HOSTILE TOWARDS HOSTELS

So I got an email back from the school. The language barrier might be preventing me from understanding the email properly but it seems that they are saying that I can't move in until the 18th because of permission with my VISA. But it's my understanding that I can be in the country for 3 months without a VISA so I'm not sure why that would matter. I don't want to keep asking them about it though. I feel like they've already done enough. But I also don't want to wait until the 18th to go to Poland. So I can either stay with a friend or stay in a hostel. But I'm totally afraid of hostels. Especially since I have all my stuff with me and I'm just not sure where to go and what to do with all that. I"ll have to think about it.

THAT'S THE TICKET

I'm waiting to hear back from the school I'll be teaching at in Opole. They finally got my paperwork in the mail and are starting the process for my VISA. I'm getting really anxious. Excited and nervous. I try not to think about the actual teaching. It's been a while and I know it's gonna take me some time to get comfortable. I'm trying to remember that failure is a part of success and I'm most likely gonna make a fool of myself more than once in front of my students. I just hope they're respectful, want to learn and are excited about the lessons. I was really lucky with my students in Denver. They all really liked being there and learning and that was awesome. But again, I'm waiting to hear back from the school to see how early I can move into my apartment. I'd like to buy my plane ticket this week so I can really look at my finances.

FAX THIS

Alright. I have now attempted faxing my paperwork to Poland twice. It's so not working. Guess that's what you get for having to fax something overseas. Seems my stuff is showing up as a big black stain. Not really gonna cut it for getting a VISA from the Polish government. At least the school is being really patient with me. I sent them the originals and am just waiting for them to get it.

Today was my last day at work and what a relief. Just taking it easy now. Gonna visit family and plan what I'm gonna need to get done before I leave this country for 9 months. Have to get everything together for my dad to do my taxes. Fun stuff. Gotta move out of my apartment and visit everyone "one last time." I'm sad but not. I know I'll keep in touch with whomever wants to keep in touch and I'll see those important to me again. I'm just so thoroughly excited to begin this chapter it's ridiculous. I've been emailing this boy I met in a bar in Nowy Sacz and we're planning on meeting up in Opole. Only a few small problems. 1. I don't speak Polish and his English is limited and 2. I'm not sure I'll recognize him when we meet up; I was slightly intoxicated when we first met. Either way, I'm super psyched for this adventure.

WORK, WORK, WORK

Ugh. I feel so stressed. I can't even sleep. I feel like there's so much to get ready before I leave. I'm not even working past July but I'm taking a few mini-breaks (I'm so Bridget Jones) and I have to move out of my apartment in August and I just can't seem to de-stress. I feel like there's so much to worry about before I move to Poland in September. I don't want to forget anything here. I want to get my EU citizenship. I have to fax over my paperwork for my VISA (which I have no idea where I can fax to an international number, Kinkos??) I have to buy another backpack (and probably find an EMS so I can get fitted for a good one). I have to make sure my money situation is good. I have to set up Skype on my parent's computer. I have to write my papers for my last two classes. I have to be sure I have enough $$ in my account to pay my student loans when I'm gone since I can't get a deferral even though I'm getting my master's. I have to handle all doctor's appointments before I leave and be sure I'm in tip top condition 'cause who knows about health insurance and medical attention over there. Besides, I don't speak the language. Oh yeah, that's the other thing, I have to learn POLISH. Wow. I just feel so overwhelmed. Plus I still have to buy my ticket but I'm waiting to see if I want to go to Spain beforehand or just fly directly into Poland. Wow again. But I must say, it feels good to get it all out.

AMERICA

Home again. I missed my friends a lot but I have to be honest and say that I'm missing being abroad. Maybe I'm still delirious from the kielbasa and lack of sleep but I'm ready to go back. Looking at pictures and thinking of it all in retrospect makes me yearn for more memory making.

My flight got in to JFK around 8:30 last night and didn't leave for Rochester until 9:30 this morning. I didn't feel too bad until a few hours into Heather's wedding. Champagne and lack of sleep is dangerous.

HOMEWARD BOUND

So it seems these two weeks have finally come to an end. When I first decided to do this program, I was hoping to just come in the fall and start living here. As it sometimes goes, things didn't work out as I had planned. I'm so glad they didn't. There's so much I didn't realize about living abroad and I wouldn't have realized till I got here. The stuff that'll be in my suitcase come September wil be a lot different than what would have been in there had I not come this month.

So tomorrow morning, a bunch of us head out to Krakow and then I'm finally going home. I just can't wait to sleep. With 8 hours of school a day and then homework in the evenings, it's been a little stressful. At least we got a chance to celebrate the end of the semester.

Vivian finally gets to cut loose.

Jenny's all business when it comes to Poland.

Seems there's something about Chumbawamba.

CRANKY PANTS

I hate that feeling when you know you've got work to do but you're just completely unmotivated and feel like you just can't seem to focus. That's so me right now. It's unbearably hot and there's no ending in sight; no pools, no air conditioning, no nothing. My feet are like mini swamps and I don't feel like I have a place that I really want to go right now. I should probably eat but I'm sick of eating at the same three restaurants but I really should eat some food (seeing as yesterday's meals consisted of cookies for breakfast, a snickers for lunch and two pieces of old pizza for dinner). I can't sit in my stinky room anymore. I want to take a cold shower but I only have enough clean clothes to get me through this week. I don't want to do homework but I don't want to sit around and smoke massive amounts of cigarettes, especially since Pall Malls seem to be the cig of choice around here and I feel like my throat is transforming into sandpaper.

FRIDAY NIGHT

A loving gaze between Jenny and her cowboy.

