My latest homemade meal in the making. Italian dish with some verdant lamb’s lettuce on top. I feel like Jaime Oliver, folks.
So aside from all that’s been happening, I figured I’d share with everyone my survival rate here in Poland…
My first care package as soon as I arrived in Bydgoszcz on Friday night after orientation, from Karl and Edyta.
…I think it’s pretty well and good, guys, considering I’ve been here for about two weeks (this includes my time at the Warszawa orientation).
All of the hours spent watching Chopped on the Food Network channel back at home have finally paid off, and it seems like Barefoot Contessa has nothing on me at this point (I respect her so much though, and her unbelievably pristine herb garden).
One of my first real large and legitimate runs for food. Note the large, large bag of apples, the price being equivalent to $1. Also note the Flaczki in the tube, and my beloved wheel of Camembert cheese. Pictured in the back of the photo, I also bought a Basil plant which I refer to as my “roommate,” seeing how it’s the only other living thing in my studio apartment.
Bottom line is, I’m not dying. Where humankind has learned to adapt, so has Julianne. Evolution has taken place, because, well…I’ve been cooking. Like, not cooking cooking per se, but being able to scrounge something up from, well, not yet scratch, but…yeah, constructing food by combining other food items together. Woo-hoo! 😀
Like every twentysomething-year-old, the desire to cook has always been there. It just took moving to Poland to make it happen for me on a more regular basis than usual. Also, the bargains for groceries here make Poland a college budget heaven, so food item quality and deliciousness is ensured.
With pretty pictures, here are a couple of my first real-deal meals here in Poland:
Krupnik: Vegetable Barley Soup
Vegetables in the pot. Surprised I managed to cut all those root vegetables with a butter knife? Yeah, me too. (Also: Double double, toil and trouble. How you cook a legitimate soup.)
The precursor to me actually making a soup from the bottom-up was warming tubed Flaczki in a pot (yes, Polish veal tripe soup comes in a tube, like Pillsbury slice-n’-bake cookies). Then I started including green things to the Flaczki to make it healthier, like spinach. And prior to even using the stove, I lived on nothing but crackers, deli slices and candy bars for two days. It was a pretty hard existence, but thankfully, I made it past that stage.
Krupnik time with a tired face! Also with my roommate, the Basil plant.
Krupnik was borne from wanting a hot, warm meal after so long. I finished my wheel of Camembert straight away, and feeling sick to my stomach, I needed to make something. Also, desperation drove me to finally cook something in the kitchen, despite the pervasive, cancerous odor of secondhand smoke (one of the older male tenants in the building chain smokes in the kitchen with the doors and windows closed). So Krupnik it was, because it was easy, cheap, affordable, and I couldn’t screw up over-boiling starchy vegetables or getting a digestive tract illness from improperly cooked meat (still working up to it).
Boiling the water and the vegetables. There was no salt.
So, steeling myself, I finally made it into the cigarette-logged kitchen, cut up my vegetables and hacked at them with a butter knife on top of a plastic bag (as a makeshift cutting board), as I waited for an hour for water to boil on the stove. It was an arduous thing, and I felt like I was concocting some long-brewing potion like in Snape’s dungeon in Harry Potter, but it was worth it. Parsnips, celery, onion, carrots and potatoes made my meal, and then I just put in the quick soup base and garnished it with basil. Complete with fancy bread.
Krupnik with chleb (bread), garnished with fresh basil.
So there is a true winter meal: basic, economical, and full of nutrition and able to sustain the body.
And now the second meal…
Gnocchi Bolognese: Italian Potato Dumplings with Red Sauce
This was my attempt to get fancy, and what fancier way to one-up pasta than work with its secret rival-frenemy, gnocchi? After hiding for a really long time from the cigarette man and his frequent smoking sessions in the kitchen, I worked up the courage to make another meal after getting sick of reheating Krupnik and having lived off chleb, dżem (jam) and slices of kielbasa (Polish sausage) for a while.
So, here is just a series of images telling the story better than I ever can:
Started by waiting for an hour for the water to boil. Added the gnocchi and drained it. Then came canned sauce and deli meats (I’m still afraid to handle raw meat by myself while cooking).
The finished product after putting everything in: Gnocchi bolognese with roszponka (lamb’s lettuce), pepperoni, kielbasa and mini mozzarella balls; garnished with basil.My happy face! Complete with accomplished feelings. I can garnish things with fresh herbs too, Barefoot Contessa!
So, with all that said and done, I can say that I am successfully eating well. On some days. Here’s to more coming though, since this is all from last week.
