(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Good morning from beautiful Krakow, Poland.
My name is Olivia, and I'm so excited
to be doing the first ITA takeover in Poland.
I've got my coffee this morning.
I'm going to get up and make some breakfast
before I have a few online lessons to teach this morning.
So, while I go do that, and finish some lesson planning,
and finish sending some emails, I will drop a question box,
so if you have any questions about life in Poland,
teaching abroad, teaching in Poland, feel free to ask away.
Hello again. Coffee is finished.
Lesson planning for the morning is finished.
So, before my first student this afternoon,
I will go ahead and introduce myself a little bit,
and start to answer any questions you all might have
about living and working here in-
So, my name is Olivia, again,
and I've been living here in Krakow, Poland
since February of 2020.
So, I moved here about a month before the pandemic hit,
and the world came crashing to a halt.
And even through the pandemic,
I've absolutely loved living here in Krakow,
and I've adjusted wonderfully to life here in Poland.
So, I am originally from Seattle, Washington.
I went to college at the University of Oregon
in Eugene, Oregon, go Ducks!
I obtained my bachelor's of science degree in psychology.
So, before becoming an English teacher here in Poland,
my background is a little bit different than most people.
I actually was a professional figure skater
for about seven years.
I was able and lucky enough to perform
on cruise ships, with Royal Caribbean,
and also with several touring productions
all over the world.
I believe I performed in about three continents,
and probably over 20 countries.
And that is what led me to love travel
and wanting to work abroad and teach English.
Like many athletes or performers can attest to,
our careers are short-lived.
And at some point in your life, you have to move on
and find a new passion and a new career.
I had many friends and coworkers
that had go on, teach English abroad,
and I'd also met English teachers randomly
in a lot of countries that I was traveling to for work.
So, when I decided to retire and move on with my life,
I chose ITA's online TEFL course, and it was wonderful.
I highly recommend it to anyone that is looking
to get a TEFL certificate to teach abroad.
I found ITA's online course to be very helpful
in planning lessons.
Before becoming a ESL teacher,
I did not have really any teaching experience,
in a classroom sense.
I had taught figure skating to children
and young adults for many years,
so I understood the methodology of teaching things to people
and getting an idea across,
but never in a traditional classroom sense.
So, if you're like me, and didn't have that experience,
I found ITA's course wonderful on how to plan lessons.
And I use those theories today,
both, again, with children and adults.
Some more about my teaching here in Poland.
Right now, we are on summer holidays.
School got out here about two weeks ago.
So, a lot of language schools are on break
or on very limited hours.
I also teach business English to adult students
in different businesses here, many of them working in IT.
Those lessons are still continuing,
but my day is a little bit abnormal
in comparison to what it was all school year.
I'll include a link to English Wizards' website,
so, you can read all about their different programs
here in Poland.
I am on the freelance program, as I said,
but they also do have internship programs available
for newer teachers.
So yes, I also teach business English
to students here in Poland,
many of them working in, actually, in IT fields.
And those classes and lessons, most of them,
will be continuing through the summer,
as well as a few private students
that I've managed to pick up
through networking and through friends.
As I said before, I am a freelance English teacher
here in Krakow, Poland,
through a company called English Wizards.
And this company has been amazing since I have moved here.
Not only did they sponsor my work permit,
they helped with getting my residence card,
and finding work, and things like that.
I will include a link to their website,
which gives you a little breakdown of more information
about their various teaching programs here in Poland.
A lot of questions about the requirements here
to teach in Poland.
And one question I keep seeing,
is it a requirement to have a bachelor's degree
to teach in Poland?
The short answer is no, it is not a requirement.
I do have a bachelor's degree in psychology,
but it is not a requirement to teach here.
However, some schools might ask for it,
or require it on a CV, but that is up to the school itself.
So, another common question I'm getting is,
how I found work here in Poland,
and how did I apply for jobs here in Poland?
I will answer the latter question first.
So, the week before I moved to Poland,
I sent out my resume and CV
to various language schools here in Poland,
and I was able to hear back from a handful of them
to arrange job interviews the first week that I was here.
Poland is still a very traditional country,
and they will like to want to interview a potential teacher
in person versus over Zoom or Skype.
However, things might be changing a little bit
with the pandemic.
And the next question was,
how I found my jobs here in Poland.
The language school job that I've had
for the last year and a half,
I actually found on a Polish version of Craigslist.
The ad was actually in Polish,
so I had to take it and put it through Google Translate
to see what it actually said,
as I do not speak Polish very well.
My second job that I have teaching business English,
I actually found through English Wizards.
The owner of the company, who is also an American,
was looking for a teacher with an American accent.
And the owner of English Wizards sent over my CV,
I had an interview with him, very informal, and I was hired.