Due to the fact that our MIP class had successfully dirtied all the restaurant's liter glasses, Joshua happily opted for two half-liters.

And finally, Sachin bustin' a move on the floor of the dart board room around 4am. Not really sure though; seems that bars here don't have a closing time...

PEE-PEE ROOM

This is our dorm. At the moment, my actual room smells like a public restroom and my roommate and I are trying to figure out just how that happened. I can't even concentrate on my homework. It's been over a week since we got here and I'm still amazed at the fact that we can smell urine from the residents before us. I can't wait till I have an apartment...

JOB PROSPECT

Well, it's three days into the course and it's amazing how comfortable somebody can become in just three days. I still don't have a straightener but luckily, one of the guys here has super curly hair and he recommended/let me borrow all these products. I had a whole routine to do last night and this morning.

I think I have an interview this week for a language school (yeah!) in Opole which is cool. I was a little nervous about possibly having to do the university teaching thing - I don't feel prepared for that yet. Starting to get excited at the prospect of living overseass and although I'll be in Poland for two years, I'm already dreaming about all the other places I'd like to live(Greece...Spain...pretty much anyplace with the possiblity to live in a villa...). Everyone in my class is so well traveled and I feel extremely far behind at this point - can't wait to "catch up."

The bonus?? I have the ability to apply for EU citizenship since my mom was born in Poland which makes it a ton easier for me to travel. Seems if I get one, I won't have to worry about a work Visa or ever being an illegal immigrant in any of the EU countries. Very cool.

I'm taking pictures and promise to post as soon as I get internet on my laptop.

NOWY SACZ

Alley in the town square.

Another walk to school.

A walk to school.

This blog was handwritten (yet again-it's been some time since I've had internet) in Nowy Sacz.

Well I'm finally here - and there's nothing I want more now than to have a little order to what's going on. Right now I'm at a dorm that's not the original one I was gonna be at and I was hoping to meet some of my classmates tonight. Now - I'd be happy to find someone with a source of fire (I've already forgotten how to ask for a lighter or matches on the way down from my room) and a source for internet access. It would be nice to touch base with everyone back home.

My dorm is disgusting. My actual room is okay because nobody else has gotten to touch it but the bathroom and "kitchenette" have dorm written all over them.

Poland is awesome though. There's this great mix of beautiful houses peppered with culture and then mounds of rolling hills. It's great. I can't wait for my family to come here.

I really hope that I can pick the language up quicker than it's been going lately.

TEARS

This blog was originally handwritten sitting in the Warsaw airport.

When the plane landed, everybody started clapping. My friend Ranatta (that I met on the plane and am unsure if I'm spelling her name right) told me it happens every time - people are happy to have landed safely.

I looked out the window and thought about the simple appreciation of that gesture - and how these people are my heritage - and I was so proud. I had to look out the window and hold back my tears. Even as I write this three hours after landing, I'm starting to well up again. I've never even been to Poland before, I can't speak the language, and I don't know a soul here but yet somehow, I feel comfortable and at home. I love it.

PLANE RIDE

Warsaw airport.

This blog was originally handwritten on my plane ride from JFK to Warsaw.

It's ironic - I'm on the airplane, eyes closed, waiting for my flight to take off and for the fist time in a long time, I feel a comfortable peace in my heart. And I mean this literally, like I take a breath in, and then out, and all of a sudden I recognize a calmness in the middle of my chest. Picturing meeting new people and old friends unfamiliar places, exploring and learning. This past couple months I've been nervous to this point but I couldn't understand it - I know this was something I've always wanted to do. And now I realize it's all the preparation that made me nervous. Now that I'm detached from all that and I'm finally on my way, I feel good.

FINAL COUNTDOWN

Finishing up some homework. I'm done working the day job for two weeks and this trip, even though it's school, is gonna feel like this terrific vacation from the mounds of stress I've felt collecting on invoices.

I have an essay to do tonight and then tomorrow is packing. I'm meeting my parents out at the airport around 4:00pm and then by 5:30, I will officially be a world traveler. This will be my first trip to Europe and I'm finally beginning to feel more excited than nervous. Hopefully, if I remember, I can document this trip with some more pictures than just more chatter about my nerves.

RELIEF...AND THEN STRESS AGAIN

So one of the guys from school (not sure who, it's hard for me to follow this whole listserv thing sometimes) has volunteered to meet me at the airport when I get there next Sunday afternoon. What a relief. Even though I can't really do too much to prepare for my arrival next weekend, the thought of it was causing me major stress.

Starting to get a little freaked out about moving. I'm actually glad it worked out that I go for the two weeks in June rather than just moving there in the fall; I think it will help me become comfortable with the idea of it all before actually making the leap. I've been telling myself that once over there, I'm gonna have to really work on grasping the concept that Poland is now my home; it's where I live. I think that will be the most difficult for me to wrap my brain around.

AVOIDING HOMEWORK

Okay. First blog and I'm ruining it by admitting that I have not yet done my homework and I leave for my "first semester" (only two weeks long) in just a week. Working full time, moving out of my house and then attempting to begin what will most likely be a whole new life, has turned out to be a little more time consuming than planned. And then blogging it on top of it all...whew...I'm a spent girl.

I have been trying to get everything ready but feel so overwhelmed. It's funny, when I think about it on the surface, it's only two weeks of studying abroad. But when it gets down to the grit, I'm soon to be in an entirely different country, trying to speak what little Polish words I know, and trying to remember to do all the preparation leading up to this (passport, Visa, yahoo email groups, having someone meet me at the airport, packing, mentally preparing, homework, AC adaptors, dorm rooms, exchanging money, and much, much more).