An Unexpected Twist...

Day 2.

Those 5 and 6 year olds I was expecting? Those 7 and 8 year olds I was expecting? Each group for 45 minutes...? I definitely got the wrong schedule. Thank goodness I still had my 11 year olds and was prepared for one lesson!!

Instead, I had a group of 13/14 year olds for 90 minutes, and a group of adults for 90 minutes. I was pretty sure I couldn't drag out an hour and a half of "I spy...", "Simon says", singing songs, and naming colours with these groups. Plus, I was set to start half an hour before I thought. So yes, tears started streaming down my face. I didn't have all the materials I wanted and needed to do these lessons properly, and class would be starting in 20 minutes. Oh. And instead of finishing at 7pm I would be teaching until 8:30pm. I did not bring my dinner with me!

Irene was also teaching at Radom today, and she was a huge help. Luckily she had her laptop so I could do my music/lyrics activity, and she helped me brainstorm some more ideas. I did also have my folder of extra materials/back up activities with me, so I got some things organized. So in the end, I pulled off two very successful lessons! They were lots of fun, and the time got filled. The students seemed to enjoy them as well. Smooth sailing. *phew!*

And everything happens for a reason right? When Irene and I were done our classes this evening, we decided to check out the dance studio that is on the top floor of the building that the school is in. There was an Argentine tango class going on. Chatting with the receptionist we tried to figure out what time classes are. She had some people from the class come out who had stronger English. One of the boys from my PERFECT group at one of the local schools last week was there! I totally recognized him because he sat in the very front row of my class and spoke lots and smiled at me and helped me when my city map fell from the blackboard. He recognized me too and came over to help the language barrier. Hooray! So we are going to meet with the director tomorrow afternoon to get some information on the dance classes! See? Originally I was supposed to teach out of town, but now that I am in Radom three times per week with the DANCE STUDIO right above me, I will perhaps get to take some classes ater all, which was one of my plans/goals for when I moved here! Yey!!

Alas, even though it was raining on my walk home, I was in a most delightful mood. Kebab in hand, reflecting on the positive turn of events.

Oh! One of the activities I've been doing with my students this week is getting them to describe a picture of Uptown Waterloo. I don't tell them what it is though. A lot of answers include "quiet, clean, boring"...and then I finish the activity by telling them it's where I'm from. My favourite part is their reaction! haha They usually laugh or gasp or start saying nicer things about it. This amuses me greatly.

Here's to the rainy day

First rainy day in Radom! Went to the market this morning with Heather for some things. 5 tomatoes, 4 big apples, a cucumber and a red pepper cost me 5 zloty only...that's a little less than $2!! Amazing? I think so. The women still wear the highest of high heels even in the rain. Impressive. Quite.

Yesterday was my first day of my own classes! Things got completely rearranged, so I do not in fact teach in Zwolen and Pionki. Instead, Mondays and Fridays I'll be in Kozienice (another small town, about 40 minutes away, population 30000), and Tuesdays through Thursdays I'll be in Radom.

So my classes yesterday. I taught for 5 straight hours! My first class was 7-8 year olds. They were so enthusiastic and excited and wonderful! I had lots of fun with them. And they weren't shy to speak as they have been at English College before. They were little darlings. My second class was 3 boys, about 16 years old. This class is 90 minutes. They are considered upper-intermediate. They flew through the activities I had planned so the last 35 or so minutes I asked them fun questions. They all had quite elaborate answers. These boys are smart. For instance, I asked if they could meet anyone dead or alive, who would it be? Their answers: Confuscious, Jesus, and Napolean. They all had their explanations of why. We'll definitely be able to get some good discussions going. (Note...perhaps these groups went so well because of my brother and sister these ages....thanks Claire and Aaron!!!) My third group was the toughest: 9-10 year olds, but new to English College. When I said my name and gestured/asked/acted out/sounded out for them to say my name, they were all dead silent. Eesh. It wasn't until I got out my visuals and used my fantastic drawing skills that I found out they were capable of speech (bananas!! apples!!). VERY new learners of English. My last class was a private lesson with a business man who just wants some practice conversing. So that was fun (another 90 minute session). We just chatted (well, I got him to do most of the talking) the whole time, just so I could get a sense of where he is with his language, what he wants out of the course, and some interests of his. All the classes went by very quickly. The Polish teachers (they work on grammar and vocabulary with the students) that I met yesterday are fantastic. They are both recent graduates as well, and we all get a ride in with one of them (Peter). Really nice. So there is definite potential for some friends among the locals!

Today I have a shorter day, and my students are younger: 5/6, 7/8 and10/11. Should be fun!! The rest of the week's schedule is sort of up in the air. Get this: on Fridays my last class of the evening is with some men that work at the power plant in Kozienice. Could be interesting! And I supposedly have some adult classes Wednesday and Thursday as well. Those ones intimidate me! I guess I'll see how it goes...!

