Polish Adventures
Saturday, October 28, 2006
THE SNOW IS COMING...
Just checked the long range weather forecast apparently the snow is coming NEXT WEEK. On Thu to be precise I am not ready for the snow!!! Next week..next week!!!
Last week we had an electricity cut for a couple of hours, which isnt too bad as we just watched a DVD on the laptop and used our camping candles and lantern. But today we have a gas cut, OUR CENTRAL HEATING IS GAS.. no-one knows when it will come back on ..
Have started looking for jobs in Spain ;-) ¶ 11:37 PM 0 comments
Last week we had an electricity cut for a couple of hours, which isnt too bad as we just watched a DVD on the laptop and used our camping candles and lantern. But today we have a gas cut, OUR CENTRAL HEATING IS GAS.. no-one knows when it will come back on ..
Have started looking for jobs in Spain ;-) ¶ 11:37 PM 0 comments
28th Oct Wisla
We finally went to the Mountains today. Notice the capital M, everyone says you must go to the Mountains. So we went to Wisla about 60km from here, which is supposed to be the nearest ski resort. We found a ski hire shop but no runs...eventually found a couple of lifts up a dirt tract. I suppose it will all become clear when the snow comes!
Other highlights of the day I had some very nice grilled salmon from a litle hut place and Rocky fell in a stagnant pond and Rory had to pull him out (that makes 2 haulings out in a week..not a good record!) ¶ 6:04 PM 0 comments
We finally went to the Mountains today. Notice the capital M, everyone says you must go to the Mountains. So we went to Wisla about 60km from here, which is supposed to be the nearest ski resort. We found a ski hire shop but no runs...eventually found a couple of lifts up a dirt tract. I suppose it will all become clear when the snow comes!Other highlights of the day I had some very nice grilled salmon from a litle hut place and Rocky fell in a stagnant pond and Rory had to pull him out (that makes 2 haulings out in a week..not a good record!) ¶ 6:04 PM 0 comments
28th Oct How time flies!
I cant believe its been so long since I last updated. We have been busy. Rory's parents have been over bringing us loads of lovely presents. Cider.. not just any cider but strongbow :-) I am rationing myself.. to a can or so a week. Marmite, cheddar cheese, veggie stock all very exciting, AND we finally have warm clothes. It was like xmas opening all these suitcases and remembering clothes we had forgotton we had. They drove over from England for 2 days or something crazy stopping with Rory's uncle in Germany. They were with us from Sat til Wed.
Lucina our landlady of course pulled out all the stops and we had food coming out of our ears. We even got invited upstairs to her dining room where she lit a big fire.
The weather has been milder .. no more minus figures. Although we must get winter tires on the car next week. Its defo coming to the end of autumn though. Everywhere you go people are sweeping up mountains of leaves into duvet covers (!) and bin bags.
Work has been fine, just teaching people about the wonders of hallowe'en and learning quite a
bit myself. They celebrate 1st Nov All Saints' Day which is a very serious religious day where you must go and visit all your dead relatives in the various cemerataries. Apparently there will be gridlock on the roads.
Photo time...
Walking down town from the house.
One of the many Butchers
A sign for where we work (yes it really does have a man with a bowler hat on it!)
The Market Square, called a 'Rynek' in Polish, just about all towns have them and its not actually where the market is!
The Cathedral or Basillica with a huge statue of the ex-Pope. On Sundays you see people standing outside cos they can't all fit inside
¶ 10:53 AM 0 comments
I cant believe its been so long since I last updated. We have been busy. Rory's parents have been over bringing us loads of lovely presents. Cider.. not just any cider but strongbow :-) I am rationing myself.. to a can or so a week. Marmite, cheddar cheese, veggie stock all very exciting, AND we finally have warm clothes. It was like xmas opening all these suitcases and remembering clothes we had forgotton we had. They drove over from England for 2 days or something crazy stopping with Rory's uncle in Germany. They were with us from Sat til Wed.
Lucina our landlady of course pulled out all the stops and we had food coming out of our ears. We even got invited upstairs to her dining room where she lit a big fire.
The weather has been milder .. no more minus figures. Although we must get winter tires on the car next week. Its defo coming to the end of autumn though. Everywhere you go people are sweeping up mountains of leaves into duvet covers (!) and bin bags.
Work has been fine, just teaching people about the wonders of hallowe'en and learning quite a
bit myself. They celebrate 1st Nov All Saints' Day which is a very serious religious day where you must go and visit all your dead relatives in the various cemerataries. Apparently there will be gridlock on the roads.
