Happy Thanksgiving! (and a visitor cometh!?!)

Hi all, today we Americans were busy working our butts off, rather than eating our butts full like the rest of you! (Well, the folks at the US Embassy have EVERY US AND POLISH holiday off-maybe I should switch jobs!).

I just finished my second full week of teaching, as we've had a smattering of Polish holidays recently. Nov. 1 was All Saints Day, where every Pole gets gloomy and doomy and visits their past family members at all the numerous graveyards around the country. Then, Nov. 11 was Poland's Independence Day. I always teased the Poles by asking 'Which Independence Day is it?' (Officially there should be 3 or 4 different ones, as Poland has a wild and brutal history, and they oddly haven't chosen one for the separation from Russia!?) So, officially, this is Poland's Independence day thanks to WWI, 1918, and their newfound independence experiment lasted about 25 years, until Hitler attacked on September 1, 1939. Fucker.

Speaking of which, there's a new German film out, on Hitler's last 40 days of which he lived entirely underground in his incredibly thick and deep bunker in the heart of Berlin. He refused to leave the capital despite the urging of his comrades-to go south to another, stronger and more secure base and bunker, and to more likely elude the Allies in their hunt for him. Unfortunately, this new film is in the German language, and I can't read enough Polish to figure out the dialogue on the subtitles...oh, well. Guess we'll have to wait until the DVD is out.

So, great news! We have our first, lucky non-expat American visitor coming next week!
Yep, Seattle and Starbucks' own, Sue Long is coming to join us for a weekend! She works as an international inspector and has work in Amsterdam. (LIfe's rough, Sue!)
So, much anxiously awaited for quality coffee and other goodies are on their way (THANKS, SUE!). It's going to be so nice to see a friend from home. She's an avid downhill mountainbiker, skier and climber, and she'll soon get to see just how flat and non-mountainous Warsaw really is.
:-(

See you soon, Sue!

j n j