Sunday, January 22, 2012

Iwa艅ski family visit.





Thinking that today it would be snowing, Joan was preparing to wear her new boots today but we woke up to pouring rain and it continued throughout the day.

We left for our visit with the Iwa艅ski family in Koni艅 and arrived the a little after 2PM. As is normal when you visit someone here, the first thing we did was eat obiad.  It was delicious, consisting of chicken and rice, pork slices, tomatoes and mushrooms. Being careful not to eat too much, we left room for the desserts and there were far too many kinds to choose from.  Of course, juice, coffee and tea were offered and we chose coffee. It was an excellent opportunity to practice speaking Polish because Anna doesn't speak English but is fluent in French.  Her son 艁ukasz speaks some English and her husband, Hieronim, is fluent in German.

Anna told us some family news that we didn't know and then went on to say that in March, if the job market doesn't improve in Koni艅, her and her son will go to southern France for work for a short period of time, maybe 3-6 months. This was surprising news for us not knowing about it before our meeting.

We spent about 4 hours talking and then left for our return trip home, stopping first at the cemetery in Golina to put a candle on the grave of my relatives.  It's been three months since the last funeral and the headstone has not yet been put in place but I suppose that has to do with the weather.

艁ukasz said he was interested in improving his English conversation so I told him we could use Skype and talk with each, similar to what I do with cousin Andrzej.  He thought it was a good idea too and we'll start as soon as he's ready.

My艣lenie, 偶e dzisiaj b臋dzie pada艂 艣nieg, Joan przygotowywa艂 si臋 do noszenia jej nowe buty, ale dzisiaj obudzili艣my si臋 ulewny deszcz i nadal w ci膮gu dnia.

 Wyszli艣my na naszej wizyty z rodzin膮 Iwa艅ski w Koninie i przyby艂 troch臋 po godzina czternasta. Jak to zwykle podczas wizyty tu kto艣, pierwsz膮 rzecz膮, kt贸r膮 zrobi艂em by艂o zje艣膰 obiad. By艂o pyszne, sk艂adaj膮cy si臋 z kurczaka i ry偶u, plastry wieprzowiny, pomidor贸w i grzyb贸w. Uwa偶aj膮c, aby nie je艣膰 zbyt du偶o, zostawili艣my miejsce na desery i nie by艂o zbyt wiele rodzaj贸w do wyboru. Oczywi艣cie, sok, kawa i herbata oferowane by艂y i wybrali艣my kawy. To by艂a doskona艂a okazja do praktyki polskich m贸wi膮c, poniewa偶 Anna nie m贸wi po angielsku, ale p艂ynnie po francusku. Jej syn 艁ukasz m贸wi troch臋 po angielsku, i jej m膮偶, Hieronim, biegle pos艂uguje si臋 j臋zykiem niemieckim.

 Anna powiedzia艂a nam kilka nowo艣ci rodzinie, 偶e nie wiedzieli艣my, a nast臋pnie poszed艂 na powiedzie膰, 偶e w marcu, gdy na rynku pracy nie poprawi si臋 w Koninie, ona i jej syn p贸jdzie do po艂udniowej Francji do pracy na kr贸tki okres czasu , mo偶e 3-6 miesi臋cy. To by艂o zaskakuj膮ce wie艣ci dla nas nie wiedz膮c o tym przed naszym spotkaniem.

 Sp臋dzili艣my oko艂o 4 godzin rozmowy, a nast臋pnie wyjecha艂 do naszego podr贸偶 do domu, zatrzymuj膮c si臋 najpierw na cmentarzu w Golina postawi膰 艣wieczk臋 na grobie moich krewnych. To ju偶 trzy miesi膮ce od ostatniego pogrzebu i nagrobka nie zosta艂y jeszcze wprowadzone ale przypuszczam, 偶e ma do czynienia z pogod膮.

 艁ukasz powiedzia艂, 偶e jest zainteresowana popraw膮 jego angielski rozmowy wi臋c powiedzia艂em mu mo偶emy u偶ywa膰 Skype i rozmawia膰 ze sob膮, podobnie jak to zrobi膰 z kuzyn Andrzej. My艣la艂, 偶e to dobry pomys艂, a my rozpocz膮膰, jak tylko b臋dzie got贸w.