GOODBYE 2013!

In a matter of minutes this side of the world is preparing to say goodby to 2013 and all of its related baggage.  I can't speak for Sarah, but I know this is definitely true for me.

This year has definitely had some bittersweet moments, high points and also some very backhanded victories.  On the bright side, there is nowhere for us to go but up from this point.  We are safe and sound and happy in a new town (no thanks to a boss who made us miss our train--but that's a story on its own), looking at new possibilities...and we are both the happier for it even if it means things are a little uncertain for the time being. 

Goodbye 2013...you smiled on me favourably even while you stabbed me in the back.  In short, you were just like every other year, but with extraordinary adventures.

Update

I know it's been a while, but things have been more than a little insane around here.

The uncertainties presented the last time I wrote still have not resolved themselves, so I don't know where we'll be in January, or what we'll be doing.  It's frustrating as hell, but the only thing either of us can do at this point in time is roll with the punches and hope some of them miss.

In order to make room for a new teacher, Kris moved in with us last week.  Then the new teacher bailed at the last minute with absolutely no warning...the bosses found out the day before she was due to fly into Warsaw.  Now everything is chaos and nothing is certain.  I hate having to fight my battles blind, but there isn't much of a choice at the moment.  The worse things get here, the more I realize we were both blinded from the beginning because they certainly didn't tell us much at the outset and we still don't have a complete grip on their full expectations.

I can pray for more organization and knowledge until I'm blue in the face, but at the same time I often find myself suspicious that this lack of disclosure (at least until you are actually in the classroom) is going to be a common theme in the profession.  I often catch myself wondering whether or not we would still have come here if we knew everything they expected of us before we even got on the plane.  It would definitely have made our working lives easier if we had, at any rate.

We have stability until Christmas, but after that it's anybody's guess.

Not knowing has definitely contributed to a lot of the homesickness I've been feeling too.  I know that everybody is just an e-mail or a Skype message away, but it's not the same as having a shoulder to lean on for a few minutes.  It's not the same as being able to go to a park or restaurant to commiserate with your friends -- it's not the same as a hug from your parents.  So much is happening at home too.  How can I be a good pseudo-sister to Jeanett and an aunt to Piper (and future sibling) if I'm so far away?  How do I sit with my parents at the dinner table at Christmas, and hold my mother when it hits her that this is the first year she won't get a phone call (or visit) from my grandmother?

And some days I still feel alone, even though I know that Sarah is always at my side.

Hopefully things at least get a little better next week.  I have the fun of planning/giving Christmas lessons and learning about how things are done in Poland.  This should be interesting.

Time Flies...

Wow!  Where to begin.

Sorry that it took so long to write.  I've been insanely busy trying to keep my head away from the chopping block.  Stress related migraines, persistent nausea, and endless paranoia about the fact that my bosses have been observing me non-stop have not helped me do my job very well.  It all came to a head today in ways that good sense dictates I should not discuss on such a public forum...and I would advise those of you in the know not to mention anything in the comments about it.

Whatever comes next is decidedly for the better.  If you've been reading, you know this place hasn't lived up to what it was sold to us as...and we will leave it at that.  If you wish to know more, I can always be messaged privately. 

Our trip to Krakow last weekend was brilliant though!

We were so enthralled with Old Town that all we ever did was wander around.  We were still exhausted from another stressful week of work that we didn't really have the energy to go for any of the free walking tours, and the not-so-free ones of other nearby sites of interest were rather expensive.  That's okay though.  Krakow is definitely on our "do again" list.  We found an interactive digital museum in our wanderings, and also a store that sold period medieval souvenirs that we will also return to.  It took a great deal of effort not to drool on their weapons, crafts, and illumination.

There was also some sort of market festival going on in the little square that had musicians, craftspeople, food and one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscypek

They served little molded pieces of it off a smokey grill with cranberry sauce and it was so divine I went back for more!  If there was ever a moment where I've proven myself to be an even split between my parents, I think that was it.