Last Friday at one of the local schools, the Polish teacher whose classes I taught took some photos, so enjoy! (She is really cool as well and we're planning on going out sometime!) And the view from my flat.

Rejected?

Oh Oktoberfest, how amazing you are.

I left Radom Friday afternoon to catch a 3:30 train to Warsaw, then onto Munich. It started off rough, as my train leaving Radom was almost half an hour late, minimizing the time I had to make my connection to Munich. Oh dear. It worked out though. I ran around the Warsaw station frantically and was able to get on my train and buy my ticket there. I had a sleeper car all to myself. So I read, and had an early night - to sleep by 8:30pm, to wake up at 8am the next morning. Fabulous. I needed the rest for the big day ahead!
(Sad point #1 - Heather gave me a Philippa Gregory book to read on the train. I got 100 pages in. I think it slipped out of my purse, as it didn't make it back to Radom with me and is nowhere to be found!)

Ok. So the plan was to meet Jodi at the Munich train station Saturday morning when my train got in (9am), as she was arriving around 6:30am, from Berlin. I waited and waited and started to worry. I decided to get her paged to the information booth, and still no Jodi. So around 10am, I checked my email, to find that she was coming later. *phew!* That meant that she was ok! Meanwhile, I had been trying to get a hold of Martin, but my calls weren't going through to him and he wasn't responding to my texts messages. Well, looks like I'm heading to Oktoberfest solo...I'll just make friends there! It must be noted that most people at the train station were decked out in hats and dirndls and lederhosen. Everyone looked fabulous.

I took tram 17 to "The Tent" (my hostel booked for the night) to drop my stuff before heading out festing. I was chatting with some Aussies on our way and who do I run into? MARTIN! (And his friends.) They were just leaving The Tent! Perfect timing! So they waited for me to drop my stuff. (Side note: my reservation number at the hostel was 1991...so I proudly announce this at reception and the guy working responds with "is that the year you were born?" Oh dear. He said I'm fresh-faced. Haha) Off we go to fest...!

Arriving at the big welcome sign was SOOOOO exciting. There was so much spirit in the air! There are stalls upon stalls of souvenirs and food. Rides are in full swing. Beer halls are scattered amongst the stalls. The smells are wonderful - beer nuts and sausage and schnitzel, oh my! Music and good cheer fill my ears. We venture into Armbrustschutzen, where the picnic benches are filled with people eating, drinking, and being very merry. We could not find a place to sit, so we walked around, then tried our luck elsewhere. We found seats (there were five of us - me, Martin, and 3 of his friends. They are all living in Bonn, teaching English) outside of the Schottenhamel tent, with some young (just out of high school) German boys. They were good fun. Get this - I got IDed before they served me beer!! And they didn't ID the young boys!!! What is up with this?? I know, I'll appreciate it when I'm older. But really? I got IDed at Oktoberfest! haha Anyways, we got our one liter steins. The weather was sunny and perfect. I went on a schnitzel run before my second. There was lots of singing and people on tables. We all ordered a third, but I couldn't do it. We decided to move on (late afternoon now) but stop for a bathroom break first. This is where I get confused - I think I may have fallen asleep on the toilet for a little? And then I woke up to vomit...hmmm. So when I got out from the bathroom I couldn't find any of the people I was with, not knowing how much time had passed. So I wandered (saw the young German boys again) but decided to head back to The Tent. I had two sausages and some beer nuts on my way. I got back to The Tent around 7pm, saw Martin asleep on the floor, and decided to have a nap myself! As I was waking up around 9:30pm, I see Jodi walking towards me!!! These things always work out. So I'm chatting with her and we're catching up, and I have to leave to go be sick again. Was my body rejecting Oktoberfest??? Am I that lame?? Martin woke up and so the three of us headed to the camp fire at our hostel, and chatted with the various people there (who come from all over the world). Then we headed to bed around 1am, for me to get up a few hours later, and catch my 6:20am train back to Radom. I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare, and the information booth told me the ticket wickets would open at 6am. So I waited, and waited, and realized they weren't opening. So I went to one of the machines, which requires multiple steps when you're taking such a journey...then there were 6 printouts I had to wait for, and it's about 6:18am at this point. I made a run for my train and got there just in time. Excellent. I spent the day napping and lesson planning for my Monday classes. The train was late getting to Warsaw, and I still had to get my connecting ticket to Radom. So I stand in line for my ticket, thinking I had enough cash. Oops, those are Euros and not Polish zloty. They aren't taking my Visa. Ok. Go find an ATM. Found one. It doesn't recognize my cards. Ok. Go find another ATM. Perfect, it works. Go back and get my ticket. Grab a chicken kebab, get to my train with one minute to spare. Man, I'm good. Got into Radom at 9pm, which was the correct time. A very exhausting, jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. And lesson planning til midnight to follow.

