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.