Friday was fun - after work Tim, Rachael, Ana, Leo and I went to Hungaria for dinner. It's one of your typical more local-type meal restaurants, which basically means there were about 5 dishes that were Nat_ok - I eventually plumped for dumplings (the gnocchi variety) with tomato sauce and a pickled salad - which after a week of yet more soup and egg-mayo on toast sank to the bottom of my stomach straight away and stayed there, being very leaden, although it did taste good. So a quick perambulation around half of town to find a bar that could seat 8 of us (we gathered up Dave, Carla and Kristy and Michal at Pod Aniolem) really helped. Eventually we ended up in the Leaning Tower, where I hadn't been before. It's quite a strange sensation, as the tower leans over at quite a disturbing angle, however the floors are in straight, yet all the pictures and such on the wall, and the windows, are still at the leaning angle. So you're feeling a little disorientated even before you've had any Zubrowky - and then you have to get down the stairs again - and let's not even mention the crisps (bacon or paprika - what was the difference? Ugh.) Some of us went on to Art Cafe afterwards and had a bit of a dance, people melting away bit by bit. I think Carla and I came back just after 3am. And then I decided it would be a good idea to jump online. Of course I caught a lot of people I knew, which was nice, but I stayed on for far too long, which resulted in a small moment of panic at around 5am.

I therefore didn't come round on Staurday until verging on noon and didn't feel like moving for a long time after that. I eventually surfaced, showered the general clinging sense of smoke out of my hair, went down town and picked up my photos - they came out really well, which I'm pleased about, and I also splurged out on a copy of the Economist, as it had a survey of Poland, and I thought it was about time I found out a little something about the general state of this country which I've moved to. When I got back to the flat, I couldn't open the door, and sat wrestling with the key in the lock for about 10 minutes, getting strange looks from little old ladies going into next door, and even giving up and ringing the bell but getting no answer. I found out why when I got in to find Kristy fast asleep in the lounge with the TV on full blast. I snoozed for a bit until Carla got round, and we all vegged in front of Travel TV for a while before Carla and I went into town and had dinner at "Alladyn" - FALAFEL!!! - Or, well, something similar, and even with ersatz hummus on top. As Kristy had said to us the night before, it all seemed pretty chickpea free, but they were fresh-fried and tasted good, as did the breaded cauliflower on the side. Yum, yum. I'll be back there again. We then had a quick drink (Zubrowka and apple juice, what else?) in Dwa Pokoje, fast becoming my favourite bar in Torun, it's got a lovely, relaxing, and above all quiet atmosphere where you can hear yourself think, and carry on a conversation. And then we popped next door to get our Johnny Depp fix and see Blow. It was a good film, ultimately it got a bit boring towards the end, it was like, 'all right, he's going to get caught, get a move on and stop getting sentimental.' Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that he just wasn't looking so sexy when they made him look older. Or perhaps both.

I got up this morning, turned on the computer to hear some music, and got a message that the clocks had gone back. Hurrah! I thought, and vegged out for a while, before getting up and discovering Mark had called the night before, which was surprising more than anything. I went into town just after midday (score 10 points for meeting a student in town - that's a measly 30 points this week, but I feel that catching Maciej on Wednesday morning when he blatantly should have been in school should score triple... even though he probably had a free period and a perfect right to be in town anyway, but I give myself 20 points for managing to sneak up and scare him, and I should probably award myself extra for trying out the 'tap on one shoulder, move to the other side, confuse your victim' and getting it to work! I must write up a score sheet.)

