Happy 30th anniversary Golden Gate!
GG school rules!
Teaching English at GG was definitely one of the best times of my life - teaching in Poland was exciting, but spending a year with terrific, whacky, fun (and funny) beautiful people was a gift - jak diabli!
It was about 21 years ago that I packed my bags and left Canada for a town in Poland that I couldn’t even pronounce. I’m still not sure if I pronounce it correctly. My boss Rafal and my new roommate Cara met me at the airport in Warsaw. Those first few days were a whirlwind of settling into my apartment, meeting new people, and getting used to the strong Polish beer!
Although my time at Golden Gate was short – just seven months – as with everyone else who has passed through its doors (gate), a little bit of the school rubbed off on me. From playing live (or maybe, merely, while alive) with the Golden Gators to summer camps to my diverse leisure time pursuits of plying myself with Tyskie and rolada, my time in Tarnowskie Góry holds some of the fondest memories of my life.
My name is Katy, and I was the first resident native female English speaker at Golden Gate. Six months’ in, on March 14, 1994, I wrote in my journal, “I thought yesterday, while standing outside my office [Golden Gate], what will I remember of this in 20 years? What will I take with me? Life is like a puzzle. Everywhere you go, everyone you encounter, adds another piece.” When Rafal asked me to write this 30-year Anniversary essay, I thought of that journal entry.
I spent a long time in Tarnowskie Gory (for a native). While Pan Williams may be fast approaching my seven years in total, I still hold pride in the fact I'm the longest serving native consecutively. I arrived in Poland on a grey Tuesday in October 2010; within my first 24 hours I had discovered the cost of cigarettes, held a photo shoot featuring blue berets, and been driven to Tesco at midnight for 'supplies'. When I left in the summer of 2017, I left with a broken nose, the ability to play drums, and a broader sense of people and the world. Not bad for a choice I made spontaneously; to move to Poland, because 2010 England sucked.
