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I've come to the conclusion that travelling is honestly like having a colouring book and filling in all the pictures. Before I had left New Zealand I had all these different expectations and visions of what each of the cities would be like (so the pictures were metaphorically black and white)- but then as we ticked each one off I left with hundreds of different memories, we were colouring in each of the places. I hope this makes sense because in my mind this is exactly how it felt!
Poland is still really great. We have started to settle down a bit now thank goodness because I could tell I was getting ill from all the madness! Classes have started - they are very different from Otago. I usually have about eight people in my class and our grades are based mostly on class participation (turning up and talking a lot - you also get marked down for absences) and then maybe either a presentation or a final exam (apparently final exams are pretty easy though). This probably sounds really easy for most people but I'm a shy geal and more of a writer than a talker :)) But it's ok - I think I'm going to learn a looooot!
My classes are:
- Polish for foreigners
- China's Energy Geopolitics
- Organised Crime and Terrorism
- Colour Revolutions and the Arab Spring
- European Union Common Policies
- Polish Foreign Policy
- Poland in the European Union
- Solving the unsolvable problem of the U.S and Middle East
We also went to a really cool club on Wednesday! It's called Park Klub or something and you pay 10pln (about $3.50) for entry and get unlimited beer! I hate beer, so I paid an extra 30c to get a few shots of cranberry juice to sweeten it out. It's a really fun place because obviously everyone is over the moon that they get unlimited beer - but it also has a big dance floor, huge bar (of course) and lots of seating area both inside and outside! They do the same deal every week so I can imagine we'll be there every Wednesday! Loads of people have classes at 8am on Thursday - I swear the school did that on purpose.
On Monday we went to this restaurant - please don't ask for the name because it's a crazy polish word - but they have a great deal each week where you get a HUGE schnitzel, plate of fries, and plate of cabbage for about $6.50 - Matt got the schnitzel, I ate the fries and cabbage :) In fact I think I ate almost everyone's fries and cabbage. Cheapest meal for me ever haha! You also get a litre of beer for a super cheap price.
Actually we also went to a cool restaurant on Wednesday night too. It's called Jeff's and is American style. The guys obviously all got gigantic burgers with fries but I got the yummiest salad EVER. It was honestly a never-ending bowl and it had lots of feta cheese and noooomm (please don't think I'm a freak for getting so excited over leaves). We also had cheeky margaritassssssssss! Because this country is so bloody cheap.
Homesickness has started to hit me now. It's really weird because I remember when we had the pre-departure seminars at Otago and they warned us about feeling lost or confused etc. I also remember thinking nahhh that won't happen to me! I can't wait to travel - I've lived in another country before, plus I'll have Matt with me. Ohhh I was wrong! It's only just started to hit me - I assume because we've slowed down massively in comparison to the past few weeks and ouch. I cry very randomly and even though I'm having so much fun and happy to meet so many new people - I still get random moments where I feel so lonely and confused! It's strange that I feel lonely sometimes given that I'm living in a room with like 500 other people and also share a room (for the first time in my life).
So yeah, it's hard to explain and it's VERY confusing for me. It's also very hard that I have SO many spare hours in the day! I just don't know what to do with myself. In Dunedin I'm always so busy whether it's finishing assignments, going to work or doing school runs. When we were travelling we had some time where we would lie around and do nothing, but they were still quite rare and there was always so much to see. Here I sometimes have like eight hours during the day spare, and yes, yes I know I could use that time to explore Warsaw but there's only so much exploring you can do in one city!
I also think it has a lot to do with the fact that this is my first time ever living away from home and I just have no idea what is 'normal'. At home it doesn't matter what I'm doing, I still feel kind of sociable because I'll be sitting in a room with at least three other people (beauty of having a big family!). Or even if I'm sitting in my room having a Gossip Girl marathon I still usually have my door wide open and can hear everyone running around. Right now I feel like just having a lazy day watching a hundred movies under my duvet but I'm worried that's a sign of depression haha. I just really don't know what is normal and what is weird.
I hope this entry doesn't seem too depressing. I promise you all I am STILL having the time of my life and still love these new experiences! But I also wanted to share some of the darker moments and realise that it's actually ok to feel a bit sad even when you're supposed to be having the time of your life. I'm so grateful to have Matthew with me because otherwise I'd probably feel 4093849032832908 x more homesick, phew!
Hope everyone is behaving at home!! I am hearing all about your lovely weather - don't rub it in please ;)
Miss you all like MAAAAAAAAAAAADNESS! Every single one of you.
P.s. I also booked flights back to the U.K. for 18th December - 3rd January. Crazyyy! I haven't been back since I left!
P.p.s picture attached is of my school :)
- comments
Mum Finally catching up with your blog missy! It's good you had some pre-warning of the shocks of being away from home, so that at least you recognise things are happening and can address them. We're still missing you like mad - it's only just hitting us too that life is irrevocably changing. Make sure you work hard, and just keep your head down - the time will fly by - take every opportunity you can to experience all you can so that when you come home you will have a wealth of memories that you can take forward with you. Love you sweetheart and miss you more than you can imagine. Mum xxxx