A journal I brought to Poland with me from the States…with some memories from this past summer.
So, while I’m in Poland, I’m missing a lot of important dates and events in my friends’ and family’s lives, and today is one of those days…
Just taking a break from my Fulbright adventure to give a universal birthday shout-out to the most wonderful father in the world, Rudy.
Dad, what can I say?
Thank you for all that you’ve done from the very beginning: for fostering my creativity, for listening to me when I needed a hug and an ear the most, for telling it how it is when the going gets tough, and for encouraging me in your gentle, silent, patient way. Thank you for being a role model, for being someone who made diplomacy into his career through law enforcement, for always leading by example through your words and actions, and for your honesty and understanding, even in the most difficult situations. You have, are, and always will be a hero to me, and in many ways, I find myself applying a lot of your sayings to life as I continue to adjust and make sense of my role here in Poland as a Fulbrighter.
“One step at a time,” or “just hanging in there,” you’d say, whenever someone asks you how your busy day has been or how things are going. And more than once, those simple and somewhat facetious phrases have made heavier days lighter, and difficult situations and struggles more bearable. Walking in high heels for about a mile after standing in them all day had truly become “one step at a time,” and when my classes became stressful or too strange for me to handle (especially during these early times), I’d “just hang in there,” assess the situation, and “improvise, adapt and overcome.”
I can tell you right now that when you and Mom come to Poland for Christmas, you’re going to have an absolute blast. My mentor Karl studied History and German, and I know you guys will have a ton to talk about when you meet.
As you always say, DIPLOMACY. And as your daughter, I’ll make it work, especially here in Bydgoszcz.
Wishing you all the happiness in the world with Mom as you celebrate your birthday today.
After my 7:30am section of Master’s writing students. I rearranged the desks and everything.
This is more of a continuation of the previous blog post, since I’ve had such a back log of information…the influx of events in my life has just been coming at me at an alarming frequency.
Doing the teacher thing. This was after my first class of teaching Master’s students in Writing.
So, since last week, getting everything all settled has been quite something. I’ve been so busy that it’s been maddening, and for the first time this past weekend, I’d finally had some sort of reprieve in which I was literally just dead to the world for a whole day on Saturday (and there went my first opportunity to really explore the night life of Bydgoszcz, but there’s always future weekends to come).
But before that, more adventures and getting my life in order as a teacher…
My teaching schedule for the most part had been settled last Wednesday. I’ve been slated to teach three 1.5-hour sections of Writing classes for first-year Master’s students in English from 7:30am-12:30pm back to back on Wednesdays, and three 1.5-hour sections of Conversation classes for undergraduate English-Russian second-years from 8:15am-3:00pm on Fridays (with office hours in between each class). So in all, 9 hours of teaching (plus 1.5 office hours a week), which isn’t too bad, and I only really have two courses to worry about. I also share an office with Edyta (Karl’s wife who is also a professor in the English department) and other professors, so it’s been quite nice.
And now, as I’ve been doing for the past few posts, breaking it down for all of us to comprehend:
Wednesday (October 1)
At my affiliate university, UKW!
Crazy stuff, is all. Woke up at 5:45 in the morning, got ready, and was out the door by 6:30. Missed the first tram by seconds, but caught the second one. To be honest, I was scared to high heavens (about being late, about first impressions, etc). I was so nervous in fact, that I had a dream about red and green cabbages the night before…I kid you not.
Eventually, I made it on time. I didn’t have breakfast that day, but the nervous energy in my system was enough to push me through three 90-minute sections of standing and talking. Luckily, I didn’t go through any nightmarish changes (I didn’t really suffer the same anguish that some teachers face in Poland during the first day of classes, that is, everything is decided last minute, and sometimes, things change on the fly, or even in the midst of things). I had a little trouble with figuring out how to get the key for my last classroom (since the door was locked and the previous professor using the room was holding onto the one key copy available), so that was an adventure. Eventually, everything worked itself out.
Selfie with my mentor and main contact in Bydgoszcz, Dr. Karl Wood from UKW’s English Department. He’s originally from Chicago!
My first two Writing classes were quite good and reacted well to my syllabus and course objectives (the first being a little tired, and the second being quite excitable and pretty difficult to manage). My third section was very reserved and seemed to be a no-sell, but I eventually learned to look past the “stone-wall” façade they seemed to be wearing and came to realize they were pretty open to what I had to offer (one of the very, very quiet students stayed after class to help me put away the chairs and tables…it was very heartwarming).
