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Published: October 1st 2009
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Good Morning!
Again, I'm sorry for the long delay between entries - this week has been a bit crazy over here.
On Monday I left Lublin with my friend Ola and her husband Michał to go to Warsaw. We arrived at my building where I will be living for the next two semesters, dropped my things off, and headed to the University to try and figure out what I need to do to sign up for classes. (Yes, school technically starts TODAY but I am still not registered for classes. I am lucky enough to be a part of the faculty where, when registering for classes, you need the approval of the department head. I wrote to him on Monday when we arrived in Warsaw and naturally I only just received a response from him yesterday. So, Friday at 11:30 I have a meeting with him and I hope I can get the classes taken care of.)
On Tuesday I was able to meet up with some of my friends that I met on my last trip to Poland when I was studying at the Summer School of Polish Language and Culture in Lublin. Surprisingly, there are quite
a few of us from the Summer School in Warsaw this year. Me, Ana (Slovenia), Sylvia (Italy), Chantelle (Australia), Dajna (Croatia), Dan (Canada, but lives in the USA and is currently in Israel but will be in Warsaw for the Spring semester). I'm glad that there are people here who I already know - it makes me feel more comfortable knowing that I'm not going to just sit around by myself for the next year.
I'm going to try (for the first time) to upload some pictures with this blog entry, so, let's keep our fingers crossed (or, as we say in Poland "trzymać kciuki" lit. "to hold your thumbs") that it works 😊
My living situation is a bit interesting but by far not as bad as it was when I was in Poland last year. I have a roommate, we both have our own bedrooms and we have a common kitchen and bathroom. My roommate is from Turkey. It's hard for us to communicate because he doesn't speak any Polish and his English is hard to understand. But, somehow we manage to let the other one know "hey, I'm leaving, Ill be back later."
At
back in Lublin
gate to the Old Town first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the hang of using public transportation in Warsaw. But, by know I've got the metro down pat. The metro only has one line, so, it's really hard to get lost :D On either of the stops that I would get off to get to the University or my faculty (Yes, I am also lucky enough to be a part of a faculty who's building is NOT on the main campus of the University) you can see the "Pałac Kultury i Nauki" (the Palace of Culture and Science). It's extremely hard to miss - it's a huge tall building that was a gift from Communist Russia to Poland, so, the style of the building really stands out like a sore thumb among the other skyscrapers of Warsaw. So, as long as I can find the Palace, I can find the metro, and I can manage to get back home.
This morning before I came down to the internet room, I tried calling my Uncle Peter. This last December, when my Grandpa passed away, I was able to contact my Dad's side of the family in Poland from an address
that I found among cards and letters my Grandpa had kept. Unfortunately, no one answered, so, I'll try again later :D I'm a bit nervous to call, however. They live in the region of Poland called "Śląsk" where there is what is called "gwara śląska". I'm not sure how the best translation to English of gwara śląska would be, but, for right now I'll just call it a "dialect". I'm worried that it's going to be hard for me to understand what they are saying since I don't know their gwara at all. Although, I was able to understand all of their letters to me up until I left for Poland, so, I'm pretty sure they also speak standard Polish. (Again, trzymać kciuki :P )
Anyhow, I'm going to try and upload some pictures for everyone and try again (for about the 5th time now) to find a listing of all the courses at my faculty so I can be somewhat prepared for my meeting tomorrow with my adviser Pan Szymon Kardaś.
Z najlepszymi pozdrowieniami z Polski przesyła,
Nick :D
P.S. I waited to post this entry until after I loaded the pictures. It seems like it
worked 😊
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Britt
non-member comment
Hey there!
Glad you're on the ground and beginning to adapt. This is an amazing adventure for you already! Judging from the wing and flap in the pic, that's a Boeing 767 you flew on to Warsawa. :) I know public transport there is MUCH better than here, and figuring it out won't take as much as you think. What a great way to get around! Anyway, best of luck, keep posting! <>