Waking up in Warsaw

Non-Fiction

Pages: 208 Ratings: 5.0

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This heartwarming, funny and entertaining story of living as a foreign family in Warsaw highlights some of the charming traditions and emerging struggles of Poland from January 1994 into the new millennium.A recently freed nation beckoned this young English family, keen for adventure. The book follows their challenges as they integrate, first into the freshly arriving international expat community and gradually into local village life. They share the journey of the Polish people who are navigating a whirlwind pace of change, as society in the capital city of Warsaw emerges from the shadow of the iron curtain.Centuries-old traditions run alongside new lifestyles, making every day for this enterprising family an experience full of unexpected delights and equally unexpected obstacles. For the villagers, old-style farming with a single cow and a horse-drawn cart runs alongside the new disciplines of marketing and advertising, bringing faster, smarter cars that are delivered with seats already installed and mobile phones that put households, who could never get a landline, suddenly in touch with the rest of the world.The landscape and art of this nation form the backdrop to the story, which includes how these expats found themselves owning part of a rare private lake, participants in a new wave art installation and honoured guests at a village wedding in the heart of Chopin country.

C. D. Hallpike-Selby, B.A. (Mod. Lang.), OXON, ACG, FCIM. She is a professional, independent educational writer with over twenty-five years’ experience. Her educational materials have been published by OUP, CUP, Collins, Arena Verlag (Germany), Pons Klett (Germany), FLTRP (China), and YHE SA (Poland). Her written work, which includes songs, stories, poems for children and school courses, has won many awards. She won a songwriting award from the Beijing Olympic Committee. Her song was published on the official international music album. She has travelled internationally for publishers from Brazil to China, Poland to Taiwan, Spain to Russia, where she makes presentations and provides teacher training.

Customer Reviews

5.0

2 reviews

Laurinda Quinn

Beautifully written and captures the mood of the changing Poland of the 90s. It draws you in - will the house ever be built before everyone is pickled in vodka? We live through the challenges and frustrations but witness the warmth and strength of character of the Polish people. All in all, a delightful read.
Mark D

This was a fabulous read and a great insight into the challenges of learning how to embrace a very different culture. From the "5am shoe hunt" to the "Wacky Races" on the roads, there are plenty of laughs - but also vivid descriptions of day-to-day life in a society reinventing itself post-communism. Essential reading for those who are looking to not just fit in, but become fully embedded in a new country.