NateandOla.com

I was walking into Macy’s with my wife today and as I was strolling Filip through the big Macy’s doors with the infamous red Macy’s star painted on the fingerprinted glass, a teenager began his exit. He began to show the appearance of the old school etiquette entitled, “holding the door open for a lady and some dude struggling with a stroller to enter.” It is perhaps a lost art, and something I should never expect from a 17 year old kid whose closet is apparently located in Holister, but he was showing all the signs…there was the slight step to the side…followed by the left hand propping open the glass door…while the the right hand texting vigorously….it was all there. Young chivalry at its finest.

As we got about 2 feet from entering, the young man finished his text, shut his phone…and the door…and headed toward his car. Without skipping a beat he began to walk right past us, totally oblivious to the fact that he had shut the door in the face of a beautiful young lady, and a guy strolling a kid into the mall. Apparently I had been deceived. I had misread the signs, a common mistake in a fast paced city. Because I view myself as a teacher of lessons, I shouted to him before he got to far and encouraged him to hold the door open for me and my family. With a little face of embarrassment as he suddenly realized his mistake of assuming he was the only one who existed in his teenage world, he went back and held the door for us. And we entered into Macy’s having done a little part to make this world a better place.

Now, I have been concerned lately about “…kids today…”. I look forward to the day when as an old geezer, I can sit on my porch in my underwear, sipping on some fresh lemonade, and shouting at the kids that drive too fast with their music too loud. I will then talk to my old wife while patting my old dog on the head, and express how tragic it is that kids today don’t have the common decency that my generation was naturally born with. All that aside…I am a little concerned.

Truth be told, a door not being held open has been the least of my concerns lately. The other day I saw a gang fight in our neighborhood fit with baseball bats and bricks. Across the street was the Police Department and the district court. Now that the weather has gotten nicer there has been a lot more activity on the streets. My front door has a nice silver gang tag spray painted onto it, and all I have to do is check on facebook to see what mischief the inner-city teens I worked with have been up to. Side note: It is 10:34 pm right now, and I just heard the ice-cream truck go down my street with the stupid tune, “The monkey chased the weasel,” blaring from his loudspeaker. What kind of kids get ice-cream at 10:34pm?! When I was growing up, the only thing I could get after 10:00 was grounded!

So what is the problem with kids today? I was watching an Episode of Mad Men…a tv show that was recommended to me by someone who read something somewhere by somebody who said it was good…and a little quote popped out that I liked. And it said this:

“The problem with kids today, is they have nobody to look up to.”

Welcome to Atlanta. This is actually my first time in Atlanta, other than a time that I transferred my flight at the airport. It is a beautiful area that we are in…surrounded by gorgeous homes, a nice country club, great restaurants, and southern hospitality. I am currently sitting in a carwash/oil-change place. There are some southern gentlemen cleaning the Chicago filth off of our car, and changing our oil to ensure that our Southern State adventures won’t be too adventurous! And where, but Atlanta, can I sit in a car garage that resembles a coffee shop selling air freshners, watch ESPN on a huge flat screen tv, sit on leather couches and blog on free wireless internet using a computer than provide?! This is like first class oil changes and car washes!

Tonight begins the Life on Life Missional Discipleship Conference. It is going to be incredible and we are enrolled in the “Spiritual Formation” track. Why are we here? Because this is misisons. We have the privilege of partnering with Perimeter Church by putting Life on Life materials into the hands of Christian leaders throughout Poland. There is so much excitement within the Polish church leadership as there is a passion for what I would take liberty of calling, “a biblical model of missions”. It is the great commission, “Go and make disciples…” A principle that we have all known and preached, and yet seem to somehow miss in our congregations. Since when did discipleship making mean “Build big churches?” “Show up for choir practice?” and all the other things we somehow expect church members to participate in and get excited about. What if discipleship was actually about…well…intentionally making disciples?

