Adjusting

The kids and I went went back to the US on the 4th of July - we didn't actually mean to go on this particular day, our flight was on the 3rd but for some reason we were delayed getting out of Krakow and we missed our connection to Boston. We landed in Frankfurt (one of the big things we miss not living in Dublin - no direct flights to Boston!) about 15 minutes before our flight was supposed to leave. None of the Lufthansa flight attendants made any kind of effort to make sure we made our connection - I thought that's one of the things they do, aren't they always holding flights for those last minute passengers?? They basically told me to just go inside and make arrangements to stay over, but I wanted to at least try to make our connection. I grabbed the kids and we sprinted through the airport - which is no small task, Frankfurt Airport is like a mini city -encountering some crabby Lufthansa workers along the way ("can't you see how BUSY I am?!" When I tried to ask which gate was the Boston flight). We came screeching around the corner only to be met with the pitying looks of the two people at our gate....I was hopeful because I could still see the plane sitting there on the runway attached to the bridge, but they told me they had already shut the plane door and for security reasons they were not allowed to open it. Oh man! I was so annoyed, I mean really, hadn't our flight called ahead and told them that a woman with two young children would be there in 10 minutes? I tried to beg but then I thought, it IS the 4th of July, there are terror alerts in the US so maybe it is fate that we missed our flight - maybe it's going to go down over the Atlantic and I shouldn't make too much of a stink to get on the plane!! Not that it would have made any difference, but I gave up and had them show me the way to the ticket counter to be re-routed on another flight....the following morning.

When we got to the customer service area there was a HUGE line. I saw an attendant at the front so I went over him to ask him if I really had to stand there in the line. He was very patiently trying to explain to a middle-aged Indian woman that she had missed her flight and the next one out to DC was not until the following morning, so Lufthansa was putting her up in a hotel so she had to follow the exit signs to leave the airport to get to the hotel, stopping first to get a new flight. I have to give the guy credit for not losing his patience with her, I think she was obviously nervous that if she left the airport she would not be able to get back in to make her flight the next morning. As I said it is a huge airport, so I think she was also nervous that she wasn't going to find her way to the hotel. I just stood there waiting my turn, and when the Indian woman finally left I laughed at the guy and said I guess you are going to tell me the same exact thing and I need to follow her? He said yes, we could choose to stand there in that huge line, or just go out to the front of the airport to the arrivals hall to get re-booked there instead.  I asked him if we could maybe get on a different airline's flight that night but he said all flights to the US had already left (Really?? It was only 6pm). There was no way I was waiting in that long line so the kids and I started to make our way to the arrivals area. It was a bit confusing, but after a while we got to a point where there was police tape up and they weren't letting anyone through. Oh great I thought, terrorist activity, just what I need!! But fortunately we only had to wait 5 minutes and then they let us through (not sure what the hold-up was though). While we were standing there we came upon the Indian woman, so I stood next to her and said Hey, you found your way here! I told her we were headed the same way because we had missed our flight too and I honestly have never seen a look of more relief before! She happily walked with us and we found our way to the re-ticketing line where they put us on different flights and gave us vouchers for the local hotel - I was disappointed to learn that the hotel was on the other side of the airport and not in the city of Frankfurt, since we were stuck there for the night I thought it would be fun to hang out in the city since I had never been there before. The Indian woman was in the line next to us and when she got to the counter I heard the attendant tell her, Miss I'm sorry but they are going to Boston, and you are going to DC so you can't be on the same flight! But it turns out our new friend just wanted to make sure she was sent to the same hotel as us, which she was. So we made our way outside to wait for the hotel shuttle which took forever, then got checked into our hotel. She asked if she could have dinner with us and I said no problem. Apparently Jack had not heard this, because when we went to our room to drop off our things and got back to the lobby, he saw her sitting there and when I started to walk over to her he said "What is she doing here and do we have to eat with her??". Ugh, I need to work on this kid's manners. It turns out her name was Suzy, she lives in DC but had been in Prague with her husband for a work thing and they had to take different flights home for some reason. She missed her connection but he did not - so he was on his way back to DC and didn't even know that she was stuck in Frankfurt. She was nice enough but the kids were not very interested in making new friends - during dinner Jack needed to use the toilet while Ava was up at the buffet, so I got up to bring him - while inside the bathroom I was thinking that Ava wouldn't know where we were, so she'd just have to sit and make conversation with Suzy. When we left the bathroom of course there was Ava standing there waiting for us. I guess she really was not into making conversation with poor Suzy. We had a quick dinner and then went back to our rooms ('Mommy we don't have to share a room with Suzy do we??  asked Jack).  We did make arrangements to have breakfast with her the next morning and then to take the shuttle back to the airport together- I think our flight was a lot earlier than hers, but she didn't care and just wanted to come with us.  We said our goodbyes in the airport and she thanked us for keeping her company. We exchanged email addresses, as we were walking away Ava said "you're not ever going to email her, are you?". But I was happy that I helped poor nervous Suzy!

