At Last! Polish Language Class!

I met with Professor Jacek at SWSPiZ (which I can now refer to as SAN because they changed their name. I still haven't figured out what happened).

Professor J told me that he could get me lessons (at last). He called up the Linguae Mundi foundation, which gives cheap lessons to non-EU folks living in Poland. It has a bigger mission statement, but that's the part of their mission that's relevant to me. So, they were in the middle of a session, but I was allowed to join in.

The next day, I wandered over to the Linguae Mundi offices where I took a Polish language test. It was definitely a challenge. I felt like an idiot. But I have to remember that the test is supposed to test from beginner to fluent. So not knowing a lot doesn't mean I don't know anything... right?

OK. So, the next day, I got a call from the LM offices offering me a class on Wednesday and Friday nights. Yes, this might cramp my travelling schedule a bit... but I think that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make...

Anyway, I headed to class on Friday. It was supposed to start at 5:30, so naturally, I arrive at 5:15... I want to make a good impression. Surprise! The class has just naturally moved back to 6.

The first class was rough. The teacher basically allowed everyone to question me about anything they wanted. Luckily, the lack of creativity in a foreign language meant I was mostly able to answer questions - Where are you from? What do you do? How long have you been in Warsaw?

Why are you learning Polish? was a difficult question. I mentioned that my grandfather was Polish and that I like Wyslawa Szymborska. Then there was a whole slew of follow up questions by the teacher. Like - why didn't I learn Polish from my grandfather. So I tried to explain that while he was Polish, he was born in America. And he learned Polish in America. And he died before I was born. And he didn't teach my aunts/uncles/mother Polish. Well... let's just say there's a bunch of vocab I don't now there. Like... born. Died. Especially when it's all in past tense!

After embarrassingly dodging that bullet, I got stuck on "Where do you teach?" The teacher figured out that I was referring to the academy in Lodz. So I had to figure out a way to say, "Yes, but I live in Warsaw and teach at the Warsaw satellite branch." Looking at that in English, it seems like a very basic sentence. Saying it felt like I was in an Abbot and Costello routine. "The one in Lodz?" "Yes, but in Warsaw." etc. etc. etc.

After class, teacher told me that she thought I was in the right class. She told me I had the option of joining a harder class or an easier class, but she thought the easy one would be too easy for me(!!!!) So, I jauntily walked home, stopped by the Carrefour express, and picked up a bottle of 6 zl champagne to celebrate (something that will become a common theme in my Warsaw life until they run out of New Years Eve champagne!)