Photo time...
Walking down town from the house.
One of the many Butchers
A sign for where we work (yes it really does have a man with a bowler hat on it!)
The Market Square, called a 'Rynek' in Polish, just about all towns have them and its not actually where the market is!
The Cathedral or Basillica with a huge statue of the ex-Pope. On Sundays you see people standing outside cos they can't all fit inside
¶ 10:53 AM 0 comments
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
The ice age is coming...
At 6am it was -2! minusbloodytwo...! it's 8:30 and we have made it to -1... Kate had to scrape ice off her windscreen with a yoghurt pot. When I got to the power plant I apologised to my student, Bolek, for being late due to ice on the windscreen. He heard this as "Sorry i'm late I had ice cream for breakfast and i'm ill"... maybe I should speak slower ...
¶ 8:38 AM 0 comments
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Polish cars
Again its hard cos I am too embarrassed to take pictures near where I live but I have to show you pictures of Polish cars. They love an old Fiat Uno I think is.. they call it the Maluch.
Then I got more scared I googled it to see what I could find and this is what I found
WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT???
¶ 11:17 AM 0 comments
12th Oct Kate Horne International Spy!
Another early Elektrownia morning but this time I was armed with my camera so after my lesson armed with my camera I prowled the car park feeling like a spy worried that at any moment the v scary security guards were going to come running ...
I would have taken more but a) I was too scared and b) Rory wanted to go home as he has a busy day
¶ 11:05 AM 0 comments
Views of the lake from the car park. And some views of the powerplant.
I would have taken more but a) I was too scared and b) Rory wanted to go home as he has a busy day
¶ 11:05 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
10th Oct Another day another zloty
Today was the first dreaded tuesday where I have to teach 8 hours! Had a very early start a 6am lesson down at the powerplant Elektrownia. Rory had 3 individual lessons while I only had 2 so we drove down in tandem. Me in the new company car and him in the Kangoo, such a gent!
Its only 10mins away but a very eerie drive. I haven't managed to take any photos yet. We drive down past the reservoir. The water in the lake is about 18 degrees because it used as a coolant in the power plant. So in the mornings it steams slightly as the air temp as about 12/13 degrees. I don't know if you have ever been next to cooling tower THEY ARE MASSIVE. So you drive down past this steaming lake with the huge towers and out of the darkness you see this enormous building with elektrownia written on it in blue neon. I feel like I am in Tom Clancey book or something. Quite surreal. And as usual the security guards where really scary luckily someone who spoke English explained us to them. We had to show id to be allowed in.
I have googled it. Check this out!
Its only 10mins away but a very eerie drive. I haven't managed to take any photos yet. We drive down past the reservoir. The water in the lake is about 18 degrees because it used as a coolant in the power plant. So in the mornings it steams slightly as the air temp as about 12/13 degrees. I don't know if you have ever been next to cooling tower THEY ARE MASSIVE. So you drive down past this steaming lake with the huge towers and out of the darkness you see this enormous building with elektrownia written on it in blue neon. I feel like I am in Tom Clancey book or something. Quite surreal. And as usual the security guards where really scary luckily someone who spoke English explained us to them. We had to show id to be allowed in.
I have googled it. Check this out!
That is where we work! There are usually lots of people fishing there, because of the warm water the fish grow to be MASSIVE. I ain't dangling so much as a toe in there!
My lessons were fine, I got coffee which is always a bonus. I think the highlight of Rory's morning was meeting a man called Boleslaw who shortens his name to Bolek. Childish I know but this is the type of humour we are reduced to!
I then had to drive to another company Tenneco on the other side of town. Get past the security guards (urgh I have just squashed a mosquito .. dont they know its oct??) First lesson was fine, then my second class didnt turn up so I waited 30mins and left in a bit of a cream puff. But this was the company I got out of bed for last week and they knew nothing about the lessons. So home and walked the dog in the forest with Rory.
After a snooze it was off to school for both of us. Once again we didnt really know what the set up was etc. It didnt help that we got stuck behind farm traffic and coal trucks so were late. These were the kids we tested last week.
Bless their socks they where waiting outside their classrooms even tho we were 15mins late. No teachers to be seen anywhere. The kids were very excited. I did my usual bodged kids lesson plan...My dog rocky went into the garden and found a ......., Simon says..., and ended with Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes. I swear Rory will be singing nursary rhymes by the end of the month. Although he swears not!Anyone care for a bet?
