Six months have passed since we first arrived in Warsaw. Reflecting back on our arrival and the early months that followed, I realize how far we have come in such a short period of time.
In the past six months, I have learned to drive (the Polish way) squeezing my SUV into tight spaces and parking on the sidewalk like everyone else and it no longer frightens me to drive here. I have learned Polish to the extent that I can now have simple conversations with people who actually understand what I am saying and I them. I can write a bit in Polish as well. I am no longer reluctant to go out and get what I need because I can now communicate. I read signs and they mean something to me. I think in Polish!
I have managed to diminish my grocery shopping from 3 hours to about 1 hour (except holidays when everything seems to take more time). I can read labels now so that I know what I am consuming. In the past 6 months, two hypermarkets (supermarkets) have merged and one has now caught on to the idea of bagging groceries for customer and conducting price checks if needed. Even packaging for products seems to have changed. And the people who once weighed produce have now been replaced by a do it yourself computer that expedites the process (except if you have an old lady in front of you trying to work the computer).
Things that seemed odd to me when I first arrived, seem normal now. Things that were normal to me in the United States sometimes feel odd. Metric/Currency conversions are matter of fact now and I think on a 24 hour instead of 12 hour clock. While I’m certainly careful, being more aware of my environment now, I am no longer reluctant to set off with Thing 2 through the city by myself. I actually feel very comfortable doing so.
I found a magnificent, kind, decent housekeeper who transformed into a surrogate grandmother (babcia) to my children (dziecki) and to my dogs (psy). She cares for both when we are away and has welcomed us into her own family. I hope to keep in touch with her and her family long after we leave here.
Now, with the warmer weather, we have finally begun to travel both around Poland and through Europe which always gives me something to look forward to. Warsaw is changing slowly. You can tell that there are projects underway to bring this city up to the level of other European capitals. And, Starbucks is coming later this year!!! As an Irish cab driver told me earlier this month, “Poland is where Ireland was 15 years ago.” It will be interesting to see what EU funding will do for this once communist country in 15 -20 years.
I am doing things that I never had time to do when I was working full time. I bought myself a piano and started playing again. I take my weekly Polish lessons and have time to do my homework. I write. I read. I can bake cookies and cupcakes for the special occasions at Thing 1's school and even attend a field trip when parents are needed. I have seen Thing 2 meet her milestones in person rather than by report. Thing 2 and I meet up with the Mums and Tots group weather and nap time permitting and I have taken an extra step to become more involved. By the end of this month, I will be taking over as webmaster for the Mums and Tots website. The site is kind of dated and I am looking forward to updating it and maintaining it while I am here. I’ve never done something like this before, but I enjoy working with computer and creating things so it should keep me busy.
I have been feeling very happy lately. Very noticeable to me since the past months of dreary grey skies had really done a number on me. I now understand why bears hibernate.
Maybe it is the fact that flowers are blooming, the skies are blue, and I (along with my family) can forgo the extensive layering of clothing when we leave the house or the fact that my children have adjusted well and my husband is nearing the end of his time consuming Master’s program. But, as I thought about it more, I realize that for the first time in six months I feel settled. I finally feel at home in Warsaw. I have become Martha Stewart!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
World Politics and the Preschool Classroom
Lately, I have been realizing that being a 4 year old is pretty tough. Thing 1's world has opened up a great deal this past year to include cities, other states, countries and other cultures. For the most part, it is wonderful. Thing 1 realizes that that the world is made up of many continents and countries. He realizes that people speak different languages and do things differently than we do and that this is ok. But, sometimes, this experience can also invite problems that I really do not think 4 year olds should know about, much less discuss.
This week, he came home from school very upset. Two boys in his class were playing a game that I understand include putting people in jail. These kids were trying to take Thing 1 prisoner and they were telling him that they did not like Americans and that was why they were putting him in jail. They also kept taunting him with “my country is bigger than yours” type of one upmanship (I smirked at this because he is right – the US is the larger country!) Thing 1 found this to be mean and he did not understand why these kids hate Americans. Thing 1 told me that one of the boys is German and the other Polish. I find this rather amusing because these two countries have the poorest of relations in the EU.
But, it made me sad that at his young age he is experiencing anti-American sentiment in his preschool. No 4 year old should be playing out world politics in a preschool classroom even if that classroom is a miniature version of the UN. I addressed the problem with his teachers This is the second time since we moved here that I have had to explain why some people do not like Americans. The other time was after we got our car and went to the Embassy for the first time.