We spent 6 weeks in the US, we were hoping to spend most of it in Falmouth but we were having work done to our house and unfortunately it was not quite ready. Mike flew back 2 weeks after us, and then after that we were so busy with the house that the summer just flew by. For some reason coming back to Krakow was much harder for me this time - I think because we were in our Falmouth house, where I had my own bed and dresser and brand new kitchen that I loved, and I felt like we hardly had any time to really relax so I wasn't quite ready to go back to Poland. We left on the August 16th and arrived on the 17th (and Stella our cat turned 3 on the 18th!). The kids started school on the  25th so this gave them (us) a good week to get adjusted back to the time difference which is always difficult to deal with coming this way. The kids were pretty excited to get back to school, I was worried about Ava because 3 of her good friends left Krakow over the summer so I wasn't sure how she would adjust. But, she did just fine and met a new American girl in class and had her and an old friend from last year (who she declared is now her best friend) over for a sleepover that first weekend. Jack wanted to wear his suit and tie for the first day, so he could look just like Daddy going to work - he had it all laid out the night before, but of course he changed his mind that morning and had a complete melt-down. I thought this was going to be the year of no morning battles but I guess I was wrong. Eventually I got him into his suit. He loves his new teacher but asked me if they made the school day a lot longer this year - which they didn't, I think he just does a lot more work this year!

Once the kids got back to school and I was getting back into my routine, I realized some of the things that I had a hard time dealing with not having here. The first, being the pay at the pump feature ot the gas stations. Why, oh why have they not figured this out in Poland?? It's 2015! Do you know how annoying it is to have to go inside and wait in line to pay for your gas?

It was also really hot once we got back to Krakow, and I was dragging with jet-lag those first 10 days or so. As I was out running my errands, all I really wanted in the afternoons was a nice iced coffee. But no, they have not figured this one out in Poland yet either!! Not only do they not sell iced coffee, there aren't even any coffee shops you can just pop into while you are out, like Mary Lou's or Dunkin Donuts etc. There is a Starbucks here, but it's in the gigantic mall so it would take me over 15 minutes to park and then walk into the mall to get to. And, even though they have iced coffee on the menu, it's actually a blended drink (like a coffee smoothie) so you specifically have to ask them to just make it with coffee and ice cubes (and this takes 5 minutes of broken Polish trying to explain). And then they don't have pre-made cold coffee, so once they add ice to the 'iced' coffee it instantly becomes a gross lukewarm cup of blah.

Lastly, the other thing I really miss is the option to get cash back and every single store you go into. There are few things I absolutely hate doing in life - one is stopping to get gas, another is stopping at an ATM to get cash (and looking for a toilet while I am out...and unloading the dishwasher...). I always forget to stop, or there isn't one near me, so being able to get cash while out shopping is a huge bonus. Unfortunately they have not caught onto this concept here either. Thankfully there is an ATM sort of near our house, so it's just a matter of me remembering to stop.

Despite all of this, we are all happy to be back and are getting settled back into Polish life : )