Vodka and Apple Juice

This thoughtful and humorous memoir about an Australian couple who move to Warsaw, Poland is a quick and interesting read. Disclaimer: I'm probably biased as I know the author personally. However, I found it a well-written and entertaining account of Australian ex-pats adjusting to life in Poland, and adjusting to diplomatic circles for the first time. Besides giving a lot of insight into Poland, the Polish people, and the history of that area of Europe, it also deals with the struggles of being isolated in a strange country, trying to learn a new language, and being away from the familiarity of a home country where you know how everything works without having to think about it. It's also an interesting insight into the diplomatic world, which may sound glamorous from the outside but which is clearly very hard work, lots of frustration, and extremely difficult for both the diplomats and their spouses - and we meet several other spouses dealing with this struggle with varying degrees of grace.

Having moved to a new country several times myself, including one where I didn't speak the language and had a very steep learning curve to acquire it, I was very sympathetic to all the difficulties Jay experienced and how overwhelming it can feel. Overall an interesting read and probably of particular interest to Australians and Poles, anyone thinking of moving to Poland, and anyone who has or will try living in a different country learning another language.