And yeah. Awesome first day. It showed a lot of promise, but man. I was so exhausted that I pretty much blacked out at the end of class that afternoon.
Thursday (October 2)
All the university administrative officials in their ceremonial garb. Check out the medallions.
At about 11:30am, I got up and met with Karl to experience the grand formalities that take place at the beginning of every school year for Polish universities…the Induction Ceremony, sort of like a “ringing in” of the school year.
At UKW’s ceremony, awards were given, speeches were made by important politicians and school administrators, and the Rektor (University President), Prorektors (University President deputies) and Dziekans (Deans) were all dressed up in their ceremonial garb, much like kings and queens during commencement. The Rektor even had a scepter that he used to “knight” student inductees and awardees as they received certificates and medals. Extra cool.
The color guard and a university banner with Kazimierz the Great on it.
I was also mentioned by name during the ceremony (which was pretty cool but quite alarming…it was an honor to be mentioned as a special guest–and of course, the 5 seconds of fame). Also, I finally met one of the music students I’ll be working with, Olga, who reached out to me prior to my arrival in Bydgoszcz–can’t wait to see where our musical collaboration takes us! Olga, along with the university choir, sang a few hymns, and in all, everything was quite amazing.
For more photos from the university’s ceremony, please click here.
Friday (October 3)
Coffee at Cukiernia Sowa after the UKW Induction Ceremony. The little caramel tart we tried happens to be Julian’s (Karl’s son) favorite dessert!
Remember what I said about having everything under control? Well, Friday started out a little crazier than expected. I got up on time, but the tram schedule was off (apparently my line didn’t appear and there was a horde of people waiting for the tram cars to pull up). Needless to say, everyone was freaking out, more or less. After hustling like mad, I made it with three minutes to spare before my first class, printed out the syllabus (which had interesting designs on the borders of every sheet, thanks to leaking toner), and ran to the door of my first class with the key. I jammed the key in the keyhole. The door wouldn’t open. After struggling for a good five minutes, I told my class to come to the office that I share with other professors and had my first section there. Then I discovered there was no white board, so I turned on a computer and started typing in a Word doc in 72pt font. (Wow, the hoops I jumped through.) So it was like that for the next 7 hours or so. I didn’t really have a meal until 4pm.
Also, on my way home, the tram broke down and I tried to walk .5 miles in heels, after standing in them for three 1.5-hour sections that day. When I found out the tram was fixed, I turned back around and walked another .5 miles. In my heels. My feet were like jelly by the time I made it back to the apartment. Ouch. (Never again, never again.)
On the plus side, I engaged my conversation students with fun and active dialogue exercises. One involved having them write questions on paper, crumpling the papers up in balls and having them throw them around until I told them to stop. Then each one picked up the paper ball nearest to them, unraveled it and answered the question in English. They had a blast, seeing as all of them said that no professor had done what I just permitted them to do. Some were excited, some thought I was absolutely out of my mind. It was a pretty good start.
Nothing really happened on Saturday, but on Sunday…
The exterior of St. Andrew’s Bobola.Inside St. Andrew’s Bobola. For the song lyrics, they use a marquee! Pretty cool.
Went to Sunday Mass at a Jesuit church called St. Andrew Bobola (in Polish, św Andrzeja Boboli). The Mass was all in Polish, so I couldn’t understand anything, let alone participate in the hymns very well, but I was able to follow along.
The old Polish babuni (bottom center). I couldn’t help but want to take a picture because she really did make my day a lot better. No creeping intended.
Later on, an old Polish babuni (grandma) made awkward small talk with me on the tram. She was doing the staring thing that Polish people apparently do to others on trams, and when I felt her stare on me, we happened to awkwardly lock eyes and I unconsciously greeted her.
Our exchange went a little something like this:
Me: Dzień dobry. Babuni: Dzień dobry. (starts speaking in Polish) M:(awkward waving) Ah, no–nie, nie rozumiem. (beat) Czy pani mówi po angielsku? B: Ah! (looks shocked) Nie. Nie nie nie. M: Przepraszam. B: Prosze, prosze.
At this point, she had exhausted most of my Polish-speaking ability. Awkward silence ensued. Then came the staring again. After a few minutes, she finally had the courage to ask about my ethnic background:
Babuni: Przepraszam…Chiński, Japoński, Tajski…? Me:(loudly) Nie. Filipino-American. AMERICAN. (awkward silence) M:(in an attempt to break the silence) Bydgoszcz…super! Super Bydgoszcz. (smile and thumbs up while gesturing grandly to our passing surroundings) B: Oh, dobrze, dobrze! (puts her hand over heart, laughs and nods) (polite laughter lapses into more awkward silence)
The view of the Brda River the babuni pointed out to me. And she was right. Super, indeed.
