Brian's First Posting on Krakow

Greetings to my family and friends. This is my initial posting to my new blog. For those new to this, a blog (short for Web log) is a sort of Web site where anyone can post comments on just about any topic. Mine will be mostly about my time in Krakow, Poland and other parts of Europe.

For those who do not know, I have accepted a short-term assignment w/ International Paper to lead the training and implementation phases of the new I.P. Global Customer Service Center in Krakow. I have spent 18 weeks here, on and off, since July and will be here for the next 6-9 months. (I move into an apartment next week.)

What a primo gig to be assigned here. When people think about Europe, Poland does not usually come to mind. But this place is something special. Poland is the 9th largest European country in terms of area and Krakow is the second largest city in Poland with about 757,000 people. It is also the cultural and educational center of Poland with its 105,000 university students and the 3rd oldest university in Europe. (Jagiellonian U. was founded in 1364.) In addition, Pope John Paul II was the bishop of Krakow for 20 years.

The food is mostly very good to excellent, inexpensive, plentiful and familiar to us Americans. The beer (piwo) is also plentiful, refreshing and inexpensive. (Think $1.90 for .5 liters (17 ounces.) And that's in the touristy market square.) The people are very friendly and willing to go out of their way to help you. And being in a university city, most young and/ or educated people speak English so it is easy to get around here. (I am learning a lot of Polish and can carry on short conversations.)

The one sad part is that I am away from Toni, and my friends, for an extended period of time. Toni and I did spend a solid week of our November vacation here and she enjoyed it immensely. She too could never have imagined being here and is looking forward to returning this March and each quarter after that.

This is enough for my initial posting. So come back often as I hope to post new comments, photos or articles about my experiences every few weeks. Who knows, maybe you will be inspired to visit. (I already have 2 sets of friends making the trip to Krakow this spring and summer.)