Team Effort at its Finest

Life is good again. Saturday night Heather took home the excess cookie dough. Yesterday she baked the rest of it in her toaster oven (as she is sans oven). WE HAVE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES! It wasn't a complete waste after the minor electrical fire! But of course Heather has to have a mini flood in her washroom. Yup, I think we got it covered.

Oh. Last week the company car had to be TOWED back to Radom from Koz, because it broke down AGAIN. I wasn't in it, thank goodness. In fact, one of the bosses was driving it. THEY'RE STILL NOT GIVING UP ON IT THOUGH. I don't understand.

Rainy Monday. Thursday is a day off! Woo! In the mean time, back to work.

And then there were twenty-one

One of my classes finished on Tuesday, leaving only twenty-one left. I can't believe it's that time of year already. I surprised myself by not crying...they're a really sweet group of 12 year olds. They made me a really sweet card. It was a nice last class.

In Poland, Mohther's Day (and Father's Day) is on a fixed date - May 26. My young students asked me if I was a mommy. NOOOOOOOOOOOO way. Not for a while yet, thank you.

I'm reading two books right now - The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield), and The Mother Tongue (Bill Bryson). The latter is so fascinating and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I honestly want to sit and memorise every little thing in it, and share it with everyone. English really is a funny and complicated language...it's oh so very mind-blowing.

I had a most unfortunate incident in my flat this afternoon. I was baking peanut butter cookies, and there was a little electrical fire at the back of my oven. I ONLY MADE TWENTY-ONE COOKIES! THERE WERE AT LEAST FIFTY MORE TO GO.

Hold-up. I've had the title for this blog entry thought up since Tuesday, when my one of my twenty-two classes ended. It totally relates to the cookies though too. That is too much. So now my oven doesn't work. Did I mention my toilet seat broke recently?

Well I suppose I will take the time to officially announce that I have a job in South Korea for next year! Mid-August start, for 12 months. I'll be just outside of Seoul. I AM SO EXCITED!!!!! I look forward to both the change and the challenge it will present me. The administrative stuff is almost all settled, so once that's set, then I can focus a little more on my upcoming Italy trip with mom! Timing also works out to meet up with Heather in Venice! You didn't think we could get away from each other that easily, do you? (We already have 2012 travel plans in the works as well...)

I'm really in no condition to be writing right now: I'm exhausted, and both the lack of peanut butter cookies in my life and the movies Heather and I watched tonight have left me heart-broken (as excellent as the films were). On that note...good night! xo

Stormy weather

I realise it's been over a week since my last post...eesh! How did that happen?

In case your curiousity got the best of you, the "appointment" I kept referring to in my Berlin story was successfully met last weekend in Warsaw...I GOT A TATTOO!! I am in love with it. Really. It's for me, and I am so happy that I can see it all the time. (Heather got her third, and it is so rockstar and awesome, like her.) I was so pumped and calm for it, but my nerves kicked in as we entered the parlour. I was so shaky. Heather was a solid support though, emotionally, mentally, and physically (you should have seen her hand when the work was done)! And we returned to our favourite club for a fabulous night of dancing - soul and motown baby. It's like they knew we were coming.

Before!

During! TADA!

Rockstar Heather!

The weekend in general was lovely. Mild weather, coffee shops, and a wee bit of shopping. Sunday morning it was pouring, but we made the trek to our French patisserie for breakfast before we headed back to Radom. Then the heavens REALLY opened up and poured. There have been some crazy beautiful storms here, with breaks of blue sky and sunshine moments. Long enough to catch some rays - like today. Heath and I did our usual Saturday morning grocery shop, got smoothies from the juice bar (the girl working was SO friendly and spoke great English!) and enjoyed them in the sun as we waited for the bus. Then we walked downtown to dit outside at a patio. Our walk was warm and summery, but it clouded over by the time we sat down. Once again, the rain came, but we were sheltered by an umbrella. It was really nice actually! And we tried this DELICIOUS Polish honey beer. We followed it with an espresso. A most delightful Saturday afternoon out. Tonight's plan involves sushi and our usual Film 101 session.

I had some great classes this week. I have come close to crying in a few classes lately, with the realisation that the year is quickly coming to an end. Last night with my gents in Koz we had a moment. Of course, there were many laughs to be had again. We were finishing the first "Allie and Mark" story in their text (which continues through in the next two series of texts) and I asked them to predict what would happen next. "Meet at conference. Meet at hotel. King size bed." Hahahaha It was classic. Not only was it hilarious, but they used terms they had learned earlier in the year! They make me proud.