It isn’t that any of us would disagree with the need to make disciples, and honestly…I believe most of us would love to watch their friends, family members, and co-workers become not only Christians, but passionate followers of Christ…if it is even possible to separate the two. Perhaps the problem isn’t our desire…it is our lack of knowledge. Or the ability to break down our knowledge in a way that creates life change.

That is what I love about Life on Life Missional Discipleship…it gives you the ability to make and train disciples that are equipped and engaging their world. It is a process that goes far beyond a Sunday morning service, and bleeds into…well…life.

So here is the big questions: How are you going to make disciples? Of all the commands that Christ gave…perhaps the command to make disciples is the most well-known…and least applied.

Ok…so it is back to the blog. I apologize to each of you for not getting updating you on this blog after we got back from Poland. It has been a pretty crazy time and I am still trying to get decent internet in our new apartment. My computer crashed…and that was a real drag, I actually lost a ton of my contacts and addresses for our Newsletter…so if you are interested in our monthly newsletter, just send me your e-mail address to make sure you are put on it. You can e-mail me at nate@proecclesia.pl.

Ok…so that is that.

We are currently in Louisville, Kentucky. We are on our way to Atlanta, Georgia where we have the privilege of joining a conference focused on Life on Life: Missional Discipleship. It is going to be an incredible and intense course that focuses on Spiritual Formation and as the name implies…discipleship.

Perimeter Church in Atlanta is an incredible church with a strong focus on creating disciples that are mature and equipped to engage the world with the gospel of Christ. They have worked with us in Poland to create a conference that will equip Polish leaders to have a vision for creating disciples and thereby impacting their world. Hmmm…that sounds a lot like the model Jesus used. Perhaps that is even the point of missions?

I will keep you updated on our Atlanta conference but for now, Filip is sleeping in his little Pack-n-Play…Ola is watching HGTV, some House Hunter program that she doesn’t get to watch due to the fact that we don’t have cable at home…and I should be trying to sleep. The best part about hotels is the fact that Ola and I get our own beds! I fear we are becoming Ricky Ricardo and Lucy…or worse…Fred and Ethel…I wouldn’t want to make a habit of it, but every once in a while it is nice to have all the blankets to myself! Of course, according to her I pretty much have them all to myself regardless. At least now I don’t have to hear about it in the morning.

For more information on Perimeters Life on Life conference follow this link: Transformation Clinics

For more information on Perimeter Church check out: Perimeter

This is my last post from Poland…for now. Tomorrow we fly out at 4:30 in the afternoon and we will land in Chicago at 7:45 in the evening. That is assuming there isn’t a single delay in Poland or in Chicago. I am not to worried about Poland, but Chicago O’Hare is probably one of the least reliable airports in the world. I have no evidence to back that up, only experience. But tonight, we are packing, saying our goodbyes, and preparing for our 10 hour flight with Filip in our arms.

I have reflected a lot about our trip. Obviously, there has been a lot to think about now that we are in preparations to move over here…and honestly…I’m a thinker. I could sit for hours in silence just thinking. The ironic thing is whenever my wife asks me what I am thinking about, my response is usually…”nothing.” I am trying to work on that…why do we as guys do that? Is that we are really not thinking about anything…or is that if we wanted you to know we wouldn’t be thinking about it…we would be telling you about it. Perhaps it is both.

I remember one time Ola and I were laying in bed after a long day and I was in my “spaced out” thinking mode. I must have had very deep thought lines on my face, because Ola stopped what she was doing and asked…”What are you thinking about?” I gave my rehearsed answer, “Nothing.”, and she obviously saw that I wasn’t thinking about nothing. So she persisted…finally I gave in…”I was thinking about a new buffalo wing recipe,” I said. And the sad thing is…I was. Perhaps that is why we say we are thinking about nothing. Because most of the time, they are buffalo wing recipe thoughts that we are almost embarrassed to share. We give this vibe of being brilliant minds and solving the worlds problems…but 9 times out of 10…we are thinking about buffalo wings. Anyway…perhaps I can’t speak for all guys…but who has two thumbs and thinks about buffalo wings….this guy!