Really, the only thing that went wrong for us in Krakow was a restaurant we went to on the main square called Staropolska.  I really wish we could have taken pictures because I cannot exaggerate how ridiculous it was.  We had to wait for half an hour to get our order, and when it finally came it was something I wouldn't even serve at my own table.  I'll go into details when I post the pictures. 

For now, I'm going to sit back and enjoy some Doctor Who.

A Well Earned Break From Work

Teaching about Halloween is supposed to be fun, right?

Well, our bosses seemed to find a way to ruin it for us by subjecting us to still more observations, and than basically tearing us a new one because they didn't like what they saw.  They ticked me off in my meeting and made Sarah cry in hers -- it's getting rather difficult not to take it personally.  Sometimes I wonder if there is something personal behind it: maybe I'm just being paranoid.  It seems I'm always watching my back these days, wondering when it's about to be stabbed.

We did have a nice, relaxing Halloween party after work on Thursday with a few of our co-workers, and a friend of ours who came up from Gliwice to bring us home with him for the long weekend.  We caught the early train from Radom and arrived in Gliwice in the early afternoon -- and I can tell you that the vibe around that city is the complete opposite of Radom.

It is beautiful there!  Because the province of Silesia was part of Germany before WWII it has not seen the same damage as most cities in Poland -- it still has the vast majority of its old buildings, even if they've been re-purposed.  The flats that Peter shares with his family are a twenty minute walk from the train station, and right in the heart of Old Gliwice.  He's on the 8th floor and the view from the apartments is stunning!

The view of Gliwice from Peter's flat.

Halloween isn't as big a deal in Poland as All Saints' Day (November 1st), and Peter's family had no objections to taking us with them to show us what it was all about.

Traditionally All Saints was celebrated as a means of remembering all the saints and martyrs that died for the sake of their faith over the centuries, but in the modern sense (or so one of my adult students explained to me) it's more like "All Dead People Day."  You can also think of it as a more serious version of Day of the Dead.

Candles placed at the foot of a statue of Jesus in the Central Cemetary

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People go to the cemeteries to visit the graves of friends and loved ones -- they clean the graves and leave candles and flowers as a tribute to those that they've lost.  It's fairly normal to visit as many cemeteries as you can so that nobody is forgotten -- however they do realize that this isn't always realistic and will light a candle for those who are far away.  The flowers and candles look lovely by day, but the view is gorgeous after dark with lights as far as the eye can see.

First we visited a small cemetery near the middle of town so that they could pay homage to a few departed friends, and then showed us the Jewish cemetery that was right beside it.  It is part of a UNESCO world heritage site because it is one of the few Jewish graveyards to survive the Second World War intact.  It is often locked away for fear of vandalism, and so few people know it is there that it is commonly referred to as the "forgotten cemetery of Gliwice."  After that, we went to the larger "Central Cemetery" (that was actually closer to the outskirts of the city) and it took us several hours to explore its entirety because it was absolutely huge.

The smaller graveyard.

The Jewish Cemetery.

Saturday was spent exploring Gliwice, its supermarkets, and the Ikea in Katowice.  It doesn't sound like much, but it was great fun.  It was also Peter's father's birthday, so we had a nice meal when we came back and drank to his health.  Both of his parents are very sweet and funny, and very interested in Canada (since they have family in Kamloops).  I would like to just take a second to muse on the typical Polish customs when one has a guest in their home...is it normal to feed people so much?  Every meal the food just kept coming every time we cleared a plate.  By the time we got through the various dishes, cake and sweets and the end of each meal it was a wonder we could move from the table!  They are both thoroughly determined to find us work in Gliwice when our contract in Radom is over -- a sentiment they both expressed frequently over the course of the weekend.  Who knows?  We might even take them up on it.

This radio tower is the tallest free-standing wooden structure in Europe.  It also has some very important historical symbolism attached.

Today we visited the botanical garden with our last few hours in the city, since it was a very short walk from the place we were staying.  We returned to the flat to grab out things before Peter and his mom took us to the train station, and it was with heavy hearts and feet that we returned to Radom tonight.  The people we shared our compartment with on the way back made up for it somewhat, but it has done nothing against the dread of going back to work on Monday, knowing that we both get to look forward to more classroom observations with little or no warning at all.

