8 - Finally in Poland! (English version)

In this episode, I talk about my first day after arriving in Poland—after several years of learning the language from afar. I share my impressions of the airport, the bus, and the restaurant.
In a word, how cool it is to be in a Polish environment after several years of learning! 🇵🇱

This is the English version of the original episode "W końcu w Polsce!" 

Transcript

Hi! Welcome to today's episode.
This episode is titled “Finally in Poland.” (And this is the English episode of that episode, originally written in Polish.)

I'm finally in Poland! I flew to Warsaw on Friday afternoon. I only slept for an hour and a half on the plane. My flight was from Montreal to Munich, where I had a short layover. When I was at Chopin Airport, suddenly I only heard Polish.

This is my first time in Poland since I started learning Polish. The last time I was in Poland was in 2015, before I learned Polish. At that time, I could only say “thank you” and “good morning.”

It's a very interesting thing to learn a language outside the country where it is spoken. I started learning Polish in Nunavut during the pandemic, when it was more difficult to travel to Poland. So I only heard Polish when I was doing my lessons (or watching things on Netflix).

I started learning Polish again this spring, after a three-year break. This is the first time I've been in a Polish-speaking environment. I enjoyed hearing people talking at the airport. I also enjoyed reading the signs and recognizing things I had learned in class.

For example, I saw a sign in a bookstore that said “Literatura faktu” (non-fiction), which I recognized from my lessons with my teacher Adrian. I was interested in the books that were under the sign, but I knew that my Polish wasn't quite good enough yet to finish a book in Polish, and I already had a lot of reading material.

Then I went to the bus stop. I got on bus number 188 and bought a ticket from the cash machine (ticket machine is better) on the bus. I overheard a conversation between two women next to me, and although I wasn't trying to listen, I could understand many basic words such as “I don't know" - "Nie wiem, " “but" - "ale" and so on.

Then I got off the bus when I reached the Politechnika stop in Śródmieście or Middletown/Centretown. I was very tired after the trip and without sleep, but our apartment was still not ready for me. The check-in time was 4:00 p.m., and it was only 2:30 p.m.

So I decided to go to a restaurant near the apartment. I went to a Japanese restaurant called “Uki Green.” The waitress spoke to me quickly, and I told her, “I'm alone,” but I wanted to say “A table for one,” I just couldn't remember the word. I didn't understand everything she was saying, but I learned that there was a special offer from the chef that day. So the restaurant had a limited menu.

I explained that I was a vegetarian, but it wasn't necessary because everything was vegetarian. I ordered ramen with shoyu sauce. I realized that I hadn't prepared myself to speak Polish in restaurants or cafes in Poland. At least that's how I felt. I wondered what was the most natural way to order in a restaurant. Do you say, “Poproszę ramen shoyu” (I'll have the shoyu ramen), “Ramen shoyu, proszę” (Shoyu ramen, please), or “Czy mogę prosić o ramen shoyu?” (May I have the shoyu ramen, please?), and so on. It didn't help that I was sleep-deprived.

I didn't know the verb “to pay” and had to look it up in my little French-Polish dictionary. It was “płacić,” of course! The same with the word “bill." - "Rachunek." The dish arrived at the table and was beautiful, with little purple flowers. There were also two Japanese sweet potato dumplings on the ramen. The dish was delicious. I paid the bill and went to my new apartment, where I went straight to bed.

In a word, or "jedym słowem" it's so cool to be in a Polish environment after a few years of studying! Bye!