I did want to share a couple of things that happened this trip that got me thinking about ministry here in Poland. The first thing I will share was a brief conversation I had with a friend of our Maui…he is the leader of an incredible ministry here in Poland, ProEm. ProEm is a ministry that has worked creating an incredible Christian Camp, the have a singing group that travels international and will be recording an album in Los Angeles in February, and they have even worked to plant a great church in Tomaszow. You may remember that we visited the church on our way down to Wroclaw when we first arrived.

Maui knows a lot of missionaries throughout Poland, and in the course of conversation he had mentioned that in all of Poland…a country of 36 million people…there are only around 120 missionaries. This includes missionaries from all denominations and with various roles, some teaching English, some planting churches, some working with orphans. When I think about 120 missionaries in a country this large I am amazed. In Poland there are 897 cities. That is 7.5 times more cities than there are missionaries.

Because I am always interested in results, I asked Maui, “Of those 120 missionaries…how many would you say are effective in their ministries?” He told me something that I hope to never forget. He said, “Any missionary that is here…just by being here…is effective.” He followed that statement for a few minutes before we had to leave, but that one sentence stuck in my mind and has been something I have thought about ever since.

I know that we put strong expectations on people and ourselves…at times I believe they may border on unrealistic expectations, and at times perhaps they are even unfair expectations. I love seeing things happen, I love seeing results, and having figures I can share with people…but at times the only result is the fact that we have been faithful to Christ in our workplace. That we have given our all in a homegroup study. And sometimes the greatest effectiveness…is just the fact that we are there…one more Christian in an unchristian workplace, an unchristian school, an unchristian country.

They next thing that I wanted to share was a sign that I hanging from a window as we drove to visit a couple of friends. I only saw one sign in English…other than McDonalds…and I don’t know why it was there or what the person who wrote it meant by it. It was handwritten in what honestly looked like washable markers. It said, “Be in the right place, at the right time.” That is the only English sign I saw our entire time here. It is funny to read a sign like that and feel like God sat down with some markers and wrote it for me. I have decided that phrase would become my New Years Resolution. I added a little more to it…and I feel like that is ok because I don’t think it was God who wrote it. But I have decided that my New Years Resolution would be:

“To be in the right place, at the right time…in the right way.”

I can’t tell you how excited we are to move to Poland. I believe that God has placed on our hearts to be here by August of next year. We have a lot of work ahead of us to make that happen…but my goal is to be in Poland at the right time…be it August, before August, or after August…our prayer is that we will arrive…right when God wants us.

I added, “…in the right way” to the sign simply because I don’t want to take short cuts to make things happen. I don’t know what things might pop up that could appear to be a short cut and could ultimately hurt us, our goals, our ministry, our the testimony of Christ. I believe that the one thing more important than what you do…is how you do it. I want to partner with individuals and churches who are passionate about God, missions, ministry, Poland, and even us…and when the church comes together…individually and corporately…to advance God’s kingdom…that is the right way.

I have a lot of other thoughts that have run through my head over the past 3 weeks…but these two I share with you and ask you to pray for us as we head into a new year…a new year that will become the beginning of the rest of our lives. We have had an incredible trip…we thank you for your prayers…and the next time I write will be in Chicago. God bless.

So what did we do today…hmmm….well, I enjoyed a morning service, enjoyed food with family, enjoyed food with friends, and traveled to another planet. And in a way…that is all true. This morning after our service we went over to Aunt Danusia’s for a lunch. She made incredible soup, turkey legs, mashed potatoes…and enough dessert to feed an army. She has this little kitchen which for most people would be an excuse to order pizza. Her stove and oven are so small that they could literal fit inside one of our “American” ovens…but none of that stops her from turning out some of the best home cooked Polish meals you can eat.