Sad point #2 - I bought some postcards at Oktoberfest but they must have fallen out of my bag (I think in my locker at The Tent) so no postcards to send. I guess I'll just have to go back some other time...

Pictures to come! A truly amazing experience. I was so thrilled to be there!!

PUMPED!!!

My morning FLEW by, teaching four consecutive classes. The first three were all level one classes, and the last was level three. Great students, great effort, I had a blast with them all. And now I am heading to MUNICH!!! Oktoberfest, here I come! Meeting up with Martin and Jodi! Yahoo!!

Oh! Sirianus, the Cuban in town here, knew where to drive me and Heather home to yesterday, because he was friends with the teachers that lived in these flats last year! I found that amusing.

That's all. I'm out. Time to catch the train! Prost!

(Pictures from teacher potluck, and the quiet walk home...and the random wizards walking around town?)

Small town living

I am realizing how small this town is. Even though it's population 250000, I actually recognize people already. For instance, we met Randall on Monday at our lunch spot. Then we had a potluck at Irene's on Tuesday, and we invited him. So he came! Yey!! Then yesterday Heather and I saw him, and he was with the token Cuban guy that's in town, so we were introduced. Then Heather and I ran into the Cuban guy today at the M1 shopping center, and he gave us a ride home! (He also invited us out to dinner tomorrow with his girlfriend and Randall and the other teachers. I had to decline as I'll be in Munich.) And there is a British man walking around that I've seen a couple times as well, and some locals too. It's so wonderful!

Today I only had to teach one class. I am getting more and more comfortable with it, even though these kids were the loudest and most talkative. Tomorrow I'll be teaching FOUR classes! Then we'll be finding out our schedule for next week/our classes for the year! I am really looking forward to meeting my students!

Heather and I had a good people watching session yesterday afternoon after our lunch. We may or may not have been sitting next to the Polish mafia. I think people get more of a kick from watching us. We still stand out somehow, even when we're not talking. It's probably because of how we dress. It's all very amusing though. Heather and I were bonding over Canadian-isms and our new favourite thing to do is sing really loudly, wherever we are - "after these messages, we'll be right back", "desperado"...yey Canada! Irene was excited to find a guy that could speak German because she can, so she was actually able to have a full conversation with someone about Radom! Apparently more people here know English than they are letting on. I think our enthusiastic energy everywhere we go is perhaps slightly intimidating....?

Ok. I will post a few pictures of my flat. I know how patient you've been! (Kitchen, living room - complete with zebra wall!!!)

In heaven...

...because I just taught a group of angels.



I'll backtrack. Yesterday, the group of boys I taught were level 3, meaning intermediate speakers. Today I taught another group of level 3 boys (15 years old), and they were perfect. Everyone voiced questions and answers and spoke and didn't leave me hanging. The class was as smooth as glass. The activities flowed and everyone participated and I don't think a class will ever compare. They were all smiling and helpful and they listened and kept quiet when they were supposed to. It's classes like that that will keep me going as a teacher. My bristol board map fell off the blackboard at one point and one of the boys put it back up for me! They all sat as close to the front as they could get. Their Polish teacher told me that at the end they asked if I was coming back so she told them to invite me, but she said they were too shy. Precious. (One group even added a romantic twist of boy meets girl in the story they had to write!) Even though my students yesterday were not NEARLY as well-behaved - talking out (in Polish) a lot of the time and not speaking and laughing and goofing off, a lot of them spoke to me at the school today when they saw me. Yey! How is this even a job???? I love my life. (I say that now. I'm sure I'll have bad days...well, maybe. It's all relative, right?)

My first class today was my biggest challenge. Not behaviour-related, but because they were level 1, so more beginner English. 13 year old students, mixed class (mostly boys), they were a lot more shy and quiet. A little more pulling teeth was needed to get them to speak. I was prepared for that though, and had revised my same lesson accordingly, based on proficiency-level. And these things you kind of have to feel out once you're in the class anyways, because every group will be different. I can't get over how much I feel in my element doing this. I have yet to REALLY feel nervous about teaching a group, rather I thrive on it. Even today, with one of the directors sitting in on my class. Tomorrow we have feedback sessions with the directors, so that will be good.

Great day! It's sunny and warm, I went running this morning, taught two classes, and home by 1:30! We're having a teacher potluck at Irene's this evening. I'm on dessert duty!

Oktoberfest: I'm going to Munich this weekend!!!!! The guy I met in Athens who is from Munich got the dates mixed up so I will not be staying at his place. However, I have floor space booked at the hostel "The Tent" which is where Catrina and I stayed last summer. It's also where we met Martin, and it's where he and I will be meeting this weekend! We both have it booked. Yey!!! What a reunion it will be. I still don't know about my schedule for Friday but there are a few overnight trains from Radom to Munich Friday evening, so it will all work out. I'll be meeting up with Jodi too!

