Christmas Sights Around Olsztyn

Well, before I land in America and see all of the decorations there, I wanted to get out and take some pictures of the Christmas decorations here in Olsztyn. As to be expected, they celebrate Christmas a little different here. Here are some of the differences I've noticed so far:

*The decorations come out a little later here. Many of the stores and streets have been decorated for a couple of weeks now, but most people are just now putting up their decorations at home. They just really started selling the Christmas trees this past Saturday.

* They celebrate the bulk of their festivities on Christmas Eve

*There are vendors selling misteltoe EVERYWHERE! The funny thing is, I just learned that misteltoe is actually a parasite! It just sucks life off of the trees where it grows and it grows everywhere here. I'm still unclear if they have the same tradition with mistletoe here as we do in America. I'll work on figuring that one out (not by experience, mind you!)

*On December 6th, the kids set out their shoes (after they thoroughly clean them, of course) and this is the day they believe Micholaj (again, wrong characters for the letters, but close enough!) comes and leaves little sweets or goodies for the good kids. If you're not good you get a twig off of a tree. I think it's just a ploy to get kids to clean their shoes...let's just say there are a LOT of dogs here in Poland and I don't think Pooper-Scoopers have made their debut here.

*The Poles do not randomly throw around salutations of "Merry Christmas!". They only say it once, so they have to wait and strategically plan when to say their Christmas greetings on what they figure to be the last time they'll see you. The other day, we were all meeting over at the Stevenson's house and one of our Polish friends came over. He said good-bye and walked out of the door, only to return and give his "Merry Christmas", knowing that he wouldn't see us again before the holiday! So, when a Pole says "Merry Christmas", you know he means it!

*As I said before, Christmas Eve is the big celebration here and families have a traditional 12 course meal throughout the night (eating lots of food to celebrate is definitely a common factor across all cultures!) mainly consisting of different dishes made with carp. Starting about 2 weeks ago, there were large pools set up in many of the grocery stores selling live carp. That's right. You pick out a live one. Hmmmmm....I'd better stop here on this one.

So, those are some of the different Christmas traditions that I've learned about so far here in Poland. And here are some pictures that I took tonight. Amber and I both liked to drive around in America with a cup of hot coffee (or hot chocolate for Amber) and look at Christmas lights. Since we can't do that here, we put on the long johns, grabbed a travel mug, and hit the pavement to see some of the lights in beautiful Olsztyn. Enjoy!

This is the view on one of the main streets here in Olsztyn. This is the street we walk down to get to the mall (it's on the left hand side of the street here) and to Old Town. The tall building at the end of the street is Ratusz, or city hall.
This is a closer picture of ratusz and one of the many city busses passing by.
This is the view looking up the street in Old Town. These lighted swags are hung across the street almost all the way down the street throughout Old Town. It's so pretty, no picture does it justice, of course.
This is actually the sign outside of our neighborhood grocery store. It says "Wesolych Swiat", which is Merry Christmas in Polish! (and actually, these aren't all the correct characters for the letters, but I can't get them to work right on here!)
This is another view down one of the streets in Old Town.

God Bless Ohio

So, as most of you know, I'm getting ready to make the big trek back to that grand state of Ohio in just over two weeks. In order to help me prepare for the trip, my mom sent me this email and it's hysterical. Just read this and, honestly, how many of these things are the absolute truth!

According to Jeff Foxworthy, "You Might Be From Ohio If..."

You think all Pro football teams are supposed to wear orange.
You know all the 4 seasons: winter, still winter, almost winter and construction.
You live less than 30 miles from some college or university.
You know what a "buckeye" really is, and have a recipe for candy ones.
"Toward the lake" means "North" and "toward the river" means "South."
You know if other Ohioans are from southern or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouths.
"Vacation" means spending a day at Cedar Point in the summer and deer hunting in the fall.
You measure distance in minutes.
Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?"
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
You carry jumper cables in your car.
You know what "pop" is.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires six pages for sports.
If someone says something you don't understand or hear, you say "Please?"
You call it Kroger's even though it is Kroger. (Is this true?!?! I have ALWAYS called it Kroger's!)
Your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May.
Someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there.
You've worn shorts and a parka at the same time.
You've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number.
You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
You can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
The speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you.
You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
You find 10 degrees "a little chilly".