After our dinner we had about an hour to rest before we headed over to Filip and Ania’s parents for coffee and desserts. If you remember we had a slumber party at Ania and Filip’s house on like, day 6, so we got to see them again and visit with her parents. The Melkumium’s are some of the nicest people you could meet. They are very warm and while his wife is Polish, Allan is actually Armenian. Apparently in Armenia they don’t have the fear of “space invasion” during conversation, and I love the fact that he will stand 2 inches from your face and talk! It takes a little getting used to, but you can tell he really enjoys your company. And he is so sincere in conversation that you would never think twice of being so close. They have a beautiful home that is an incredible place for entertaining. It has such an elegance to it, that you feel you have been invited to the home of a diplomat for desserts.

At 8:00 I headed over and picked up my cousin Tom (the kid in the picture) for our late night showing of Avatar. I really knew nothing about the film other than the fact that it was made off of a ridiculous budget of over 300 million dollars! I read a review and James Cameron who directed it said that they wanted to put it out in the 90’s after Titanic, but “…technology needed to catch up with his vision.” Well, it definitely seemed to have caught up because the effects were out of this world. We saw it in 3-D and you really felt like you were watching the movie as a bystander…I told Ola, “You don’t watch this movie…this movie watches you.” And honestly, that is how it felt.

Tom loved it…he played the video game that went along with it so he was telling me things that the movie left out. I can say that it was a fun one to watch, but there were some heavy pantheistic themes running through it. It was obviously a movie with an agenda…love the earth, become one with nature, go green, be organic, don’t kill defenseless blue people with machine guns. These were just some of the themes running throughout the movie that I raised my eyebrows over every once in a while.

All in all….it was interesting…I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, so see it only if you want to…and in good news….I stayed up better than Tom did. I guess there is still a little youth pastor in me somewhere. There is a country song that I shall break into at this point: “I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once…as I ever was.” And that sums up my night, my day…and now I go to bed because tomorrow morning I have a doctors appointment to see about getting rid of this stupid cough.

One thing about visiting Poland during the Holidays is that the time flies by twice as fast. There is so much to do, cooking, shopping, family meetings, friend meetings, and so many other things in between, that it feels like you don’t get anytime to just “be” in Poland.

Today wasn’t much different, we went over to Ola’s Aunts this morning for breakfast, and I love going over there…she has two teenage children who are a lot of fun…in my opinion they are the perfect brother and sister…namely because the brother loves to annoy his sister, and the sister hates being annoyed. Ahhh…the fun I had annoying my siblings…where did those days go, and why didn’t I make the most of every opportunity? We enjoyed a great breakfast, and I promised Tom…my cousin-in-law…that I would take him to see the late showing of a movie he is really interested in. So tomorrow night, I will be going to a 10:30 showing of a movie which I just realized is 3 hours long…hopefully my body is as young as my mind thinks it is.

Tonight, we had a lot of other family over for desserts. Many of them live a few hours away from Warsaw so we had a chance to talk with them…and eat desserts. Hmmm…I think that was my day. I am now sitting here writing a blog, looking at the clock realizing it is almost 9:00…and thinking to myself…“if I go to bed now, will I be able to stay up later tomorrow night?” Probably not. But I think I will read my book and try. So have a good afternoon…evening…or night…and I’ll let you know if I survive a 10:30 showing of a movie with a 14 year old who needs ridilin….while being surrounded by 150 other 14 year olds who need ridilin, but instead are soupped up on coke and candy. Hmmm…sounds like I’m a youth pastor again! Uh-oh.

So I was about to start a post that would go through all the things I liked about Christmas here in Poland. But my list came out to be so long…and after all the incredible food I have had, I don’t really feel like writing a long blog…and after all the food you’ve had…you probably don’t feel like reading a long blog. So let me just tell you a little bit and we will call it a day.

I love Poland at Christmas because there isn’t the commercialism that is so prevalent in the US. There are still places in this world where Santa isn’t the focus and the traditions center around the Birth of a Savior. The main celebration is actually on Christmas Eve. The Wigilia is a special time with family where an elegant dinner is prepared and traditionally set on top of a straw covered table. Many homes in Poland still do this, though you will find it mainly toward the south and in the mountain villages. Dinner doesn’t begin until a child spots the first star in the sky, and then a feast of 12 dishes are served.

