Aug 26, 2021 - First of all, Happy Anniversary to both my parents and Lolly’s parents!

Aug 26th marks the beginning of so many families and friendships. (Paul Errickson)

When packing for our move across the Atlantic, we were all limited to just 2 bags and our carry-ons (with the exception of my bike that was packed up and stuffed with some of my riding gear). This limited us to only the essentials - a couple of shirts, pants, shorts, shoes, etc, along with winter coats and warm clothes to hold us over until we return home for more during our winter break. There were many difficult decisions to make, and already a few regrets as we’ve arrived and realized that our summer clothes might be going into the back of the drawer sooner than we thought.

With all that I needed to bring, only one book made its way into my bags. There was a lot to choose from as I moved out of the office that I’ve called home for the past 11 years and packed up all of my books and resources centered on leading a middle school. But few of them would directly help as I prepared to return to teaching science. It has been nearly two decades since I had my own classroom, and technically I still don’t as I now teach in 3 different classrooms at 3 different grade levels, across 2 divisions. So I was preparing for my new challenges by truly cleaning the slate - needless to say, I feel like a blank slate, and it's a bit uncomfortable and anxiety producing at times. The book I brought? Man’s Search for Meaning, by Vicktor E. Frankl.

Frankl’s work was what I started on our first night in Poland, as we crammed into a 1 ½ room hotel space surprisingly close to where we currently live (the girls on a pull-out couch and the floor, Chase finding his spaces in between all of us). As Frankl described the concentration camps and state of this part of the world 80 years ago, I found myself exploring the layers of beauty that exist here, from the landscape to the people, and creating a list of all of the things that we need to do and see as soon as we are able to settle in.

There is so much left for me to unpack from this work, and I expect it will take many more readings to get there, but for now, I share with you this: “What (we) actually need is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What (we) need is not the discharge of tension at any cost but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by (us).”

Here are some initial pictures from that initial transition: getting on the plane, getting off of the plane, collecting bags and the dog, and wandering to meet our wonderful friends, Miranda and Nicolas. We will continue to for our own sense of place and meaning here....

And, a few more from American School of Warsaw and our first day: August 17th. Oh. And, icecrem

So, until the next time, thanks for taking this journey with us. xo