So, I have to get ready
to go teach one of my morning lessons today.
As you can all see, I'm still teaching from home.
A lot of my business English students
are also working from home as well,
as many offices have been closed here in Poland
since mid-October when the second wave really hit Europe.
Hopefully, when summer holidays come to a close,
I'll be back teaching in the offices.
With that being said, I actually was teaching,
most the time, in person
at the language school I was working at this year.
I will also go ahead and drop my personal Instagram handle.
So if you want to ask me any questions over there,
feel free to do so.
Hi all. I am back.
Today was my short day of teaching, which is wonderful,
because it gives me more time to take you guys
around the beautiful city of Krakow, Poland.
First up on my agenda is to give you a tour
of my flat here in Poland.
This is probably one of my favorite parts
of these ITA takeovers,
as it's like ESL teacher cribs abroad.
So, without further ado, here we go.
So, without further ado,
a tour of my studio flat here in Krakow.
First up, I have my entryway, with my shoes.
It is common not to wear shoes here, indoors, in Poland.
Instead, most people will wear slippers
or house shoes like these.
First up is my bathroom room.
So, in here, we just literally have a toilet and a sink,
commonly called the water closet here in-
Is my full bathroom, and we have a washing machine,
sink, and bathtub.
When I moved flats last month, I really wanted a bathtub,
as they're not that terribly common here in Poland,
but I love long baths at the end of the day,
so, I really wanted one, and I splurged on it.
Here's my dryer.
Again, dryers are not common in Poland or in Europe.
So, I just use this handy-dandy thing,
and it works just fine, especially in the summer months.
To my right, we have my wonderful fridge here,
along with my wardrobe and closet,
which really gives plenty of storage space,
and more than I actually probably need,
as I did not move over here with too much stuff.
If we open it up a little bit further,
clothes space there,
space for laundry detergent, all that fun stuff.
On the other side of the wardrobe,
again, winter coats, not really needed right now,
and suitcases, and winter boots,
and empty storage space that's not being-
Here is my living area.
As I said before, I do live alone in a studio.
So yes, this is my dining area where I eat
and sometimes do a little light lesson planning,
as it's been so hot lately.
Sitting in here is cooler than sitting at my desk area.
Here we have my wonderful, adorable kitchen.
Also, when I moved, I really wanted an oven,
as I've really gotten into cooking
and baking during lockdown.
So, having an oven was really a necessity for me.
Over here, we have my wonderful espresso machine,
which I cannot live without.
And my coffee mug, next to my brand-new toaster,
as I broke one last week.
Kettle to make tea, which is another necessity,
especially during the winter months.
Again, plenty of space for food storage,
and more food storage.
Over here, we have my desk and work area, which I love,
which is what made me choose this apartment,
was, I love the natural light coming through the window,
and it makes working so much easier
when I can look out at the sun.
Right now, because it's quite warm here,
I've drawn the drapes to try to keep some of the heat out.
Also, I have, again, more storage here for blankets, linens,
and then work stuff and school stuff hidden under there.
Over here, I have my bed, which is also very common
here in Poland to be a fold-out couch.
Right now, I just left it as a bed
because I'm a little lazy,
but sometimes you can fold it up
and put it back into a couch form, which is kind of nice.
Over here, I have my bookcase and more storage area,
which, as you can see,
is really not being fully used right now,
but it is great to have
if I actually do accumulate more stuff,
which I hope it don't, 'cause I'm kind of a pack rat.
Anyhow, all my selection of books, as I love to read,
and I probably read too much.
Pictures of home.
Shout out to my hometown of Seattle, Washington.
My newest addition, my Poland football scarf
for the Euro Cup, which is going on right now.
Unfortunately, Poland got knocked out, but cool to have.
Yeah, and more unused storage space.
Least, my adorable two little succulents
I have on my window sill.
I'm hoping I don't kill these. We will see.
So, here is a beautiful view out my window.
I love this view. It's so peaceful.
It's so quiet. I can hear the birds chirping.
I do live about two kilometers away from Old Town,
or the city center of Krakow,
and I think it's a beautiful neighborhood.
I will go ahead and discuss accommodations
and housing here in Poland.
First things first, it is not very common
to find a school that will pay for your housing.
Housing is not generally provided
unless you live in a small town or a village.
So you will be paying for your housing yourself.
Second, finding a flat
is normally a pretty straightforward and easy process,
even if you don't speak the language.
Like I think I said before, most people here in Poland
speak a very high level of English,
so you will not have a problem,
generally, talking to a landlord or agency with rent.
And they will also generally provide you, if you ask,
for your rental agreement both in Polish and in English.
