Apartment confirmed

We have an apartment in Lublin!  Our agent has finally confirmed that we have a place.  I'm still waiting for details - like the specific address - but I'm confident this and other details will be provided shortly.

A funny side note:  We spoke via phone/skype today and tried to exchange email addresses.  I hadn't realized how hard some 'techie' words are to translate.  I spelled my name carolyn.shaw and then got to the @ sign.  She seemed a bit flustered, and then proposed that she give me her address instead.  She carefully spelled it out and then said "monkey" (!)  I quickly realized this meant @ and sent her a test message.  She replied, and we so we successfully navigated an unexpected tech hurdle..."monkey" hahaha...they didn't teach that one on Rosetta Stone!  -Carolyn

Arrival plans

I heard from our Polish hosts at UMCS (University) this week.  They are planning to meet us at the train station when we arrive in Lublin.  They have also confirmed that my boxes can be shipped to the University (yea). -Carolyn

Shipping to Poland

I'm pleased to say that our 3 boxes are finally in the mail on their way to Poland!  It has cleared up some space in the bedroom, and is a general relief (I don't have to worry anymore about what to pack and what we have room for.)  At this point if it doesn't fit our in our suitcases, its not going.  Would you believe, however, that it cost more to mail the packages from Kansas to the shipping company in Boston, than to ship them all the way from Boston to Lublin?!  Hopefully we'll see them on the other end shortly after we arrive. -Carolyn

Shipping things to Poland

We have planned all along to pack our necessities in our suitcases and ship our others things by post to Poland.  Delivery by the shipping service (by boat) takes about 4-6 weeks, so my plan has been to ship things at the end of December so they arrive in Lublin shortly after we do in January.  I've packed three midsized boxes with the things we think we will need/want and feel pretty good about what we've decided to take.  (The harsh winter weather reports across Europe in recent weeks has resulted in packing more long underwear, etc.)  I'm ready to put these boxes in the mail and cross my fingers that they arrive in tact in Lublin...EXCEPT that I don't have an address to ship them to.  We don't have an apartment yet, so I can't ship them to our residence.  I've asked to ship them to my university department, but with the arrival of the holidays, I've not received confirmation that I can ship things there either.  I think I'll ask my Polish-American friend to place another call for me to the department to let them know the boxes are on the way and to please put them aside for me...Then all I need to do is make sure the address is accurate and complete the customs declaration form.  -Carolyn

Warm greeting

I received a second email from Delaney's teacher in Poland this week (Her name is Dorota - Dorothy).  I had emailed her letting her know when we were arriving and asking if the school would be open at  that time to visit.  She replied that the school would be open, but classes not in session.  We would be welcome to visit and she would show us around.  She also provided her cell phone number and invited us to call her when we arrived so she could show us around the city and help us locate the school.

She also noted that the children in Delaney's class were eager to meet their new American friend, especially the girls since there are just 4 girls and 8 boys in the class.  She said that with the students' basic English and her rusty English (which does not appear rusty in her email) that she believed they would all be able to communicate just fine.

This email message was very welcome and the generous offer to help us settle in was greatly appreciated.   -Carolyn

Apartment hunting

Much of my preparatory energy for the past two weeks has been devoted to securing a place to live.  Our initial real estate agent has been out of touch for almost four weeks, so last week I went looking for other alternatives.  Fortunately an academic friend of mine is from Poland and offered to help.  He and I looked for places together online, then he placed a skype call to another agent and arranged for us to talk with the assistance of her English-speaking daughter.  My first skype call to Poland was successful, but the agent had not been able to get in touch with the apartment owner yet.  She requested that I call back again next week and she would keep trying to reach the owner.  I'm pretty sure we will get this apartment and it will work out ok, but things are down to the wire and I'm starting to look at hotels just in case we still don't have a place when we arrive in 30 days.   -Carolyn