With my 11 year olds, I had a riddle for them. They loved it so much and wanted more so we ended up doing problem solving riddles for the whole class (which was one of my favourite things to do at that age, so I remembered a bunch)...like "Two mothers and two daughters went out together. Each of them bought a bike, and only three bikes were purchased. How is that possible?" With my 10 year olds, one of them was singing "We are the Champions" by Queen, and for whatever reason, I decided to fully rock out, air guitar and all. Why? It doesn't matter. They loved it.

It makes me feel good when I can amuse my students. Last week with my 8 year olds, another teacher had to borrow the CD player, so I was left without one. I did the reading instead, changing my voice drastically for the different characters. They loved it! It made me happy.

Happy May 24!!!!

Reason #237

Why I love my students.

On Tuesday, while I was teaching my 11-12 year olds, my adults - whom I teach in the following period - slid a note under the door. The paper was folded in half. The outside read, "Message for Leah" (with a hand-drawn flower). The inside said, "Dear Leah, We are at Casablanca [a restaurant near the school]. We are waiting for you there. Don't forget we love you. Group 22".

The class I was teaching got all excited and thought it was a love-letter. I suppose it was in a way. I read the note to them. They approved.

Half-chickens, indie rock, and Ampelmann; or Damsels in distress: parts 2 and 3

Let's start with Friday night and work backwards. (That's what she said?)

Remember the time that Ewa, Gosia, and I had a spontaneous flat tire on the way to Kozienice a couple months ago in the ever-reliable company car (that I broke the ignition key to back in the fall)? The old clunker officially died this Friday night, on our way home from Kozienice, on the outskirts of the forest in the middle of nowhere. THANK GOODNESS we had cell reception, because at least 50% of the car ride we don't. The car smelled like burning rubber...we think the clutch burned. There was smoke fuming from the front hood. There was a bus stop at the side of the road that we hung out in. It was a lovely image - three women in their work attire (dresses and skirts) at the side of the road. We looked like the ladies of the forest. Most passersby didn't even glance our way (note to self - being a lady of the forest would NOT be a successful profession). Our boss' husband couldn't come pick us up, because he had been drinking. Our boss was at the time, drinking. So, Gosia's boyfriend came to the rescue. We did have to wait for our other boss though, to give him the keys, for them to later deal with the car, today, or whenever. It was a comical situation, but at the same time it's not funny at all. The problems with the car are never taken care of. They say they'll get a new car for next year, but why not now? We obviously need it! We're lucky that it wasn't a worse situation. Only in Radom...Damsels in distress part 2?

The adult class I teach on Thursday usually consists of about 2 or 3 of my 10 students showing up. Ewelina ALWAYS comes. On Thursday, she was the only one. So I said, screw the lesson, let's go out for coffee. It was really lovely. We're around the same age (she's a couple years older) so we totally get along. We were chatting about dating and relationships and travel and work. I almost started crying at one point...I got a little misty-eyed. Ewelina was saying that she doesn't understand why no one else comes to class because it's such an excellent opportunity to talk with a native English speaker. Then she told me that she thinks I'm really smart and a wonderful teacher. I was so touched. It's been hitting me lately how much I will miss my students here, and that just made it even more clear.

Last Friday, with my men in Kozienice, we were practicing the use of "will" for making predictions. There was a fortune telling activity in their textbooks. There were 10 tarrot cards, and they had to randomly number them. Then, their partner would choose 5 numbers, and the other would predict their future. At the end of class, I chose one number from each student (only 4 of 5 were present) and had them predict my future. The first one told me I will get a surprise next week. Looking back, I definitely had a couple surprises. The next TWO men told me I will get married next year. They were laughing and got a kick out of this, very amused that I chose the same thing twice. (They were further amused when the last number I chose - 8 - was a prediction about marriage with the first gent's set of cards.) I was told I will move house...well, and I will! It was a fun activity - good for some laughs as always.