I spent the next few minutes staring out the window after that. When the tram passed over the Brda river, suddenly, the little babuni tapped me on the shoulder and said:
B: Rzeka Brda…to jest super! Super! (leans in and points at the river, smiling)
At which point I mimicked her gesture from before, with my hand over my heart and nodding politely, saying “beautiful, yes, dziękuję bardzo.” We spent the rest of the tram ride minding ourselves until I had to get off at my stop, and she gave a little smile and wave to me while saying “do widzenia.” Made my day a little better.
Other miscellaneous occurrences:
I sadly lost another hat to Poland on Sunday! 😦 The first hat was lost during my 2012 pilgrimage to Poland, while on a tour at the Wieliczka Salt Mines. This second one (a beanie) was lost when I had my hands full of groceries and I misplaced the hat along the way while walking 7 blocks from one tram station (I didn’t have a ticket on me, so I decided to walk instead of breaking the law.) Oddly enough, both hats were grey. Poland apparently likes grey hats off my head, guys. You’d think that one day Poland would buy a hat for me. But yeah, not gonna happen.
I bought a printer/scanner/all-in-one copy machine for my apartment! You’d think it’s expensive, but surprisingly, the thing cost only about 130 or so zloty (equivalent to $50). Amazing bargain.
Because it’s a city, Bydgoszcz has interesting characters at night…on occasion. Of course, this is how it is in any urban area, so three instances reminded me to keep my wits about me at all times:
Occurrence #1: A drunk man rushed at me, mumbling incoherently, as I was walking down the street searching for alternative routes to school Tuesday evening. I could have sworn I heard him go “awww” when I ran away. I think he was sad because I was scared of him. Retrospectively, I think he was lost and asking for directions or something.
Occurrence #2: Some lady at the downtown underground walkway intersection near Rondo Jagiellonów tried to con me into giving her money for cigarettes while I was buying a tram ticket. I tried to shake her off by speaking English, but she managed to understand a few words and called over her accomplice for help. When she turned around, I took the opportunity to bolt.
Occurrence #3: After buying that printer on Sunday night, I spent the evening lugging the thing around, along with a large bag of groceries (not the most ideal thing when you’re alone in the dark, riding and making transfers on public transportation). I was on the way home on the tram when a group of guys got in the back of the tram car. They were playing Polish rap music and started to yell. Luckily, there was another girl with me in the front so I wasn’t alone, but by the looks of it, she was scared stiff as well. As the girl and I got off the tram, the guys started following us and started making cat calls. Walking fast with a printer box in your hands is difficult, but I managed to get into my apartment as inconspicuously and quickly as possible. As for the other girl, well…I think she made it okay, too.
Also, on Monday, I managed to go on a little adventure and finally somewhat tour the city by myself for the first time!
See the pics below for details of my little excursion:
On Gdańska Street in Bydgoszcz, there is this statue memorial dedicated to Marian Rejewski, a Polish cryptographer and mathematician who solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine in 1932. Here he is, just doing his thing.Also on Gdańska Street, there is this music shop with all sorts of instruments. They had just one ukulele in the store (made in Italy from laminated zebrawood), which I happily tuned for them (I had to restrain myself from buying it). They also had one Meinl djembe and pretty good deals on piano keyboards. Awesome. I will be back very soon, I imagine.View of the Brda River by the Old Town Market Square.All sorts of locks commemorating all sorts of relationships, past and present, on this bridge over the Brda.A park for children by the Old Town Market Square. Look at how idyllic it looks! The Golden Autumn is coming!Also hidden away near the Old Town Market Square is this precious gem……Strefa! This café was Meg’s fave hangout when she was an ETA here last year (this one’s for you Meg). Finally sat down and had something here, after Karl mentioned it in passing and later finding a sticker with its name on my apartment desk (thanks for the clue, Meg!). ❤Opera Nova, the opera house, also by the Brda River. Look at that colossal building! Some people take their wedding pictures there. Pretty neat. Also, this is where I think the majority of my grant money will go. Just…yeah. As a Music major who studied classical voice, I’m hungry for the opera scene and culture here.Another view of Old Town by the Brda. Probably the most photographed place in Bydgoszcz.
