Scottish Bob in Polska

An update of the past two years in mini form

My, where to start?, I really don’t know how to begin. Guess I should just allow for a stream of consciousness. So it has been roughly two years since we last spoke to each other, you were leaving Krakow, and I was about to go through on of the strangest experiences of my life, that is to say, dealing with the Polish police force. To cut a long story very short, my hotel room was broken into in Wroclaw and I lost everything, my phone, money, Blah blah. However the 8 hours spent in the Police station will live with me for a long time. I spent the afternoon, drinking vodka, playing with guns and in the pursuit of purely male pleasures!?!. Don't ask. I never was one of the boys, in fact it was quite the eye opener, I realize that I was not missing that much while growing up and being excluded from the football team. Anyway I eventually left Wroclaw, for a train journey that had it all, fighting in the aisle, arrests and excessive drinking, none of which involved me, I was only an innocent bystander in this affair. So this was just one weekend, I had a great first year in Kielce, but that was it, it’s never the same the second time round.
In my second year I was given a large amount of hours at my school, it was building quite a reputationin Kielce for good standards, and thus I had a full timetable. The only annoying thing with this is that you never get as chance to develop or prepare any extra material, also my social life suffered, firstly because of a lot of work, but also because all my friends pared up, and they never went out. Couples night is really dull if you are single, and also I could never cope with going to Tesco on a Sunday at a set time, you know the things couples do. So I drifted apart from the friends I had made the year before, but was unable to make new ones because I was always working. I have to admit the second year was dull, only interspersed with friends coming over and family to brighten the year. I must admit it got me thinking about things, oh! And I tried to find my inner child and bought a playstation. This lasted about 3 mins as I realized I am in my 30’s. It has doubled up as a great DVD player on the plus side.

So to this year, why did I stay, well I signed a contract in a weak moment, also I knew that it was a good deal. I had been down to Krakow once a month over the last year, and although it is a great place, with the opening of all these budget airlines the atmosphere has changed considerably. It is almost impossible not to hear an English accent every 30 seconds, even in the off season. Also I spent the summer there, and the stag parties and drunken tourists really made it horrible, I remember witnessing a stag night in which all the party was dressed only in leather pants and cowboy waistcoats. They had to call the police to evict them from this restaurant, and they did not go quietly. I have also seen a battle between lads from Liverpool and Newcastle on Grodzka (excuse the spelling). Krakow just looked like any other UK city on a Friday night; I hardly met any Polish people the whole summer, which was sad. I went down last week, and I was reading in the paper, in my pigeon Polish that the city is fed up with stags and drunken tourists, Taxi drivers gave accounts of beatings, bar owners telling, and I had to check this in the dictionary:-), of groups of English lads indulging in masturbation competitions at the bar. It makes me ashamed of how some people act.

Also ther seemed to be an unhealthy price war for native speakers, I gathered that some are charging 20 an hour for private lessons, or so I heard from the few people I met down there. Also work was scarce, with only a few hours going in selected schools. So there was no loyalty, with bosses being scrupulous and not paying, or sacking for trivial matters. Now I know this can be applied to many schools, nevertheless, it seemed that I was hearing as many bad stories as I was good stories. I guess you probably already know all this. So my decision was to stay put,
I bought myself a computer and by December of last year managed to convince the owner of my flat to sign the deeds on TP Neostrada, at last I was connected. It has helped with home preparation, but I have yet again taken on too many hours, now although I am getting the financial reward, it means I give such a poor lesson. I almost feel a photocopy of a photocopy etc…

As an aside I am also bogged down with my new taxation requirements, it appears that I must submit an authors profile; it constitutes a complete run down of each level, of each year you teach so you can be eligible for a specific tax bracket. Also it has to be in Polish. This is tough. As an incentive the boss of my school decided to withhold my wages until I submit this information. I teach a lawyer, and after close examination of my contract, it appears my boss is perfectly within his rights. So I am screwed, for this month he acquiesced and paid me, though I am expecting a similar battle for this month’s money.

I have had some great experiences, and I will look back very fondly on my time in Poland, but this must be my last year here. I miss choice and availability, I miss Scottish cheddar, and I miss sandwiches in triangles. But the Britain I left has changed. When I went back at Christmas, I was astounded at how many Polish people there were, even how many Polish food shops there were. Everywhere I went people were speaking in Polish. I was in a changing room in a shop and all the other cubicles were filled with Polish people. I am a little worried about a return to the UK. What job would I do, at 32 I would have to move in with my folks again, and they don’t live in a big town, they live miles from anywhere, all this to consider. I do know one thing; I need a break from teaching.

Bobus

posted by Bob @ 4:35 PM