Living my dream, that's for sure.

Boys will be boys

So...I taught my first class today! Not one of my classes, but a class at a state school. Yup, the one with the 15-year old boys. And it went well, I think! It started off a little rocky, as no one wanted to be the first to speak, but once we got going I think they liked it! The Polish teacher for the class as well as my peers sat in, so that was good support (we all sat in each other's classes). The Polish teacher said I was her hero for surviving with the rowdy, misbehaved boys. So that made me feel good!

My lesson focussed on the themes of "being new in town/getting around" and "keeping in touch". I had created a map for them to give me directions to key landmarks (bank, market, hotel, restaurant, post office, etc); they played charades acting out different ways of keeping in touch, they wrote stories incorporating three pictures...it flowed well I will say! Us teachers went for lunch to our usual spot and gave each other feedback on all our lessons, so that was super helpful. They were very encouraging, telling me how calm and cool and patient (yet disciplinary when needed) I was. Yey! Just some revisions here and there to tighten things up, and I should be set for tomorrow! Tomorrow I have two classes, a mixed group and another all-boys group (around the same age). All the other teachers had really great lessons, and overall it went pretty smoothly for all of us! (Jocylene's students asked her if she used to be a model!!)

Oh man, so on the topic of boys/men...all the ones here seem to be either 18 years old, or married. We've concluded there must be nothing else to do here, because people are married so young! Everyone is walking around pushing a pram!! So our quest for single men is a daunting one. We're trying to be optimistic, but we're already planning our weekend trips to Warsaw and Krakow. Hahaha At lunch today, apparently I had an admirer. Heather used the term "enamored" to describe his supposed infatuation with me. He was pretty cute and I'll admit we were making eyes...but that's about the extent of my Polish flirting. Oh, and I said "thank you" to him in Polish. The best pick-up line we have here is, "Do you speak English?" After that, we're lost! So after our first teaching day, we sat at a patio, had beer, and checked out our (limited) prospects. 5ish really is a good time of day though to be out and about, people leaving work, catching up with friends....I think the best looking guy we saw today was a priest.

Oh! At lunch we met another English teacher from another school! He's been here for a year, so we got his number and email and we expect him to show us all around! There is more than we realized, like a gym, and a bowling alley! That should suit us for the time being.

Some observations so far:
-beer is sometimes served with a straw - Jocylene and I think it's for females, so they don't smudge their lipstick
-on the bus when people pass a church they make the sign of the cross
-we are still the town spectacle
-all the women here wear the HIGHEST of high heels, all day, every day
-all the women are pregnant or are pushing a stroller
I swear I had more but they are escaping me at the moment.

Walking home after the patio, Heather and I had a few VERY close calls with pidgeons swooping at us. We had a good laugh about that. A very giggly, happy, successful day!

And now back to my lesson!

(Picture - a drink after day 1 of teaching!)

Radom...not to be confused with random

I'm here!!! And my luggage arrived at the school today!!! And I am almost settled in my flat!!!! YEY!!!

Ok. Wow. Much to catch you up on! I must backtrack...

My last night in Athens (Monday) was top notch. I got my (euro fifty) gyros fix. I made my way to the hostel bar for the evening and who do I see sitting there? The two English boys from Sheffield that I met in Paros!! It was a splendid reunion. My intention was to have a relaxing, early last night, as to be well-rested for my arrival in Poland. A group of us played cards into the wee hours of the night...and suddenly it was 4am when I got to bed! Oh well. It was my last night of "holidays", and I decided to make the most of it. (There were two other K-W folk there!) Oh! And I totally met someone from Munich that said I could stay at his place during Oktoberfest (hence why he is travelling around...to avoid it)! It's good to network! Again, met some really cool people that night.

Tuesday I headed to the airport with a couple guys from the hostel that were flying to Barcelona. They were fun to chat with. The American was planning on proposing to his girlfriend, and the English guy has been travelling for 20 years, so boy oh boy does he have a lot of stories. He is currently carrying a parachute, his latest purchase. He used to have a surfboard, but only one hobby at a time is feasible! Very interesting guy indeed. I had a good flight, but was definitely exhausted. W, the director of the school (English College) that I'm working for picked me up at the airport (no sign with my name on it. I really wanted a sign with my name on it). I instantly had a really good feeling about him and the school. He is very friendly and easy to talk to and I know he'll be great to work with/for. So, we drove to my flat and on the way he pointed out some key landmarks (as well as where some of the other teachers live). It was dark already, so we didn't look around too much. After dropping my bags he brought me to the grocery store so I could get some things. Then he had me tell him how to get back to my flat! I did pretty good! Turns out it's much easier to walk to the grocery store...it's about 5 minutes from my place! And even closer is a late-night mini-market (the same plaza has a butcher too)!

