Welcome to Warsaw

     In an effort not to bog you down with travel details, I will simply say that I arrived safely and quite soundly in Poland on Tuesday afternoon. Praise the Lord. Okay...I'd also like to mention that there's a new stamp in my passport that says "Canada", I had the entire row of three seats to myself on a very uncrowded overnight flight into the EU and I completed the journey (miraculously) without becoming ill. That's it.

     While the traveling got on with relative ease, the first few days here in Warsaw were kind of an insane whirlwind. Immediately after landing and collecting my luggage, the director of the school arrived at the airport to drive me straight to two different apartments to pick out a place of residence. It was a bit overwhelming, so I was very thankful for my skills in making quick decisions about major life changes (ask me which film I'd like to watch or what I'd like to have for lunch and we could be sitting in hesitant silence for an hour...). Anyway, with a myriad of thoughts stirring and a quickly discussed list of pros and cons, I chose the second apt that we viewed. It is a small flat in the Ursynow district of Warsaw (in case anyone would like to do some googling...it's a pretty neat neighborhood). I chose this particular apt because the inside felt comfortable and workable for me. I also really was surprised at just how much I liked this neighborhood. Originally, I had wanted to be much closer to the center of the city, but as we drove here I noticed that even this district is very full and busy with shops and people. There's also a small community park right across the street and I can walk to my favorite coffee shop and a decent grocery store. So really, basically, this neighborhood reminded me of small city/suburban New Jersey (families walking their dogs and pollution from public transit in tact).

Taken from the park-mine is the building on the left.

     After choosing the right place to live, I was given about a day and a half to settle in and rest before beginning work. Originally, I had assumed that I would have at least half a week to adjust. This was not the case. It did turn out okay, and it was a lot of fun to start right away and meet the students. This rapid settling in, cleaning, unpacking, getting groceries and beginning work served to help me immediately immerse (or re-immerse) myself into Polish culture. Even though it has been almost a full two years since I left Opole, Poland, I have been absolutely amazed, and so grateful, for the amount of little and big things that I automatically remembered about the culture and language here. I am no expert and I have so much to learn, but feeling a certain sense of familiarity has been enormously comforting the past few days. Needless to say, this crazy speed at which I was integrated into this new journey did leave me completely exhausted. I have also been struggling more than I expected to in regards to adjusting to the time difference. It's the weekend now and I am very thankful for a couple days to rest, walk outside and begin to get things back into balance before going into a full week.
     As far as work goes, I could not be more excited. The class I will be teaching in is a group of about 21 children between the ages of three and six. These children are expats from several counties including Sweden, Czech, Korea, Canada, America, Greece and a few others. The students are incredibly adorable and a lot of fun. They all speak fluently in English so it's been quite easy to get to know them. One thing that I've been reminded of is how children are such a fine example of the unity in humanity. These students are from all over the world, but they don't let their differences get in the way. They get on well with each other and mostly just enjoy learning, laughing and living life together. I am looking forward to seeing what the week ahead holds.
     My colleagues at the school have been very nice and welcoming to me as well. I have been able to speak with them a bit about my faith, but mostly just through answering questions on why I was in Poland the last time. I've been able to mention that I was here for mission work. When I was filling out some work documents, an office worker brought up that she had noticed my degree is in Religious Education, so that was an interesting conversation that I wasn't really sure how to navigate. If you are among the individuals praying for my time here, please be praying that as opportunities to speak about my faith come up, I will be able to clearly speak Christ into lives here. Also, please be praying that I will be able to find a local church to begin pursuing ministry and fellowship. The number of evangelical Christians in Poland is extremely small, which is a big part of why I would love to serve in full-time ministry here someday.

     Since arriving, I have begun reading the book in this photo. Excited to conquer my first Ravi book, I have been trying to make a little time each day for reading. God has already been using this book as a way for me to examine the story of my life and look for ways in which God has been weaving my journey throughout life. It's important for my own heart and mind to constantly remind myself that God has a purpose in each new adventure and that life is heading in a definite direction further and deeper into His story of grace, even when I have moments of exhaustion or doubt. Trusting God to be sovereign in my life is leading me on the greatest lesson in grace that I could never have imagined or designed myself.


I would like to humbly apologize for not posting many photos as of yet. The past few days have been somewhat of a blur. Exciting and happy, but draining and very full at the same time. Yesterday, I did take a quick afternoon walk through the park on my way to see a film. The theaters here show many American and British films, which was a great source of home-like comfort on my last trip here so I knew exactly where to head on a Saturday evening. Anyway, I did take a few pictures on my phone of a large church building inside the park. I am assuming it is Catholic. The building itself it beautiful and I can hear the church bells from inside my apartment. Hopefully, I will eventually find out some more details about this building and also take more photographs of the city to share, but for now, please enjoy these photos!