It was a busy last week in Poland and I was not able to write up a blog. A time for sorting things out and packing them up for travel back to northern Maine. Also a time for goodbyes. With so much to do, every evening was also some dinner and beer with Polish friends and colleagues. There are so many people here that I have come to know.

From this sabbatical we probably have five articles in various stages of completion, with other work in the earliest stages. I have one minor article submitted, a major article to be submitted in the next week, a second major article in the next couple of months, and two lesser articles with much of the work completed. This is good work for a semester.

This trip back to Maine took about 28 hours, with five of them in Boston was for the one of the three daily flights into northern Maine. Once here, it seems everywhere I go people are asking how Poland was. It is not easy being in a place where everybody knows you.

I would not say that there was any real culture shock in going to Poland. Things are different, sure, including the language but western societies are generally alike so nothing is really strange. But coming back here means getting readjusted, to saying “thank you” in English and getting water served with meals. The real differences there vs real are the changes from urban back to rural. And driving a car again for the first time in four months.

And I am already looking forward to getting back again if I can. Not just to learn more about Poland and its people – there is so much more that I wish I had time to do – but getting back to a schedule of 24-7 science. There is nothing like going to work with the fair prospect on any given day of finding something new, and by that I mean absolutely new to anyone. Scientists live for that prospect. True, I have plenty of work before me documenting what I have learned these past few months, but already I am yearning to add to it.