Arriving in Poland with a foamy mouth and broken bottle

I've made a brilliant entrance into Poland.
First, I was taken to the room where I'll be staying for a bit. Allison, the young Italian lady across the hall from me, was already in bed, so we shouted hellos through her closed door and vowed to meet in the morning. I began unpacking and at the same time started brushing my teeth while I worked in my room. My mouth filled up with toothpaste foam, so I decided to go to the bathroom sink to spit, but I got confused. I walked into Allison's bedroom wearing only a towel -- by mistake of course -- and made matters worse by trying to apologize with a mouth full of the toothpaste foam. Allison must have thought I was having a heart attack or something because she kept asking: Are you OK? Are you OK?  I tried to answer but foam spilled out of my mouth. Allison jumped out of bed, and hurriedly took me to the  bathroom. She was genuinely concerned. But once I spit out the toothpaste foam and rinsed out my mouth, I properly explained the situation and Allison completely understood. Now that's an understanding woman. And she didn't say a word about the fact I was nearly naked with toothpaste foam all over my mouth. Anyway, she'll get used to seeing me like that.
Second, I went to the supermarket up the street and put the most expensive beer  I could find in my basket. I was buying it to give to the family downstairs, who invited me for dinner. Long story short, the beer fell out of the basket and the glass shattered into a million pieces. The shoppers looked on in horror so I said: What the hell, I'm an American.
After all the traveling I've done, you'd think I'd be pretty good at it. You'd be thinking wrong. My trip to Poland is a good example. A staffer for JetAir in Edinburgh insisted I put my carry-on bag in the cargo hold for the flight to Amsterdam, meaning I would have to get my luggage from the carousel and then check back in through security before catching my connection flight to Poland. But a tremendous wind storm hit Amsterdam last Thursday, delaying my flight to Amsterdam by a half-hour. I was cutting it close, but could have made my connection to Poland if I didn't have to retrieve my bags and check back in. I should have held my ground with the JetAir staffer, but because of her insistence and my reluctance to draw a line in the sand, I had to sleep at the airport and take a flight to Katowice via Warsaw. She seemed like the type who would have gotten security involved.
The Amsterdam airport is cold, bright and noisy, even at 3 a.m. Police banged the chair where I was sleeping with a baton, and wanted to see my ticket. The next day, my flight to Warsaw was delayed, meaning I could have missed my connection to Katowice. I was planning to rent a car or take a train in Warsaw to get to Bielsko-Biala in southern Poland. Ugh.  Not necessary because the connection in Warsaw was also delayed. Ha ha. In the end I arrived in Kety and had a lovely dinner with my future boss Lucja.
Calls home to Phuong are difficult because Joanna is changing every day, and she doesn't care about her two-dimensional dad on Skype. She'll wave good-bye and say a few words, but she really doesn't like interacting with me through a screen. Can't blame her. And Phuong is working so hard to meet Joanna's needs, but her husband is off sleeping in airports, breaking beer bottles and walking around in a towel while foaming at the mouth.
Traveling isn't easy these days. Seeing new places and meeting new people is fascinating and loads of fun, but going through airports, waiting in lines and dealing with grumpy employees is a drag. I will go back and get Phuong, and after that I'll stay in one place for a while, regardless of the place. After all, the place isn't as important as the company we keep.