The dinner typically consists of a red beet soup called Borscht, bigos which is a cabbage stew, various salads, pickled herring, carp, perogies and then various desserts. Because Wigilia is the final day of the Catholic fast, there is typically now meat other than fish that is served. Because we are not Catholic we had delicous pork, turkey and chicken also.

Another cool thing is that you get to open your presents on Christmas Eve. I have never been the most patient person, especially when it comes to presents…so this is a nice tradition for me. We all had opened our presents…actually I should say that my nephew Alex opened all of our presents. He ran from person to person offering to “help”…if you told him that it you don’t need his help he said, “ok.”, and helped anyway. It is nice celebrating the season with kids now…they make it a little more magical. Filip opened his presents…but like most 8 month olds was mainly interested in the bag and wrapping paper that they came in.

After our dinner and presents we partook in another Polish tradition. Midnight carols. An interesting note before I get into our carols…the entire day of Wigilia, Warsaw was pretty much shut down. I went for a little drive just to see how dead the city was. Everybody was home cooking and preparing for the dinner. By 4:00…not a soul was on the streets.

So when midnight came around…and it was time for Christmas carols, the entire city showed up. People were walking everywhere, going to mass to welcome in Christ. The streets were filled with cars, as we made our way to the church on Pulaska. We had a wonderful service singing songs in Polish and listen to the familiar carols in another language. Sometimes one of my favorite things is to hear Christmas songs in other languages. I love Silent Night in German. It is a beautiful song even when song in a language that isn’t that beautiful.

Also at midnight, there is a superstition that animals talk in human voices. I didn’t hear any…but then again we are in Warsaw…not a farm. Perhaps someone on a farm heard something.

Christmas day is spent with family and friends and we relaxed, at food from Christmas Eve’s feast, and then we went to church at the North church which was originally a church plant from the church on Pulawka. Now the North church has grown and is looking at planting another church. We spent the evening there, and then headed to Old Town where we walked the beautiful old streets of Warsaw in the glow of the christmas lights. It was a great walk and the Old Town streets were filled with people come back from church and walking off their big dinners.

We got back home around 8 and everybody is now slowing down and enjoying the evening. Actually, just about everybody has gone to bed…only Andrew and I persevere into the night. And I am about to let him persevere alone in a minute. Have a wonderful Christmas and perhaps I will come back sometime and add more information regarding all this stuff. But not tonight because again…it’s Christmas!

Today pretty much started off our Polish Christmas holiday. My wife and mother-in-law may argue that it started 3 days ago when they began cooking…however I don’t believe that actually qualifies. I would give you reasons as to why that doesn’t qualify…but that would get me into even more trouble and I am already walking on thin ice. So why did it start today…well, because today we went to Babcia’s and dziadek’s (grandma’s and grandpa’s)…and they hold the keys to starting off the Christmas season right. I can’t tell you how much I love going over there because…in them…you see the old world. They have a small, little house on the outskirts of Warsaw…I would almost liken it to a hobbit hole, which is ok because Grandpa and Grandma are about the size of two hobbits. On their faces are written the history of their lives, and it is almost as though you can read about their families, their city and their country just by following the creases that run under their eyes.

They are traditional in every since of the word. Grandpa makes the world’s best pickles and a couple of summers ago Ola and I tried to duplicate his 83 year old art, and ours turned out to be wet cucumbers. They use old cooking gadgets, he makes his own liquor out of raspberries and other fruits, and she quietly cooks some of the best traditional Polish meals you will ever eat. To me, they are the definition of simplicity. I never imagine them sitting around setting goals, visions, or re-evaluating life or the choices they have made. The majority of the time Grandpa sits at a little stool that is right under a window, he gazes out across their little yard and watches. He watches the birds change, cars change, people change, and the seasons change. And he is content in his simplicity. It is interesting how our generations exist today. Running after the next gadget that will make our lives simpler, an IPod so we don’t have to carry cd’s, a blackberry so we can check out e-mail on the go, an electric starter for the car so we don’t have to walk outside, and yet the more things we have, the more complicated our lives get. And here is an 83 year old couple, with the thing we all strive so hard to get…a window and a simple life.