After the school back to Rybnik for a couple of 45min lessons, half my classes were off with flu, which is not a good omen. I have been home for about an hour, put the dog out to dig holes.
Now I am v tired have eaten 2 bowls of soup and have that horrid wishy washy feeling so will lie v still until Rory comes in. Then drink some apple lager STILL NO CIDER :-( and another early night before another early start.
¶ 7:41 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 05, 2006
5th Oct Another Early Start for Rory
Hey, It's been a bit of a mental week. Work is v chaotic they still haven't fixed our plans and they keep changing.
In general we have lessons in companies in the mornings (with some v early starts .. 6am lessons WHY?) Then home for a couple of hours, walk the dog, try to sleep etc. After that a company lesson about 3pm then off to the school for lessons with kids, teenagers or adults.
The classes range from individual lessons to groups of 6. Its pretty easy work. The people in the companies just want to chat about stuff. Getting paid to talk - nice one! And they are all either Intermediate or Advanced speakers so speak pretty well and just want to expand their vocab.The ones in the school usually have a Polish teacher for half the time. They do the grammar stuff and we just chat to them and get them to talk. And of course they actually WANT to learn. Again most of them are a pretty high standard.
I have one class of 3 12 year olds and we just play games. I also have one group in a company who makes electrodes and so yesterday I took them some GCSE Chemistry sheets and we spent 90 mins talking about the Blast furnace. They loved it! Next week they want to talk about electricity.. why?!?!
We also have 3 hours a week in a local school. They have got some EU money to get in Native Speakers until xmas. I dont know what we are supposed to do with them, on Tue we went and assessed them. Doing 60 oral tests in 60mins was interesting. They are all v giggly 12/13 year olds and it really smells like a school!
Another early start for Rory this morning either 6 or 7 I have no idea! I had a much needed lie in. Then just as I was about to leave my 3pm lesson was also cancelled. Which was good cos the bloody hot water is on the blink again and I was having trouble showering AGAIN. So eventually found the dog hiding out with the ladylady, apparantly he was asleep on her son's bed and took him for a long walk in the forest at the bottom of the road. thought I should take some pictures before it is all covered in snow.
The spires you can see are the Basilica which is either a cathedral or big church in the centre of town either way it is v impressive. I am just too embarrassed to take photos in town! ¶ 3:40 PM 2 comments
In general we have lessons in companies in the mornings (with some v early starts .. 6am lessons WHY?) Then home for a couple of hours, walk the dog, try to sleep etc. After that a company lesson about 3pm then off to the school for lessons with kids, teenagers or adults.
The classes range from individual lessons to groups of 6. Its pretty easy work. The people in the companies just want to chat about stuff. Getting paid to talk - nice one! And they are all either Intermediate or Advanced speakers so speak pretty well and just want to expand their vocab.The ones in the school usually have a Polish teacher for half the time. They do the grammar stuff and we just chat to them and get them to talk. And of course they actually WANT to learn. Again most of them are a pretty high standard.
I have one class of 3 12 year olds and we just play games. I also have one group in a company who makes electrodes and so yesterday I took them some GCSE Chemistry sheets and we spent 90 mins talking about the Blast furnace. They loved it! Next week they want to talk about electricity.. why?!?!
We also have 3 hours a week in a local school. They have got some EU money to get in Native Speakers until xmas. I dont know what we are supposed to do with them, on Tue we went and assessed them. Doing 60 oral tests in 60mins was interesting. They are all v giggly 12/13 year olds and it really smells like a school!
Another early start for Rory this morning either 6 or 7 I have no idea! I had a much needed lie in. Then just as I was about to leave my 3pm lesson was also cancelled. Which was good cos the bloody hot water is on the blink again and I was having trouble showering AGAIN. So eventually found the dog hiding out with the ladylady, apparantly he was asleep on her son's bed and took him for a long walk in the forest at the bottom of the road. thought I should take some pictures before it is all covered in snow.