Get this: after ALL the commotion at the Polish consulate about not being able to enter the country until the start of my work VISA, NO ONE EVEN CHECKED MY PASSPORT WHEN I ARRIVED! No one really looked at my VISA at all this past month. So I totally could have come earlier to settle in. They delayed the start because of me. Hahah W was very chill about it though, and the other teachers were grateful, they said. They've enjoyed the extra time!

So Wednesday W picked me up to drive me to the main school so I could see where it is. "After this, you're on your own" he says. So we started the day at 10am, and finished by about 1. Just some orientation stuff, about preparing our curriculums, lesson planning, what the school year will look like, etc. So after that all of the teachers went out for pancakes (crepes, really) where Ania (Witek's wife and also a director) recommended. It was delicious. We then met up later on for drinks.

Thursday we had another orientation session from about 12-2. We discussed banking and insurance and important things like that. We went back to our "spot" for lunch, this time for pizza. The food at this place is sooooooooooo amazing. They have dessert crepes, savoury crepes, and pizza. A really good, tasty, quality pizza, meal-size (like, enough for a hungry man) is like $5! It's fantastic. A dessert crepe with apple and cinnamon and caramel sauce and vanilla is less than $3. Amazing. After this we made a spectacle of ourselves trying to get to the M1 shopping centre via bus where they have Superstore and Best Buy-type stores. It's the big mall here. I should probably mention that there is VERY little English in this town. Finally some boy (14ish?) gave us directions that we understood, and then happened to catch the same bus as us. He came over to tell us when to get off even! It was so sweet. We're definitely the loud, North Americans that I'm sure the entire town knows about by now. We've all had a good laugh about this...saying we've probably encountered some of our students by now without even knowing it. Anyways, I got some organizing things for my apartment - storage bins and school supplies and exciting things like that. AND I FOUND PEANUT BUTTER!!!!! This is a really big deal for me, because they do not have it at the nearby grocery store.

Today we had another orientation meeting from about 10:30-1. We talked about the plan for next week. When I got to school this morning my luggage had arrived, as the company said it would. YEY! That was VERY exciting. So after our meeting A drove me home with my stuff. All day I've been organizing and settling in, doing some laundry, getting organized. It feels great! I forgot that I had purchased some postcards of my favourite paintings from the Tate Modern, so my walls are not completely bare. And the girl who lived here before me painted one of the walls zebra, so it's pretty sweet. (Pictures to come soon). Tonight us teachers met up for dinner (guess where?), at our usual spot. We already have a usual spot! There wasn't a whole lot happening that we could tell and a couple of the teachers have an early morning tomorrow, heading to Krakow, so we parted ways and called it a night. So here I am now!!

Ok. So the teachers. We are all girls: 2 Canadians and 3 Americans. Heather is from Ottawa, and lives closest to me. Sarah lives near us too (she is from Pennsylvania) so the three of us have been walking to school together. I'm about 15 minutes to Heather's, then it's about another 15 to the school. Irene is from New Jersey, and Jocylene is from North Dakota. So far so good. Everyone seems really awesome and we're getting along well.

The job. Next week we will be going to the local (they say "state") schools to do some demonstration lessons. Whatever lesson I prepare I will repeat for the entire week though, as it will be an intro lesson to a bunch of different classes. This will serve as practice for us before we start with our own classes the week of September 28. Then the directors can give us feedback as well, and it also advertises English College to the state schools. So I teach my first class on Monday! 11:25am, 16 students - an all boys class of 15 year olds, intermediate speakers. I am so excited. For today's orientation we had to have a rough lesson plan idea, so I am looking forward to putting that into practice! Tuesday I'll have two or three classes to teach, and the rest of the week is still to be determined.

After next week, Heather and I won't be teaching in Radom (well, we still might from time to time). Instead, we'll be based in Pionki and Zwolen, two small towns (like population 8 or 10 thousand) that Witek will drive us to every day. He was telling me that the Pionki school is IN a national park, and that it's really beautiful to drive through in the winter. So I'll be teaching at a school in a forest!! How cool is that!! I love it. I'll see all my groups once a week, and have three per day, so 15 groups all together each week. That means 15 curriculum to prepare for the year (to be done by the end of October), and then 15 lesson plans per week. THIS IS SO UP MY ALLEY!!!! All these students come twice a week though, once with me (for speaking, practical application of the language) and once with a Polish teacher (focussing on grammer, structure, etc). We work cooperatively, reviewing each other's material in class, but my portion is more about putting the rules into practice. The school year is a trimester system, so I'll be doing exams as well. I'll create the oral exams, but help assess the written and reading comprehension portions with the Polish teacher. Next week I'll find out what groups - age, proficiency level - I'll be teaching for the year. And there you have it!