So, if you were wondering why I hadn’t taken the time to finally update my blog until this week, this was the reason. So much happening, so little time to fully explain and comprehend it and I can’t even say it all.
Also, I would love to hear from you, my readers…please leave a comment! It’s been quite isolating hearing Polish all around me, and so any little bit of English would help me through the loneliness as I continue to find my footing here.
Here’s to another fun week!
As I start week two of classes, I leave you with this:
A giant lock commemorating love for Bydgoszcz: for you, me and everyone else who has had the opportunity to be here or to have seen its beauty. Leaving my heart here, guys.
Also, yes, things have been going by so quickly…I already know that this Fulbright experience is going to be over before I know it. Trying to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable end, but also trying to remind myself that this is just the beginning. There’s still so much more to do.
This post was written over the course of about a week or so with intermittent access to wifi since coming to Bydgoszcz…it’s time that I finally publish it.
Things that have happened in the last week or so:
Orientation was an absolute blast, if not an insane whirlwind that took my sleep deprivation as an “OK” to mess with my sense of reality even more so than usual. Information was literally poured into my skull and whisked around like a slurry. From the barrage of info during that week, I learned how to count to ten in Polish (which came in handy right away when I was asking for my classroom and office keys once I started school), found out that mushroom hunting is a pastime in Poland and that forests are rife with ticks (you can get encephalitis or die of rabies from dogs, too), and discovered that there is a hierarchy that exists among professors (not all collegiate instructors have the same title ‘Professor’, and there are distinctions made within the ranks). And much more. Of course, the facts I just mentioned above also happen to be the things that I recall most prominently from the orientation, so I fear what that says about me.
The previous ETA, Meg–I owe her so much. She is an absolute doll…she left me so many things in the apartment and basically gave me a running head start with just about everything. Bedding, cleaning supplies, curtains, office and school supplies…and she already made everything homey. All I needed to do was basically unpack my things and sleep on the first day. Which was quite necessary after the last full day of orientation.
I’ve been eating all the cheese I can get my hands on voraciously, so help me. Not Polish cheese, but real-bougie-stinky-awesome-rich-fatty French cheese…because I’ve never seen it so cheap. I finished a wheel of Camembert (bought at a price equivalent to $4) in three days, got sick, and loved every bit of it. Wow.
I’ve learned to improvise with meals. There is no such thing as a microwave in Poland. Or at least where I live. Instead of doing the microwave-thing with my eggs (because obviously, here it is not possible), I’ve been hard boiling (and sometimes unintentionally soft boiling) them in the little water heater Meg left for me in the room. Why not use the stove, you ask? Water takes more than an hour to boil on the stove here. In a water heater, it takes only a few minutes. Don’t judge.
I had dinner at Karl’s place with his wife Edyta, and seven-year-old son Julian (yay for sharing a name)! Taught Julian a couple of origami tricks. In turn, he showed me his pet fish. To seal the deal, I then proceeded to tell the family about my cannibalistic pet goldfish Precious (it was this little thing that we got at the church fair that lived for seven years…how it managed to survive beats me, but retrospectively, I believe it’s because it ate all of the smaller fish). Thankfully, my creepy story was met with laughter (I still got it, folks).
I ate mushroom soup. Epic. I also ate veal tripe soup (also known as Flaczki). Even more epic. And more epic than that? I made Krupnik, also known as barley soup. I’ve been on a soup kick ever since coming here.
I bought many apples to participate in Polish patriotism (about 1 kilo for 4 zloty…that’s like 20 small apples or so for $1. So insane).
Last Tuesday was the night before my first day of classes…the anticipation was quite intense. Printed out my syllabus and all with Karl’s help, and tried to force myself to sleep (it didn’t work). I managed to kick butt on no sleep, though. Also, my curriculum methodology and pedagogical tactics have made my conservative Polish students think I’m crazy. Or rather, quite eccentric. I think they like it, actually. It’s awesome. (More on this later.)
Anyway, all that and more. Just wanted to give you an overdue post on my life. Most of this took place early on last week, up until the end of September. It’s been about a week since then. More to come of course, later on, especially on classes and my experience then…I’m still recovering from culture shock.
To make up for my lack of posts as of late, here are a bunch of awesome pictures from my first few days in Bydgoszcz.
Enjoy!
