Friday, January 04, 2008

It's COLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!

It's -6 Celsius(21F) but it is cold. Maybe it's the 6 block walk to school with the wind blowing that makes it feel so cold. We lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for 5 years and December to April were cold but we got used to it being out in it everyday. We were younger then, by some 20 years so maybe that has something to do with it also. Today waiting for the bus we were really cold, even with sweaters, heavy coats, gloves, hats and hoods. Standing there, several mothers pushed their strollers passed the bus stop with their little kids bundled up in hats, gloves, scarves and blankets. Rosy cheeks were on them all and they seemed happy to be outside. All I could think of was how soon the bus would arrive so we could get into some kind of warm place.

Friday is our long three hour lesson and we spent most of it reviewing what we learned in the last 3 months. Surprising to us was that the teacher spoke English most of the lesson and we could understand everything she said. Maybe our conversation before the holiday break made her realize we were all getting a little frustrated with her speaking only Polish to us. I can understand that line of thought but when you have beginners you can't expect them to know what you are saying and all of us felt that our lessons were not progressing well enough for us. So today's lesson was really good.

Tomorrow our friend Zybyszek will come at 10AM and take us to look at a few cars. He's really enthused about Fiats and that's where we will go first though I have reservations about Fiats based on the comments from more than one cousin. According to them, FIAT means Fix It All The Time. :-) It's not a strong endorsement for this car. He says that that saying is based on older Fiats and they have changed and gotten better since then. I must admit I like the Fiat Panda but I also like the Peugeot 206. We don't want a large car, we want something small, easy to park, good on gas and reliable.


To jest -6 Celsjusza(21F) ale to jest zimne. Być może to jest 6 bloku spaceru do szkoły z wiatrem miotącym, które robi to czują się tak zimne. Mieszkaliśmy w Wyższym Półwyspie Michigan przez 5 lat i grudzień do kwietnia był zimny ale przyzwyczajaliśmy się do tego będącego poza w tym codzienni. Byliśmy młodsi wtedy, przez kilka 20 lat tak być może, które mają coś by czynić z tym też. Dzisiaj czekające na autobus byliśmy naprawdę odczuwający zimna, nawet ze swetrami, ciężkimi płaszczami, rękawiczkami, kapeluszami i kapturami. Stojąc tam, kilka matek pchnęły ich spacerowicze przeszli przystanek autobusowy z ich małymi dziećmi wiązanymi w kapeluszach, rękawiczkach, szalach i kocach. Różowe policzki były na nich wszystkich i oni wydali się szczęśliwym by być na zewnątrz. Wszystko, o czym mógłbym pomyśleć byłem jak wkrótce autobus przybyłby tak moglibyśmy dostać się do trochę rodzaju ciepłego miejsca.

Piątek jest nasza długa trzy lekcja godziny i spędziliśmy najwięcej z tego przeglądającego co nauczyliśmy się w poprzednich 3 miesiącach. Zaskakiwanie do nas był, że szprycha nauczyciela angielska najwięcej z lekcji i moglibyśmy zrozumieć wszystko, co ona powiedziała. Być może nasza rozmowa zanim przerwa urlopu zrobiła ją rozumieją, że wszyscy dostawaliśmy trochę udaremnieni z jej mówieniem tylko polski do nas. Mogę zrozumieć, że linia myśli ale kiedy masz początkujące nie możesz oczekiwać, żeby znali co mówisz i wszystkie z nas poczuty, że nasze lekcje nie posuwają się naprzód dobrze dość dla nas. Tak lekcja dzisiaj była naprawdę dobra.

Jutro nasz przyjaciel Zybyszek przyjdzie przy 10AM i weźmie nas by popatrzeć na kilka samochodów. On jest naprawdę entuzjaznowany się Nakazami i które są gdzie pójdziemy po pierwsze chociaż mam rezerwacje o Nakazach oparły na komentarzach od więcej niż jeden kuzyn. Stosownie do nich, NAKAZ oznaczy Ustalają To Cały Czas. :-) To nie jest silna adnotacja na odwrocie dla tego samochodu. On mówi, że, że powiedzenie jest oparte na starszych Nakazach i oni zmienili i dostali lepiej od tego czasu. Muszę przyznać, że lubię Fiat Panda ale też lubię Peugeot 206. Nie chcemy wielkiego samochodu, chcemy czegoś małego, łatwo by zaparkować, dobry na gazie i godny zaufania.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:46 PM

    Hi,

    I've been reading your blog for some time and I must say I really like it. When it comes to Fiat Panda, as the owner of such a car, I can strongly recommend it. I've been driving it for 4 years and I am satisfied with it. I haven't had any problems with it and its exploitation is not expensive. Some people claim that Fiats (in general - all makes) get broken quite often. It's not true as long as the car is not older than 5 - 6 years. So if you buy a new car or quite new (e.g. 2 years old) you shouldn't have any problems. Moreover Fiat Panda is a new technology and even experts say it's much better.
    Best regards, sigma

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  2. Sigma,
    Thanks for you comments. How did you find our blog.

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  3. Anonymous11:12 PM

    David and Joan

    You said that was cold in Poland with temperatures below freezing etc.
    We had temperature in South Florida in mid 30 for 2 days and nights, so for us it was cold. On top of that we had winds at 30 to 40 miles per hour, so wind chill factor was in 20.
    How is that for cold weather.

    There is cold and there is cold.

    You will get use to the cold temperature after a while.

    Have a great time in school and good luck with the car.

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  4. David, I stopped by and really enjoyed the piece on the weather and the lessons.

    I'm writing an essay about Polish and Polish American bloggers, and I plan to make much of your excellent site!

    I'll be presenting the essay at a conference on teaching about Poland at the Pilsudski Institute in NYC.

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  5. John,
    Thanks for the visit. I'd be interested in reading your essay when it's finished. I appreciate your comments.

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  6. David: Your cousin Krzysztof left a link to your blog, while commenting mine. My situation is opposite than yours and Krzysztof thought that I might enjoy reading about your experiences. I did! Will visit you simetimes if you do not mind :)

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  7. Ania,
    Thanks for writing. I also found your blog from a link on Krzysztof's blog and read it. It is something that we have just the opposite experience. I have a cousin who also lives in New Jersey. From all of the pictures you have I guess that is where you live. He lives in Cresskill, NJ.

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  8. Anonymous10:23 AM

    David: I regularly read Ania's blog and I found a link to your blog there.
    Congratulations on buying a car. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
    Best regards

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  9. David: I live in Upstate New York. Very close to Vermont and only 40 minutes to Canadian border. Most of the pictures on my blog however are from our old home in Redding, Connecticut.

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