Gutting Your Instinct

Poland - Week one - Gutting Your Instincts


Here's a bit of a summary of the going-ons in Poland.  An account of some of the more significant (or is that insignificant?) happenings.

At noon on Monday I met with Karol, a young man who placed an advertisement for a writer which I responded to back home before I left for Poland.  He spoke very good English and it was the longest conversation I've had since arriving in Warsaw.  Turns out the job is writing for a business magazine writing articles about trade fairs, events and conventions for various industries and it's something I can do from home.  

Home.

Something I need to find is a more permanent place to live.  At the weekend I created an advertisement on Polish gumtree and by Sunday afternoon about 6 people had already responded.  One such respondent was Julia.  Julia is a young student with a rural, Polish upbringing moving to Warsaw to live and study.  She had found an apartment to rent which she was to move in to and we made arrangements to meet.  I greeted Julia and her parents at the newest up-market shopping centre called Arkadia in Warsaw and they kindly drove us a short distance to the apartment.  

Earlier that day when I was thinking about getting in a car with people I haven't met previously in a country where I am travelling alone, I wondered if it was the right thing to do.  I resolved within myself that should anything feel not quite right then I would simply trust my gut instinct and leave the situation.  Simple.  I knew I would know what kind of people they are once we met.  There is a lot to be said about first impressions.  Frankly my first impressions were they seemed a lovely, humble, respectable middle-class family.

Karol too seemed like an honest and genuine person and went out of his way on his lunch break to help me open a bank account in Poland.   

It's true what they say about Polish people.  They are helpful and welcoming.

Tuesday I visited another flat, sharing with 2 others.  The place was a little shabby.  Shabby I can handle, unclean I can not.  Whilst I was visiting this particular flat I overheard "The Final Countdown" on the radio in the background.  Last year towards Christmas time this was an anthem I sang around the office as we moved toward winding up the project we'd been working on.   I printed off the lyrics, palming them off as a Christmas carol and left copies on my colleagues' desks.  In the week before Christmas we were all quite relieved to see the back of that project and as we played and sang 'it's the final count down!' over and over it became more of a 'glad this is over, can't wait to get out of here' theme.  When I heard that song being played in this flat, well, the dreaded memories of desperately waiting to finish that project came back to me.  I took it as a sign to not accept the flat.  

Wednesday a job interview plus an invitation to another interview with a different school in a little town south of Warsaw.

Thursday, a bus ticket to Tarnobrzeg for the interview on Monday and an overwhelmed feeling at the mountain of bureaucracy and paper work in Polish that awaits me in order to get a work permit.  
 - Will the school help me?  
 - Will my landlord help me?  
 - How can I deal with this bureaucracy without knowing any Polish?  The uncertainty of it is tiresome at times if you think about it.  The lesson here is don't think about it and it's not a problem!   

Also on Thursday, lunch with a cool chick from Brisbane, who coincidentally arrived and posted on her Facebook something about Warsaw at exactly the same time as I did.  We are both vegetarians and she showed me a few cool cafes, vegetarian restaurants and as we strolled around we stumbled upon an organic health food shop.  Thanks to DMac for introducing us, who I believe is off on his own European hand-gliding adventure soon.  I also saw the changing of the guards at The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.  That was somewhat special.

Friday, dropped my CV off at another English school, photocopied my certificates, qualifications and reference letter and printed my bus ticket for Monday.  I also mistakenly bought a 2x pack of paper towels thinking it was toilet paper, such is the language barrier.  It was placed next to tissues and other items associated with a toilet so I made an assumption.  Nevertheless it is quite soft and frankly I don't think my bum will notice the difference.

One of the better pieces of advice I was given specifically regarding travel is "trust your gut feeling".  This is sound advice to live by regardless of where one might be however when you are in unfamiliar territory sometimes it's the only thing that can provide guidance. This week I thrust myself well and truly out of the comfort zone into the unknown.  Albeit with an iPhone, an internet connection and Google Translate but regardless of that, I believe that common sense and tuning in to one's own feeling of what is right can guide anyone into the right circumstance or situation when you know what it is you want.  This morning I wanted toilet paper.  In retrospect it's not exactly what I was looking for but it's soft and strong and does the same job!