Nervous about relocating; visiting U.S.; bathroom book

I won't lie. I'm nervous as hell about moving my wife and baby to Poland. I'm worried about the  availability of apartments, high rent, transportation, and money. I have plenty of worries in Vietnam, but money isn't one of them. I worry about my family's quality of life in Poland.  I want my wife and daughter to be happy and enjoy the surroundings. Joanna adores her cousins,Vin and Hai, but they'll be far away. She likes her big bedroom, but I can guarantee that she won't have a room like this in Kety, Poland. We'll have to see how things work out, and act accordingly. Accordingly could mean anything, so there's no point in speculating. I know Phuong is excited to see another part of the world. I'm also looking forward to seeing Europe, and meeting new students.
I'm getting done what needs to get done in the United States, but sub-freezing temperatures are making life difficult. I like cold, but this is nasty cold with nasty wind and nasty snow and nasty freezing rain. I'm surviving, but I did lose two pairs of gloves already. I'm not used to carrying clothing like scarves and gloves and hats, in addition to my backpack and suitcase. I left my backpack in Starbucks yesterday, and of course my passport was inside. Went to my hotel, realized my backpack and passport were left behind, and jetted back to Starbucks. The backpack was right where I left it, between two chairs, with passport inside. In California, I left a suitcase containing $20,000 in cash at an outdoor table at a Starbucks. Came back and it was still sitting there. Lucky man, twice. Good people, twice.
I've gotten sick in the U.S. -- coughing, sneezing, runny nose and headache. Too much travel in too short a time.  I drove 18 hours in four days -- Maryland to Ohio and back.  I'll drive to Washington, D.C., today to see my brother and his family. Hopefully, my cold won't be a problem when I go to Poland in two days. I'll take off from Dulles and arrive in Katowice, Poland, on Thursday. The forecast is for a blizzard on Tuesday, and snow the rest of the week. Should help my cold.
I really miss my wife and daughter. We use Skype and talk on our laptops, and Joanna is saying more words -- happy, taxi, panda. It's so difficult being away from Phuong and Joanna.
I had a nice visit with my two daughters in the U.S., who are wonderful women. Both gave me sage parenting advice, really, and I appreciate any time I can spend with them now. I saw my friends Ron and Tommy, and had a wonderful brunch and chat with good friends Andy and Jane.
I wish I could have given out more of my blog "books" on this visit because the two I brought sold out immediately.  Well, I gave them out immediately. It might make an OK bathroom book.

Nerve-wracking travel will end in Poland; blog book finished

I'll be leaving for the United States tomorrow hoping to mop up some business in my home country, the most important being my eye care.  I'm worried about the changeover in Peking, so I'm only packing carry-on stuff. I have 50 minutes between flights, and my last changeover in China took 4 hours before I even got to the gate. We'll see. I'll land in Washington, D.C., then travel to Ohio, then back to D.C., then to Poland on Jan. 17. In Poland, the priority will be finding a place for me, Joanna and Phuong to live. We'll see how that goes as well. Interestingly, after I accepted the Poland job, the University in Ecuador contacted me for a Skype interview about teaching in Cuenca. It was a job I was very interested in. But once the White Monkey makes a decision and commitment, he usually sticks to it. Poland it is. I used a cheap ticket site on the internet called Kiwi, and my one-way ticket from Washington, D.C., to Katowice, Poland, cost $292. The flight stops in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Amsterdam -- Kiwi says I will need a transit visa in Scotland, Amsterdam and Poland. But these are EU countries and I'm an American citizen, so I'm just going to show up visa-less and hope for the best. I really don't want hassles on this trip because I'm stressed enough about a new job, new locale and not being with Phuong and Joanna. Once I'm in Poland,  I assume I'll start work right away, get the necessary paperwork for Phuong, and return to Vietnam to bring everyone to Poland, provided I have an acceptable place to live. Then I'll get back to work, which I'm really looking forward to. Joanna is a  very common name in Poland, like John in the U.S., or Nguyen in Vietnam. So our move seems like a natural thing to do. Really, we're trying to do what's best for our daughter, so we think this is the right thing to do. Wish us luck.
I didn't need any luck to finish my tennis career in Vietnam with five straight victories, including a 6-3 win over a tired and disinterested Tai that may have pushed me to the No. 1 ranking. The WTA is tallying the points. I beat Phuong twice on Sunday, 6-4 6-4, but I was physically exhausted afterwards and I'll need some time off to recover. Once Phuong's serve gets a little more consistent, the White Monkey will consider retirement. She hits deep and runs down every ball. She's a real competitor. And she's young, compared to the White Monkey, so it's just a matter of time before she takes the top ranking in our rivalry. And then there's the tall and physically gifted Joanna waiting in the wings ...
I finished my blog "book": The TEFL Tales of The White Monkey, by putting together my blogs and selecting some photos. We're getting it printed locally and I'll take a copy to the U.S. for my friend Ron, who may go completely off the grid and into the wild.  I don't think anyone would publish my "book" and no one has approached me for the film rights. But it was kind of fun for me to look back over the last 6 to 7 years when I was putting it together. I currently have 30,330 blog page views, so I'm semi-proud of my blog. And of course, thank you Phuong for helping put the book together and getting it printed. I can't do anything without this woman.