Upon moving to San Jose, California, I went through a frustrating, pain-staking job hunt for marketing positions. Unfortunately, many of the opportunities didn’t appeal to me, so I turned to my back-up plan. During the summer, I had completed my TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certificate, but wasn’t certain if I truly wanted to follow through with teaching abroad. As a new and inexperienced teacher, it was a fact that I would have no other option but to teach in an obscure country in Asia or Eastern Europe. My initial attempts for a teaching job abroad were in vain, as many of the schools I interviewed with were majorly flawed in some way–whether it was a shady school director or shoddy living accommodations for teachers–none of the schools seemed like the right fit.
I was about to throw in the towel when I came across a job posting from a Polish woman named Barbara who owned a language school outside of Krakow. She offered for me to live in her two-level apartment in the center of Krakow free of charge, provided that I watch her two toddlers a couple of times a week and teach them English. The salary seemed quite decent by Polish standards, and after a successful Skype interview–I was granted the position on the spot. I booked a flight to Krakow for October 10th–three weeks after my interview.
My flight to Krakow was bearable (despite a screaming baby, and five and half hour layover in Frankfurt), and Barbara and her family picked me up from the airport. I instantly felt welcomed by the family’s incredible hospitality, as they handled my luggage for me, and reminded me I should relax because I was probably tired after such a long flight. After whizzing through the traffic in the city centre, we arrived at the apartment. Barbara promptly handed me a bowl of her delicious homemade borscht (after which this blog is named), or in Polish, barszcz. Barszcz is a common dish in Poland–it’s a beet-based soup that includes various vegetables, and sometimes pork. In fact, the vegetarian version is arguably the most healthy dish of Polish cuisine! After a nice dinner, and getting to know Barbara and her husband Andre over a glass of wine, I arranged my things in my new room, called my parents, and went to bed.
View of the neighborhood from the balcony. Across the street are some small shops.
The next day, Barbara wanted to take me to Wolbrom to see the school, called Q-edu, and meet with my colleagues to discuss the plan for the classes the following week. Quite frankly, I was still incredibly jet lagged and was in no mood to be at school with noisy children, but I complied. Fortunately, my first impression of the school was positive. I watched a class or two and I was relieved to see that the children were quite behaved and obedient. I knew that I would probably struggle in terms of explaining certain grammar rules (as I can’t explain it in Polish), but fortunately my role as a native speaking teacher is to focus on speaking, while the Polish teachers explain the English grammar. Overall, I had a strong feeling I would do well at the school, and felt a little less anxious after meeting the other teachers and seeing how the children behaved.
The weekend prior to beginning work on the 15th, I went for a walk on a trail near the neighborhood with Barbara and her kids in the morning. Her youngest son, Conrad, is absolutely adorable. He’s a very smiley, happy baby who laughs at anything and everything. Her eldest, Kacper, warmed up to me fairly quickly, (apparently more so than the Spanish girl who lived with the family before me) and already calls me “ciocia”, pronounced “cho-cha”, which means “auntie” in Polish :). During the walk, he repeated many of the words I said in English, such as “apple” or “dog”. In turn, he is teaching me a good deal of Polish vocabulary! It’s funny to think that I have a lesser vocabulary than that of a 2 and a half year old Polish child :).
Barbara’s youngest son, Conrad.
In the afternoon, I went to IKEA by myself in Krakow for an hour or so, since Barbara’s kids had fallen asleep in car when we arrived. I ate a chicken salad at the restaurant, and later Barbara and her husband Andrzej met up with my in the store to shop for furnishings for my room, which they kindly paid for. On Saturday, we went to the city centre, where I saw the famous market square of Krakow, the Kazimierz district (where the movie Schindler’s List was filmed), and other interesting landmarks. We also ate dinner at a restaurant in Kazimierz that serves traditional Polish meals. I had some kind of chicken and mushroom dish which came with a side of potatoes. The kids started getting fussy at around 9pm, so we took the tram back to the apartment.
Yummy dinner in Kazimierz.
Overall, it was a rather busy first weekend to commence my new life in Poland! 🙂 Next blog post coming soon: my first work week at Q-edu and a glimpse into my daily life in Poland!
Blackboards and Borscht 