Melanie and I attended Christ the King Church in Kraków in July when we visited for house hunting and we had a great experience. It was a bit different than we were used to, though we both have regularly attended various denominations in the past, tending towards a Baptist format for many years. We have been attending Chrystus Królem since we moved (even went to a game night the second day of living in Poland before we went to a second service).
One significant difference is the church services are in both English and Polish! Not an English service and a Polish service, but one service in both languages.
Be aware that Poland is a very Catholic country, even to the point of possibly being the highest percentage of active Catholics in Europe (or the world?). Finding a non-Catholic church can be a challenge, especially one that holds services in English (there are some English masses here, but relatively few).
The songs are sung in English OR Polish, and sometimes within the same song we sing different verses in either languages. Fortunately, the projected lyrics have both English and Polish on the wall so we can sing at any time. As with any time you go to a new church, there are songs we know and songs we do not know... when you do not know the song in English, it is difficult to follow in Polish (don't know the tune or Polish, hard to keep up). Sometimes I try to sing in Polish, but I find translating the words to be a challenge when I try to remember what sounds certain letters or combinations of letters are supposed to make (there are a lot of cz, rz, and sz letter combos in Polish words, but some are even more difficult to remember and not try to sound in English, such as "c" has a "ts" sound and "ci" is a hard "ch" sound).
The worship leaders sometimes speaks or prays in English and another person on the team translates into Polish... sometimes it is the other way around.
If you think your pastor's sermon's are long, think about it being said twice... in different languages. The pastor speaks in Polish and a translator repeats it in English; the pastor could preach in both languages, repeating himself every few sentences, but the translator helps save his voice. Because of this double length sermon, I am sure that he keeps the sermons shorter (even a short sermon can go a long time when it has to be repeated).
I am sure many of the customs and traditions at this church have been influenced by the history and culture (as is to be expected), but some also appear to be forced to express a separation from the Catholic dominance in Poland... to show a difference.
We have meet a broad variety of people from many countries at Church and we have many experiences that we will remember as part of this sojourn in Krakw, Poland. Here's to many more to come.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Living in a metric world
One thing that has surprised me about living in Europe is the metric system. Yes, I knew metric was the norm and "500 meters down the road" is hard for me to relate to, but I did not think a dozen eggs would be affected. Eggs are sold in groups of 10. No "baker's dozen". You also find so much more in groups of 5 instead of 6. This is nice for a family of 5 as it divides perfectly (fewer leftovers or more than one child wanting the 1 remaining cookie, bread, etc.
We bought packages of 5 donuts at the store. Perfect count for us.
Today's dietary fun
Today we took a new bus route to take Kaitlyn to a classmates birthday party, then we went to the shopping centers near their house while the party went on. Going home, we stopped at Chimera resteraunt in Centrum for dinner. At the table we had rabbit, venison, duck, and beef. No, there are no vegetarians in our family, though Robert is the closest (protecting the animals, except pig because bacon and pork knuckle is just too good).
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Kickin' it in Kraków
Moved with the family to Poland in November for a 2 year work assignment. I thought a blog would be a good way to document what happens as we go. But we need a little catch up now that I have started this thing.
2012 November 15 - After 4 days of packers and loading the house (and a weekend in their, too), we stayed at a hotel near the SeaTac Airport and had dinner at the Rain Forrest Cafe.
2012 November 16 - Arrived at the airport midday to get on our flight... lots of luggage because we can take 2 pieces per person and we will not receive any of our household shipments for a month or two. Nice flight since we were in Lufthansa business class (the kids really enjoyed it, though they should have slept more).
2012 November 17 - Landed in Frankfurt this morning and we had a 7 hour layover... business class lounge is very nice :). Landed in Kraków in the evening and our taxi driver, Grzegorz, was waiting for us. We loaded up the taxi-van with people and luggage, then drove the few miles to our house (not too far from airport). The kids explored the house and began feeling at home. We had temporary furniture so the house would be usable: beds, dressers, night stands, couch/chairs, coffee table, TV, dining table and chairs, and kitchen equipment.
Thus began our life in Kraków.
The following week, the kids started school at International School of Krakow (ISK). They have met many new friends, but as an international school, the class sizes are pretty small (10-15 students).
Our air shipment of our household goods arrived a few days before Christmas, which included mostly clothes and kitchen equipment.
Robert celebrated his birthday in Kraków. We had his favorite dinner, Melanie's Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese (with a Polish twist because we had a hard time finding the cheeses we normally use).
