We're Here!

It's quarter to ten in the morning here in Warsaw...meaning it's almost 1 AM at home.

We arrived at about 6:30 in the evening, got to our hostel by 7:30, and were asleep by 8.  Yes, you're reading that correctly--the first thing we did on arrival in Warsaw was sleep.

When we first got into the cab at Chopin and actually started heading into the city, I thought it looked a lot like Vancouver: sky scrapers, new construction galore, and rush hour congestion.  But then as I was watching people weaving in and out of traffic and forcing their way into lanes where it did not seem like they could possibly fit I realized drivers in Vancouver looked sane and cautious by comparison.  It made the roads and drivers in Kamloops look absolutely pastoral by contrast.  Their cars also really resembled a convergence of canines at the local dog park: everyone seems to drive with their nose up the tailpipe of the person in front of them.

Also, the area surrounding Warsaw is flat...and I mean prairie flat.  The only difference is the fact that there are trees everywhere.  I looked out the window as we were making our descent and thought for a moment that we had passed through an inter-dimensional wormhole that came out in Alberta.  For a girl who grew up west of the Canadian Rockies, that can be a bit alarming and a little disorienting for the first few days.  At least it looks like the mountains are only a short train ride away from Radom if we start getting homesick and want to seek higher ground.

Today we will start branching out from our temporary digs at the New World St Hostel.  The rooms are comfortable, the staff is fantastic, and it seems to be fairly close to almost everything one could possibly want to see.  I will keep you all posted on our adventures over the next few days.  One of the first things on our agenda will be trying to get Polish cell phones. 

This promises to be interesting.

Big Day

At the moment I'm sitting at the airport in Vancouver, waiting for the plane that will carry me the greatest distance from home that I have ever traveled.  If I were a little more awake, I'm sure my excitement would be as visible as my curiosity-however I've been drained by a series of long days.

And I have to admit that the excitement of the day is marked by sadness too.  I learned that my grandmother passed away at 3:30 this morning, and it bothers me a little that I have to leave right in the middle of a family crisis.  What else can I do?  She would want me to go.The plane just arrived.  Next time I blog, I'll be in Europe.

The Final Countdown

Okay, so here's the lowdown:

Work permits finally came in a couple days after a going away party that literally lasted all day.  The Polish consulate is about a week into processing our paperwork, and should have our documents ready to pick up by September 6th.  Our flight takes off on the 9th at 7PM.

 Sarah and I are coming home from Kaslo tomorrow, and packing from the 30th to the 3rd.  Our whole lives have to be packed and ready to go in the event that the house sells while we're gone.  On the 4th we go down to Vancouver with Jeanett, and will be saying our final goodbyes to those friends and family members living on the coast before we go flying off into the sunrise somewhere else.

 I won't lie...I'M TERRIFIED NOW!!!!

 And to add to it, my boss has sent me an e-mail asking for new teachers to submit 30s videos for the school's website.  This promises to be interesting.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Wow what a week!

 So now that work is done and over I am getting slapped in the brain with the task list
still waiting for completion.

The craziness of the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever seen is almost behind me and the amazing team I've had to work with, but I've definitely enjoyed the week I've spent promoting abnosomity.  Even if it hasn't been entirely productive practically speaking.  I've done and said so many things I never thought I would live to see occur, parallel parked in downtown Vancouver unscathed, visited a consulate--which was sadly and unpredictably closed.





Still waiting on our work permits, and the secretary at the consulate refused to answer questions when we phoned to ask.  "No documents, no questions."
 
Leaving Superstore was more bitter sweet than anticipated.  I hadn't actually thought that people would miss me when I left, but so many of my colleagues have mentioned how weird it will be to not have me around.  I have to admit it's strange to sit here blogging when I would normally be heading to work right about now.






I'm sure the full shock of everything will hit me in a couple of days.

Things Are Moving Fast and Standing Still...

So things are coming to a head fairly rapidly now. 

My last day at work is on Saturday and I am vibrating with both fear and anticipation.  My eight year tenure at Superstore is done and over in 13.5 working hours and I stand in awe of the growth that occurred within those walls.

Today I also learned the address where I will be staying while I work:

UL.NIEDZIALKOWSKIEGO 8/10 M35; 26-600 RADOM

It's on the corner of that name up above and a street named after Marie Curie.  My inner nerd is immensely pleased at this.  It's only half a kilometer away from the main school and it looks like there are plenty of shops within easy walking distance.  The fact that everything is so flat will definitely take this mountain-and-valley girl some getting used to.  I remember how disorienting the gently rolling hills surrounding Camrose, AB were, and that wasn't even as flat as this.

At least the mountains won't be far away.

On the slow-moving aspect, however:

Work permits were sent out last week, but have not yet arrived in Kamloops.  This is something of a nuisance, since those are greatly needed to get work visas.

There are a myriad of other questions that we need answered regarding the visa application progress, but our efforts to contact the Polish consulate have not been very successful, and I have a feeling we may need someone to help us walk through the process...international travel certainly seems like a big headache so far.

Surely the experiences that ensue will be worth the nightmare bureaucracy.

The Tick Is Deafening

I can hear the clock counting down the days and the noise it makes is already deafening.

Plane tickets: check.
Luggage: gradually becoming a check mark.
Work Permits: Estimated to go in the mail August 6th and take a week to get here.
Going through stuff: still a work in progress.

So it's official: as long as nothing screwy happens with our work visas, we'll be fleeing the country in the evening on September 9th and landing in Warsaw in the evening on September 10th.

As mentioned earlier, we are just waiting on some paperwork, and don't even know our forwarding addresses yet.  It will come in time though.

We got a pair of really large suitcases at the mall for an amazing deal and are looking forward to beginning to fill them as we make our decisions on what to take with us and what to store.  I think I could seriously pack someone into it if I really wanted to and that person would still have room to breathe.

For the longest time it seemed like my world had been standing still, and now it's rushing past me faster than a speeding TARDIS...and the ticking clock is just as loud and persistent as drums inside the Master's skull.

A Little More Conversation...Please?

Sadly the last few weeks have not been as eventful as we've hoped.  Unless you count trying to clean and pack around house showings and our jobs as eventful.

Our documentation was only just (hopefully) sent off to Warsaw, and hopefully it doesn't take as long to get the work permit as the date we were given.  It will still take 15 days for us to get our work visas AFTER we go down to the Polish consulate in Vancouver to apply for them in person.  Apparently there's a loophole where we can get the ball rolling with a promise from our employer to secure a work permit, but getting in touch with anyone at the consulate to have this explained has been something of a nightmare.  Apparently working in consular services must be sweet, because their office is only open for 3 hours each day.

At least we're moving before the government goes through with their decision to move the consulate to Edmonton.

But on lighter notes...

My resignation date is the 17th of August.  After 8 long years at the Kamloops Real Canadian Superstore, I have finally put the glorious words of freedom in writing.  Working at 5 AM is still as exhausting as ever, but my feet are lighter knowing that one day very soon they will never have to walk into the backroom again.

Also did a preliminary purge of the wardrobe a couple of days ago.  Sarah and I already have a basket of winter clothes and professional stuff put aside to get put into suitcases because we aren't likely to need them before September.

I need to go to my parent's place to get the oxblood leather luggage set that they've had put aside for me since before I was born.  It's like they knew this day was coming.

And then we pick up the other suitcases we have set aside at Bentley.  Apparently this is the time to travel, because they're having a buy one get one half off event and the ones we were looking at suddenly became a very reasonable deal.

In the meantime, all I can do is bust my ass at home and at work until things fall into place.

And try to plan our going away party...