future decisions

rotary does not allow things involving body modifacations while on exchange unless they exsisted previously (piercings tattoos or hair dye ect.) however i had colored hair when i arrived and i need to get a haircut soon so im taking suggestions for color and style because...i know nothing about hair other than the fact that mines awesome and if it ever betrays me and attempts to leave i will tattoo a lawnmower to the hairline (or maybe just a sticker not too commited to that idea)

hello my poppets

im back and even slightly more fabulous than before (hard to imagine i know). i will not be capitalizing or using correct grammar if i dont wish to so you get to suffer through the same torture i endure every time i enter the subway, tram, bus, an train (oh my). im not entirely sure where i left off but i think it was somewhere close to after language camp (im going to pretend that test of using a polish keyboard never exsisted). some new changes since i last graced you dear readers with my presence.

i dyed my hair pink at a rotary conference (never bet against a brazilian)

i now understand about 20% of everyday confersations in polish. granted its usually tthe words like "and, i, you, fish, -insert polish curse here-, and hello.

ive visited 9 countries so far in life in this order- usa, canada, poland, lithuania, hungary, czech, slovakia (i think), austria, and germany.

ive raced through the shonbrunn palace gardens wearing an american flag (rotarys idea by the way)

I HAVE MASTERED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!!!!!! ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY TRAMWAJ

my rotary blazer is so full of pins that it is actually difficult to move in

i wore my rotary blazer to school because it was in my locker and nobody told me i was supposed to dress nicely. best way to find out who is actually your friend because nobody would associate with me outside of my classmates (everyone else was very formally dressed in suits and ties)

i missed a week long trip to the mountains because my classmates didnt bother to tell me it was happening and i showed up to school like an idiot trying to find my class for half a day (i vow revenge....somehow)

ive been to polish parliment, i also tried to sit in the presidents special chair but was told quite firmly by the tour guide that it is "frowned upon" (read as illegal, theres an actual law ;))

KEBAB IS LOVE KEBAB IS LIFE
ALL IMPERSONATIONS ARE BLASPHAMY

pierogi is good about 75% percent of the time...but when its not....may the god of polish food have mercy on you

so much fish and cabage

I CAN GET AMAZING EUROPEAN PASTRIES FOR 50 CENTS... i often buy in bulk (read as "light snack")

ive started writing again and before you ask no you can not read it, if i suceed in my goal you will have to pay for a copy just like the rest of the world :)'

i went ice skating for the first time... granted i looked like a flamingo on lsd... it was still fun

i have discovered that i have an accent that is "impossible to understand" even other midwesterners think its very southern.

on that note ive mastered the southern accent (it started as a joke but got out of hand) i sound like a flirtatious cowboy from one of the books you catch your mother staring at in the checkout but its still southern!

the state of my country is terrifying and is becoming more so every few days as more news makes itself my way, im from indiana and i went through pence's "education system" if its any judge of him and his bromance partner donalds next few years maybe a few more exchanges or a future in politics is in my future...if they can do it why cant i!

on a lighter note bread is good...i will not be able to go back to blue bunny white bread ever again, poland has ruined me

polish lesson time-
hello (formal)- dzien dobry
cool- spoko
need- portubuje
run- biegac
now- teraz
people- ludzie
bread- chleb


now the only term i know in russian(ish)
i dont speak english- i dont speak london

ive started listening to a lot of music (mostly to hear english accents at the begining) and finally have a playlist im willing to show my friends that doesnt make me look 12 years old

i dont have any pictures for you because i dont have a way to put them on this computer at the moment so if you want those youll have to look at my facebook page, im pretty sure ive been tagged in some things there.