Apartment showcase (part jeden): my desk.Apartment showcase (part dwa): my dining room table.Apartment showcase (part tzry): the most sacred place of the room, also known as my bed. (Thanks again for everything, Meg!)English Majors: Did you know? At some point in his life, J.D. Salinger worked as a meat packer in a Bydgoszcz slaughterhouse. Today, that slaughterhouse has been reconstructed as the city’s mega mall, Focus. Every time I look at shoes, I make a literary pilgrimage. It’s amazing. (Also, thanks for the obscure trivia, Bydgoszcz. I love it.)Flaczki, or veal tripe soup. Tastes like a hearty Vietnamese pho, except long strings of cow stomach replace the rice noodles. Quite good, if I do say so myself. Living off this during winter.My first meal in Bydgoszcz, at Cukiernia Sowa. Cappuccino and mushroom soup (I forgot the name in Polish, but OH MY GOSH, it was brilliant.)First day in the classroom on October 1. I’m teaching Master’s students in Writing! But more on that later…My neighborhood tram stop. Saying hello in the early morning!
Yesterday, I was sweaty, exhausted, and quite frankly, crusty and needed the shower of my life, but wow…I’m full of smiles. I made it safe and sound, guys!
At the airport, fresh from customs! Pre-shower, no sleep.
Didn’t get a lot of sleep on either flight, and was running to my gates half the time (either because of the ridiculous security lines or changing terminals), but in the end, survived. My flight time in total was about twelve hours long, I made friends along the way (on the long flight from Chicago, I met a Polish-American girl who is majoring in Early Education at a university in Krakow, along with her boyfriend — if you’re reading this Isabella, nice meeting you!) and I wrestled 100 pounds worth of luggage in three bags (two carry-ons and one checked luggage) up stairs, down walkways, and on and off conveyer belts (watching my back of course).
So all in all, pretty successful, if not harrowing.
I arrived in Poland at 1 pm and left the airport about half an hour later, and then rested for a while at the hotel (shower and all that). Then I managed to get a SIM card at Złote Tarasy (the big mall near the central station) and paid for a data plan, and called up Karl, the professor I’ll be mentoring under/my main contact in Bydgoszcz.
Then I slept. No food for the first night, as bad as that sounds, but I just dropped (I was running on little to no sleep for the past 2 days). Also, I don’t know if I’m the first Fulbright grantee here, but hey. At least I got a chance to run around for a bit!
My hotel room. Also, those bags are my life for the next year or so. Making it work.
And just so you know, the journey over to Złote Tarasy was quite an adventure.
I had no real preconceived notion of how the city might be laid out, and asking quick directions from the receptionist (and subsequently every other person I encountered, including the nice bus conductor) wasn’t the best way to go about it — I was half-listening and quite delirious from sleep deprivation at this point, and was lost for a good half hour. But…now I can say I’ve somewhat incorporated Czy pan/pani mówi po Angielsku? (Do you speak English?), Przepraszam (Excuse me/sorry), and Dziękuję bardzo (Thank you very much) into my conversational bank, so yay.
Also, it really helped that Polish folks are lovely and are really willing to help you in any way possible (when I was running to the bus, a young kid held the door open for me, and nearly everyone I spoke with helped me to the best of their ability).
All in all, very exciting, and I can’t wait to see what will happen next. I got my SIM card, made it successfully, and got lost in the beautiful surroundings (quite literally) and met a lot of lovely people already. So from here on out, I’m making it local, guys!
Also, if you don’t have it already, please download Viber to your phones if you’d like to be able to call and/or text me hello internationally for free! I also have my postal address in Bydgoszcz which I hope to share soon — please let me know below if you’d like to have it at all (I’ll post it on Facebook and send messages through email to everyone who wants it if I can).
Anyway, more pictures from my mini SIM-card adventure last night:
Złote Tarasy. Thanks to Meg (my ETA predecessor) for the heads up on where to get SIM cards!Warszawa Centralna. Right next to Złote Tarasy.My ticket and conversation book (thanks Jette!) on the bus. Please note that I opened up to the page on traveling. Quite hilarious I made it through that predicament. Almost got lost for half an hour on the bus. Good times.Huge landmark near Warszawa Centralna, the Pałac Kultury i Nauki (Palace of Culture and Science). It’s the tallest building in all of Poland!Trains in Poland. And the stop where I successfully got off to finally get that SIM card after being lost for half an hour. Hahaha.
This post is quite image-happy and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it up, but here it is…I hope that I’ll still make these posts regularly. Keep praying for me, everyone!
Also, let’s hope my first day of orientation goes well (I’m meeting everyone at the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission today at 1 pm)!
Alright everyone…can’t believe the day has finally arrived. Spent all last night packing and now I’m at SFO, off to Chicago and then to Warsaw. Not much else to say except I’m scared and tired and nervous and excited. And everything else in between.
