A Dom of our Own

After 1.5 months of trying to find a place to live- I signed a letter of intent yesterday. Attempting to find a place to live in another country, in another language was a challenge. Luckily I had met (through a forum) a delightful native of Gdansk who helped me with translation and ideas. She even helped me look for apartments on the internet and negotiate the lease.

Anyway, we have a 3 bedroom condo/house (dom) about 1.5 miles from the University and 1.5 miles from the beach. It is a rather new dwelling, about 1200 square feet. Although that sounds painfully small by American standards- it was one of the larger ones on the market. Families live in much smaller quarters. Our new address is on Dźwigowa, 80 Gdansk, Poland (email me if you want the exact house number).

I move in on Sept 9th and the family arrives on the 28th.

I found a cultural difference with real estate agents between the US and Poland (first of many cross-cultural observations). In the US, when an agent gets your name- you can expect to be hounded day and night, until you buy- then they move on to the next client. In Poland, it is much more lax. First, most agents had little interest in talking to me- even though I spent a couple of weeks almost begging them to sell me something (and they are in a down real estate market). Most agents were confused why I was looking in late June for an apartment in September. One asked me to contact her the week before I move.

Then once I found an agent- it would typically take 3-5 days for her to answer a question.

This seems to be my common experience so far in dealing with Polish institutions. We anal Americans expect an answer ASAP. So far the Poles are more culturally disposed to take their time. I've had similar experiences in my communications with the Fulbright office in Warsaw, the Embassy, the University and as mentioned above- the real estate agents. I will need to learn to adjust.

I had expected assistance from Polytechnika (my University) in finding housing- but they seemed rather uninterested. I have heard similar stories from other Fulbright recipients going to Poland. So, thank God I found this person in a discussion group.

Finding a home was one of the major things on my list- most other things we can do once we get there.

Getting Ready

The details of the big trip are starting to come into place. I will be leaving on September 8th and spending a few days in Gdansk to get the feel of the city. On the 15th I will travel to Warsaw for a meeting at the US Embassy. On the 17th we go to Poznan for a nine day program.

I return back to Gdansk on the 26th to start the new life. Lisa and the kids fly in on the 28th.

I have been in contact with my University. We are still working out the details, but it looks like I will be teaching Statistics, Strategic Management and International Business (basically what I teach at Rockhurst).

My biggest worry now is finding an apartment for the 6 of us.