Life Updates...

A quick recap on what's going on in our world:

• I am still not used to telling time military style everywhere....luckily Tom gave me a great trip to subtract two from the first number.
• Apartment shopping is going well.  We are looking at a lot of options to make sure we pick the right place for us since we have no plans to move more than once in Warsaw.  Although, bringing a king size bed with us has been a bit of a challenge.  Half of the bedrooms I have seen wouldn't even fit a king size bed.  But, we have found some apartment options that will work.
• Apartment prices are negotiable and it is expected that you will negotiate...Tom thinks that if I knew a bit more Polish I would really haggle them down, especially after the way I negotiated his car.     : )
• We are really enjoying the local fruits and veggies here.  People eat pretty seasonal around here and everything is local....and we don't have to pay Whole Foods prices.
• I have a Polish cell phone but was not able to get a contract since I don't have residential paperwork yet. So, instead I have a pay-to-go plan.  Apparently these are super popular over here...and the phone works.....which is pretty much all that matters.
• The treadmill at the hotel gym is in kilometers per hour...so I have no idea how fast I am going but I am working hard..and that's what counts anyways, right?
• The Polish elderly LOVE Charlie.  I get stopped multiple times a day where they give Charlie lots of love and excitedly start speaking a bunch of Polish that I of course don't understand.  I find it really cute to see them so excited.
• Poland is a country of rule followers.  People wait for the light to change before walking into a crosswalk.  You must provide original documents for customs and they cannot deviate one bit.  And, even the cell phone company wouldn't give me a calling plan since I didn't have my residence card yet even though I offered to pay all 2 years of the contract up front.  Of course, I don't blame the Poles for this habit considering their rough history.
• I have become a master of washing clothes in the hotel bathtub (thank you Tide To Go packets!) although we are sending some of the bigger stuff to the hotel laundry.  But, we are trying to avoid that since the average charge is $6 USD per item.  : (
• No one in Poland goes out dressed casually.  I am quite the anomaly when I walk Charlie in yoga pants and Ugg boots...but since I don't know what people are saying about me and I am really cofortable I don't really care.
• Tom discovered Slingbox...a way to essentially get US Cable television through our computer in Poland...he is one very happy man knowing he will not be without Pawn Stars or Storage Wars.
• We have been heading to various expat social events to get to know people around the city.  It has been wonderful meeting people and getting great "tips" on how to navigate the city and the people.
• Our stuff has arrived!  Now, we only need to have the real estate company get it through customs (tax free please!) and truck it down to Warsaw...it came into a port on the Northern coast.  If we do not have an apartment when it gets here it will briefly go into storage for a week or two.
• Tom is working hard to understand the Polish culture at work.  No one will talk badly or negatively about anyone else in the office no matter what...even if it's their worst enemy.   Therefore, its been a bit hard for Tom to get an accurate depiction of the current problems in the office.  And, let's just say the Poles are not exactly prompt...the buses run inconsistently therefore the Poles do as well.  For a husband who used to have a policy called A.I.S. (ass in seat at a certain time) for his team this has been tough to swallow.

Here is a WONDERFUL article on Warsaw and its recent growth (thank Anglim Family for passing it along).  Definitely read it if you have a few minutes:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Warsaw-on-the-Rise.html

We are trying to negotiate our favorite apartment right now that is a bit more than we were hoping to spend.  And, our condo in Chicago officially goes on the market today.  So, Please send positive energy our way for our housing situations to work themselves out!

Love you all, T&S

Lucky Us...

Came across this article today and found it interesting, so here is an excerpt.  It's a good thing that Tom and I are researching Polish language lessons now.  Apparently it is most effective to have a private tutor come to your house for lessons, so that is our plan.  We are hoping to start taking them in the next week or so and will probably take them twice a week.

 

Most Difficult Languages - Polish

http://hubpages.com/hub/Most_Difficult_Languages_-_Polish

February 22, 2011

I've read about the supposed difficulty of many languages. Some I don't know at all (like Chinese or Arabic, which I'd imagine are difficult), but I did have the opportunity to learn one of the hardest, and supposedly the most grammatically-complex Slavic language, Polish. It is certainly harder than Croatian, which I already knew when I started to learn Polish.
Here's one (somewhat trivial, but illustrative) example of the relative complexity of languages: the number 2.

English, Spanish, Dutch: 1 form (two, dos, twee)

Portuguese: 2 forms (dois/duas) - depending on gender (2 - masculine & feminine)

Croatian: 7 forms (dva, dvije, dvoje, dvojica, dvojice, dvojici, dvojicu) - depending on gender (3 - masculine, feminine, and neuter) and case in one specific form. There were other variants historically but they're not used anymore.