I hate the company I work for.

On the other hand, the weekend coming up is also a holiday.

Goodbye Radom, hello Krakow!

Why Does Tomorrow Have To Be Monday?

So work this week was not fun, yet again.  On top of everything else we've had to do this week, we got to sit through another seminar in which they briefed us on their expectations -- a month into classes, I might add -- and left us feeling like they had no respect for us as teachers or human beings.  Sarah and I weren't the only ones who seemed to feel that way.  They only thing we can do is grit our teeth and bear it for the next few months, really. I'm pretty sure they understand that if one of us is dismissed the other will likely resign.

Sarah's Birthday was fun, at any rate.  We had a good time with our friends, eating snacks and cupcakes AND HAVING RELAXING FUN TIME.  Friday night we managed to drag ourselves out of the apartment for a lovely dinner at Teatralna -- a high class restaurant close to our flat -- and had a romantic stroll in the fog.  It was a desperately needed excursion, and both of us felt so much better afterward.  We would have taken pictures of dinner, but it was too beautiful to live.  We took pictures of dessert though (barely)!

Panna Cotta with Crushed Raspberries and Chocolate Soufflé with Mint Syrup

A Pile of Leaves in The Park (I couldn't resist).  Love the effect of the flash on the mist.

The Mist-Shrouded Park

Looking down Zeromskiego.

IT'S PAYDAY!!!

Now to plan Halloween lessons and attempt to learn the Thriller dance.  Might start writing a story for a Halloween post too...

And Another One Gone

Sooooooooo.....

There are still a few groups that leave me feeling like a complete and utter failure as a teacher, but now that most of my students have books to work out of there is something for them to focus on and some semblance of order in the classroom.

One of my groups of pre-teens were giving me a tonne of trouble until I explained to them exactly what it takes to get the maximum number of talents from me at each lesson.  The boys began actually trying to get their points, but the girls quickly became distracted by the one student who has not yet been given her book.

My 6 year olds, however are still a handful and weren't very engaged in the lesson.  That goes double for the other class of 6 year olds that I teach on Wednesdays.  They weren't even interested in the reward system that Sarah and  I created together to try to inspire (and by inspire I really mean bribe) them to pay more attention in class.  I think a lot of it is just that they don't understand what I'm trying to tell them, they are confused by the fact that I don't understand them at all, and that the classes are too long for their attention spans.  I wonder sometimes if it wouldn't be more beneficial for them to have the English teacher and the Polish teacher together at all times to eliminate the communication gap and still surround them with English.  I've observed some of my problem groups in their lessons with my Polish co-teacher and they seem to behave for her, and generally like the lessons...but I wonder if the fact that she speaks Polish when it comes to concepts they don't understand in English  -- and setting boundaries when necessary -- is part of the key.

I honestly don't feel like they're learning anything from me.

I seem to be meeting with a little bit of success in the other areas of my career though!  I would look forward to my other classes a lot more if this bloody chest cold would go away...and there's the need to update the on-line register for the last three weeks on top of everything else the teachers have to do.  With any luck, things will get easier as time progresses and things steadily fall into place.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the classroom observations from our boss in Kozienice this week.  Really looking forward to that.  At least I know she will likely come on a day where she can observe Sarah and I in one visit -- which eliminates some of my worst classes.

I am trying really hard to hold on to my optimism, and to keep a cheerful poker face when my students make me want to hide my disappointment in them and myself under the desk.  I've tried throwing as many new tactics at them as I have learned in this last week -- but all of that knowledge doesn't stop me from wondering if I haven't made a mistake in trying to do all of this when my experiences are minimal at best.

I don't have any choice by to keep going though, and the little buggers are going to have to try harder if they want to get rid of me.  I got myself into this, and I am bloody well going to finish it.  Two problem classes out of 24 is an accomplishment, right?

More Thanksgiving Pictures