The spires you can see are the Basilica which is either a cathedral or big church in the centre of town either way it is v impressive. I am just too embarrassed to take photos in town! ¶ 3:40 PM 2 comments
4th Oct 7am start in Gliwice grrr
Today was my first really early start and it was flipping raining. So unimpressed! It reminded me of the week before I started at Medina and we had to go for NQT training. It rained then. It was boring training and I felt like crying cos the summer was over and I was going to have no more fun :-(
Drove nearly an hr to the place in the lovely skoda (i am growing to like it) Get there and we introduce ourselves in our best Polish and they whisk Rory away to his lesson. They appear to have no idea what to do with me. I am thinking here we go again. I have got out of bed for nothing. Then they start "telling me" bearing in mind I speak v little polish and the reception people's English isn't any better. That another teacher is already teaching my class. I get annoyed and get on the phone to Kasia. I was v grumpy by this point. To cut a very long story short Rory had stolen my class and should have been teaching some swanky exec. So we swapped and I grumped through yet another lesson on first impressions with 3 middle aged men. Grrrrrr
Luckily my SGL carbon group were lovely as always. ¶ 11:16 AM 0 comments
Drove nearly an hr to the place in the lovely skoda (i am growing to like it) Get there and we introduce ourselves in our best Polish and they whisk Rory away to his lesson. They appear to have no idea what to do with me. I am thinking here we go again. I have got out of bed for nothing. Then they start "telling me" bearing in mind I speak v little polish and the reception people's English isn't any better. That another teacher is already teaching my class. I get annoyed and get on the phone to Kasia. I was v grumpy by this point. To cut a very long story short Rory had stolen my class and should have been teaching some swanky exec. So we swapped and I grumped through yet another lesson on first impressions with 3 middle aged men. Grrrrrr
Luckily my SGL carbon group were lovely as always. ¶ 11:16 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
3rd Oct .. the company car...
So we a have a company car to enable us to get to and from the companies etc. (The school is about 15mins walk away). Its great. Rory started it up for the first time and nearly had us all in the river. You see you have to leave it in gear as the hand brake doesnt work.
As my dad said "Why do Skoda's have rear window heaters?" "To keep your hands warm while you push it." I must remember to take the jump leads out of the Kangoo and put them in the Skoda. You have to drive with ur lights on from 1st Oct and of course they is no handy alarm to remind you to turn them off. ¶ 11:10 AM 0 comments
So we a have a company car to enable us to get to and from the companies etc. (The school is about 15mins walk away). Its great. Rory started it up for the first time and nearly had us all in the river. You see you have to leave it in gear as the hand brake doesnt work.
As my dad said "Why do Skoda's have rear window heaters?" "To keep your hands warm while you push it." I must remember to take the jump leads out of the Kangoo and put them in the Skoda. You have to drive with ur lights on from 1st Oct and of course they is no handy alarm to remind you to turn them off. ¶ 11:10 AM 0 comments
Monday, October 02, 2006
2nd Oct WE ARE BACK
Whhhooo hoooo we have finally got the internet at home. I rushed home especially as it was supposed to be installed at 4 and I was working til 7.
Got home to find Lycina our ladylady hovering our front room while playing with Rocky. We had asked her to watch him while the man came to do the internet so i think she has been with "her baby" all afternoon. On the plus side she has cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen floor, and the living room. I was soo happy.
School has been choas again. Got to remember to factor in the kasia factor, poor Rory had to be at work for 7.00am this morning. Her husband drove him there and they got there at 6.05 cos she had insisted they leave so early.
My classes were find except I went into my second class in the school and started teaching and 5mins later, someone came in laughing their socks of I WAS TEACHING THE WRONG CLASS... how embarressed was I.
Luckly classes with one company dont start til next week so I dont start until 9 instead of 7AM. Urgh why are we doing this again?? Cos the actual classes are a piece of piss, turn up and chat to 2 maybe 3 people for 60-90mins.
Right I must go drink some beer and generally relax.. photos to follow:-) ¶ 8:03 PM 0 comments
Got home to find Lycina our ladylady hovering our front room while playing with Rocky. We had asked her to watch him while the man came to do the internet so i think she has been with "her baby" all afternoon. On the plus side she has cleaned the bathroom, the kitchen floor, and the living room. I was soo happy.
School has been choas again. Got to remember to factor in the kasia factor, poor Rory had to be at work for 7.00am this morning. Her husband drove him there and they got there at 6.05 cos she had insisted they leave so early.
My classes were find except I went into my second class in the school and started teaching and 5mins later, someone came in laughing their socks of I WAS TEACHING THE WRONG CLASS... how embarressed was I.
Luckly classes with one company dont start til next week so I dont start until 9 instead of 7AM. Urgh why are we doing this again?? Cos the actual classes are a piece of piss, turn up and chat to 2 maybe 3 people for 60-90mins.
Right I must go drink some beer and generally relax.. photos to follow:-) ¶ 8:03 PM 0 comments
