Leaving Poland

I know, I know – you wait for ages for a blog and then two come along one after another.

Well, I wanted to round up my time in Poland by telling you about the things that I’d missed in previous blogs:

Football has continued for the past few months. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve had a really good crowd playing each week. However, we’ve managed to injure just about every player at some point – pulled muscles, aching backs, damaged knees and even stitches. I managed to damage myself by lifting both feet off the ground at the same time and landing heavily on my back. I missed the next two games due to a touch of whiplash. I’m convinced climbing is safer.

Despite all of the above though and, having always been the kid with two left feet I never thought I’d say it, but I think I’m going to miss playing football.

This was the emotional photo of the gang after the last game (violins playing in the background etc etc.)

I also had my last climbing session at the wall this week (more violins). I was joined by my climbing buddies Jon and Łucasz (who is demonstrating a rather dodgy rope technique).

I’ve been practising Polish with Mirek most weeks. He wants to learn English and is at a similar stage to me so we talk on Skype once a week or meet in the café. Mirek says something in Polish and I scratch my head and ask him to repeat it. He then says the same thing in broken English and I get the gist. I then say something in English and he asks me to repeat it so I say the same thing in broken Polish and he gets the gist. And so it goes on …

It might not sound like it, but it has been useful practice. Practice is definitely the key to learning a language and so I’ll look for a similar ‘talking partner’ as soon as I can in my next job.

I was invited out for a drink at my favourite cafe with some of his friends ...

A few weeks ago I went to Malbork castle. It’s a medieval castle, built by the Teutonic Knights, who ruled the roost round here for a long time. It’s been rebuilt where necessary and is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It’s a jolly good day out and my only regret is missing out on getting a photo of myself dressed as a knight.

Talking of UNESCO World Heritage sites, Torun’s old town is one too. Everywhere you look there is something to admire and it makes Torun a lovely place to live. It’s peaceful most of the time but the main square is really busy at the moment and just popping into town makes you feel like you’re on holiday.

Torun is full of statues ...

There's the dragon ...

The people on the walls ...

The two chaps looking at Cinema City (a bit like a Polish Laurel & Hardy I believe) ...

The dog ...

The ‘Pied Piper/Fiddler’ (who got frogs to follow him) ...

And don’t forget the donkey ...

There is also John Paul II. I am probably correct in saying that there is a statue of the Polish Pope in every city, town and many villages.

*****

I got talked into going to the Torun music school for their school fete the other day. My colleague and I taught the crowd ‘Yellow Submarine’ using pictures as an aide-memoire and then singing it together. It went well but I won’t be entering X Factor just yet. There are videos of me leading the singing but if you want to see them, it’ll cost you.

We went from that to the staff BBQ at Romek’s (the boss) forest hideaway. There was a lot of meat. In fact, a lot of everything and fun and games on the zipwire and trampoline.

Last Saturday I went to Hel and back (that's the well-worn joke in these parts). Hel is a small village on the end of a very long, thin peninsula sticking out into the Baltic Sea north of Gdansk. It's about 30 miles long but only half a mile wide (if that).

It's a very popular spot with windsurfers and kite surfers. I'd never seen so many in the same place at the same time. No idea how they avoided each other. I managed to dip my toes in the Baltic but it was freezing so I undipped them fairly quickly.

Gdansk is nearby so we dropped in to have a quick look at the famous shipyards...

*****

TEFL definitely seems to suit me. There aren’t too many jobs which allow you to pretend to be a chicken and get away with it. I’ve done a few ‘impressions’ with my beginners’ classes here and they seem to appreciate them (and even get the point!).

This is my ‘classroom’ at a Sanatorium in Ciechocinek – it’s the bar and yes, that is a wild boar on the wall.

My students here have been great fun and really hard-working. We had a group photo taken ...

and they presented me with a few gifts. This one was the most unusual that I have ever been given (thank you to all my Ciechocinek students!) ...

*****

There aren’t many things about Poland that I don’t like. I can only think of three:

Flaki (tripe). Well, I can’t really say I don’t like this as I’ve made a point of avoiding it. It’s gone out of fashion back home but it’s going strong here - you can buy Flaki in every supermarket and most cafes.

Screeching tyres – for some drivers it seems to be a matter of some pride to screech tyres at every opportunity – at corners, when pulling away and when stopping. I have heard some awful screeches and waited to hear the crash but it never comes – they were just refining their screeching technique. At times like these I’ve a good mind to jump out and give them a copy of The Highway Code, but I don’t suppose it’ll make any difference.

You can’t buy salt ‘n’ vinegar crisps. In fact, most of my Polish friends ask me why anyone would choose to eat such things. I have a theory though, that they could catch on. So, if you fancy making a bob or two and can buy in bulk ...