A picturesque view of Bydgoszcz’s “Old Town.” Photo from Wikipedia. (Hoping for some of my own pictures when I get there.)
I know I’ve been doing a lot of angsting over this impending Fulbright adventure, but to make the unknown a little more known, and the scary a little less foreboding, I figured I’d share what little I know about the city where I will be living for the next nine or so months: Bydgoszcz.
It’s pronounced something like, “BIHD-gaw-shch.” And for you fabulous IPA-ers out there, [bɪdɡɒʃtʃ].
My initial impression of the city from a website sent to me by the Fulbright advisor was that of a storybook town (the vibe I got was so strong that I could almost see Disney princess Belle traipsing around with a basket of homemade bread in hand, even with the abundance of tall, modern architecture and the developed landscape).
To put it simply, it’s quite beautiful, with lots of vibrant colors and an equally dynamic lifestyle centered around its universities (it has about nineteen in total, one of which is my affiliate university) and the arts (opera, ballet, theatre…it’s all there, guys). There’s also a beautiful river called Brda, and the Bydgoszcz canal runs through the city as a centerpiece, shaping its landscape. The city is big on athletics, especially rowing, and there is always something happening (events, festivals, performances, etc.). Businesses there are mostly communication and technology-based, from what I’ve gathered.
So, all in all: dynamic city. Untouched. Culture and sports with an incredible history. Gorgeously anachronistic with the juxtaposition of quaint settings and modern buildings. And it’s located in the northern part of Poland, about 140 miles northwest from the capital Warsaw (approximately 3½ hours by train). Bydgoszcz, while I’ve unfortunately never heard of you before, I’m glad I have now, and I totally admire your beauty as an “undiscovered” Polish city. I can only hope that you’ll welcome me with open arms in the next week or two. Nie mogę się doczekać, Bydgoszcz!
…But until then, I hope I’ll survive!
Aside from all this, here’s an update on my preparation (the big things, anyway):
Visa = check. This was the most surprising thing ever. I went through hell and back for my visa in the beginning of August, fully expecting the visa processing time to take at least three weeks after submitting the application (and this was considering the stress I went through procuring the necessary documents in such a short time, along with the many notices on the application website). Four days later, I receive my visa in the mail, without a hitch. I have never felt a stranger combination of undeniable relief, happiness and frustration before. It was good that I got my visa, no doubt. So very good. But oh. The application process and how difficult it seemed to be. Just…wow.
International Driver’s Permit = check. Got this done in about an hour during the first week of September. Even though I don’t think I’ll be renting a car in Poland (God forbid), I figured it would be good to have on hand for translation and identification purposes.
Many dresses for professional wear = eh, check-ish (for the most part). Labor Day and a paycheck’s worth. Lots of classic cuts with bolds, neutrals and patterns in between. It’s an investment, guys!
Choral music = check. Probably one of the things I’m most excited for besides teaching English. Got to dig up a few pieces with Ben’s (Musae’s artistic director) permission and help, and just finished scanning 42 pieces into an external hard drive today (hopefully will back it up through zip files). More than enough to bring over, but I’m hoping it will be exciting for UKW’s choral professor to look over the arrangements and pick and choose repertoire with me. Also bringing a fake book (a compendium of jazz standards) to continue Meg’s (my ETA predecessor) work, and a caroling book for Christmas.
So yes, folks. Literally a week left until I’m on the plane. Still figuring out things and getting things together, along with other things. But everything will surely fall into place, I hope.
Also, it’s 4:55 am. I need to regulate my sleeping schedule (I get like this whenever something new is happening. Perpetually nocturnal.) Hoping this week will go by slowly, or that I will move unbelievably quickly so that I can get everything done. Wish me luck!
Since the last time I managed to say anything on this blog, life has been too fast for me to catch up with ups and downs galore, and trying to even chronicle it seems a little overwhelming, considering all the things that have happened, but here it is…
Ever since July, the hurricane of life has not even begun to slow down. August came and went, but not without a barrage of events. And to make it easy, I took the liberty of breaking it down for all of us (me included):
After the impromptu visa road trip down to LA, I visited our client from work (the one who was diagnosed not even a week before with bladder cancer) at the hospice care facility she was placed in on August 3. Sang spirituals to her, held her hand and gave her a set of mardi gras beads, just like the ones she used to wear. It was a lovely visit that I’ll hold in my heart always, since it was the last time I got to see her.