Polish: 17 forms. Depends on gender (3), case for all forms. Pretty much all these forms occur in regular speech (6-11 less often than the others)

Dwa palce

17 grammatical forms for the number 2

1. dwa
2. dwie
3. dwoje
4. dwóch (or dwu)
5. dwaj
6. dwiema
7. dwom (or dwóm)
8. dwoma
9. dwojga
10. dwojgu
11. dwojgiem
12. dwójka
13. dwójki
14. dwójkę
15. dwójką
16. dwójce
17. dwójko

Why is Polish so complex?

Poland's history is one of being attacked and subjugated by its neighbors throughout most of its history, either by Germans, Austrians, Swedes or Russians. Many times the speaking of Polish was forbidden, so people were understandably protective of their language and less likely to have foreign intrusion into it. (English readily absorbs foreign words because American, Brits, Australians, etc don't feel like their language is threatened.) Also, "world languages" simplify much more rapidly, while "niche languages" don't have the same sort of pressure.
Even the names of months, which are usually similar in all the languages of the world, retain old Slavonic forms in Polish:

• January - styczeń (from the Polish word for joining, since January joins two years together)
• February - luty (from the Polish word for freezing cold; this is the only month that is grammatically an adjective, not a noun)
• March - marzec (from Mars - the 3rd month is the Roman god Mars's month, as it is in English)
• April - kwiecień (from the Polish word for flower, since this is the month when flowers bloom)
• May - maj (the only one adopted from the Roman calendar)
• June - czerwiec (from the Polish word for reddening...named after the Polish cochineal, a red insect that is used for red dye and is harvested in June - thanks, Lola!)
• July - lipiec (from the Polish word for linden tree, which blooms in July in Poland)
• August - sierpień (from the Polish for for sickle, since this is the month of harvest)
• September - wrzesień (from the Polish word for heather, which turns a brilliant shade of purple then)
• October - październik (from the Polish word for a type of flax mulch used in the fields during this month)
• November - listopad (almost literally - falling leaves)
• December - grudzień (from the Polish word for hardened, frozen ground)

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Our Weekend in Pictures

Tom and I had a great weekend exploring Warsaw...here are some of the highlights in pictures.

Charlie ready for a day of exploring

Part of the original wall to the Jewish Ghetto

Our new apartment building...only kidding.  One of the few buildings that survived the war.

Historic Church

Wonderful weekly farmer's market with produce, meat and eggs

More farmer's market

The boys in the park

Beautiful building on the edge of the park

In the park

Charlie playing in the park....he thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Charlie was very enamored with the large stick he found.

Tom and I walking around after a wonderful anniversary dinner at a local Polish restaurant.  We enjoyed great local specialties.

Palace of Science and Culture

We checked out the English speaking mass on Sunday

European Snow Blowing....

No snowblowers here...but an effective snow removal method!

Europe Learning #2

Somehow, Tom and I brought the Chicago winter weather with us.  The week prior to arrival in Warsaw the weather was in the 40's and this week it has been in the Teens and snowing.  But, supposedly the warm weather is coming soon.  While out and about I have been wearing my ear muffs to keep my ears nice and toasty.  And, I have noticed a lot of Polish people giving me a second look.  At first, I assumed it was simply because I am an American.  But, then I started looking for other ear muff wearers....and in my almost week here I have not found a single one!  And, the Poles really bundle up here in the weather...hats, scarfs, gloves, mittens, but...NO earmuffs!  Maybe I'll start importing them and start my own earmuff business, although by the looks I am getting I am not sure how popular it will be.  My earmuffs are keeping my ears warm and my hair looking good, so I have no plans to change my plans.  : )

As a side note, Tom and I had a low key anniversary celebration last night.  We went and picked up kebabs (or k-bobs as the Polish pronounce it) for dinner.  Kebabs are pretty much the Polish version of a gyro sandwich.  Chicken or lamb meat inside of an extra thin pita bread filled with lots of shredded cabbage (surprise surprise!).  They are really delicious and made for a nice quick dinner after a long day at work for Tom.

Europe Learning #2:  The Polsih don't wear earmuffs....or at least I haven't found the ones that do!

Step By Step...

Well, it's offically been 3 days and we are feeling more and more comfortable over here.  I feel like with each passing day we learn something new that helps us feel like we might know a little bit what about what we are doing.  It is truly an odd feeling being in a new country.  I was telling Tom that I feel like I am a little kid again that needs to learn everything...the language, the location, cultural differences (who knew you kiss someone 3 times when greeting them but only if you know them well), and more.  But, we are taking it one step at a time and each day feels like a big accomplishment with as we learn something new or venture into a new area of town. 

