The Expatriate Community in Warsaw

My impression is that the expatriate community here is quite large and tight knit. It not only includes the usual government personnel, but also employees of American companies based here. We went to the Embassy on Friday and spent sometime there grabbing some items at the commissary and checking in with the Cat in a Hat's office. They showed us around and scheduled us both (I didn’t know I had to do all this) for briefings with different offices including a meeting with the Ambassador. Things appear to be very organized.

There is a “Mums and Tots” group made of the expatriate community in general that I will be joining with Thing 2 as soon as I get Thing 1 to school. They plan daily activities for mothers and children (meetings at coffee houses, parks, malls, play parks (like Chuck E Cheese) etc.). An American Community Association (ACA) assists us with everything from setting up our mobile phones and satellite TV to taking our car for servicing when needed. They will even go with you to by a car and will serve as a translator in other situations. The ACA also arranges trips within Poland and to neighboring countries. There is a medical office that consists of several pediatricians on the local economy. They speak English and make house calls. If you are sick, you call the Embassy and they will put you in touch with one of the doctors. The Embassy also offers tours of the local hospitals in case we ever need to go there (hopefully not!).

They offer Polish classes a few times per week. This will be great because all I know how to say is “good morning.” One thing I did notice is that some words resemble other languages. So, if it contains a word similar to the one in English, Spanish, Italian or French, I can pretty much understand the topic that is being discussed, but not specifics.

Yesterday, we went to a BBQ hosted by another couple who works at the Embassy. We were able to meet lots of people, all very friendly, including Thing 1's preschool director who will be picking us up sometime this week to take us to the school and orient Thing 1 before he starts. Thing 1 was very outgoing and friendly. He was chasing some girls shortly after we got there. He seems to have a thing for older women since this is not the first time he has done this

So far, we feel quite at home here in Warsaw!