do widzenia- goodbye

NO PICTURES... 😤

I have given up on trying to post pictures. My pictures don't even she up on my phone other than a file name so I can't tell which ones to email to my self so I can put them on the blog through my host parents tablet so...screw it I'll find another way to do pictures.
School is OK but I spend most of my time coloring in my notebook than taking notes because it's all in the world's hardest language (literally) the only classes I understand are English and German so for about 5 hours a week I know what I'm doing in school other than the 15 minutes of break between each class, in that time I either read ebooks on my phone or try to talk to polish students which almost never goes well😂 they told me that my accent is like I have pasta in my mouth. The plans for euro tour have been announced and we're visiting Spain Portugal France and a few others, oh and it's 22 days not 17 this year which drove the price up by 500 USD.
Torun and Bydgoszcz were great (the 2 rotary things I've attended) I have lots of pictures including those of my now bright pink hair (never bet against a Brazilian)
I don't have school this week because my class is in the mountains for the week and nobody told me about it, sooo I showed up to school and attended my first class (my class isn't in it) then try to go to my next one only to have my teacher ask me why I'm at school...
I bought some things in torun, a little knife that I'm absolutely positive I'll forget to take off my keychain some day and try to go through a government building or airport 😂, another necklace( I have bought a lot of them here because they will last a long time and they're good keepsakes) and gingerbread figure of a couple in a.... compromising position (technically I made that one with a mold the gingerbread museum had).

FOOD-
the food is OK but Europeans don't seem to use spices on anything, I'm not talking complicated spices either I mean there is no salt on anything here! Kabab is my new favorite food though because it's freaking amazing and they do candy in a way I'm still undecided about.

WARSZAWA- I LOVE IT!  I'm in the capital city instead of South bend it's great I always thought I liked being closer to the woods than the city but Warsaw is the perfect blend, it's the largest city in Poland yet I see blue sky every day on the way to school, also public transportation rocks! I don't think I'll be able to go back to having to ask if someone can take me somewhere next year!

Test

This is a testy See if this di vice Will worki or not, że itp keyboard is on polish So im not go Ing to będzie Able to help muchwith the spelling

first day in Warsaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was my first day in Poland!!!!!!! 

In the last 72 hours I think I have slept about 17 hours,  12 of which we're last night.  The plane ride was very taxing but only one of my flights we're long so that was a plus,  the negative was that the long flight was 9 hours...  9 hours in 1st class (much to my surprise)!!! 

I got to see the city some but I forgot to take pictures,  I'll take some tommorow when I go back. 

This is what I learned on my first day in Poland: 

The city is made of modern materials but was made to look like the old Warsaw (almost everything was destroyed in ww2) and they have underground tunnels that are a bit of a maze but they are full of shops it looks a bit like a high class flee market but with perminent shops,  and the trains seem really easy to deal with but that was with someone with me,  also the train station is a 20 minute walk from my house and the train to the center of the city is 20 minutes for about $1.25 

All in all it was a very exciting first day

30 hours till lift off

Only 30 hours until I leave, I'm up until around 330 every night not to get used to the time change, I'm all packed and I've said goodbye to everyone, the only thing left is to print off my tickets and go to the airport!!!

Everything  I see now has become "this is the last time I'll see that building for a year" or "I may not have another slushy for a year". It's a very sobering thought process, for everything I gain I temporarily give up something else. 

Departure arrangements

I LEAVE TUESDAY MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave Tuesdaymorning from south bend airport and take a connection to chicago then another to Toronto (no idea why) then I go directly to Warsaw from there. I wish I could have departed from Chicago but it was to long a drive for my mother to take to say goodbye, south bend adds on an hour or 2 but not to long I suppose.

Packing is a veritable hell, I thought that I would fine because  I'm packing light but nooo the weight limit is killing me, I'm looking into shipping some thing there and wondering if that is cheaper than another bag. If anyone knows a way please tell me.

I have bought gifts for everyone but Ania so far and I'm picking hers up this weekend. Right now I'm having trouble with money the language camp was an unexpected cost due to my switch of country so there's that 410 dollars and then there's the emergency fund of 500 dollars, all I have is 260 at the moment my dad might be able to help some but... if anyone is willing to put a last minute donation into the go fund me that would be amazing

https://www.gofundme.com/zyeypzec 

Waiting games

Waiting stinks... I'm waiting on my doctor on Wednesday and hope it goes well, all I can do now is wait and pack, and repack and repack again. If all goes well I should be leaving the 16th, if the medication check goes well, if the doctor is willing to give me lots of the medicine at once, if it's not to soon to book my ticket in time. Lots of variables with very little control over any of them.

