I've just started writing a new blog, called LinguaTrek.com. It features content in both English and Polish for learners, articles about Polish and American culture and advice for learning languages.

Check it out!

Please go to http://carriesnopek.posterous.com/ to see awesome photos from our Warsaw trip.

Thanks!

We got some disturbing news this morning. At about 8am CET +1 (our time here in Poland), the Polish president's plane crashed in Russia, killing him and his wife along with many others. The head of the Sejm will now lead the country.
Below is a snippet from the BBC.com article.
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A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski has crashed near a Russian airport, officials say.

Russian media reported that 87 people were killed in the crash near Smolensk, and a regional governor was quoted as saying there were no survivors.

Polish officials said Mr Kaczynski was on board along with his wife Maria and several senior government figures.

They were in Russia to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when the Soviets killed thousands of Poles.

The BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw says the crash is a catastrophe for the Polish people.

He says Prime Minister Donald Tusk was reportedly in tears when he was told.
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see more here...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8612825.stm

As some people may know, I have studied Polish language mainly on my own and mainly by reading and listening to books.

While I can't say enough about how well this approach has worked for me, one of the problems has always been the lack of a large selection of books in the Polish language and the cost of purchasing them. In the States, only a few books (really popular ones) are available in bookstores and only old, obscure books are available at the library.

However, this afternoon, I was at the most amazing place in Poland so far... the library! ;-) There are thousands of books in Polish and they are all for free!!

I just got my library card and a few books. Life is good.

So, this looks a little overwhelming, but it only takes about 15 minutes of actual work. It gets really easy after the 1st one. And believe me, once you taste it, you'll kick yourself for ever ordering a pizza before. Comment with any questions!

Yield: This makes one 12-inch pizza with medium to thick crust.
Equipment: You need a pizza pan, a large bowl, a small bowl, a fork, a wooden spoon, a large metal spoon, and measuring cup & spoons.

Dough ingredients:
2.5 cups flour
1/2 pack of INSTANT yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pizza seasoning (or dried basil) (optional)

Sorry there haven't been any updates for awhile! We've been extremely busy.

Since our last post, we spent another few weeks looking for work. We eventually found jobs in a village just outside of Kraków (more info later). Our commute takes 18 minutes on the train.

After that we found an apartment (videos forth coming!), moved in last Monday (Sept 28th) and started buying the extra things we needed -- the apartment was fully furnished (it even came with shot glasses!) but not everything one needs to live.

We started our job this Monday (Oct 5th). We both have 6 classes, but at different times of the week. I have mine towards the beginning and Carrie towards the end. I've already taught 5 of mine.

And our internet just got hooked up about 20 minutes ago!

There are pictures and videos of Poland that we still need to put up. And even stuff from Santorini we haven't had a chance to post either. Hopefully, now that we have a permanent residence, regular schedules and internet, we'll be able to update the blog more frequently.

See ya!

Hello, everyone! Sorry we haven't posted in a while.

We finished the CELTA course on August 21st (about 2 weeks ago) and passed with flying colors! It was an extremely challenging course but I'd recommend it to anyone thinking about going into TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

The passed two weeks have been spent looking for work in Kraków. We've already had two interviews, have two more this coming week and hopefully more down the road. Looking for work is just as time-consuming as a full-time job. When things quite down, we'll start posting more.

The TEFL hiring season in Poland just started, sometime around August 31st and will continue until mid/late September. We expect to be hearing back about offers around the 15th - 18th. So wish us luck!

If the interview situation here in Kraków dries up, we'll likely travel to Warszawa and try our luck there.

For very curious souls, I've attached our resumes to this post. We've already sent them to something like 30 schools!

Sorry there hasn't been an update in awhile! We've been really, really busy taking the CELTA course at International House in Kraków.

The course is really intensive and heavily focused on practice teaching real students of English. Not unlike Fight Club, on the first day of CELTA, everyone must teach! But its only for 20 minutes (6 trainee-teachers share a 2 hour lesson). Besides the teaching practice, we also have input sessions to attend and written assignments to write.

On days that I have to teach, I arrive at the school at 8:00am to make materials for my class: handouts, posters, word blocks, overhead transparencies, etc. It frequently involves scissors and a glue stick. We have input sessions from 10:45am until 2:15pm. Then there is a lunch break until 3:15pm where everyone teaching meets with their tutor about the lesson they are about to teach. At 4:15pm the students begin to arrive. The lesson starts at 4:30pm and goes until 6:40pm. Afterwards, there is feedback with the other trainee-teachers and your tutor. That can last until 7:30 - 8:00pm.

Thats a 12-hour day at the school. If you have to teach the following the day, you will up another couple hours planning. Since we are in training, you have to produce extensive documentation about your lesson plan. Oh yeah, and there are written assignments mixed in there too! ;-)

Yesterday, I did my first 60 minute lesson. It took me about 6 hours to plan, produce all the required documentation and make my materials. Which, believe it or not, it quite a bit faster than it took me during my lessons for the first week! Of course, this is building us up for when we work real jobs where we will be teaching 3 - 5 hours per day.

Anyway, I'm done teaching for the week. Carrie has her 60 minute lesson today. And then we intend to have a relaxing weekend -- when we aren't writing the assignment due on Monday or planning our lessons for Monday (David) or Tuesday (Carrie)! ;-)

There's a couple cool videos/pictures waiting to be posted, including a review of a Bloody Mary done Polish-style, which we hope to put up soon.

See ya!

After we finished our re-enactment of our arrival, we had some drinks and ended up hanging out with Andreas who ran the pool bar. He kept giving us free shots. Lots of free shots.

On Monday, we arrived in Krakow, Poland, ending our honeymoon.

Here is a quick review of events, some which will be expanded on later, possibly with videos!

Day 1

• Arrive without baggage
• Miraculously find our hotel.
• Buy toothbrushes at Mini-Market
• Eat dinner to sunset at Mylos cafe

Day 2

• Baggage arrives! Yay!
• Walk to Fira for the first time
• Do a wine tasting at some random shop -- leads to purchase of wine
• Some more shopping
• Massage at "Spa of the Gods" (provided in package from travel agency)
• Full course dinner at "Sphynx" (provided in package from travel agency)

Day 3

• A rental car was dropped off at the hotel (provided in package from travel agency) but we opted to refuse it because people drive insanely in Santorini
• Walk to Fira and buy some Greek looking cloths
• Some more shopping, eating and drinking
• Post lots in blog
• Skype with some people back home
• Get really, really drunk with Andreas, the hotel empolyee who works the pool bar, who kept giving us free shots

Day 4

• Tried to recover from severe hang over as best we could
• Went on a 6 hour boat cruise around the islands (provided in package from travel agency) which ended in watching the sunset

Day 5

• Packed
• Waited for transfer to airport that never came -- but then we were miraculously saved by a taxi that drove by (taxis without fairs are relatively rare in Santorini)
• Flew to Kraków via Vienna