Random notes...
-For the first time ever, I own a lighter. This is because my stove is a gas one, and needs to be lit with a flame.
-There are some lovely markets that I pass walking to the school every day. Definitely need to check them out for produce.
-We (meaning the teachers) stick out like sore thumbs here. We are the town entertainment.
-Heather and I are happy to be teaching out of town as to avoid potential student run-ins on the weekends...haha
-Did I mention how little English there is here?
-I am very excited to have my running shoes now and will put them to use immediately!
-I have studied the Radom map and have marked all the movie theaters.
-My power was out this morning (well, in the entire building).
-I have lots of stairs to walk up to get to my flat, and it's good for me.

So what does this weekend entail? Getting more settled, doing some more errands, going to market, running, prepping for my first class on Monday, laundry from my travels, look into Oktoberfest...

The weather has been sunny and mild here! Low 20s. It's nice. Very nice. The evenings do get cool though, but it's comfortable that way.

Yup, I think I'm going to like it here.

Last day of holiday...

I can't believe I will be arriving in Poland tomorrow evening...! I am so very excited to be learning about my job and getting into a routine. I'M GOING TO BE A TEACHER!!! (I'm not sure this has fully hit me yet.)

The rest of my time in Paros was enjoyable. Friday after blogging I ran into the two English couples we had met at Toga bar the night before, so they invited me to join them for coffee (and they treated, very generous), which was very thoughtful. They couldn't get over the fact that I was travelling alone. Went out for dinner that evening with the girls from my hostel. It actually rained! So because of that, we had a cozy girls night in and watched two movies (one of the girls had her laptop): Madagascar 2, and Role Models. They left the next morning, and I had a new roommate; a Greek American girl from Seattle. She had been working at a hospital in Athens all summer and was taking her last week off to travel to some islands. We got along very well. We had a half beach day Saturday (it was still cool and overcast), we did our own thing for a little, then we went out for crepes for dinner. We sat there long enough that we had room to get dessert too. I forget what they are called but they are these balls of dough, fried, and served saturated and dripping in honey. Mmmmm. I am going to miss Greek pastries! We stopped in at Toga bar to say hi to the bartender, and we ended up staying for a few drinks (he was spoiling us and kept pouring...). Sunday was finally hot and sunny again! Yey! So I had a full beach day, my last on the island. Then I took myself out for a romantic dinner for one. I had moussaka. Someone at the restaurant had a nice slice of watermelon sent to me for dessert. That put a big smile on my face. It's the simple things. At the town church there was Greek dancing last night so I watched that. Then I headed to where I was now a regular, back to Toga bar. It was a quiet evening there so I chatted with my friend/the bartender. Later on some girls from my hostel that I'd seen but hadn't chatted with before showed up, so I joined them. They were from South Africa, and one from Sweden. They left and I stayed on a little more, to chat more with Toga man. It was my last night, after all.

Today I had a ferry back to Athens, and that's where I am now. Back to Aphrodite hostel. It's my third time here now: last summer, last week, and now! Get this, I've had the SAME ROOM all three times! The guy at the front desk knows me and knows what key to give me every time. Haha. Who knew you could be a regular at a hostel?? So one night here then flight to Warsaw tomorrow! So hard to believe....

I'm on my fourth book since leaving mid-August. I'm all showered and feeling fresh, ready for my new challenge. And now I must take advantage of my last moments in Greece. I need gyros. And one more ooey gooey honey soaked pastry. Next stop, Poland!

Oh! And my luggage will arrive Friday! (I packed some of my "teaching attire" in my backpack that I have with me. So I am not concerned!)

Rockin Robin

Yamas, from Paros!

I am in a region of the Greek island Paros called Naoussa. My ferry arrived yesterday around noon, and the owners of the hostel I am at (a lovely couple from Germany) picked me up. We had to wait for another ferry to come in so I had some time to explore the capital of the island. I was instantly pleased. This island (unlike what I saw in Corfu last summer) is the postcard-perfect white-washed buildings and blue waters. The next ferry brought in three friends for me! Two girls from Australia and one from New Zealand. They all know each other from living and working in London. Their room is right beside mine and we've pretty much spent our entire time together so far!

So yesterday we checked out our town, got groceries, and spent some time at the beach. The town is so so so cute and white and pretty and there are so many little nooks and crannies. I'll have no trouble at all spending the next couple days here! Even though it's quite tiny, I still got lost in the maze of the streets trying to find this internet cafe! I don't mind at all though. Last evening we met some guys from our hostel - two from Sheffield and one from Alberta (my roomie). We hung out around the harbour drinking a little, then (oh my goodness it rained a little) so we headed to toga bar. We got there quite early, 9ish, but didn't end up getting home until 3!! The music was fantastic and we befriended the bartender (I saw him on my way here and chatted with him some), and danced the night away. Lots of fun oldies (hence, "Rockin Robin"...I do love that song). There were two older English couples (among others) that we talked with too. One of the men said I have an aura about me and said that I will make someone a very happy wife someday! The other said I'm his favourite Polish teacher. haha Those comments amused me. Anyways, it was a very fun night out.