Every time we enter we need to stop and security inspects the car for explosive devices. Naturally, Thing 1 asked what they were doing and why (he’s at that age). So, between these two incidents, I have had to explain to my 4 year old why there are some people who would like to do us harm. It is sad that this is the world we live in.
This week, he came home from school very upset. Two boys in his class were playing a game that I understand include putting people in jail. These kids were trying to take Thing 1 prisoner and they were telling him that they did not like Americans and that was why they were putting him in jail. They also kept taunting him with “my country is bigger than yours” type of one upmanship (I smirked at this because he is right – the US is the larger country!) Thing 1 found this to be mean and he did not understand why these kids hate Americans. Thing 1 told me that one of the boys is German and the other Polish. I find this rather amusing because these two countries have the poorest of relations in the EU.
But, it made me sad that at his young age he is experiencing anti-American sentiment in his preschool. No 4 year old should be playing out world politics in a preschool classroom even if that classroom is a miniature version of the UN. I addressed the problem with his teachers This is the second time since we moved here that I have had to explain why some people do not like Americans. The other time was after we got our car and went to the Embassy for the first time.
Every time we enter we need to stop and security inspects the car for explosive devices. Naturally, Thing 1 asked what they were doing and why (he’s at that age). So, between these two incidents, I have had to explain to my 4 year old why there are some people who would like to do us harm. It is sad that this is the world we live in.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Coming home after 5 months...
Well we managed to travel back to the United States for Thing 2's birthday. We inadvertently planned this trip at the perfect time. It was the dead of winter in Poland right now. While the days were slowly getting longer, after 4 months of limited daylight, we have all been affected. Thing 1 came home from school one day telling me he was sad and didn't know why. He seemed to be a bit depressed in the last few weeks. He wasn't eating well and was rather pale (lack of sunlight doesn't help). I can totally relate to him. This trip was perfect.
We were all up at 3:30am and by the time we went to bed in Miami, we had all been going for about 24 hours. We flew through London this time around. I thought we would have more problems with airport security there, but they are as inconsistent as they are in the US. No one checked our carry ons for liquids although I had formula in my bag. While I was relieved to not have to go through the hassle, I'm actually quite concerned about airport security. But, that's another entry....
We had a 4 hour layover in London. Heathrow has lots of stuff to do. We had lunch and shopped around. Nicholas made friends with a British boy from Bristol whose flight to India was delayed since the early morning. They played while we chatted with his parents. By the time we left, Thing 1 had invited the family to his house. Try explaining the concept of different countries (other than Poland and the US) to a 4 year old. Not easy.
We flew for the next 9 hours directly to Miami. Sadly, Thing 2 only napped for a very short amount of time on the flight. She behaved for the most part. She even ate the meal they provided for her. Thing 1 is a great traveler. We bought hims some mini puzzles, crayons, Legos and let him bring a backpack with his toys and he entertained himself for the most part. We had bulkhead seats which gave us some space. We put a blanket on the floor for the kids to play on. Both kids hijacked our video I-Pods and spent most of the time watching their favorite shows and movies while we slept or watched the in-flight entertainment. British Airways like Jet Blue provides satellite service on their flights with TV channels and about 10 movies. I just wanted to sleep, but the kids through a wrench into that plan.
I have to say that culture shock has not been as bad as I anticipated. As we drove away from the airport it struck me that all the roads looked so much bigger. Then, I remembered the narrow roads in Poland and realized why. A few days later, we were pouring some Coke from a 2 Liter bottle into glasses and I mentioned that this was the funniest looking 2 Liters of Coke I had ever seen. That's because the 2 Liter bottle in Poland is longer and leaner than the one here. I kept trying to stop myself from thinking and saying things in Polish. Those are just to minor examples of how my outlook has been affected by this move. I understand why many expatriate's site re-entry into the US as being more difficult an adjustment than moving to a new country. Moving to Poland, I expected things to be different. Coming back to the US, my view of what is considered normal to the average American has been skewed a bit.
