After blogging so recently about my lovely new flat, I felt that I should update things a little. Last night was my first in the new apartment, and things did not go well. I woke in the middle of the night after one of the worst nightmares of my life. In this nightmare I was pushed down and some-one screamed. I was forced awake and my whole body was drenched in sweat. I spent the rest of the night terrified and that feeling stayed with me all day.
After dinner with K and N, I went back to the apartment. Half an hour into running a bath, making a cup of tea and settling in front of the TV,the hair on the back of my neck began to rise and my skin prickled. I wanted to calm down, wanted to believe that I was overtired and reeling from the rush of the past week. I shoved stuff into a bag, left the flat and came straight back to K and Ns sympathetic and non-hackle inducing flat.
Tomorrow I will go back to the flat, pack up my stuff and spend another few nights with K and N until another flat can be found. I have no idea what I felt or why I felt it, but something in that place was wrong on my radar. Am I crazy? Did this really happen? Am I feeling something that is not there? I do everything on instinct, why not this?
September 04, 2006
Dis-dooced
In the blogging world, there have been instances of being dooced. This basically means that you have been fired because of what you have written on your blog, whether it be personal or based around your work. Petite Anglaise was recently dooced.
I am the first person that I know that has been un-dooced. There is some-one in Warsaw, reading the blog on a regular basis. From my posts about looking for a job, she was able to tell the right people that I was still available for work and so I was offered my job.
Today has been the first day back in school proper, and I must say that only now is it starting to sink in that I have a job again and things will only get busier as the school year rolls on. I have friends that I would like to see this weekend, with the reunions being both familar and exciting. I have been incredibly lucky that I just rolled back into my friendly intimacy with K, N and J.
The fatigue is setiing in though. I am able to smile and chat at school but the truth is that I am exhausted, nearly a week without a proper nights sleep is really taking its toll. My only goal now is to make it to the weekend, where sleep and relaxation beckon. Cinnamon oatmeal I brought with me from Canada. Big mugs of strong tea. Pyjamas and fluffy socks, I can only dream that I make it to Friday night.
I am the first person that I know that has been un-dooced. There is some-one in Warsaw, reading the blog on a regular basis. From my posts about looking for a job, she was able to tell the right people that I was still available for work and so I was offered my job.
Today has been the first day back in school proper, and I must say that only now is it starting to sink in that I have a job again and things will only get busier as the school year rolls on. I have friends that I would like to see this weekend, with the reunions being both familar and exciting. I have been incredibly lucky that I just rolled back into my friendly intimacy with K, N and J.
The fatigue is setiing in though. I am able to smile and chat at school but the truth is that I am exhausted, nearly a week without a proper nights sleep is really taking its toll. My only goal now is to make it to the weekend, where sleep and relaxation beckon. Cinnamon oatmeal I brought with me from Canada. Big mugs of strong tea. Pyjamas and fluffy socks, I can only dream that I make it to Friday night.
September 03, 2006
Another suitcase in another hall
My bags are all packed again ready to move into my new flat. In keeping with the speedy theme of this move, I have already found a place and will be moving in today. The new flat is more than three times the area of my apartment in Paris and includes a bath and a washing machine, so no more blogging about the laundromat.
The flat looks onto Marszalkowska, one of the main streets in the city centre and was inhabited by a famous Polish dancer and her lover, a Polish writer. I have yet to find out who they were, but the flat has a fin de seicle feel about it and with huge windows and very large rooms I think I will be very happy there.
I am back to school tomorrow and feel nervous and excited about meeting the parents and getting sorted for the children back on Tuesday. If any teachers out there have suggestions for getting to know you activities for 6/76 year olds, please leave a comment in the box.
Back into the fray, it will be great to be busy again. I like work when it goes fast, when there is lots to do. It makes me feel like I am efficient, I work well under a little bit of pressure. With twenty small children around me every day, I am sure that there will be lots of that.
The flat looks onto Marszalkowska, one of the main streets in the city centre and was inhabited by a famous Polish dancer and her lover, a Polish writer. I have yet to find out who they were, but the flat has a fin de seicle feel about it and with huge windows and very large rooms I think I will be very happy there.
I am back to school tomorrow and feel nervous and excited about meeting the parents and getting sorted for the children back on Tuesday. If any teachers out there have suggestions for getting to know you activities for 6/76 year olds, please leave a comment in the box.
Back into the fray, it will be great to be busy again. I like work when it goes fast, when there is lots to do. It makes me feel like I am efficient, I work well under a little bit of pressure. With twenty small children around me every day, I am sure that there will be lots of that.
September 02, 2006
The sound of Polish
When I got into the taxi from the airport, K chatted to the driver to tell him where we wanted to go. On the bus, people talk around you and the round musical tones that I hear make me remember how I though Polish was such a beautiful language.
In the days to come it will be hard not to compare Warsaw to Paris, and perhaps this would be best done only in my head for the moment. Still, comparing one lover to another is never a good idea. I never allowed myself to miss Poland. I was involved in my life in Paris, and I loved my year there. But when I landed at Chopin airport I felt like I was coming home again. K and N live on the same street as I did, so this emotion doubled when I came back to there place.
I had a day at school yesterday and felt as though I had never been away. There are many things that change, and some that never do. There are new people, there is a new job, there are new places to go, apartments to find. Through it all, Warsaw is the same. Scruffy, proud, mine.
