Time in Krakow rushes by like it's on amphetamines... it's hard to believe that I've already been here for a month. But the big picture eludes me.Does it feel like home? Will it ever?
Having a network is not the same as belonging, as I'm finding out. It doesn't help that the nine hour work days and my attempts to go to as many activities possible - or an inability to say no to said activities - have meant that I've fallen asleep in front of BBC World News more times than I would like.
There have been some ups - Polish style barbecues, impromptu concerts, fireworks festivals....and some downs - a full train to Gdansk (meaning I can't go on my long weekend coming up), a language even some Poles tell me not to bother with, and that fact that I've somehow managed not to travel at all during my time here. Luckily I can work around most of those. Case in point: this week I had my first Polish language lesson - with a woman who doesn't speak English, a blessing in disguise for me because my native tongue is like a crutch around here. I feel like one of my former Thai students, only with a slightly less sponge-like brain.
Time in Krakow always seems to move too fast or too slow. I can only hope the saying is true that an ounce of patience is worth more than a pound of brains...
1 comment:
I'll give you my take on the situation, as I always do.
From my observations and my own experiences, I can say that the first couple of weeks in a new place is pretty amazing, everything is cool and you feel great. After number of weeks, 2 - 3 or so, you start to get tired of it because you start to notice the little things that you miss about home or that aren't as convenient as they were back home.
Now I haven't done a full traineeship, i've only done a few weeks working abroad, but from what I've observed of others being abroad, it seems that the "low" period only lasts a few weeks to a month or so, depending on how open to change you REALLY are. After a couple of months, it seems that people begin to feel as if the new country is their home, and then it gets that much easier, and leaving that much harder.
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