We had a great time visiting with family and friends. The only unexpected occurence was the return of Thing 1's asthma right after we arrived in Florida. When we moved to Poland, I stocked up on medication for him expecting Poland's climate to be much harsher on his asthma. I was shocked to find the opposite. From the time we arrived in Poland to the time we returned to FL, Thing 1's symptoms have been absent. He has not had any colds either. So much for that! The day after we arrived, he started with his wheezing and coughing. Luckily, i had left a nebulizer at my mom's house with some medication and I put him on it for the remainder of the trip. On top of that, we ended up in urgent care after he developed a double ear infection and Thing 2 ended up getting a cold right after her birthday. They both recovered shortly after we came back to Poland
The trip back to Poland was easier in some ways but harder in others. We had a 7 hour layover in London and did not get much sleep on the flight. Luckily, the kids were just as tired and we all passed out for a few hours in the departre lounge waiting for gate information. We arrived home to my housekeeper who had ben staying there to watch our dogs. My house was clean and she had even cooked us dinner. We are too pampered by her!
The yesterday we all got up in the morning as usual to get ourselves back on track. I feel a bit tired, but for the most part I'm ok. The kids both slept past 9am sometimes even until 10am this past weekend allowing the Cat and I to sleep infor the first time in 4 years. I actually woke up in the morning freaked out because I thought something had happened to them and I was too tired to notice! It was great (that nothing happened and that I got to sleep in)!
We were all up at 3:30am and by the time we went to bed in Miami, we had all been going for about 24 hours. We flew through London this time around. I thought we would have more problems with airport security there, but they are as inconsistent as they are in the US. No one checked our carry ons for liquids although I had formula in my bag. While I was relieved to not have to go through the hassle, I'm actually quite concerned about airport security. But, that's another entry....
We had a 4 hour layover in London. Heathrow has lots of stuff to do. We had lunch and shopped around. Nicholas made friends with a British boy from Bristol whose flight to India was delayed since the early morning. They played while we chatted with his parents. By the time we left, Thing 1 had invited the family to his house. Try explaining the concept of different countries (other than Poland and the US) to a 4 year old. Not easy.
We flew for the next 9 hours directly to Miami. Sadly, Thing 2 only napped for a very short amount of time on the flight. She behaved for the most part. She even ate the meal they provided for her. Thing 1 is a great traveler. We bought hims some mini puzzles, crayons, Legos and let him bring a backpack with his toys and he entertained himself for the most part. We had bulkhead seats which gave us some space. We put a blanket on the floor for the kids to play on. Both kids hijacked our video I-Pods and spent most of the time watching their favorite shows and movies while we slept or watched the in-flight entertainment. British Airways like Jet Blue provides satellite service on their flights with TV channels and about 10 movies. I just wanted to sleep, but the kids through a wrench into that plan.
I have to say that culture shock has not been as bad as I anticipated. As we drove away from the airport it struck me that all the roads looked so much bigger. Then, I remembered the narrow roads in Poland and realized why. A few days later, we were pouring some Coke from a 2 Liter bottle into glasses and I mentioned that this was the funniest looking 2 Liters of Coke I had ever seen. That's because the 2 Liter bottle in Poland is longer and leaner than the one here. I kept trying to stop myself from thinking and saying things in Polish. Those are just to minor examples of how my outlook has been affected by this move. I understand why many expatriate's site re-entry into the US as being more difficult an adjustment than moving to a new country. Moving to Poland, I expected things to be different. Coming back to the US, my view of what is considered normal to the average American has been skewed a bit.
We had a great time visiting with family and friends. The only unexpected occurence was the return of Thing 1's asthma right after we arrived in Florida. When we moved to Poland, I stocked up on medication for him expecting Poland's climate to be much harsher on his asthma. I was shocked to find the opposite. From the time we arrived in Poland to the time we returned to FL, Thing 1's symptoms have been absent. He has not had any colds either. So much for that! The day after we arrived, he started with his wheezing and coughing. Luckily, i had left a nebulizer at my mom's house with some medication and I put him on it for the remainder of the trip. On top of that, we ended up in urgent care after he developed a double ear infection and Thing 2 ended up getting a cold right after her birthday. They both recovered shortly after we came back to Poland
The trip back to Poland was easier in some ways but harder in others. We had a 7 hour layover in London and did not get much sleep on the flight. Luckily, the kids were just as tired and we all passed out for a few hours in the departre lounge waiting for gate information. We arrived home to my housekeeper who had ben staying there to watch our dogs. My house was clean and she had even cooked us dinner. We are too pampered by her!
The yesterday we all got up in the morning as usual to get ourselves back on track. I feel a bit tired, but for the most part I'm ok. The kids both slept past 9am sometimes even until 10am this past weekend allowing the Cat and I to sleep infor the first time in 4 years. I actually woke up in the morning freaked out because I thought something had happened to them and I was too tired to notice! It was great (that nothing happened and that I got to sleep in)!
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