Anyway. I headed for Jackpot and Cottonfield, where I tried on half the contents of the shop for about 3/4 of an hour, much to the shop assistants' disgust, before eventually buying 5 new things. Except the machine wouldn't accept my Visa Card. Nor my Mastercard. So I had to run down the road to the bank and get out 500zl, which covered it. So I have new dark blue flares - they feel like jeans but look smarter - a dark purple thin pullover, a strange, cream-khaki-coloured knee-length skirt, made out of that sort of material they make combats out of, a thicker, stripier, colourful jumper - all reds and pinks and purples and creams, and a pink pashmina type thing, which is like my navy one only pink. (I think I now have a scarf with me for every day of the week. Only three hats though - next project!) They were all sales items, except for the trousers, and even they had 20% off. So all that just came to 439.95zl. I feel like such a shopper! Yay! And then I came home, cooked lunch - pasta and 'pikantny' ragu sauce - a little bit of chilli, and lots of whole peppercorns. It felt so good to have something peppery and hot! I then spent the rest of the afternoon vegging out in front of Eurosport - some fencing, and then Tim Henman winning a tennis title (gosh!) - and read The Economist. Kristy was banging around, and I've just discovered she's cleaned up the kitchen. Wow! I've now given up channel-hopping as there's nothing on and I've resorted to reading German teletext. But at least I've found out where the Teletext-TV Guide is now, and have already ascertained that there are zero good films on on All Saints Day. Oh well. Looks like I'll be visiting cemeteries after all.

* posted by nat 9:02 PM

Tuesday, October 23, 2001

I have little white bits in my hair from the last visit to the supermarket. And I don't know what the builders are doing, but it smells foul. Hmmm... Ugh. Ran into work as storm clouds appear to be gathering, and it has got a lot colder all of a sudden.

I've finished all the Philip Pullman books that the house sent me for my birthday, and ploughed through Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh, which was a quick read, mildly satisfying, broken up late last night by the fact a small movement out of the corner of my eye led me to notice a cockroach marching over my bedcovers. I screamed, chased it down onto the floor and dropped my dictionary on it. Useful tome, that. And I don't even eat anything in my room. what the heck was it doing in there? What can't it stay in the kitchen with all the rest of them? Bleh!

Anyway... I have to go back to the British Council and get some more books now. Especially ones on tape. And possibly get round to buying a stereo at some point too. Hmm. So much to do, so little money. I made the mistake of vaguely converting into Czech crowns today by multipying everything by 10, and came away from the supermarket appalled. I hadn't thought of it like that before. I'd better go and check with a few other things, but right now everything seems horrifically expensive on Czech-Polish terms. I must be doing something wrong. I'd better check the exchange rates.

I RPed yesterday, for the first time in almost a month. Woo! I felt a little rusty, but it was good to get out and about again. So much catching up to do...

* posted by nat 11:06 AM

Monday, October 22, 2001

On Sunday the sun was shining so I took my camera for a walk down around town, along the walls, and even over the bridge across the river, which was a little nerve-racking given it was rather windy and all the traffic on the bridge made it a bit of a wobbly walk. And a long one too. Ugh. Anyway, I managed to take a whole roll of film - call it over-excitement. Sunday was the day I also unpacked finally! Woo! After being here about a month I've finally got everything out of my suitcase... it took me long enough. Anyway I've turned my suitcase into an extra table and I'm just trying to work out how not to let it sag in the middle and then I'll be well away!

I continue to be slightly bemused by the builders working on the block of flats across the road from the flat. At first I thought they were painting it but on closer inspection ( a trip to the supermarket behind said flats from which I returned with lots of little white bits in my hair) they appear to be sticking large blocks of polystyrene onto the outside of the building, cementing over that and then painting on top of that. Which will be fine, I suppose, until the polystyrene falls off again. In the meantime the whole area around looks like there's been a small amount of snow recently, and it's all got dirty and collected in to little corners. Very fetching.

* posted by nat 2:33 PM

Friday, October 19, 2001

Fazit: It is rather difficult to write your Polish homework without the aid of a dictionary, as I have just discovered this morning! Hmmm... Asia from PFCE4 has just come in to the computer room, so I'm wondering whether to pick her brains, though I don't think it would set a very good example to point out that with 15 minutes to go, her teacher has failed to do her homework for her own class! Hmmm... The most frustrating thing is that I have lots of ideas about what to write and I know I could communicate them - but I can't write a single word down without looking it up in a dictionary, half the case endings are differecnt - heck, all the spelling is different! Oh well...

