Posts

Month 3 in Poland - October 2025

Image
Can't believe it's been over 3 months in Poland. A quarter of our time here? Wow! This time it's Monika writing the update. Well, I think I have an unique perspective on this gap year in Poland. Simply because I'm back "home". I'm using quotations on purpose here because as an immigrant the idea of home is an interesting one. In the most pure sense home is where my loved ones are. However, the idea of home can be defined in many different ways and can be interpreted by each person differently. Us immigrants, expats, refugees and nomads can have many places to call home. I came from a home here in Krakow, Poland, deeply connected to the city and also to my local district (because I went to elementary and high schools here). But since moving to California 16 years ago, marrying a Californian and raising my kids there, I definitely now feel at home back in Davis. Because of this, being back in Krakow feels like I'm living a parallel life right now. There ...

Month 2 in Poland - September 2025

Image
Hi, this is Adam. It's my turn this month to write a summary for our friends and family. Big milestones this month.  I want to tell you a bit more about my school and my class. I started 4th grade because kids in Poland start their education one year later, comparing to the US. All the kids in my class were born in 2015. We all have lockers and we need to change shoes at school (so no muddy or dirty shoes). The school is enclosed, that means we have hallways and corridors, instead of blacktop and open air space. This is mostly due to the weather. Here in Poland we have 4 distinct seasons, winter is cold and it snows occasionally. Also, it can rain in any season, unlike in California.  Each day we have different subjects and we walk from classroom to classroom to attend each class. We have Polish and Math daily, English (4 times a week), PE (4 times a week), Life Sciences, Art, Technical class, IT, History, Music, and Health Education. Each day of the week we have a slightly di...

Month 1 in Poland - August 2025

Image
Welcome to our first update chronicling our year away in Poland. We recently completed our first full calendar month in-country so we felt it would be a good time to share how we're getting on. Our goal is to send one of these once a month, ideally with a different author each time rotating through the family (including the kids!). We'll see if it works out that way. Our first several weeks were focused on what you would expect: getting over jetlag (especially me), getting keys to our place, trips to IKEA and building furniture, getting settled and up to speed, etc. In Krakow, our place is across the way from Monika's parents and a 15 minute walk to her brother's. It's also a 2 minute walk to Alex's school and a 15 minute walk to Adam's school. Very convenient. Apart from that we have also been spending time in the countryside at Monika's parent's country house and at her brother's mountain cabin (which has spectacular views, a firepit, a wood-fi...