Today Tom and I are celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary!  Who would have thought 4 years ago that we would be living in Warsaw.  : )  To celebrate the occassion I decided I wanted to get Tom a card.  After passing a lot of various stores on walks with Charlie none of them seemed like they sold cards.  In the states, I would have turned to Walgreens or CVS, but here a drug store is literally a drug store...not much more.  So, I asked the concierge at the hotel (who thought I was looking for playing cards for a good 3 minutes).  After we got our communication straight he suggested that I walk to the mall, about 10 minutes away, and go to the stationary store.  I didn't have a chance to go there today because I was out looking at apartments with a real estate agent and it is snowing here and quite cold.  But, I wonder where else in Poland you can buy a greeting card besides a stationary store?  Who knows...we'll figure it out.  This year I'll simply tell Tom how much he means to me.  ; )

Tom has been working hard trying to get settled into the office. He definitely has his hands full trying to understand the personalities in the office, deal with the cultural differences, and clean up a bunch of administration messes.  He got his new laptop for work today and had to call the IT department in France for help...needless to say he was on the phone with them for over an hour and its still not working.  I do have to say that I am really proud of him for taking all of this in stride.  He is chipping away at it a little bit at a time and doing his best to stay calm.  Charlie and I have been walking over to his office every day at lunch time to take a quick walk together.  It is great getting to see him in the middle of the day!

Last night we met up with an International group that we found through facebook.  They hold events every week or so.  We met them for drinks at a trendy bar downtown.  We were both tired, but glad that we went.  We met a nice group of people - some International expats and some Poles who have moved to Warsaw for work.  It was a welcome relief to get some basic help on things like bank accounts with different currency and the cheapest ways to talk to family at home.  It makes it easier talking with people who have gone through the same experiences.

Tom and I are planning a low key night of celebrating our anniversary! 

We Made It!

Wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely and soundly to Warsaw!  We took the overnight flight on Sunday night and arrived on Monday afternoon.  The flight was uneventful, except for Tom and I worrying quite a bit about Charlie in the cargo area for pets under the plane.  When we picked Charlie up in the airport he was thrilled to see us and seemed to be just fine...which was a welcome relief.  We then took our 7 bags and Charlie and headed to our short term home- the Westin Warsaw.

The Westin is a great hotel and is located right downtown, only a few blocks from Tom's office (which is really convenient)!  We also were able to get an executive level room which gives us free internet, free breakfast and free cocktails from 5-7pm.  After showering and trying to unpack all of our bags in our room we took Charlie for a nice long walk around the city.  He thoroughly enjoyed all of the new sights, smells and sounds.  He was quite inquisitive.  We went against the Polsih norms and picked up his feces...although it is quite apparent that what we heard is true...the Poles don't pick up after their dogs.  : )

The Westin - Our Interim Home

Charlie checking out his Food

Charlie's New Dog Bed

Then we headed to the 19th floor for our free cocktails.  I enjoyed a glass of champagne and Tom had a glass of red wine to celebrate our arrival.  I could defintiely get use to champagne every day!  We then went out to grab dinner but had trouble finding a spot to eat since it was Valentine's Day and we did not have reservations.  Apparently, the Poles adopted Valentine's Day about 5 years ago and it has been super popular ever since.  At this point we were totally exhausted and hungry, so we headed back to the hotel and grabbed a quick bite at the hotel bar.

Charlie relaxing under the beautiful flowers that Tom brought me home from the market for Valentine's Day!

After an okay night sleep (we both woke up in the middle of the night wide awake)  Tom got ready and headed off to work.  Charlie and I slept in and then went for a walk.  When we woke up we had a quick skype session with my parents, which was great!  We later met Tom at lunch time for a quick walk which was nice. 

It feels great to finally be here and in some ways we still feel like we are in limbo until we are in a real new home (e.g. our apartment).  But, that will come soon enough.  I also feel a bit lost....as if I am in the middle of this city with no idea what is going on and where I am. I know that this will change over time as we get more and more adjusted.  Charlie and I have plans for different walks each day to start getting our bearings.

Thank you all for your emails, messages and notes of support!  It means the world to us as we undergo this transition.  Please note that my cell phone number does not work over here...so if you text me or call me on it I will not get it.  We are working on getting me a local cell phone this weekend...so stay tuned.  And, I will provide updates on the cheapest and easiest way to stay in touch.  In the interim, log on to skype so we can try and reach one another.  And, if you are a verizon customer or own an iphone you can download skype mobile/skype to your cell phone and we can talk for free!