Peter (the Polish teacher I get a ride with to Kozienice on Mondays) told me about a gym that is not too far from my place. I checked it out on Saturday afternoon, and Heather and I signed up Sunday (yesterday) and have been both yesterday and today. 150 PLN for three months...this is about $55! Can't complain about that! The equipment is old school, and it's not a big facility - so small in fact that whenever someone arrives to work out he shakes the hand of everyone else already there (Heather and I have been included in this too) - but the stuff works, and it'll keep us in shape! This is so very exciting for me. I have been running some, but I haven't been especially motivated, as the past few weeks have been damp and overcast and foggy and rainy. Do I want to sweat in that? Not particularly. So yes, we've been doing our cardio and weights. There are LOTS of weights and weight machines. This is a male-dominant facility...as in Heather and I make up the female population. Peter said that when he was a member for four months, he only ever saw two females there. We figure because we're female and English speaking, we'll probably get away with what we want - like using the aerobics room as our personal post-work out stretch room. (There are women-only classes but they are ALL during my teaching hours.) And we'll always have the changeroom to ourselves - which I'm pretty sure used to be a storage closet. It's rectangular, has about 12 full-length lockers, and a bench right in the middle to sit on. It's teeny. But it's clean. I'll give them that....probably because no one uses it! Anyways, we're already feeling fabulous, and it's not such a bad thing that guys are offering to help us with the machines. Haha

Ok. So the events of tonight I blame on my current weight-training. After teaching today, Peter gave me the keys to unlock the (company) car for the drive home. It was very dark (and raining, of course), so I chose the wrong key to open the door, obviously. The key I (tried to) use ended up twisting, and when Peter took it to examine it and potentially untwist it, it broke. Do you know what key this was? THE KEY FOR THE IGNITION. OH MY GAWD....I BROKE THE KEY TO START THE COMPANY CAR. Somehow when I was apologizing I couldn't stop smiling/giggling about it. It's wrong, I know, but I was just thinking of Eva and Gosia (the Polish teachers I drive with on Fridays to Kozienice) and how much they hate the car and want a reason to get another one. I felt sooooooooooo embarrassed and stupid but Peter and Dominika (the other Polish teacher that drives with us) told me not to worry, and it's not my fault, and that a key shouldn't be able to break that easily (and that I should stop going to the gym...clearly I'm too built already)! Anyways, obviously it turned out because I am here to write about it. One of the directors came to pick us up, we left the car in Koz, and at least we didn't crash right? They just need another key, and all will be well again.

This is such a Leah moment, wouldn't you agree? Oh dear. Haha

I would like to take a moment to say how much I love the car rides to and from Kozienice. It's single-lane traffic on country roads lined with trees. It's especially pretty with all the colours right now. It's about a 40 minute drive. It can be a little scary though on the rides home - and we've had some REALLY awful pea soup fog lately - because there are no lights...just barely visible reflectors along the sides. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoy the trips.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had another slow-paced one - laundry, relaxing, more movies with Heather, coffee with Jocylene. That's the typical routine when we're not travelling. And I am not complaining about this. But this UPCOMING weekend us teachers are going to Krakow! Woo! Very exciting. I booked our hostel this morning!

(pictures - the park in the city centre/downtown, my favourite pastry at my favourite cafe, totu, park right in front of my building, and gas station on my walk to the gym! haha)

Ego Boost

TGIF! Although I can't believe how fast the weeks go...

My students made me smile yesterday...and by smile I mean grin like a fool. It was with one of my 10/11 year old classes, upper-beginner level. At the beginning of class, one of the girls kept saying something to me in Polish, and the rest of the class would giggle. I obviously had no idea what they were saying. So I asked if they were making fun of me, to which they said "yes". I think they misunderstood this. Anyways, the only boy in the class decided to translate for me and write the word on the board that the girls kept calling me. The word was pretty! AWWW! They made their teacher blush. Teehee

My 7/8 kids yesterday were impressed with my (newly accomplished) ability to count to 10 in Polish! Haha Imagine that eh? 7/8 year olds helping ME! I love it. And yes, I can now confidently count to 10. Before I knew only 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. This limited my produce purchasing to just these quantities. Haha. But now I can count to 10! I am quite proud of this! Yesterday in one of my 11/12 beginner classes, one of the girls asked a classmate the answer to number 10, and she said it in Polish. I knew what she was saying though! I've been picking up some other phrases too. Conversation is far off at this point, but I can make broken sentences with key words. It's something!

Oh! And two of my 7/8 kids on Tuesday (one boy - so adorable - and one girl) gave me really great hugs at the end of class.

Random note - a couple weeks ago Heather said I would make a perfect Tim Burton character...whatever that means. Haha She said it was a good thing!

More notes on Radom:
-there is a local volleyball team (I think they do quite well)
-there are hardly any houses here...most people live in an apartment building
-if you stuck any of the buildings here in Waterloo, you would think it was the ghetto of all ghettos, but because it's like that everywhere here, it's not so bad
-despite the appearance of low-income housing everywhere, people always dress nicely
-the centre/downtown is very lovely and well-kept - lots of trees and benches and a park, and the cobblestone roads where no cars are allowed to drive
-apparently there ARE smoking laws here - you have to be 10 meters from a building to smoke and at restaurants there has to be separate smoking/non-smoking sections that have at least three walls dividing them
--> though these laws exist, no one seems to follow them; people ALWAYS smoke inside the building where I teach classes in Radom (gross eh?); at this one restaurant we like to go for soup, the non-smoking section is ONE table in this little room...we never have any trouble getting that spot
-right now in the centre there is a display up on posters/panels for Witold Pilecki: he founded the Secret Polish Army, volunteered to be imprisonned at Auschwitz, organized a resistance while there, escaped, and was part of the Warsaw Uprising. (November 11 is Independence Day in Poland.) (pictures)
-the sun has been a rare treat the past couple weeks...! I want sunshine!

Alright. That's all for me right now. I am really excited for my classes today...I always have fun with my Friday groups...especially the adult class of power plant men!