Unfortunately today it is very overcast!! I caught some sun and a cat nap this morning on the roof of our hostel, luckily. The hostel owners said this is extremely unusual for this time of year. Us girls were going to rent quads to explore the island, but it's really not a nice day for it! They leave tomorrow...I'll definitely miss them! They are lots of fun and really great girls. We will definitely be in touch.

Wednesday evening at my hostel in Athens I met some more cool people. An especially awesome Canadian gal from Alberta who's been working in London the past year. Oh I can't get over all the amazing people I meet! It really makes a difference to the travelling.

Well, I think that's all I've got to report at the moment! Much love...

Quickie!

Hello from (drizzly) Athens!

Just wanted to say that I am ferrying to Paros island tomorrow, and will be returning to Athens Monday afternoon. The hostel I am staying at in Paros is picking me up from the port! Yey! And everything is arranged for my arrival/pick-up in Warsaw next Tuesday. Whoa. I can't believe how soon it's coming up...!

I hung out with Anthony yesterday, yey! It's so great to know people who are all over. We wandered around near the flea market and had lunch in the afternoon (with his cousin too) and then climbed up near the Acropolis at night, to see it and the city all lit up. It was very pretty. I hung out at the hostel bar last night, and chatted with some really cool people from all around the world! Today I got my ferry ticket, did a little shopping, went to the National Gardens and back to the flea market area. Wandering is what I do best. I had a most delicious gyro...mmmm. I think Greek food is my favourite. I think I will head to bed early this evening as I am still tired from my train journey and have a very early morning tomorrow! That's the short version, I suppose! I may or may not be in touch in Paros...so until next time!

41 hours later...

...I've made it to Athens! I'm at the hostel that Catrina and I stayed at last year (right at this time actually!). Yey for free internet!

So. I should explain the "living in a palace". In Split, the old town is actually within the walls of Diocletian's Palace...built in 305 AD, get this, as a RETIREMENT home! At the north wall is the golden gate, and there is a large statue of a bishop (Grgur Ninski). He looks like an angry wizard, but in fact it is depicting him arguing with the pope to introduce the national language into the church...this was in the 4th century. Latin was still the language of the church up until the 1960s! Pretty progressive guy, eh? Outside the west wall is a fish market. It's located there because it's near where the sulphur baths used to be, and the smell of the sulphur keeps the flies away! Clever! The south wall used to be right at the water, but now there is a huge promenade with shops and restaurants and benches and palms, all making for a nice view of the Adriatic. The west wall is pretty much non-existent, and is instead lots and lots of shops. Some people still live within the walls of the palace. If they do, they must keep their place restored. Archaeologists have to go into the home first and check things out. One place had some artifacts that were dug up displayed in their front garden! So that's my little points of interest that I learned on the walking tour Thursday...

After the tour I hit the beach. That's when I met some people to chat with - 3 guys (one Canadian and two Aussies, I think), and a girl from California. I saw the guys again on Friday at the beach. The water is really shallow for a really long time. It's very clear, and the bottom was sandy smooth. Very refreshing. On Friday I checked out some other beaches, but they were rocky so I went back to the sandy spot. Thursday for dinner I ate at the same sandwich shop I had found Wednesday. It was just too good not to go back. My hostel seemed pretty quiet. I was wandering the streets and kept popping back in to see if anyone was around to do anything. At last I met a guy from London (England), staying at my hostel so we went out for a drink. After the beach Friday is when I met two Aussies, two Kiwis (more Oktoberfest company?), and a Ukrainian gal at my hostel, so we spent a social evening together. Saturday morning there was a huge thunderstorm. It didn't last too long though, and it was early enough that it did not affect my day. After booking my train to Zagreb for the following day, I ended up at an Irish pub to watch the Australian/South Africa rugby game (as my hostel friends were there). It amuses me greatly how into rubgy all these folks are. I suppose it's like Canadians and hockey - everyone reacting at the same time. When the game was over we stayed behind and chatted some, then I took another stroll around the palace. It really is like a maze. The streets are so so so narrow and it's fun to try and get lost...

Saturday evening involved hanging out with the same group, minus a few, plus a lot of English boys, at the hostel. It was lots of fun. (Guess who was convinced to do the splits in Split? haha) Sunday I packed up, had lunch with Veronica (one of the Aussies), and hopped on my 3pm train to Zagreb!