Berlin! Heather and I went last weekend, as we had Monday off. Getting there is a story and a half. Friday night, after classes, Gosia and Ewa drove us directly to the train station, and we made the 9pm train with a couple minutes to spare. Thank goodness, because the next train, at 9:24pm takes THREE HOURS to get to Warsaw, instead of the usual two. We weren't to leave for Berlin until early Saturday morning, and we had our hostel booked. We get to Warsaw, planning to buy our Berlin train tickets at that time, rather than waiting for the morning. SOLD OUT. WHAT??????????????????????????? NO. Normally, this wouldn't be a HUGE problem because we could just take a later train. However, we had very important appointments in Berlin on Saturday and HAD to be on the 6:35am train to Berlin. We did try to avoid this by buying our tickets two weeks ago when we were in Warsaw. But with the volcano, the international train ticket line was GIANT and we waited for about 45 minutes and moved about a metre. We had to give up and get back to Radom. Anyways, we headed to our hostel to try and figure something out - bus? car rental? Things were not looking good. We decided our best bet was to just get on the train, and try and buy a ticket on it (as we have done before), and play the "we didn't know it was sold out" card. They can't just kick us off in the middle of nowhere. I figure as long as we get to Poznan, then Poznan to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Berlin, we could totally do it in pieces and catch buses once in Germany, if need be. So after a very fitful night's sleep, we get up, and get on the 6:35am train. We went to the buffet car, to have a tea and calm our nerves. We saw the ticket man, and decided to approach him rather than avoid him. Buy a ticket? No problem! Cash only. Oh. We were planning to pay with card. 125 PLN. *Phew!* We have cash...let me just see here. Shit. We are both 5PLN short (which is like, $1.50). That was the price of the tea we just drank. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. THEN HEATHER SAVES THE DAY! She has Euros. The ticket man can't accept them - but the buffet car can change them! BIGGEST SIGH OF RELIEF EVER! Ok. So with tickets in hand, we wander to find seats. Success! In the last car, there are two free seats at the very back, calling our name. And to sleep we went.

In Poznan, more people with reserved seats boarded, so we had to relocate. We found a compartment in another car and settled in. We ended up chatting with the two men - Daniel and Mariusz - for most of the time. Very helpful guys to have around - as they both spoke English, Polish, and German! The Frankfurt to Berlin stretch requires the purchase of another train ticket. The men were able to talk our ticket price down (thanks guys!). We pass over our cards. They don't work. WHAT? NO. Daniel was so trusting and kind as to pay for our tickets and let us pay him back once we reached a cash machine in Berlin. SAVED AGAIN! (Damsels in distress part 3?)

We arrived in Berlin on time, paid Daniel, and headed to our hostel. We then set off for our appointments, with plenty of time. We arrived half an hour early, to find the place closed. Odd...but perhaps they were having a slow day and would open for us at 4pm. I found a payphone and called a few times. No answer. Another girl showed up, as she too had an appointment. That made us feel better. However, she said that the owner was absent-minded and forgot about appointments sometimes, as this was her second or third reschedule. She gave up. We waited until 4:45pm. Nothing. Knowing they were closed Sunday and Monday morning (when we had to leave) we emailed anyways, letting them know we expect them to fit us in. We heard from them Monday evening, apologising about their not showing, explaining that a staff member had a bad accident and they couldn't be there. Excuse or not, we don't know. So it's almost all settled...except for the deposit transfer back to Heather's account. We'll continue to harass them about that.

After our epic heartbreak, we soaked up as much Berlin-ness as we could. Half-chickens and fries from our fave food vendor, good beer, espresso, the Wall, dancing and rocking out until almost 5am (and still feeling sore four days after) filled the rest of our Saturday. Sunday we wandered around the Hackescher Markt and Friedrichstrasse neighbourhoods. We had an amazing gnocchi lunch, and then walked to Check Point Charlie. We had coffee and just sat for a while (we were so very sore from dancing). It was so relaxing. We had a little nap back at the hostel, then went to our staple vendor for dinner. We went to check out a bar called Magnet, as we heard there would be live music. It was closed though, as someone had died. We found another cosy bar that was playing jazz, and then had some freaky live music. By freaky I mean they improvised so much that it sounded like three solo artists trying to drown each other out. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fabulous. It was just background noise for us anyways. We had great conversations all weekend. Heather got us writing discussion topics on strips of paper, for us to pull out from time to time. It's great fun!

Monday morning we headed out for coffee before our noon train. I forgot my sunglasses at the hostel and decided to go back for them. Then we loaded up on Millie's cookies (a baker's dozen each...the most amazing cookies you will ever eat) and had a little lunch. The train ride back was smooth sailing, as we had bought our tickets online a few weeks prior (something you can't do from the Polish rail website). Mariusz found us on the train and sat with us. It was so nice to see him again! We had enough time in Warsaw to grab food before our train back to Radom.

That reminds me...a couple weeks ago I taught my gents in Koz the terms "dozen" and "baker's dozen". One of them said "Polish dozen...11!" I burst out laughing. Poles all talk about how everyone in this country cheats and steals. Those men always crack me up!