We had a great meal, because that is what grandma does best…make great meals…and though I could go on with what we ate, I would rather tell you how it was made. First, she puts on a little coat, her little boots, and walks to the store where she gets her ingredients. She chooses fresh bread, the perfect tomato, and whatever else she may need. She then walks back to the little house where she spends the entire day making enough food for an army…even though there will be only four of us. She can’t tell you the recipes…she can only tell you abstract things about it…things you only learn after 80 years of learning… “It isn’t about the tomato,” she says in Polish, “…it is about the color when it is boiled down.” Or, “It isn’t about how much water and flour you use…it is about the way the dough feels between your fingers as you knead it.” Try recreating a dish based on those instructions. The one thing I love is that they have never heard of the word “organic”…for them, there is nothing else. Every tomato, every ear of corn, is organic. The tomatoes come from this farmer, the eggs come from another farmer…it is so old world they actually know whose farm it comes from. If something isn’t fresh…they have a right can complain to the guy who is selling it…because he is the same guy who grew it! And with a lifestyle like that, you can see why an 83 year old woman can still take a bus for 2 ½ hours across Warsaw to visit…and why grandpa can still make pickles, go for his walks, and enjoy great tasting food.

Every Christmas we go over there, they always break what is called Oplatek (pronounced O-pwah-tek). This is the reason I feel Christmas started today….because today we shared Oplatek. Oplatek is a Christmas wafer that is similar to an edible piece of thin Styrofoam. It has the thickness and appearance of an envelope, and as you place the white wafer on your tongue it simply melts away. It is the same wafer used during the Catholic mass, however usually the Oplatek has a Christmas design such as the nativity scene, Mary, or an angel on it. Oplatek originated in Poland as a tradition around the 17^th century. (For those who are neither history buffs nor mathematicians the 17^th century was the 1600’s.) The oplatek was part of the szlachta’s, the Polish nobilities, custom and spread throughout central Europe and even down into Italy. Each Christmas one or each of the members in the family will take an Oplatek and he or she will extend it to those around. They will exchange words of forgiveness or wishes between each other and it becomes a representation of love, forgiveness, hope, faith and family. It is a beautiful tradition that is used to bring families closer during this time of the year.

It was interesting because the other day on the Polish news they were showing the Polish troops who were serving in Afghanistan. And the camera went down the row of soldiers who were far from home. They then showed the general as he walked in front of each soldier, broke an oplatek, and extended sincere wishes to them. It was touching because, it is such a part of Polish tradition, that even during times of war, the oplatek has been broken and shared with those who are separated from family and yet can still be connected through traditions.

Perhaps that is one thing I like the most about traditions. Traditions have the ability to connect people like nothing else can. It can connecting people across the street, around the world, or centuries past…and by simply partaking in something as simple as Oplatek…you have been connected. Perhaps that is why Christ so encouraged us to share in the Communion. It has the ability to connect us to those around us, and those behind us, and those who will come after us. All while reminding us of something bigger than ourselves.

Now, tomorrow I will explain a little bit more about the Christmas celebrations here, however there is one thing I have to share. My wife wouldn’t let me put any pictures of this on the blog, and that is ok because the pictures didn’t turn out amazingly anyway. But the main dish for Christmas is traditionally carp. And grandpa and grandma…being traditional folk, will be enjoying carp for the holiday. But since it is not Christmas yet, the carp are currently swimming in their bathtub! That in itself is a Polish tradition birthed out of the need to put the live carp somewhere. My thoughts are, “You know you’re enjoying Christmas in Poland when there are carp in the bathtub.” Grandma said after we leave she will be killing them…but for now, they float along with their little bottom feeding lives not realizing their pond is actually a glorified casket.