*****

Well, that’s about it. I can’t believe it, but I’m flying from Bydgoszcz today after almost two excellent years and will really miss Poland and all the wonderful folk I’ve met (who MUST keep in touch – you know who you are!).

My next job is in Hanoi, Vietnam. I’ve got a job with the British Council there, starting late August. It’s about 30 degrees hotter than I like it but I’ve decided it’s time I toughened up. Having mastered Polish (!!!) I am now ready for the challenge of learning Vietnamese. It uses similar characters to English, but sounds like Chinese. I’m going to have some fun, I just know it.

Some of you may remember that my original plan was to go to work in China. Well, that hasn’t happened yet, but Hanoi is in the north so I will definitely get to visit China and can then decide whether to apply for a job there one day. I’ll also be near to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand so I might have to go exploring.

Before I get there though, I’ve got a week at home and then go to Newcastle to teach English for a month on a summer school. I’ll have about ten days spare after that and then head off for two years (although I hope to get home in between).

*****

This will be the last blog that I email out to everyone I know. Please continue to follow it either by just looking at it occasionally (I’ll try to post about once a month – honest!), or by becoming a Follower.

And don’t forget to write back!

Take care,

Gra

Life since February

A few people have asked me where my blog had got to. Well, I haven't written anything since February for a few reasons:

a) I started an online course and got a bit busy
b) I ran out of ideas
c) laziness

I've got a few ideas now though, so here goes. I'll start with Saturday night...

Torun had a visit from Rod. He was only doing one night in Poland and chose the Motoarena here! It was a cracking concert with loads of the old hits + others and an amazing backing band.


Earlier that day I had visited Fort XI with a few colleagues and a local historian. Torun is surrounded by about fifteen 19th Century Prussian forts, most of which are overgrown and in ruins, but once you are inside you get a fascinating insight into the lives of the prisoners.

We were also accompanied by a British woman whose dad had been captured at Dunkerque and marched to Poland where he was detained in a few forts, including this one. He managed to escape from one of them and made his way to Gdansk and home. She was visiting all of the sites where he had been kept.

We started at a school in town where our guide, Piotr, works as a teacher and has set up a small museum packed full of artefacts from the war. We then moved on to the fort itself.


You start by nipping through a hole in the wall and then make your way down very dark tunnels.


The highlight for me though, was the graffiti that you can find on the walls of the cells. Many had written their names and regiments but there were also lots of drawings and comments of various sorts.


Last weekend I was at the Motoarena for its main purpose - Speedway. This is quite a big sport in Poland and Torun has one of the best teams so I was itching to get there before I leave. It was a great evening out (and Torun won comfortably).


Going back a few months ...

In March I had an interesting experience in the public toilets of Chelmno bus station. I had just walked there from a neighbouring town and popped in before catching my bus. In every public WC you pay an attendant who is sitting in a small booth at the entrance. They rarely even look at you but this chap gave me a personal service - he came and showed me the toilets and opened a door for me, showed me how to switch on the taps and how to use the electric hand drier as well as offering me a towel. We got chatting - now that I have made a Great Leap Forward and can string as few sentences together I'm keen to practise on any poor soul who will listen. Heinrich (I think that's his name) is 80 and a very friendly soul indeed. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes I told him what I'm doing in Poland and he showed me pictures of his family. I even managed to say he looked very young which made his day. I received several hugs before leaving and think I made a friend for life.

Now, having lived on an island all of my life I'm rather used to my borders being fixed but this hasn't been the case with Poland over the years. Or for some of its neighbours either, Lithuania being one such example.

I knew as little about Lithuania & Latvia before I left as I did about Ukraine. Well, I knew they almost always beat us at Eurovision, but that was about it. I decided it was time to pay a visit and this time I was joined by my good buddy David.

We started in Vilnuis, which is absolutely full of beautiful buildings.



The building above is called the Gate of Dawn. After a while I noticed that lots of people passed through the arch, turned, and then crossed themselves. Some nuns passed through and looked up at it for ages. Inside there is a gold statue of Mary and it is credited with miraculous powers by many Catholics.




















We managed to find a few nice spots for a beer or a coffee - sightseeing's tough work y'know. We also decided to try an 'authentic' Lithuanian restaurant. David's a bit more adventurous than me so he ordered the local delicacy - pig's ears - as a starter. Words cannot express how pleased I was when we realised that the waitress had mixed up the order and they never arrived. I would have had to try one if they had turned up.

After a couple of days we moved on to Riga, which has its own statue of liberty...


A tower very similar to one in Warsaw ('Stalin's Birthday Cake') ...



















and interesting side streets + its own range of interesting buildings...







OK, I haven't finished, but I'll stop there as my typing fingers hurt (index finger on each hand).
I've still got a trip to Malbork Castle to mention as well as more about life in Torun and a bit about where I'm off to next as I think that's sorted now. The next thrilling instalment of this blog will be out before the end of the month (I hope).