And I'd just like to point out, very belatedly, that Bert IS evil

* posted by nat 10:59 AM

Thursday, October 18, 2001

Shattered... everyone seems to be so boisterous today, Thursday always seems so long even though I actually get out at 7:10; much earlier than on other days! Maybe it's just the winding down to the weekend, or something like that. Thursday's the day at which it's actually in sight! And tomorrow's Polish class and I haven't done my homework... ah well there's always the morning!

Sometime I feel like things are going better, sometimes I think like things are going worse. At any rate, I'm feeling more settled - I don't have something approaching a panic attack each time I have to go into a lesson, not even to PFCE1 any more; it's fine. Now all I have to work out is how to eat properly and things will be fine. Cup a soup as the main meal of the day somehow isn't vitalising enough! Pasta with a stir-in sauce is about the highest level of culinary skills I've got to, although maybe making a nice big mixed salad comes even higher up the list than that. My downfall is definitely jaffa cakes (they're called Delicije here, but there's no disguising it; they're jaffa cakes) and 3-Bit chocolate bars, which I haven't seen for ages, not since Katka and I came across people giving them out in Tesco's in Prague, went running round the shop to get another sample, then went over to the cinema, told Danka and Indian about them, then /they/ went running off to Tesco's to get their own before the film began! And they're good biscuits, too. Well worth all that effort!

* posted by nat 6:39 PM

Sunday, October 14, 2001

Internet connection in the flat now installed, and even works, first person I saw on was Jon "Oh God you'll never leave the flat, don't forget to go to work will you". I spent Saturday in a panic when my computer decided not to shut down properly and then not to start up again, but today it seems to have got over its hissy fit and is ok again. Saturday was also teacher training day (ideas to steal shamelessly) followed by a party (at which I got very very drunk and stupidly had a cigarette. Ugh.) So I have spent all of today curled up on the sofa feeling not very good and resisting the urge to go to the corner shop, as well as picking up the phone and making lots of long distance phone calls. I drank chocolate soya milk instead which wasn't really much of a compensation, and wrote lots of letters, which was, and then wrote lots of long emails. I wish Mark would get around to calling me, he keeps saying he will and of course he doesn't, and I don't want to phone him (well I do, but I don't...), and I shouldn't really still be moping around by the phone wanting him to call when it's more than a month since we split up, but I am. Le sigh. Men. Gah!

Email from El to say she's reached Japan safely, hurrah! I think I shall go online now and poke around and see who's on PernMUSH.

* posted by nat 8:43 PM

Thursday, October 11, 2001

Argh! I'm going to kill my PFCE1 class. We must have lost about 15 minutes time today due to inane giggling. Not *my* problem, of course, but thank goodness Malcolm came in and observed at a time when they were being relatively co-operative and actually doing something. I have no idea what I'm going to do with that class. WE had a meeting today involved around making "Think Ahead" (their coursebook which is boooring) more intersting and it basically was thinking of ways to make it more fun. I could do that with my PFCE4s, cos they're good, and funny without being silly (and full of cute under-18 year old boys which always makes life better!) but with this lot nothing'd ever happen. Ugh. Then I decided to rejig my Intermediate lesson - halfway through teaching it, so the end was a bit disjointed, but never mind, better that than starting something huge and running out of time...

Teaching on days whenever PFCE1 are involved feels like the day from hell - and twice as long as the others. And I can't believe it's Thursday already! Last night half of us went out to the "new Italian" and for the first time in Poland I had something other than pizza when I went out - veggie lasagne! Then we went to Pod Aniolem, converted Carla to the Zubrowka-and-apple-juice-sensation, and got home about half past midnight. So I wasn't too excited about getting up this morning, and I was pretty hacked off all day. Oh well! Tomorrow is Friday and all the cool groups - plus more importantly the weekend is coming, I'm hopefully getting a net connection to the flat, Teacher Training doesn't start till 1pm - and it starts with lunch - how civilised - and finishes up with a slightly less civilised party with endless free beer, or at least that is what we are promised. Definitely schools that know how to look after their teachers. Now if only they'd take PFCE1 away from me I'd feel much better!

