Category Archives: Everyday Life

Taking Care of Business

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

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It’s not all fun and games when you live (or are trying to live) overseas.  Sometimes you have to take care of business….visa business to be exact.  I briefly mentioned I had a visa problem in an earlier post and it took a trip to Berlin (well, actually two trips) to get everything straight.

If you have a passport, you can pretty much travel the world, but if you want to actually LIVE somewhere, your passport can only get you so much time….90 days to be exact if you are in Poland (or one of the other Schengen countries).  When David came in January, he applied (in February) and received a temporary resident card (in June).  He’s working here, so he’s allowed to stay the length of his job contract.  My situation was different because I didn’t come to stay until the end of June and then several things complicated matters.  Continue reading →

It’s Finally Happened…

28 Friday Aug 2015

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Yep, It’s finally happened.  I had to move to Poland for my dream to come true…but I finally live in a town with an IKEA!  Yes, I dream small, but it’s something.

When David first came here in January he told me that an IKEA was being built and that it would open sometime during the summer.  But it wasn’t until we were taking a quick tour of nearby Toruń, one of the oldest towns in Poland and the birthplace of astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus (a fun fact for you), that the dream became a reality.    We went to the middle of town – Square Rynek Nowomiejsk – and that is where I saw this.  A big banner advertising the opening of the IKEA in Bydgoszcz.IMG_3659 Continue reading →

Food, Glorious Food!

22 Saturday Aug 2015

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Let’s learn about grocery shopping in a foreign country. If you can’t read the labels and don’t want to stand in the aisles all day with your Google Translate App trying to figure out what the heck you’re buying…You look at the pictures.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this is true when you can’t read the language.  It could be the difference between you taking home a can of tuna or a can of picked herring.  Continue reading →

Riding Along….Singing a Song….

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

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There are lots of ways to get around when you live in the city.  Walking is the most obvious (and what we do ALOT!).  But when you don’t feel like walking or you walked to the mall, and all around the mall and now you’re tired and your feet hurt and you don’t want to carry the two bags of groceries slung over your shoulder for that 30 minute walk home, there are other options.  Like taking a tram ( I like to call them trolleys, because they remind me of the trolleys in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis)  Clang, clang, clang went the trolley…. Ding, ding, ding went the bell… (sorry, got carried away there for a minute).

Trams Continue reading →

Locks of Love

09 Sunday Aug 2015

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No, this post is not about the non-profit organization where you can donate hair.  It’s about bridges.  Bridges with locks….”love locks” to be precise.  I’m sure many of you have seem or heard about bridges like these.  There was one in Paris – the Pont des Arts –Paris Locks Bridge

which is reported to have over 700,000 locks on it— padlocks engraved with a couple’s initials.  However, all the locks on this Paris bridge were removed in June 2015.  Or for everyone back home –have you seen this footbridge that crosses over The Hague in Norfolk….it only has about 350 locks according to a Virginian-Pilot newspaper article almost a year ago.  Obviously people in Norfolk don’t buy into the “Virginia is for Lovers” as well as those people visiting or living in Paris, the “City of Love”. Continue reading →

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

04 Tuesday Aug 2015

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imageFor all the beautiful architectural buildings in Bydgoszcz, there are also an equal number of buildings that need repair or are undergoing renovation.  Just walking down the street you’ll see new buildings or buildings that are being remodelled right next to buildings that have missing or broken windows, crumbling brick or covered in scaffolding.  From what we’ve been told, what we see in Bydgoszcz today is a huge turn around from 5-10 years ago.  In the U.S. we marvel at buildings that might be 100 years old try to preserve them as is for future generations to look at.  Here in Poland a 100 year old building could be like new construction!  They are preserving their history by renovating and repurposing.  Take into consideration that the buildings here could be serveral hundreds of years old.  And here’s a fun little history fact for you  (ok David this may really be for you) – Poland has been invaded or fought for freedom 43 times between 1600-1945….just maybe just a little war-torn the years.

The same holds true for places to shop.  There are several beautiful shopping malls that are all within walking distance of our flat. Continue reading →

Is the Sun Out? Must be Laundry Day

22 Wednesday Jul 2015

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Even the most mundane of household chores is an adventure in Poland.  Dryers are not the norm in a large part of Europe and our flat is no exception.  We have a washing machine and a drying rack — nature’s clothes dryer.

imageOur washing machine is located in the bathroom, right next to the bathtub.  Strange place if you ask me, but I guess that’s where there was already a lot of plumbing.  And how do you fit a big washing machine in a bathroom you ask?  Continue reading →

I’ve Got Change in My Pocket!

17 Friday Jul 2015

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One of the first things I did when I got to Poland was hit the ATM machine in the Money 2airport.  I think I might have even done that while I was waiting for my luggage to come off the carousel.    Since my US dollars weren’t going to get me anywhere here, I needed to get Polish money (Zlotys) so I could take a cab ride to the train station.  So armed with a fist full of paper money I headed out the door. Continue reading →