All Saints' Day

Hello from Wawa! We just enjoyed a seven day break from school and we did a little adventuring around Poland and took a train over to Berlin for a few days. At the beginning of the break we got our bikes tuned and headed north to the Baltic Sea. We got 2 tickets to Hel and it was up to us to figure out how we were getting back. Chris strapped on a tent to his bike and I was well supplied with goodies for the adventure. We spent a very windy night at the end of the peninsula and spent the evening hopping from one establishment to the next. At one point we even entered the same restaurant consecutively thinking we were being so sly to leave one beer tap for a new one only to find out the two doors had the same proprietor! We continued on! The Kaszubian herring and fish stew were too scrumptious and left us hankering for more the next day on our ride off the peninsula. Our journey back to Gydnia took us on bike paths, back roads and Polish autobahns (a small road driven at high speeds by crazy drivers). About 120 kilometers later, as the sun had set earlier than we were ready for due to changing our clocks back the night before, Chris and I found a great little bed in downtown Gydnia, right close to the train station for an easy escape the next morning!

After a day back in Wawa we repacked and hopped on our third train ride out of four for this vacation to Berlin. What a city worth visiting repeatedly! The food – curry fries, kebap, beer, Mexican food, cheese, China in a box, mocha lattes, and various mystery meat kept us busy munching through the streets! We had fun navigating around the city on the S and U bahns to some unexpected exhibits that were gems, mostly focusing on the second world war to the wall to modern architecture and memorials. We mostly enjoyed walking the streets of Kreuzberg, looking and playing with all the curios in the varied stores. Chris hit a gold mine with purchasing all of our eco-friendly cleaning products and yummy food! Our bags are bountiful on the trip back. One of the best purchases made was for our wedding celebration! On one of the cold rainy days that we were in Berlin we went to a famous chocolate shop. Our senses were alive! We purchased through varied miscommunication, 100 red rapped pairs of milk chocolate hearts! Of course we had to taste test one pair and we think they are just right – buttery and sweet!

We will spend a couple of days back in Wawa before starting another stint back at school. We are looking at just about a little over 6 weeks before we will head back to the states. In that time Chris will take his cross country team to race in Prague, we will survive through a professional development day only to be rewarded with a day off for Independence Day and of course to keep us going the first week back we have the elections! We will look forward to a half day at the end of the month for some turkey gobbling then the beginning of December we have the school Christmas party and final preparations for coming home. Ooh the time is zooming! We hope all is well at home and beyond. We have put in some fun pictures from our last few outings. See you soon!

October News

Hello All! We are doing well and enjoying the change in weather. The air is crisp and sweet. We took a train/bike ride south of Poland to do some apple picking with some ASW folk. We plan on making a Kripalu apple pie in the next few days. We have a few more busy weeks and then some much needed respite! We bought tickets to Hel! The plan is to return! We will keep you posted!

September 10th

Updates!

We had a wicked thunder, lightning, rain storm a few weeks back; wind blowing, streets flooded - nothing like the hurricanes at home! One of our neighborhood trees received an electric charge that permanently gave it its own branding. Chris and I still "wow!" it every time we walk past it to catch a bus.

Two weekends ago Gretchen rode in her first critical mass bike ride. It was a blast riding in the streets, stopping traffic, dodging pedestrians and cursing those riders who got their kicks out of doing bike tricks in a mass of flesh and metal! The purpose of the ride is to create an awareness for recognizing bicyclists on the roads and to support alternative transportation to alleviate some of the environmental pollution. These happen worldwide and are a true experience to do with a couple thousand people.

Chris ran in the Human Race two weeks back and yes he still has his running juju! None of this is luck - just super training, dedication and discipline! On Sunday, August 31st their were over a million participants around the world who ran and Chris did an amazing job! He placed 1,000 out of over a million runners in the world!!!

School is going OK! We are both wiped out and a bit under the weather but the kids are fun and happy to be back at school. Gretchen just returned from her week long 8th grade trip to Southeastern Poland. We took a beautiful hike and the ridge overlooked the Ukraine and Slovakia. We also spent some time looking at religious icons, contemporary art, traditional buildings, glass blowers and a salt mine.

We are hard at work in preparation for the wedding. We are still on target for December! Hopefully there will be some snow in Lake Placid - the winter wonderland effect. That will be magical!

Our First Week of Classes

Well, students have been back at school for about a week and so I thought it was a good time to write an entry for our Blog. We are doing well and settling into life at work and the business that surrounds it.

Chris is teaching 5 classes and is especially working hard to get his Junior and Senior IB Higher Level math classes motivated and on track. Seniors tend to return to school a little unmotivated and need to get focused to prepare themselves for a busy year and the challenging diploma exams that will come much quicker than expected. He is also the Department Head and, during the first few weeks of school, he has to address parents who feel that their child is placed in the wrong class and so must change to a new course. It can be a little frustrating! Lastly, he is again coaching the Cross Country team and advising the Model United Nations group, both of which begin meeting this week.

For Gretchen, the first week of classes brought some big changes to her work. First, both the Middle and High Schools have replaced their counselors and so Gretchen is working closely with them to acquaint them with our Special Ed. Programs. In addition, the schools have hired two new Special Ed. Teachers. Gretchen is busy collaborating with them to organize and further develop the Special Ed. Programs at our schools. Most importantly, all of her work has led to the biggest change for Gretchen this week! She has now been moved to working in the Middle School full time, rather than splitting her time between the Middle and High Schools. This is very exciting as she can now focus her energy on developing a strong Middle School program, rather than dividing her time and energy between two schools.

We had a good weekend, and spent Friday evening at a Happy Hour for the Middle School. Saturday was spent relaxing, shopping, reading and napping before we went to a wonderful Thai restaurant for dinner. On Sundays, during the summer and Fall, a nearby park gives free, one hour, piano concerts with beautiful Chopin music. We went to one of these shows on Sunday and it still amazes me how many people attend, sit, or stand, and listen attentively to the music. People of all ages come and enjoy a wonderful recital. Following the piano concert, we headed to see the movie “The Bank Job”, a great movie! The funny part was deciding to see that particular movie. The Polish name for the movie was “Robota Angielski” which sounds a lot like a movie about an English speaking robot. Instead of a science fiction robotic thriller we saw a bank heist set in 1971. It was a great end to the weekend and our first week of school.

August 17, 2008

Chris and I have just returned to Warsaw, Poland after having a wonderful vacation in the States. We spent a good part of our time enjoying the company of family and friends while eating most of our favorite meals that we miss throughout the year. While we were visiting, I became a bit sad when I realized that we are missing out on some great communication for 10 months out of the year. We figured we would set up this journal to share with you some of the curiosities and daily happenings that we experience. Hopefully this will reduce the distance and offer some fun correspondence for our families and friends. There might not be much poking but we will include some pictures, recipes, favorite quotes, silly stories and keep you posted on wedding ideas and plans that are coming for this December.