We had our first Christmas and New Years in Kraków, though many people asked if we were heading back to the States for Christmas (we just got here, no reason to endure that much air time yet).
We bought an artificial tree and some lights and decorations (our Christmas Tree skirt made by my mother was also in our air shipment, so it decorated the tree, too). We had some presents under the tree (the kids were able to buy presents for everyone else in the family at school, we brought some presents with us, and a few presents bought here. The boys got most of their Christmas and Birthday presents in an early gift they have been using for a few months).
Just before New Years, we went to Zakopane and took the train to the summit. Zakopane has been described as the Aspen of Poland (touristy, not the same expense of living, I presume). It was nice, but not too much snow. The view from the mountain was also nice.
New Years Eve was at home with the family, watching movies I had on a hard disk (been watching a lot of those movies). Then there were many houses with their own fireworks displays around the house, so we went on the balconies (in freezing temps) and watched them light up the sky. It went for about 20-30 minutes and in every direction.
School began after the holiday break (a week ago) and the boys (middle schoolers) are having their first exams this week.
We have found alma24.pl, which has online shopping and delivery, so we have avoided starving in Poland. We have a washing machine and a dryer (electric dryer's are not common in Poland). Food and clean clothers were Melanie's biggest concerns, so those are taken care of.
I have been buying monthly bus passes for everyone, so we have mobility around Kraków (without having to figure out how to pay for the per-trip bus passes). This was quite liberating because it was taxis for everything before we had the bus/tram lines figured out.
I am sure I could go on for much more, but this is my first post to a blog.
2012 November 15 - After 4 days of packers and loading the house (and a weekend in their, too), we stayed at a hotel near the SeaTac Airport and had dinner at the Rain Forrest Cafe.
2012 November 16 - Arrived at the airport midday to get on our flight... lots of luggage because we can take 2 pieces per person and we will not receive any of our household shipments for a month or two. Nice flight since we were in Lufthansa business class (the kids really enjoyed it, though they should have slept more).
2012 November 17 - Landed in Frankfurt this morning and we had a 7 hour layover... business class lounge is very nice :). Landed in Kraków in the evening and our taxi driver, Grzegorz, was waiting for us. We loaded up the taxi-van with people and luggage, then drove the few miles to our house (not too far from airport). The kids explored the house and began feeling at home. We had temporary furniture so the house would be usable: beds, dressers, night stands, couch/chairs, coffee table, TV, dining table and chairs, and kitchen equipment.
Thus began our life in Kraków.
The following week, the kids started school at International School of Krakow (ISK). They have met many new friends, but as an international school, the class sizes are pretty small (10-15 students).
Our air shipment of our household goods arrived a few days before Christmas, which included mostly clothes and kitchen equipment.
Robert celebrated his birthday in Kraków. We had his favorite dinner, Melanie's Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese (with a Polish twist because we had a hard time finding the cheeses we normally use).
We had our first Christmas and New Years in Kraków, though many people asked if we were heading back to the States for Christmas (we just got here, no reason to endure that much air time yet).
We bought an artificial tree and some lights and decorations (our Christmas Tree skirt made by my mother was also in our air shipment, so it decorated the tree, too). We had some presents under the tree (the kids were able to buy presents for everyone else in the family at school, we brought some presents with us, and a few presents bought here. The boys got most of their Christmas and Birthday presents in an early gift they have been using for a few months).
Just before New Years, we went to Zakopane and took the train to the summit. Zakopane has been described as the Aspen of Poland (touristy, not the same expense of living, I presume). It was nice, but not too much snow. The view from the mountain was also nice.
New Years Eve was at home with the family, watching movies I had on a hard disk (been watching a lot of those movies). Then there were many houses with their own fireworks displays around the house, so we went on the balconies (in freezing temps) and watched them light up the sky. It went for about 20-30 minutes and in every direction.
School began after the holiday break (a week ago) and the boys (middle schoolers) are having their first exams this week.
We have found alma24.pl, which has online shopping and delivery, so we have avoided starving in Poland. We have a washing machine and a dryer (electric dryer's are not common in Poland). Food and clean clothers were Melanie's biggest concerns, so those are taken care of.
I have been buying monthly bus passes for everyone, so we have mobility around Kraków (without having to figure out how to pay for the per-trip bus passes). This was quite liberating because it was taxis for everything before we had the bus/tram lines figured out.
I am sure I could go on for much more, but this is my first post to a blog.
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