The rest of the traditions I will tell you tomorrowish…I say ish, because it is a pretty big day and I don’t know when we will be done…we are going to church for carols at midnight…but I will post as soon as possible.

So today I got my blood drawn. I am not a fan of needles…at all. I sat in a little chair and reluctantly stretched out my arm as they stabbed it with a dagger and then slowly drew the blood into 4 viles. They are called viles right? For some reason that word just sounds so…vile. Anyway…I got that done this morning and the tests are done…I just haven’t had the time today to go pick them up.

We went over to some friends of ours today Marek and Marta…they have just recently built a condo unit, and so we spent the afternoon catching up with them, talking about ministry and their passion to be plugged into ministry somehow. And we let Filip play with their new son…his name in Jonathan and he is 5 months old. So we spent the afternoon there and watched a little piece of an interesting documentary…”Expelled”.

Expelled, if you have never heard of it, it is about the termination of professors from big universities who have alluded to or made comments in support of Intelligent Design. It is very interesting and Ben Stein…the host of it…asks questions to scientists from both opinions on Darwinism, Evolution and Intelligent Design. It is interesting to hear the opinions and to see just how many very highly accredited scientists do not believe in the theory of evolution…and have paid a price for that. It is also interesting to see Ben Stein doing something than Dry Eye or Comcast commercials. I would recommend it if you are interested in just checking out a documentary sometime, or if you have a crush on Ben Stein. I am not saying it is in your face awesome…but it gets you thinking at least, whether you agree or not.

After we got back we had to take a trip over to Galeria again…Galeria is the mall down the street. We needed to pick up some baby food, diapers, a few gifts, and print off some pictures for the great-grandparents. While Ola and her mom did a little shopping I went over to CitiBank here in Poland to ask some questions regarding setting up an account. As we look at moving to Poland there are a lot of things to consider…one is getting a bank. I was hoping that CitiBank here was connected to the one in the US…unfortunately for the most part…they are not. I got a lot of questions answered though, and an entire print off of all the fees they charge for this or that service. I have found that the banks here are a little more heavy when it comes to fees than they are in the US. I have a couple more banks we will be checking out, but Citi was one of my big interests just because of the connection we have in the States. Anybody have any suggestions as to a good bank in Poland I should be checking out, or things to look for? I’m always open to learn.

We got back home and I gave Filip his bath. We also recorded a little video that you can check at the bottom…It is pretty cool. Filip can’t do much…but what he does he does well. Enjoy the video…and I am trying to get some pictures to put back with my blog but unfortunately they aren’t uploading correctly. I’ll work on it and we’ll see where it goes.

Alright…God bless and enjoy the video.

The last few posts have been pretty lengthy. I noticed this when my wife asked what chapter I was on as I was typing yesterday. Today I will keep it a little shorter. I went to the doctor’s office this morning to check out my cough…which has gotten worse…as well as a dizziness that I can’t explain. I have had this dizziness since about the end of October, and though it hasn’t stopped me from doing anything, I always feel slightly dizzy. I’m not one to make a deal out of things…usually I will just mosey on with life and do my thing hoping that whatever it is…it will go away. I take the same approach with my car problems also…usually if I ignore it long enough, the noise stops and I can go on my merry way. Since it has been a couple of months and I still notice it, I decided it might be wise to say something, that resulted in doctor’s appointments, x-rays, and tomorrow I will be having some blood tests and other things. I have mixed feelings about this…part of me hopes I get word that they found nothing and my dizziness is simply one too many rides at an amusement park and there is nothing to worry about…then there is another side to me that hopes they actually give me an answer…because I know it isn’t normal, and I haven’t been on a rollercoaster since I got married. So we will see within the next week or so.