Oh! Heath and I baked 76 peanut butter cookies yesterday. I think that's enough out of me. Less than 6 weeks until Italy!!!

Terrific Tuesdays

I may or may not be slightly buzzed right now.

Last Tuesday, with my adult class, we were chatting about travel, and both India and Tokyo came up - places that my students are interested in going to, as am I. This prompted me to ask if they have tried the sushi and Indian restaurants in town. Because class was finishing, we decided we should all go out for Indian food, right then! Unfortunately the restaurant was closed (and I fear it may be closed for good, the way it appeared to be shut down), so we went elsewhere. We had a lovely dinner at Teatralna - me and the two (of three) students present that day. One woman is about my age, and the other in her late 40s. It was a really nice treat, and we decided that next week (so today) we should go out DURING class, as it's a much more natural setting for conversation. Besides, we have finished the textbook for the year.

So here I am now, arriving home three hours after class has commenced. The lone male of the class was called up to join us, and the Polish teacher that teaches them in the period before mine joined us too. It was a lively evening of beer and pizza, enjoyed by all. The student about my age - her fiance - came and picked us all up and drove us home. I feel so spoiled!

Does this fall under the category of why I'm the best/worst teacher ever? Haha. We plan to continue this little ritual.

More on why I am the worst teacher ever: last Monday, I full out LAUGHED at one of my teenage students. The point of the activity we were doing was to find the preposition to follow the verb in the reading. So I called on a student for the first answer, to which he said "tuna sandwich". I lost it, as did the entire class. I apologised profusely, and felt REALLY REALLY awful. I blame my four hours of sleep on that one. Oh man. It was just one of those days. Another student in that class had a very noisy stomach that had everyone in stitches. Poor guy. I tried distracting the class with embarrassing stories about myself, but it didn't seem to work too well.

Let's see...on Friday, the man I called out for having his shirt on inside out the previous week made a point to show me that he was wearing his shirt properly this time. Hahah Oh!! The word "dozen" also came up in class, so I also taught them what a "baker's dozen" is. Then one of the students said that a Polish dozen is eleven. I busted a gut laughing, because Poles are known for stealing. Clever.

Heath and I had another fabulous weekend. We did our grocery shopping thing, and then we went to the cinema. It was a lovely day for a walk. En route to the theatre, a huge band of motorcycles rode by. Walking through downtown we met up with them again. There was some sort of charity motorcycle convention going on...? And there was even an outdoor stage set up. Big news for Radom! There were some cute men, indeed. We opted for objectifying Gerard Butler on the big screen though, rather than hanging around. However, we did enjoy a beer outside in the (setting) sun after! And we had another delicious meal at the Sushi Room. We have reason to believe we are keeping them in business. After sushi, Film 101 continued, but of course.

This upcoming weekend is a long weekend with Monday off! We are heading to Berlin - goodness I love that city. Realllllllllllly looking forward to it!!

Only 7 more weeks...it's so hard to believe! Until next time...! xo

Feeling groovy

I apologise that I have not blogged since Riga. So much has happened here in the last week and a bit. The heaviness is starting fade however, and the sun seems to be shining through.

I'm feeling extra alert today, despite having been awake until nearly four in the morning...we'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. Heather and I went to Warsaw this weekend. Between the explosion of tourists who can't get flights anywhere, the week of mourning and the casket procession for the President on Saturday, it was quite the experience to be in the capital city, to say the least. The train station was an absolute zoo on Sunday. On our train ride Saturday, Heath and I busted a gut recapping funny moments from the year thus far. I will definitely have to post some of those moments closer to the end (which is coming up sooooooooooooon)! We joined the masses of people near the Presidential Palace to try and catch a glimpse of the procession. Melancholy was in the air. Our usual night-out fave had yet another new vibe for us to experience - no DJ, and barely any music. There were tables set up for sitting. It was still busy though, and Heath and I found ourselves some good seating on the stage, at a low table, sitting on cushions. It was a fine night out. The weather could not have been better. We soaked up all the sun we could on Sunday before taking the train back to Radom.

A couple highlights from my classes last week include my power plant men requesting me to sing a song that I was trying to remember the name of (because they know how much I love to sing), and me also calling one of them out on having his shirt on inside out. I felt bad afterwards, but I knew he could handle it. He was a good sport, and the other guys chirped him the rest of the class.

Still working on South Korea stuff. It's a bit of a waiting game at this point, as my applications have been submitted. Fingers crossed...!