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Posts by JaynGarrick  

Joined: 17 Sep 2011 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: -
Threads: Total: 10 / In This Archive: 10
Posts: Total: 16 / In This Archive: 16 		From: Poland, Warsaw
Speaks Polish?: Not yet. :]
Interests: jogging, literature, music, coffee, people, theatre, camping, history, culture

Displayed posts: 26
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JaynGarrick   
17 Sep 2011
Classifieds / D&D Group for Expats in Warsaw needs one more player... [69]

The request was ages ago, but if D&D is still on and you're still looking for players, I'm moving to Warsaw in a week. I haven't played in ages, and I only played once (not very good chemistry in that group) but I loved it. One of my best mates is currently in a very long ongoing D&D group that I haven't joined because I've been in China and am now about to move to Poland, so this sounds like it'd be a lot of fun. But again: not much experience playing, just love the game.
JaynGarrick   
17 Sep 2011
Food / Moving to Poland - Culinary Concerns and Food Markets Availability? [15]

Hello!

I'm from Los Angeles, currently still in Los Angeles, but moving to Poland next week! I'll be in Warsaw, teaching English. I was wondering what the markets were like in Warsaw-- not the job market, the food market! I do a lot of cooking, and hopefully I'm not letting my imagination run away when I assume my apartment will have a kitchen (I've just come from China where that's not always the case, even in the nice apartments). I'm big on cooking because I have a pretty severe allergy to a food that's in more than you'd think: milk. This includes: cheese, cream, butter, margarine, most chocolate; anything with casein, lactic acid, whey. Very very sad, as I wasn't born with this allergy, so I know what pierogies and pizza taste like, but I can no longer have them :[

So, anyway, food markets? I'm from LA where we have farmers markets, fresh produce sold independently by the farmers, but there are also supermarkets, etc. I'm not a snob, I'll get my produce from anywhere I can, but I'm just wondering which is the best place to buy from, economically and otherwise.

Also: spices. As I'm still in LA I can still get spices I may not be able to purchase in Poland if there's not a big international market there. I like cooking Indian food, Italian food (I'm sure herbs for pasta won't be a problem to attain), and Mexican food.

Last one: Baking. China didn't have ovens (or did, but very small and for far too much money). I love to bake, but I need to know what common baking ingredients I can expect to find in Warsaw, and what dairy (milk, but not eggs, I'm fine with eggs) substitutes I may need to plan ahead for.

I don't have any other dietary restrictions.
JaynGarrick   
18 Sep 2011
Food / Moving to Poland - Culinary Concerns and Food Markets Availability? [15]

"what are the milk substitutes in baking. I bake at times and I don't recall using milk products while baking. Perhaps you have a particular dish in mind?"

Well, when it comes to making cookies or the cake part of cake, oil suffices as a butter substitute, but for frosting, they require vegan butter that's easy enough to find in supermarkets in LA, but not in the further reaches of LA county even. I do have recipes out of a vegan cookbook for making vegan butter, so I'll have to see what I might need for that should I be making any dairy-free goodies.
JaynGarrick   
19 Sep 2011
Food / Moving to Poland - Culinary Concerns and Food Markets Availability? [15]

I've never tried goat milk, and haven't yet gotten the results back from my allergy tests. I'm hoping that the allergy was temporary and passed, but if it is still present, I'll be finding out soon if I can have goat milk without going into anaphylactic shock.

So in short: goat milk, no idea.
JaynGarrick   
19 Sep 2011
Food / Moving to Poland - Culinary Concerns and Food Markets Availability? [15]

I carry an epipen on my person at all times and I have a spare. I am so careful about what I eat I am at a very low risk for using it, but it should be and is known by whoever is in my company where it is on my person and how to use it. Always. This is, in fact, a matter of life and death.
JaynGarrick   
27 Sep 2011
Travel / Social Culture - Confused - good place in Warsaw to make new friends [19]

Is there any good place is Warsaw to make new friends? All of the "new friends" I'm making seem to take my smiling as flirtation-- not complaining as most of them have been handsome, but I'm not really looking for lovers or a boyfriend at the moment. I'm three-days into my relocation to Warsaw and I could use some friends outside of work (I'm a teacher). I miss having friends to laugh with, but I'm not really sure where to go to meet them. Striking up conversations with strangers here seems more daunting than it did back home. I will be studying the language on my own time, but three days in, no Polish-studying-history to speak of, and I feel a little more isolated than I want to.
JaynGarrick   
9 Oct 2011
Travel / Social Culture - Confused - good place in Warsaw to make new friends [19]

JonnyM
After such a short time you're bound to feel a bit isolated. Where did you relocate from, what sort of age group are you and what are your interests?