A short trip to Ukraine

OK, here's a challenge for you - state five facts about Ukraine ...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
OK, time's up.
If you're anything like me your line of thinking went something like this:

Hmmm, now let me see ...
1. It used to be part of the USSR. Correct; 1 point
2. Its capital is Kiev, which is also the name of a rather tasty chicken dish. Also correct, but you don't get a point for naming Chicken Kiev.
3. There was a nuclear power disaster in Chernobyl about 20 years ago. You're doing well - it was in 1986. 3 points so far.
4. The currency is errrr .... OK, the President, no, the Prime Minister (actually, they have both) is called Shevchanko, Yushchoerko? Oh, I don't know.
5. There's a Premiership footballer, I'm sure of it. Maybe he's called Shevchanko?
OK, I give up.
Score: 3 out of 5. Could do better.

Reasoning that I live relatively close to Ukraine, and I wouldn't get a better chance, I decided to pop in for a few days.

Lviv is the first place across the border that I'd heard of so I went there. It's logo had been carved in ice and was displayed in the square. It was cold enough for an ice sculpture to remain solid but I was spared the -15C of last winter thankfully.













Let me provide you with some information:

• Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe, after the European part of Russia.
• The currency is the Hryvnia. There are currently about 12.5 to the pound.
  
• The current President is Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister is Mikola Azarov. Ukranian politics is full of drama - the Orange Revolution in 2004/2005 was a massive but peaceful series of demonstrations in protest at alleged vote-rigging in the Presential elections. The eventual winner, Viktor Yushchenko, was poisoned in an alleged assassination attempt and suffered serious disfigurement.He's on the mend apparently.
  
• Another famous event in Ukranian history is the Crimean War in which Florence Nightingale set up her field hospital and the Light Brigade made its charge. I had planned to go to the Crimean peninsula but it's a long way and time was pressing.
  
• The footballer Andriy Shevchenko, who previously played for Chelsea, is probably Ukraine's most well-known player. Sergey Bubka, the pole vaulter, is often named as the world's greatest athlete and has held the pole-vault world record for ages.

*****

Crossing the border was slow but we were at least spared the hassle of having to get off the bus in the middle of the night - a border guard got on the bus and collected all the passports and returned them all about half an hour later. We drove about 100 yards and a customs official (wearing a very impressive Soviet-style military hat) got on the bus and went through the whole process again. She asked me a question when she took my passport. I had no idea what she had asked so I guessed it was 'Where are you going?' and replied 'Lviv'. She was happy with that. Seemed obvious, as that was where the bus was going ...

Lviv is a lovely place and there's plenty to see.

















I came across a few interesting sights. There was a rally going on in the centre as I was passing. I never did find out what was going on though.

I also spotted these two littluns in national dress, being followed by a crowd of cheering teenagers. They were being filmed so I took a picture and kept out of the way.



I stayed in the 'Old Soviet Home' hostel. It had some character, with posters from the cold war on the wall and lots of memorabilia.


Lviv city centre is full of the same shops that you would find anywhere else (McDs, Adidas etc) but in one small grocers I was amazed to see the woman total up my bill using an abacus. You don't see that too often these days.

I was advised to visit Kryjivka for a meal. It's a themed restaurant dedicated to the memory of the Ukranian Insurgent Army who fought against the Nazis, Poles and Soviets from 1943 - 1949.


You're greeted at the door by a uniformed guard (who looked an awful lot like Fidel Castro if you ask me) who says 'Slava Ukraini' (Glory to Ukraine) and you are supposed to respond 'Geroyam Slava' (Glory to its heroes). He then lets you in and pours you a shot of vodka which you are expected to down in one (I did).

The local buses (marshrutka) were an experience. You pay a flat rate of 2 hryvnia to go anywhere. They get very crowded, so if you get on at the back the money is simply passed forward by the passengers. I can't see that working in Britain somehow. You might get a ticket, but not always. Saves a fortune on inspectors: Have you paid? Yes. Have you paid? Yes...














I finished my trip with a visit to the Opera house for a performance of La Traviata (in Italian with Ukranian subtitles!). OK, so I didn't understand everything that was going on, but I bought a programme so I got the gist. The singing was beautiful.
















Now I'm back 'home' in Torun I can turn my thoughts to normal life again. I have another week off but will be focusing on an online TEFL course, organised by International House, that will keep me busy for the next six months. The course participants are spread over four continents, so I don't think we'll be meeting for coffee in a hurry.

We've started 5-a-side football at work and, surprisingly, I find I rather enjoy it and even look forward to the next game. I never thought that would happen. That said, I can't wait to get out paddling (kayaking) again and have some ideas for walks in the area too. Skiing locally has had it as it's warmed up a lot.

My next trip will be to Lithuania & Latvia at Easter but I'm sure I'll manage another blog before then.

All the best to y'all!