My new home
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2006
1
6
100
Trip End
Sep 08, 2008
Opole,
Poland
Saturday, September 23, 2006
I must admit, that as my train neared the city of Opole, I began to feel very apprehensive. Although I'd had a fantastic 10 days travelling around the country and making new friends, the reality that I was approaching the little known city I'd be living in for eight months began to sink in. What if I hated it there? What if it was really ugly and the other teachers were boring? All of these things began to spring into mind and I felt very uncomfortable.
I was met off the train by two of the other teachers at my school, and was shown straight to my apartment. I guess I got lucky, as it was only a five minute walk from the train station. It was another sunny day, and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know a few of my colleagues, and wandering around the city. First impressions do count, and luckily I had plenty to talk about with my new colleagues.
Opole surprised me somewhat. I'd seen a handful of photos on the web, but it was much more attractive than the drab photos showed. Next to my apartment was a tree lined canal, branching off from the Odra River which flows through the city. No more than two minutes walk north was a small park with a fountain and a great pancake restaurant on a balcony overlooking the canal where I got lunch on that first day.
However, it was the city centre that really impressed me. Three centuries old cathedrals encircled the small rynek (town square), which was home to a strangely out of place town hall. It looked as if it had been imported from a different country! Well, apparently it was modelled on a building in Florence, Italy. The square was one of many in Poland that was badly damaged during WWII, but as with Warsaw's and many others, it had been remarkably rebuilt with colourful townhouses, and hundreds sat outside eating and drinking in the sunshine.
Yet just 5 minutes walk from the square was 'the island,' lying between the Odra River and the canal next to my apartment. Here lay what was left the old Opole dukes castle, the Piast tower, built in the 14th centure and demolished in the 1920's. A steep climb to the top offered the best view of the city, which despite having a small centre was quite sprawling. The southern part of the island was a huge park, ideal for cycling or jogging once I became settled.
The school
After having a couple of days to relax, settle, get to know my flatmate (26yo Christian from London) and Opole's nightlife, I began work on the the 27th. A three day induction period told us all we needed to know about the school and Opole, and whilst I didn't learn anything that was new, it was a good opportunity to get my brain back into teaching gear after a 9 month absence. Half of the teachers were straight out of their CELTA, which put them in the same position as me in Cambodia 18 months earlier. This also made me one of the more experienced teachers, and I was promptly nominated as teacher's representative at management meetings. This may sound great, but it simply means more meetings with no additional salary for me!
The other big thing to come out of the induction was the news that I would be teaching in Prudnik twice a week, a large town about 50km from Opole near the Czech border. On the third day of the induction myself and the other Prudnik teachers were shown how to get to the satellite school using the schools car. The drive was really beautiful, passing huge oaks, rolling hills, woodlands and small villages. But while I couldn't help but be impressed by the nice scenery, I was a little concerned that I would have to learn how to drive on the right hand side of the road pretty quickly. We took turns in driving 25km each, and whilst it felt weird at first, I soon got used to everything being in reverse.
The first day of classes was particular stressful. It took me a long time to plan my three lessons and I was again admittedly a little nervous at meeting the students I'd be teaching for the duration of the academic year. Needless to say, everything went swimmingly, as did my first day at Prudnik. I'm teaching a variety of classes, including children as young as seven, teenagers and adults, as well as different levels from beginner up to exam preparation. The students are very talkative, and seem a lot smarter from those in Cambodia.
The Skansen
About 5km outside of Opole lays a Skansen, a replica of a medieval village. On the Sunday following the teacher induction a group of us visited the village to get a taste of what it was like in Poland in the sixteenth century. The small houses were quite attractive, however I found the 16th century wooden church the most fascinating of the structures. As much as I found the village quite interesting, I did find it a little stale I guess. After trekking the South East Asian highlands and staying in small villages which seemed to be operating in a different time zone to the rest of the modern world, I just found this place devoid of any real character or life.
Nevertheless, I hadn't seen wooden houses like this before, and I did manage to find myself some fantastic mushrooms with seasoning for lunch. Whilst mushrooms had never been my favourite food back home, I just couldn't get enough of the Polish variety!
So, in a little over two weeks I'm feeling quite settled here. I know my way around, I'm picking up the language at a reasonable pace, and I've made plenty of friends, both Poles and foreigners. Opole is a small city, but like Hobart, it has enough going on to keep me happy, and is much less frenetic than the bigger cities I'd seen. The best thing though is that it is the real Poland! There is no airport, which means the hoards of tourists I saw in Warsaw and Krakow aren't here. There are only a handful of foreigners here, and for this reason the locals are always being really friendly towards me. I think I'll enjoy living here for a while!
Comments
I was studying in Opole
Hey man! I was studying in Opole by 5 years. I agree with most things which you said. The pancake restaurant is really great... I like Opole, because is not to big but also not to small... Maybe there is to many concrete communist buildings in the city, but it's nothing unusual in all silesian cities because of war damages (which you mentioned about).
My regards
Re: I was studying in Opole
Opole isn't a bad little city. Sure there are a few ugly grey buildings, but there's a lot worse in Silesia. The rynek is quite nice, and there are some cool spots to hit for a beer.