Just waiting.

Funerals and other news

Today was my great grandmothers funeral service. I don't remember much from her before the dementia started but she was always happy and sneaky. I have pictures from the funeral, I don't have much to say this time, packing sucks and I'm still waiting for the final go ahead but other than that nothing is new. 

July 5th

My phone is gone.... sooo I'm trying to post as often as I can but this was the first time I've had WiFi to use on my tablet. My doctor appointment is Wednesday so on that day I should be able to put down my departure  date. I wish that I had one now but I don't. It's been a long ride but it's finally about to enter the drop off point, a little like a roller coaster ' ). I have reached the last stretch of duo lingo but once again without WiFi I can only go so far for so long, I won't have WiFi this weekend either. 

My dad opened his restaurant successfully and is doing very well. He didn't want to make it a family business but right now my cousin my great aunt and me are his only employees😂😂😂. 

packing and other end of normal life activities

Well the date of departure is quickly approaching and I've been so busy trying to manage it all that I haven't posted enough this week, I got a few minutes of free time so I'm doing it now.

My medication is still not fixed!!! Kinda I have a solution that is supposed to work but the doctor can't meet with me to confirm it until the 10th which is well over the week that I was told it would take. I'm switching medication and bringing it with me, I can't get this Med in Poland but I can take it with me if I have a prescription.

My suitcases are getting heavier every day and that's not going to stop...which is beginning to seem like weight might be an issue, I've put the middle sized suitcase inside the biggest and filled the middle one but I fear that it's over the weight requirment with both suitcases   (T＿T)(T＿T)(T＿T)(T＿T)(T＿T)(T＿T) 

My great grandmothers funeral is this weekend which means I have to cancel the going away party for friends, I won't have time the week before the goal leaving date

Speaking of leaving dates, I'm aiming for the 16th but can't get my ticket until the medication problem is fixed �

I got a picture of my host family at what appears to be the beach, I'm getting really excited to meet them and finally be out of the USA, I won't deny its been a very stressful year leading up to this exchange but I'm sure it will be worth it

Shop openings and good news

My dad finally opened up his restaurant today! Its part of the reason I've been so busy the last 2 days. He's selling sushi and cheesecake as well as other assorted goods. My personal is the orange cupcakes with orange butter cream frosting. And I may have finnaly found a solution to a problem.with the exchange that has been halting things for almost a week now! I'm looking in to the final details tomorrow but so far it's promising! 

I've been talking a lot with my host sister Ania (I know you'll read this at some point :)) and I have discovered the joy that is online books, I'd never really tried one until today and I found an amazing series because of an app I found that tells me when that kind of thing goes on sale, I got 4 books free. I already finished one book (in a day) and went to get the next in the series only to find that it was 3 dollars instead of free...So tomorrow I'm putting a 20 in my account and getting them all

...future reference for the nurses when I'm old and bored: keep me away from the shopping channel, I am not to be trusted no matter what I say. I can already tell I'm going to be that old man in 48 years. for those of you doing the math, I'll be 64 and legally aloud to sing "when I'm 64" to my hearts content while wasting my money on laser blenders with built in robot helpers.

Calvin part 3

So I got my phone back a few days ago but I've been rather busy so I forgot, sorry I'm posting 2 today to try and make up for it.

The last day of Calvin college I woke up at 730 after going to bed at nearly 5...not a good idea. I went to breakfast then said goodbye to everyone, it was sad to see the inbounds go because I knew I wouldn't see them again unless something weird happens in the future.  Then I went to turn my key in....... On the 1st day I noticed a crack on the little plastic piece that said Calvin college but I didn't think.much of it until it broke that night because I sat on it, because of a 10 cent piece of plastic I lost my 20 dollar deposit. I went to wait in the parking lot for my father and the others carpooling with us and he was another 45 minutes after that and he got in line in his dorm about the se time I did. The drive home was nice, at least the part I was awake for,I fell asleep for about half an hour. When we got to my house willows mother picked up her and her father. Then I went he and slept until morning. All in all it was pretty boring day. 

As promised here are the pictures