I'm twenty-four and relocated from Los Angeles. I've lived abroad before for a year, but in a small town in China, which was much different. Poland so far has been a much greater experience.

As far as my interests, I like yoga, jogging, cooking, reading, writing, drawing, music (I play guitar and sing, both very poorly, but I love it, and I love live music). I'm not really into TV, and movies can be pretty cool, but I don't watch too many. I like improv theatre and watching theatrical performances. I like drinking, but I'm not a "drinker." I like nerd stuff like comic books, Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Doctor Who, etc. I found a comic book shop by a guitar shop in the metro, but naturally, everything was in Polish, which I don't speak yet.

So far, I've been hanging out a lot at Plac Zbawiciela, which is nice, and since posting I have made a few friends, but I'm still looking to broaden my social network out here because I'm used to having a lot of acquaintances and friends.

So I stopped by the British Council yesterday just to check it out. It's the school I'd love to work for, but it's not likely I'll ever work for them because I'm too inexperienced. I wasn't really sure where the library was. I felt too intimidated to ask. I imagine it's actually in the building? Tomorrow after my interview with Cambridge School of English, I'll swing by and check it out.

However, if anyone is interested in just being a platonic friend with someone new to Warsaw, I hang out at Plac Zbawiciela a couple of times a week when I'm not too exhausted from dealing with BS and chasing kids at school.
JaynGarrick   
10 Oct 2011
Work / Long Term Stay Visa in Poland (ESL teacher) [6]

Hey guys,

I'm a Cambridge certified ESL teacher that is currently very unsatisfied with the quality of administration at her current school. The promises made to me to get me to leave my home country and move to Poland were broken, as well as the quality of communication and professionalism at this particular institution, both amongst teachers and staff, being almost completely absent. While I've tried to register complaints and just take charge of things to "be the change" and all, nothing's happened. It's only been two weeks, so I'll try to give it more time, but sometimes work making you cry three times a day is red flag enough.

The trouble is, of course, the visa. If I quit my job, work won't be too hard to find, but I'm concerned about being kicked out of the country. I'm not on an employment visa, I'm on a long-term stay visa, and I'm trying to find anything on google that'll help me understand if it's possible to quit, legally, without being forced out of my new home, but so far nothing.

Please help.
JaynGarrick   
10 Oct 2011
Work / Long Term Stay Visa in Poland (ESL teacher) [6]

I am American, promises were of housing, mostly, which was violated most grossly-- I had to share a bed with my prospective flatmate while my coworker slept on the floor of her own bedroom. With the three of us and the suitcases there was not even one square foot of floor space, and I'm not exaggerating. I was theoretically provided training, but it was spotty and from a coworker who has worked in the position one year, and whose prior teaching experience is nil. They had to make up a syllabus for their classes, and because the school had no idea what to do with the English program they promised they stuck with the one these two teachers created-- which is not to say that it was terrible, but anything that strays from that (despite my experience and training), to the school, looks wrong. I've been reprimanded too many times for doing things I didn't know to do in the first place, because procedures and policies are so different here.

Am taking down my photo now.

It's not so much difficulty finding a job outside of this institution, so much as just violating my visa laws. A Polish friend of mine looked it up and I'm not in violation of any laws. I will be in my right to quit this job and look for work anew, I guess. Any suggestions? I tried British council, but I don't think they're hiring. At the moment it's looking like business English and one-to-ones because the semester has already started, so finding work at an 8-4 school may be tricky.
JaynGarrick   
24 Nov 2011
Food / Hawaiian Kona coffee to buy in Warsaw [12]

Hey,

Originally from California, and my favorite coffee is Hawaiian Kona coffee. I was wondering if it was available (or anything like it) was available here in Warsaw?
JaynGarrick   
27 Nov 2011
Travel / What to do in Warsaw at Christmas? [21]

Most of my friends are going home (either another city in Poland, or back to their home country) for Christmas, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to be alone this Christmas. That doesn't really bother me, but I was wondering what there was to do in Warsaw at Christmas. I imagine everything will be closed the day of or Christmas Eve, but is there something to go to around that time?

