ncsualyson

Took the train to Warsaw yesterday. Not a bad train at all. Only 5 and a half hours since it was a faster train company. Warsaw is a lot bigger than all of the other cities we've been to in Poland but still has the same look and feel as the other cities. Ate some Indian food last night that was delicioussss. Today walked around a lot... in the rain... and cold. Saw the Presidential Palace. Just came back to take a nap before we go out for dinner later. Tomorrow our train goes back to Wroclaw sometime in the mid morning so another work week begins!... read more

Internet trouble at the apartment all week so couldn't post our pictures from our weekend trip last week to Auschwitz/Birkenau and Krakow. I'm so glad I got to see it. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Got through the school week fine. Took an overnight train last night after school and got to Amsterdam this morning!!! The city is beautiful. We've already taken a canal tour and walked around tons and we ate some delicious pancakes. Will post those pictures after we go back to Poland on Sunday night/Monday morning.... read more

Well to start off, today is a holiday from school in Poland for "Teacher's Day," basically a celebration of education and teachers. So no school today, and we're leaving for Italy in a few hours!!!!!!!!!!! So since we have no school today, the students celebrated yesterday. They bring teachers candy and flowers and other gifts. Both Des and I got roses yesterday from our classes which was super nice. Yesterday starts off normal, get to the bus stop to wait around 8:35 since the bus is supposed to leave at 8:45. The bus didn't get there until 9:15. Verrrry late. Luckily we made it to school just in time to find out that we were supposed to be there to teach an earlier class that nobody told us about. So we missed our 2nd period class. ... read more

Another week down. Teaching was ok. Friday we had a meeting with all the other teachers in this program that we're a part of in another city. All day listening to people speak in Polish and not having a clue what they were saying. When we got to the school where the meeting was I tripped on a step and fell in front of probably 50 people in the outdoor courtyard and twisted my ankle so its still swollen up like a baseball and hurts but I can walk on it so I'll be fine eventually. Today we decided to stay home and prop my foot up so tomorrow we'll go into Wroclaw, the "big" city, and buy our winter coats. Only 3 days teaching next week before we go to ITALY!!!!!!!!!! Both Des and I ... read more

So we went to Poznan Saturday morning and just came back this morning with an hour to spare before teaching. Poznan was nice, the prettiest town square out we've seen so far I think but all of these cities look similar already. We went to see Des's favorite singer Frank Turner give a show last night. Folk music is not exactly my cup of tea but Des loveddd him. The best parts of the city were the City Hall building in the center of the square that was built in the 1551 I think. Also, every day at noon, since the building was built, 2 goats come out of the clock tower and headbutt each other as the bells ring. Then they have some special bugle call. Apparently this is a famous sight because the crowd ... read more

So for the last 2 days, the school has surprised us with extra lessons. Earlier extra lessons. Instead of starting at 9:50 like planned, they wanted us to teach the 8:50 lesson also. The problem with that is our normal bus leaves at 8:50. The next earliest bus leaves at 6:55!!! So we get up at 5, shower and get ready, eat breakfast and pack our lunch, walk to the bus stop, take a 30 minute bus ride to school, wait an hour and a half in the teacher lounge, then start teaching at 8:50. To say it is inconvenient would be an understatement. We started our extra lessons yesterday at the private school also. Nobody showed up to any of our 6 lessons yesterday and today. Sooo the other teachers gave up 15 minutes from ... read more

We had to leave school early today because our boss took us to meet with the "border patrol" today who wanted to talk to us about our visa applications. We pretty much just sat there as everyone spoke Polish for an hour then they asked us 2 questions (which had to be translated of course). 1. What is your purpose here in Poland and how long do you plan on staying? (answer: to teach English and travel all over Europe on the weekends. We will be leaving when school is over in late June) and 2. Did you know that the city of Chicago has more Polish people living there than the capital of our country Warsaw? (answer: no, I did not know that). And that was the end of the interview. We should have our ... read more