From Zagreb I caught an overnight train to Belgrade (and slept pretty well), and then from Belgrade, I didn't have to switch trains until Thessaloniki, Greece. So I got to see lots of Serbia and Macedonia. The train people got to know me. I think I am the only one who did the 14.5 hour stretch. At one point there was a pretty sketchy character sitting in the same compartment as me...but two of the train workers sat in the next compartment over and were constantly checking in on me (and him?) to make sure I was ok. Serbia and Macedonia are significantly run down from what I am used to seeing. The houses are all shades of yellows, oranges, browns, and creams. The countryside is very lush. From Skopje for about an hour or two, three Macedonian people around my age sat with me. One particularly liked chatting with me to practice his English, so that was nice for a little (I had finished my book Monday afternoon). The train was late picking them up and he seemed especially concerned that I would be alone in Thessaloniki and wouldn't make my train to Athens (the last one I knew of was at 11:30pm, and I was supposed to get in at 10pm. Didn't get in until 11:40pm but turns out there was a 1:40am train to Athens. Yey!). It was sweet of him. He said he wants to see me again, but we didn't swap any information so I guess we'll have to leave that one up to fate...!

Ok. Now I must nap, or something. Then I'll call Anthony! My bed will be available shortly at the hostel, as I didn't sleep very well on last night's train! I got lucky on my previous trains with the compartment-style seating...it allowed me to easily stretch out and sleep! Athens today, and potentially Paros tomorrow. That's the plan for now anyways! Thanks to all those posts out there! I love getting them!!! xo

Living in a palace

Oh how I would love to go on about the history of Split right now, but I only have a short time on the computer. More on it later. It's fascinating, really.

I've really enjoyed my time here. I met some nice people at the beach Thursday and Friday that I chatted with during the days (one from London, Ontario!), and I've made some good friends at my hostel - a couple Aussies and a couple Kiwis. I have a train this afternoon to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, en route to Greece. I opted for the train after all, versus the ferry. Much quicker, and I have yet to travel by train over here this summer, and I love the train.

I promise to give a more detailed post about my time in Split, but just checking in right now to say hey and that I am in fact moving on today. Hope all is lovely. xoxox

Time to Split...!

Guess where I am? Haha. Split, Croatia!

Yesterday morning I flew to Pula, where I spent the day. Gorgeous little fishing village with a marina (you'd think I like the coast or something...). I was able to share a taxi with 3 others into the town center. From there I got a map and found accomodations. I had a quaint little private room right in the middle of the action. I toured myself around with my map and saw lots of sites - the Temple of Augustus right beside the town hall, chruches, and a few different arches/gateways throughout the town. What caught me by surprise was the huge and stunning amphitheatre. It's the 6th largest in the world! I read on a park bench for a little and there were two little old ladies beside me. One could speak English. When I told her I was from Canada, she told me her son lives in Kitchener. Look at that! Small world...it never ends. (Speaking of small world...in London while roaming, Jodi and I saw a gal, Laryssa, who goes to Bikram Yoga KW and who had about a month ago moved to London...wild!) I totally crashed last night at about 7:30, as I had been up since about 4:30 in the morning to get my flight!

Today I got up at 6 to catch the ferry to Zadar. It was one of those "fast"ferries and therefore all the seating was indoor. It's like an airplane, but really wide - 12 seats across (2, 4, 4, and 2). The woman sitting behind me shared some of her grapes with me. It was so sweet!

So I had kind of decided before getting to Zadar that I wasn't going to stay there. I did want to see (rather, HEAR) the sea organ though. That itself is worth the stop in Zadar. I think it's the most amazing thing I've ever heard. You can't really see it, but there are these man-made marble pipes in the water, such that the wind and the water create a constant organ sound/song that plays. I was so in awe of it. I could have listened all day! You can also go swimming right up to it (and see it). That was my purpose in Zadar. Yup. I did wander some through the town for a couple hours - another really quaint village on the water with a marina; winding cobblestone streets and colourful old buildings. I enjoyed a deliciously flaky cheese burek and got some uber cheap produce at a market. (P.S. There are huge produce/flower markets EVERYWHERE I go in Croatia. It's marvelous.) I made my way to the bus station and caught the next bus to Split. It was the most enjoyable bus ride I've ever been on. I was so loving the scenic drive along the Dalmatian coast - going through all the towns on the water. Heaven. I'm beginning to forget what clouds are...such a concept seems to be non-existent in these coastal locations. Perhaps that is my draw....

I arrived in Split this evening, found a hostel, and found some dinner. I have another hostel booked for the next three nights, something a little less expensive, so after I make the switch tomorrow, my plan is to hit the beach! Yey! And my luggage is officially being picked up from Marc's on Friday (for those of you interested) where it will be kept in storage until it gets delivered to me in Poland, mid-September. Fabulous.

Croatia is beautiful! I'm definitely a water/coast girl. Definitely. Ahh the life...xoxox