I'd also feel better if I hadn't seen the posters in town advertising Jarek Nohavica giving a concert at Dwor Artusa* next Tusday. At 7pm. When I have to teach until 9pm. Grrrrrrr. I'm not sure whether to pretend to myself that it's sold out already, or whether to actually go and ask and make myself feel even worse if it isn't. Gaaaah! I'm going to go home and make dinner and read Philip Pullman books and watch BBC World and probably sulk.

*Arthur's Court. I haven't been in it yet to find out if it has a Round Table or not.

* posted by nat 6:34 PM

Monday, October 08, 2001

Friday was my birthday and I got flowers and a little bottle of Zubrowka (woo!) from the school. My I3 group also bought me a rose and sang me happy birthday! I couldn't believe it! We went out for a pizza afterwards and then went to Dwa Pokoje and drank lots of Zubrowka and apple juice and chatted away till about 2am. So up late on Saturday, went to Geant and did a pile of shopping (I have real towels now, hurrah!), and then later on met up with Dave and walked over to Ana, Leo and Paul's to watch the England football match, it was a delayed showing on Polish TV. Much groaning and arghing, then, as we had to sit through that and complete disbelief at the celebrations surrounding the result of a 2-2 draw - until we checked Teletext and discovered that the Germans had drawn as well. Then Dave, Paul and I went into town and had a drink, they went on after that but I went home. Sunday was get up nice and slow and then take the bus out to a kind of park where there was a football pitch (complete with not much grass and a few muddy swaps in the middle of it), where "Torun Hotspurs" beat the Art Cafe 3-1, it was quite amusing, but not really describable...
So we went for a drink in town and then in the evening went to Tim's place for a curry. Curry! Yum! So we all got to meet Carla, who arrived yesterday, and much curry was eaten and much alcohol was consumed, I started trying to read "The Little Prince" in Polish, doing very badly, and Tim donated Kristy and me a blender. Hurrah! Kristy admitted she had a crush on Dave, I admitted it was obvious, and then I admitted I had a crush on Leo. But I think that's easing off now. I'm just feeling all reboundish at the moment...

And now I'm back in school for another week, having spent the morning waiting for the washing machine to finish spinning, and now it's almost 3pm. And I teach at 7:30pm, so I'd better get going!

* posted by nat 1:52 PM

Thursday, October 04, 2001

And now I've done some 'real' lessons not just "Hey, what's your name and where d'you come from?"...

I'm finding the more advanced students more difficult. Firstly because they all seem to be chronically tired, and secondly because the coursebook is CRAP! Think Ahead to FCE... there's just not much thinking in it at all... staff meeting tomorrow though - and my birthday, to boot - so maybe we can bring stuff like that up then. Anyhow my other groups are fun and lovely. Thursday is the only night I finish at any reasonable time though (ie. 7:30pm... so now, I'm out of here!)

My datestamp is still working on London time. I'll have to change that.

* posted by nat 6:52 PM

Tuesday, October 02, 2001

I had my first lesson yesterday! Only the one on a Monday; three to do today... It went all right although the students weren't hugely forthcoming - I think they were just tired - things degenerated into a bit of a random chat, and I think I was expecting htem to be able to come up with a few more ideas than kids who've been at school all day and who, by 7:30pm at night, are absolutely knackered. And so was I! that said, though, things went all right, and now I'm busy trying to plan for this afternoon and tomorrow...

The pipe under our sink came apart a couple of days ago and Kristy forgot this morning and did a whole pile of washing-up and thus flooded the kitchen! Mr. Geezer came round to sort things out though, and even mopped up a little for us! So now I know Polish for "plumber" and "swimming pool". Essential vocabulary!

* posted by nat 12:01 PM