In the days to come it will be hard not to compare Warsaw to Paris, and perhaps this would be best done only in my head for the moment. Still, comparing one lover to another is never a good idea. I never allowed myself to miss Poland. I was involved in my life in Paris, and I loved my year there. But when I landed at Chopin airport I felt like I was coming home again. K and N live on the same street as I did, so this emotion doubled when I came back to there place.
I had a day at school yesterday and felt as though I had never been away. There are many things that change, and some that never do. There are new people, there is a new job, there are new places to go, apartments to find. Through it all, Warsaw is the same. Scruffy, proud, mine.
August 31, 2006
Newcastle airport
I am sat blogging from the airport lounge while I wait for my first flight. I have bought a new watch as I left mine at home in Northallerton and I keep getting texted from friends that are either excited to see me, or amazed that I have gone so fast.
How wierd does this feel? Another airport, another flight. I was still in Canada this time last week and as of tomorrow I will be starting another job, still with no place to live, but that should come pretty quickly. My brain cannot process what is going on, but my stomach is doing a pretty good job. I don't think I have been able to eat since Tuesday afternoon, but that is Ok.
K and N will be waiting for me when my second plane lands in Warsaw at 7.55 this evening. After that is anybodys guess, there are people to meet, classrooms to set up and adjustments to be made. Luckily, J has already pencilled me in for Green Coffee on Saturday afternoon. I know that as soon as I am sat there with her everything will feel normal again. I never realised how much I had longed for Poland until this chance jumped up and grabbed me. So fast, so fast, I had to jump and grab it right back.
How wierd does this feel? Another airport, another flight. I was still in Canada this time last week and as of tomorrow I will be starting another job, still with no place to live, but that should come pretty quickly. My brain cannot process what is going on, but my stomach is doing a pretty good job. I don't think I have been able to eat since Tuesday afternoon, but that is Ok.
K and N will be waiting for me when my second plane lands in Warsaw at 7.55 this evening. After that is anybodys guess, there are people to meet, classrooms to set up and adjustments to be made. Luckily, J has already pencilled me in for Green Coffee on Saturday afternoon. I know that as soon as I am sat there with her everything will feel normal again. I never realised how much I had longed for Poland until this chance jumped up and grabbed me. So fast, so fast, I had to jump and grab it right back.
August 30, 2006
24
Imagine having 24 hours to pack up everything to move some-where hundreds of miles away. This job in Warsaw has all been so last minute that I am sitting surrounded by stuff that I think I might need when I am over there. I am at least ahead this time, I am not stocking up on stuff that I know I can get in Poland. I am not panicking about getting a new wintercoat, because I know I can get one there.
Ally and I chatted this morning about me going back and we talked about how long we usually spend packing up our flats and getting ready to go some-where new. For me, getting ready to go is all about emotions as well as having the stuff that you need. Going shopping, remembering socks and your toothpaste all make you feel prepared for being in a different place, a different job.
I need to remember that Warsaw is not the place it was when I left. Friends have moved on and new people have taken their place. Still, I can't wait to see J, walk down the corridors of that school again and see how many children are left from the first time around. I am so pleased too at having the chance to blog about Poland like I blogged about Paris. With my new camera, I can snap the Poland that I loved as well as the Paris that is so well known.
My flight leaves early tomorrow. More packing, more clothes, more things to do yet.
Ally and I chatted this morning about me going back and we talked about how long we usually spend packing up our flats and getting ready to go some-where new. For me, getting ready to go is all about emotions as well as having the stuff that you need. Going shopping, remembering socks and your toothpaste all make you feel prepared for being in a different place, a different job.
I need to remember that Warsaw is not the place it was when I left. Friends have moved on and new people have taken their place. Still, I can't wait to see J, walk down the corridors of that school again and see how many children are left from the first time around. I am so pleased too at having the chance to blog about Poland like I blogged about Paris. With my new camera, I can snap the Poland that I loved as well as the Paris that is so well known.
My flight leaves early tomorrow. More packing, more clothes, more things to do yet.
August 29, 2006
Warsaw to Paris and back to Warsaw
I came trudging downstairs this morning headed straight for the kettle and a hot cup of Earl Grey tea. Greeting me were voicemails from my boss at the school in Warsaw where I worked for two years. After some last minute problems with new staff, they were short for the start of the school year and have offered me a job.
Here I sit, a couple of hours later, back onto Warsaw to Paris, only now I need to change the title to Warsaw to Paris then back to Warsaw. I am waiting for more phonecalls, arrangements have to be made, and very quickly I might add. The cold plain fact is that I accepted and will be going back to Poland for at least a few months.
I feel sick to my stomach with the sheer speed of it all, but I was in love with Poland and I will be happy to go back there for a while. Looks like I will be back on this blog now.
Here I sit, a couple of hours later, back onto Warsaw to Paris, only now I need to change the title to Warsaw to Paris then back to Warsaw. I am waiting for more phonecalls, arrangements have to be made, and very quickly I might add. The cold plain fact is that I accepted and will be going back to Poland for at least a few months.
I feel sick to my stomach with the sheer speed of it all, but I was in love with Poland and I will be happy to go back there for a while. Looks like I will be back on this blog now.
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