I hear at New Years there's some fun times and things to do around the Palace of Culture.
JaynGarrick   
27 Nov 2011
Travel / What to do in Warsaw at Christmas? [21]

Ah, I definitely don't have money for the Hyatt and I'm allergic to milk, so likely everything they'll be having. That sounds lovely, otherwise.
JaynGarrick   
30 Nov 2011
Love / First Dates with a Polish guy who grew up in France [21]

Went on a date with someone wonderful. He's Polish but grew up in France. I'm American. We split the bill,which is absolutely fine by me, but I understood previously that Polish men are still very old school about stuff like that, so I didn't know if it was a date at that point. He did walk me home, and when we parted ways he kissed me on the cheek and left, although I thought we were hitting it off. Again, American culture, I have no issues kissing on the first date, but I wasn't sure if that was his way of saying "Well, that was nice, but I'm not that interested." or if he was just being Polish. Or maybe I'm just terribly American?? I have no idea.

Some background-- the way we met and the way we've interacted has been on the more "attracted-to-you" side, but hasn'tquite reached romantic yet(ie. a date with no kissing). Body language is "interested"-- and I think I'm quite good at reading body language, except now it's crossing over cultures, so I'm second guessing myself and I'd really rather not make a move on someone who just wants to be my friend-- I'm always down to make more friends.
JaynGarrick   
30 Nov 2011
Love / First Dates with a Polish guy who grew up in France [21]

Thanks, Pip, for the advice and for defending me.

For Something's-Sake, guys, of course all American women aren't the same, and I don't expect Polish men to be shaped by the Great Polish Men Cookie Cutter, but like Pip said there are certain behaviours and ideas prominent in certain cultures. I'm very very aware of that, given my mixed-minority ethnicity, the many-cultured environments I was raised in, and my study of culture at university. Don't get so damn defensive.

The culture that had most influence on my identity was American culture, and that's really ******* broad; it's highly-concentrated on the individual, despite pop culture conformity, and the dating culture that I adapted was one of pretty open expression of affection, except I'm also shy. Like I said before, I'm good at reading body language, but there is a cultural difference between the way Europeans express themselves, physically, and Americans do, in their social interactions, and then certain customs (like perhaps, oh I don't know, kissing someone once on the cheek every time you meet them, or kissing them two or three times on the cheek, depending on what part of the world you come from) that might be more Central European, more Polish, or more individual. I DON'T KNOW what's more cultural or more individual here, and I'm not at all familiar with Polish culture, even after living here for two months. So forgive me for asking a question.

Grumpy today, aren't we? The sun will come back eventually, guys.
JaynGarrick   
30 Nov 2011
Love / First Dates with a Polish guy who grew up in France [21]

That's right, I totally think that blood and genetics determine the individual's culture. And with my Filipino, German, Malagasy, French and Irish genetic background, I'm surprised I haven't exploded. Oh wait, I think I feel something, now that you've brought to light my inherent racism. It's simply too much. Oh, god, help me, I cannot bear it anymore.
JaynGarrick   
30 Nov 2011
Love / First Dates with a Polish guy who grew up in France [21]

Oy, I never said they all think or do the same thing-- I just don't know what's a cultural norm here, people. In some places, ie. China, where I used to live, dating was taken very seriously-- and NATURALLY you had people who didn't take it seriously, but if I don't know anything about a person and I'm on a first date, I want to know what might be the cultural norm for that person, or maybe as it's been pointed out-- that perhaps there IS no cultural norm for and it is entirely individual. Thank you for letting me know. Not every place is entirely individually minded, some places identity is placed more on units-- either nationally, or in smaller units (families or villages). And still, no collective of people is entirely the same in every aspect. I wish the racists who beat me up a year ago believed that. Its something I knew long before I posted, because I'm a shining ******* example of "everybody's different", but I also know that culture shapes our perspectives (thank you, anthropology studies). But you have to consider other perspectives and cultures, which is why I asked.