So, when I first moved here to Poland a year and a half ago,
I found my flat through a group on Facebook,
I think just called Krakow Apartments For Rent.
It was pretty straightforward.
I went through an agency,
and I was able to move in within a week.
My second flat, the one I'm currently living in right now,
I went through a real estate website,
and I will link those on the next slide.
There's quite a few of them
where you can easily find flats for a good price.
Lastly, most flats here in Poland
will come completely furnished.
I did not have to buy any furniture when I moved here.
The only thing I bought
was towels, linens, things like that.
Later on, I splurged on an espresso machine,
which I needed, as I'm a coffee addict,
and also minor appliances, like a toaster and blender.
But you will not have to buy large furniture or anything,
as most flats will come completely furnished.
So, that wraps up my flat hunting tips.
And now that I've also wrapped up talking about myself
and teaching here in Poland a little bit,
I'm gonna take you guys on a normal day in my life,
whatever that is.
And first up on my agenda
is actually hitting the gym for a workout,
and then I'm gonna take you guys on a tour of the city.
And I can't wait for you guys to see Old Town
and Market Square, as I think it's absolutely beautiful.
I've lived here a year and a half,
and I still feel like I'm walking around in a fairytale.
So, without further ado, (speaking in foreign language)
and I will see you guys in-
Hello again, I am finally out of my flat,
and on my way to the gym.
And I thought this would be a perfect opportunity
to talk about how awesome
public transportation here is in Krakow.
I've never been in a place in the city
where I'm not maybe a five-minute walk away
from the nearest tram stop or bus stop.
Public transportation here is awesome.
There is no need for a car.
The tickets are really cheap, generally about four zloty,
or $1.50 for a 20-minute ticket.
Welcome back guys, coming to you live from Old Town Krakow.
It is one of my favorite spots in the whole city.
And I will just take you along
and show you how beautiful this area of town.
Here we are, facing, looking at Market Square.
I believe it is one
of the biggest medieval markets in Europe.
Here we have the Cloth Hall, which, still today,
you can find souvenirs, gifts, inside of it.
Over here, we have iconic Krakow Saint Mary's Basilica.
And looking down here, some of the side streets,
which are my absolute favorite to walk and wander.
I know I said earlier,
I feel like sometimes I'm living in a fairytale.
Yeah, I do.
I might be biased,
but I think this city is absolutely beautiful
and breathtaking, and the views truly never get old.
Krakow sometimes is referred to
as the City of Kings and Dragons.
It should also be, at times,
referred to as the City of Churches.
There are beautiful churches, seemingly all over the city.
While I stand here and admire these beautiful churches,
it is worth noting that Poland
is a very traditional Catholic country,
and most stores and shops are closed on Sundays.
So, not only does Poland have pierogi and vodka,
it also has castles.
Here, we are looking at Wawel Castle,
which was the home to Polish kings and queens
before the capital of Poland was moved to Warsaw.
Now that I'm back home,
and have poured myself a very large glass of grape juice,
I will go ahead and talk about the nitty-gritty
of financial details and living expenses here in Poland.
So, on a normal month, without holidays,
I generally teach 20 to 25 hours per week,
which is considered full-time here in Europe.
And that does not include lesson prep time
or administrative duties, like grading or making tests.
So, one quick thing to note
with my breakdown of living expenses,
one category I did not add in there
was a travel expenses or other.
As many European countries, Poland was under lockdown
from about October until mid-May.
So, obviously, I was not traveling,
or was not eating out, or doing other things.
So, obviously, probably would've spent more money
if the pandemic hadn't been going on.
So, one more thing to note about salary here in Poland,
while Poland is quite affordable,
and the cost of living here is quite low
in comparison to many other European countries,
Poland is not a country
where you're gonna maybe save a lot of money,
such as South Korea or China.
Yes, many English teachers live quite comfortably
on a teacher's salary,
but don't expect to be saving thousands of dollars
to pay off student loans or anything else.
So to wrap up this takeover,
I thought I would discuss some of the things
that I love the most
about living and teaching here in Poland.
First thing, I would say the cost of living.
It is very affordable,
in comparison to many cities in North America,
and I can live quite comfortably off a teacher's salary.
The number two thing is the safety.
I love how safe the city of Krakow is,
and also, Poland in general.
I can walk home at night and not worry about my safety,
which is a great thing as a female.
Number three, I would say either the walkability
of the city of Krakow, or the food.
If you're a vegetarian like myself,
there are so many vegetarian food options here.
Highly recommend it.
Life here in Poland, teaching in Poland,
or getting TEFL certified,
I will drop my personal Instagram handle on this slide,
and just feel free to DM me at any point.
So, (speaking in foreign language) see you later.
Have a wonderful Tuesday night.
(upbeat music)