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!