Jeezy creezy you people are just looking for reasons to get upset today, aren't you?
JaynGarrick   
30 Nov 2011
Love / First Dates with a Polish guy who grew up in France [21]

"

Juts flirt, isnt that what women do best? Isnt that part of their genetic make up?

Hahaha, of course it is. Just like having a natural inclination and inescapable fate of ending up barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen as she's making sandwiches for her man.

I am the awkwardest of turtles, so I couldn't flirt my way out of a paper bag, but I'll just keep, as you say, letting him know without saying anything. I'll try to resist snogging him first, I suppose.
JaynGarrick   
7 Dec 2011
Work / Teacher Training, Workshops, and Seminars in Poland [3]

I'm interested in attending more TEFL events: seminars, workshops, training sessions. I currently work for three companies, but they don't have as many events of these sorts as I'd like. Please let me know where and when all or any workshops are happening that you know in Warsaw. I'd love to attend any outside of Warsaw, but I work six days a week, so I'm a bit tight on time.

Currently I have 1.5 years of professional teaching experience, a university degree, and my CELTA. I'm looking to start in a DELTA programme in about a year's time, but any seminars and training in the meantime are very very enthusiastically welcome.

Thanks, everyone!
JaynGarrick   
27 Dec 2011
Travel / What to do in Warsaw at Christmas? [21]

What about popping over to Poznan for New Year's Eve?

Thank you so much for the invitation, I really appreciate it. My holiday was quite wonderful here in Warsaw, and I magically got invited to two parties. And as much as I'd like to travel around Poland, I don't think it's going to be this week.

But I'll PM you if I go to Poznan and maybe you can get a couple of people together you know there and we can all go for a pint. Happy New Year!
JaynGarrick   
19 Jan 2012
Life / My experience on mobile phones in Poland [9]

I bought a very basic, old-school Nokia when I first got here, which is sufficient for the basics. I'm not really a new-tech enthusiast, so I don't need the best/most advanced phone on the market, but I had a smart phone (second hand, part of a family plan) back in the States-- an iPhone, more specifically, but it couldn't be jailbroken for use over here, and I'm afraid I accidentally dropped it a few months ago, so it's out of service completely.

Anyway, as my life is a bit chaotic, insofar as schedules, keeping appointments, etc., I'm certain a smart phone would make my life easier and my bag a bit lighter, not having to carry around a calendar/laptop/etc. The need for a smart phone is not only for a calendar, it's access to email while I'm on the go so I know when a company needs me to come in for anything (which happens often), or if a student emails me about class, I won't need to go home to find out. It's also to make texting and calling a lot easier and quicker.

However, I'm on a budget. I'd rather not disclose how much I want to spend on a smart phone, but if anyone could share with me the best place in Warsaw to get a cheap but reliable smart phone, it'd be much appreciated. I don't care if it's come out last year or in 2009 or whenever. A phone that permits email access, preferably with a web browser, as well as calendar and alarm functions-- that'd be great.

I've checked the underground shops at Centrum and DW Centralny, and the cheapest they'll go is 250PLN, for the most basic smart phone. I'd like the best deal for the price. I'm willing to spend a bit more on quality, but not willing to put money on things I don't need:

- I don't care about apps. Having instant access to weather and facebook is nice, but it's not necessary.
- I prefer buttons/a full keyboard, but I'm pretty good at writing texts quickly with the basic keys.
- A camera would be nice, and maybe all smart phones have them (told you I'm not tech-savvy), but if some don't and are cheaper for it: camera isn't necessary

I've checked Allegro, but as I don't speak Polish and as Google Translate is hardly inerrant, I'm not sure I trust buying something from there without help from a living person fluent in both English and Polish.

All advice appreciated. Thanks.
JaynGarrick   
25 Mar 2012
Life / Community Gardening and Supplies in Warsaw [6]

I'm moving to the city center, from not-exactly-the-city-center (Pl Zbawiciela), and my flat is tiny but it's my own and I love it. The trouble is, I love gardening, and I have several plants I'm growing indoors (sunflowers, lavender, ferns, coriander, begonias, and aloe) but I was wondering if there was a community gardening project for planting trees, bushes, etc.

If there isn't one, how could one be started here in Warsaw?

Thanks :)