Couple of side notes: One thing that has always concerned me when moving to a new country is health care. You hear all the horror stories about health care in a country that “ain’t America”…and we have a natural tendency to fear the unknown. Poland, for the most part, has a socialized health care system. You can get insurance, which is nice to have because it has the ability to get you better care, but many people don’t get it. I have this picture of walking into a health care office that is part of a socialized system and seeing a line out the door, the sick, the lame, the blind, and a couple of people that have just died because they had a serious problem that didn’t get addressed in time because, unfortunately, they were part of a country with socialized healthcare. That is the image that perhaps, many Americans have…and maybe…somewhere in the world…that is somewhat of an accurate picture. I suppose there are the horror stories floating out there somewhere, and if we sat down and talked over coffee, perhaps you know someone who knows someone who heard of someone reading about someone who died because a socialist doctor had them on a six year waiting list for their new heart to come in.

Today my experience was totally different than that. I walked in and waited in a line for perhaps 3 minutes so that I could see the receptionist and verify my appointment. She checked to make sure I was scheduled, and I paid 30 US dollars. She then told me I needed to go upstairs and my doctor would be waiting for me. Ola and I walked up a couple of flights of stairs and as soon as we got to the top we were told to go into room 305…I walked in and sitting there was our doctor. She got up and introduced herself, asked what all my ailments were and proceeded to do a regular check-up. She gave a slip so that we could go downstairs and get an x-ray of my lungs…I asked how long I would have to wait and she looked at me like I was from another planet…she said, “You don’t wait…you do it now.” I thought perhaps she misunderstood my question, but for the sake of me looking like more of a stupid American I kept my mouth shut.

I took the paper she gave me and Ola and I got into the elevator and took it down to the x-ray level. When we walked out there was another doctor as we entered the room and she took my slip, told me to stand against the machine, took my picture, said I was done…and gave me the x-ray. They charged me 30 more dollars for the x-ray, and I was done. They encouraged me to come back tonight to meet with a specialist and I scheduled a follow up appointment for tomorrow morning to have some blood tests done. My total wait time to meet with the receptionist, the doctor, and the x-ray people was a totally of 4 minutes. I walked in at 11:45 for the appointment, and I walked out to our car with everything done at 12:35.

Tonight I had an appointment with the specialist at 7:30. I was in her office being examined at 7:20 and walking out at 7:40. I actually kept for real time because I couldn’t believe how quick it was this morning. She checked my hearing, eyes, throat, nose, balance, wrote me a prescription for the dizziness in case I wanted it, and I was done in 20 minutes. I didn’t wait 30 seconds. One of my biggest pet peeves in the States is when I go to the doctor’s office for my 11:45 appointment, I wait for 45 minutes before they finally let me go past the receptionist to the little room that has the bed with the paper on it. I then hang out there playing with the giant cue tips and making airplanes out of the wooden sticks they use to hold down your tongue for about 20 minutes…and finally the doctor comes in for 10 minutes and I am finally released with a prescriptions slip and a doctor’s note for work. I usually end up waiting at least 65 minutes for everything…and then I am charged 120 dollars for the 10 minutes the listened to me breathe. Not to mention the 5 pages of paperwork I have to fill out…when all I want to do is talk about a cough.

Ok…so enough about our healthcare system…everybody knows it needs work, and everybody has a different opinion on how to fix it. All I am going to say is that I am a lot less intimidated tonight by the feared socialized healthcare than I was this morning. I will let you know how the rest of my tests turn out as I get the results.

Tonight we also went over to Luke and Marisa for dinner. We had a….ahhh…I’m doing it again, going on about food…great meal of lasagna, salad, fresh bread and apple dessert. There I will stop. And we had a great time just talking and hanging out…and watching their son Alex fly an airplane on the Nintendo Wii…it looked so cool I had to try and it was cool. I crashed into a wind mill while trying to do some spinning tricks though. Luckily, I had a parachute and the only thing hurt was my plane and my pride. And that was today. Doctor’s offices, lasagna and trick flying.