Our beloved client from work sadly passed away on August 5. At the end of my shift that day, I found out that my mom was taken to the ER after she discovered a hematoma on her posterior left knee. Luckily, she was okay and it wasn’t a blood clot. But wow, it was an emotionally difficult day.
August 7, I turned 24. Another year, another adventure. I had a dinner at Nola’s. My coworkers sang to me. Friends and family really made this day special. Also, my cake melted from the sheer heat of the candle flames (we used an entire 24-pack and lit it up in the restaurant). The whole room filled up with smoke when I tried to blow out the candles. Coughing fits and laughter ensued. It was awesome.
I finished the last couple of PT sessions for my lower back and the sciatic pain running down my right leg from August 11-14. It was a relief after it was all done.
From August 15-18, I went up to Canada, via flight to Seattle and road trip up to Vancouver with the parents, to see a sick aunt on my Dad’s side, also in hospice care (I ask my readers to please keep her in your thoughts). Sang some songs to her, made her laugh, shared stories. It was wonderful seeing her after so long. Despite her illness, she is still just as fiery as she’d always been. Gave me hope seeing her like that.
On August 21, had the doctor clear my back. She still advised me to get a scan since I feel pain when I sit for too long, but I decided to just stretch. As of now, there is lingering tightness, but stretching definitely has helped.
My last week at work, August 25-29…so many goodbyes, so little time. It was a little maddening to see how fast it went and amazing to look back at how much my coworkers and I managed to accomplish at the very end, but it was a good send-off.
And then now September…
Here we go.
Already 11 days into the month, after spending Labor Day weekend buying professional clothes and preparing (somewhat), finding time to say goodbye to people, gathering documents and a crap ton of choral repertoire from various sources and institutions, and going down to Los Angeles from September 7-10 for a second trip to see cousins and other relatives once again (my maternal great-aunt has renal failure now, so I ask my readers to please keep her in your thoughts as well). And here I am, back from the trip, ready for action.
Except not, because I still haven’t gotten all of my things together. And there are only pretty much 10 days left before I ship myself halfway across the world for this amazing opportunity. Good grief. But nonetheless, here goes nothing. I’m making a list, checking it twice. Channeling Santa as I get all of this underway.
Well folks, it’s happening. The process of making my impending teaching assistantship a reality is taking place.
And it started this week with a road trip for business…that I did not even plan until the day before.
This week was a wild one, to put it mildly.
Getting a visa is a pretty tough process. Getting a Polish visa is even more challenging since you must apply for one in person. It’s especially difficult here on the West coast, when you live in the Bay near San Francisco, and the only active Polish consulate that processes visas is in Los Angeles, about eight to ten hours away by car, depending on traffic.
Requesting a few days off work the day after turning in your month’s notice was not the most savory or ideal experience, but well, you do what you gotta do, and so my epic journey began this past Tuesday at 3 PM with my parents in tow (after wasting an hour trying to make it to Interstate 5 via 280-N, we made some progress then). And thankfully, on the bright side, I got to take care of my visa documentation forms and application straight away. (Here’s to keeping on top of things, especially with everything snowballing into effect–I feel as if I’ve received more emails from the Fulbright Commission now than ever since the months that I first found out about the grant.)
I got to head down beautiful winding highways, experienced the crazy havoc that is LA traffic, and braved the warm SoCal weather. Luckily, things at the consulate went smoothly, so I should be getting my visa in the next 1-2 weeks. Still, there was an opportunity to recharge in LA: the parents and I got to visit some family down there in the process, and it was a pretty grand reunion. Lots of magic and warmth from seeing them after so long. The day I applied for my visa ended with visits and a fun talk outside of a Quickly milk tea bar with my cousins at 1:30 AM. It was more than I could have imagined.
After a full day in Los Angeles on Wednesday, we made it back home Thursday evening and I went to work the next day.
In all, it seems this week has been the week for news and reunions and surprises, both good and bad.
Aside from my own news, two of my lovely lady coworkers are expecting their first children. Sadly, I also found out that one of our dearest and most beloved patients, who has been a client of our organization for about twenty years, has been diagnosed with bladder cancer (I ask my readers at this time to please keep this dear one in your thoughts and prayers). There’s also the news of others embarking on new journeys and pursuing new endeavors in the near future, so yes. Quite the shocking week with a lot of up and downs, heartbreak and excitement and warmth and joy alike.
Here’s to a new month as Poland awaits. Only a month and a half left, ladies and gentlemen. Here we go.
Julianne in Poland 