How funny is that?!?! And yet, how true! Enjoy these and have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Part III

Two new posts in one night! Oh my!
I call this: Thanksgiving Part Three.

Yes, it's true. Tonight we celebrated Thanksgiving again. Amber and I whipped up a mini-Thanksgiving meal consisting of roasted turkey breast, candied yams, green bean casserole (just a tip: crushed up onion flavored potato chips work just as well for the topping...we couldn't find fried onions), jellied cranberry sauce (thank you Aunt Barb and Grandma!), stuffing (again, thanks to Ciocia Basia and Babcia), and pumpkin pie. We invited Asia and Iza over to experience an "American" Thanksgiving and we all had a great time. I'm seriously so thankful for these girls. They're such a blessing.

Iza lived in America, up near Boston, for a year working as an au pair, so she has experienced a Thanksgiving. She was so funny...she kept going around smelling the foods- especially the stuffing-and just revelling in the delight of the memories of her time in America that the smells brought back. Here she is investigating the candied yams and trying to figure out what in the world they are. They don't have such things here, so we tried to explain what yams are, yet at the same time stressing that this form of yams--with brown sugar and marshmallows on top--are pretty much as far from resembling a vegetable as you can get.
Here's the spread. In my book, the best news is that we now have leftovers to enjoy!
Me and Asia and Iza enjoying some whipped cream. And somehow we all ended up wearing matching shirts. We could have been back-up singers (which, if you didn't know, would pretty much be my dream...or maybe to be June Carter or to sing in a bluegrass band. Hmmm...too bad I can't sing. Well, there's always the tamborine and an unplugged mic--that's for you Teresa)
Ok, other than the fact that this is the back of my head, this picture really is, well, just bad. BUT, it represents something I MUST share with both of you who may be reading this. Are you sitting down? This is big. Did you know Billy Ray Cyrus has a new song? It's definitely called "I Want my Mullet Back". Um...I want this song!!! This picture is of Amber playing a bit of the song for Iza and Asia...directly followed by, yes you guessed it, Achy Breaky Heart. I'm packing my bags tonight, because I'm pretty sure we'll get kicked out of Poland for that one. There's got to be some sort of law against that one. I mean, you can't bring fruits and vegetables into a foreign country...pretty sure you can't bring Achy Breaky Heart either. But, it's worth it. It's all for you Billy Ray...all for you.

Thanksgiving Part II

This past Tuesday we were invited to Thanksgiving Day at our friend Magda's school. Magda teaches English at a sports school here in Olsztyn (it's a school where training is tied into their daily schedule of learning...some of these kids are serious athletes. We saw two girls do a gymnastics floor routine and it was amazing...I'm talking Mary Lou style. One of them was the Polish champion or something like that!). Magda is an amazing woman that we were put into contact with through another friend that we practice Polish with. And, through being at the school on Tuesday, we met another woman who invited us to her school to talk with high school students. One of the coolest things about this job is seeing how God opens doors with people and makes connections with people. Anyhoo...Magda is super-sweet and speaks AMAZING English. She planned a program for the school to learn different things about America and wrapped it all up with this program. These kids were awesome. They performed a little skit of "Little Red Riding Hood" and it was so sweet! Magda put a lot of work into this day, and it was great. Here are a few pictures from the day to enjoy.

Obviously, the little girl on the left is Little Red...but you may be wondering who the little guy with the shotgun on the right is. Good question. I guess he's the hunter. It just looks so funny to see...I can't imagine seeing a kid from Sandusky City Schools walking onto stage with a pretend gun. I'm thinkin' it's not gonna' happen.

After the performance of Little Red Riding Hood, the younger kids performed a couple of dances. They were really good and check out the little stud in the front row with his tie! How cute!

More mad dance moves. Seriously, this little dude is the stuff.

And, to cap it all off...a quiz. Woo-hoo! But really, they took this thing seriously and Amber and I panicked when Magda asked us to grade the quizes. They were quizzed over different facts about America and, thankfully, we did know all of the answers. (you may also notice that they're working in teams of three...ummm, why didn't I go to Polish schools? I am all for teamwork on quizzes and tests. In the wise words of my dad: When in doubt, look about!) =)