June 3

About a month has gone by since my last entry, and I'm back in Poland again.  It's been a busy, packed month, with a wedding, a baptism, and work.  My trip back to the US unfortunately did not go smoothly.  I had to wake up at 3am Polish time (8pm Central), I forgot to pick up my carry on bag that they made me check at the airplane on my first flight from Poland to Germany, then I was detained in Toronto for an hour because I wanted to bring a Kinder Egg (chocolate egg with a toy inside) that I bought in the airport into the US.  At customs, they asked if I had any food, and I said, "not really, just this chocolate candy egg that I bought for my nephew in the airport."  Big mistake.  Don't make small talk with customs officers, ever.  They have no social skills at work and definitely have no sense of humor.  I learned my lesson--it's best to keep my mouth shut.  While being detained, the officials had to "process" my egg and do paperwork.  After the paperwork was finished they called me up and said that Kinder chocolate is illegal in the US and they had to destroy the egg in front of me.  I almost missed my flight from Toronto because of the ridiculous ordeal, and I actually yelled at the officers because I was super tired and not able to deal with the ridiculousness of the situation.  Luckily I didn't get in trouble for that.  So, I FINALLY got to Minneapolis at 4pm-ish, and was about to leave the airport, when I realized I left my stupid passport in my seatback on the plane.  I sprinted back and an airline employee was luckily able to go back on the plane and find it.  Wow.

The good news is that after this hellish plane trip, the rest of my time in the US was awesome.  That same day I got to meet my nephew Jase for the first time, which was awesome.  The cutest thing in the world is watching Mac talk to his little bro in his baby voice. 

Mac and Jase

I can't believe I let her drive!

While home, I was lucky enough to work at Passage and pay for most of my plane ticket.  I also got to see most of my friends and celebrate my friend Lisa's 25^th bday in Uptown Minneapolis.  On the 15^th, Dagmara arrived from Poland.  We went to the Mall of America, where surprisingly she didn't want to shop—rather, we went on rides the whole time as there aren’t really any rollercoasters in Poland.  Back in Webster, we rode horse with my mom.  Dagmara got to "steer" while I rode behind.  We also went on a boat ride, bike ride, and 4 wheeler ride.  On Friday, we headed up to Lutsen for Nick and Sarah's wedding.  It was beautiful on Friday, and we really enjoyed the bonfire by the lake.  Saturday was rainy, so the wedding was held indoors, but it turned out really nice.  The dance was a lot of fun too.  Immediately after the dance was finished, we drove the 3.5 hours in thick fog back to Webster, getting to bed around 4am.  We woke a few hours later to head down to Jase's baptism.  We couldn’t make the ceremony but we did make the brunch after.  It was fun watching Mac play and make his baby voice to Jase again, and it was good to see Matt and Micah again.

at the wedding

the happy couple gettin' down

Dagmara and I stayed with Uncle Rob and Aunt Nancy Sunday night, and Uncle Rob drove us to the airport the next morning for our long trip home.  Which reminds me, thanks to Uncle Rob, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Joyce, and John, and Lisa for all your hospitality!!!

Upon arriving in Poland this past Tuesday, we quick drove home in time for me to finally go to work in a language school.  I was just kind of thrown in to the classroom without preparation, but it all went well, and I've ended up working every weeknight so far.  Apparently my students have fallen victim to my American charm, because the school is giving me more hours due to rave reviews.  Hopefully the work situation continues to go well. 

This last week, it was Mother's Day in Poland, and I asked Dagmara's mom if she would like me to build a firepit for her backyard.  She was excited for the idea, so I went with Dagmara's cousin to the Polish version of Menards, got the necessary supplies, and we built a fine fire pit, then roasted delicious Polish kielbasa.  That's all my news for now, but I'm sure I'll have some good stuff to share in my next post…