Work & Friends

Yesterday it was announced (unofficially) that October was our biggest income month, which is great because September was before and before that August was... So, business just keeps getting better and better! With this great business comes busy days. Longs days spent in the kitchen keeping up. But, FINALLY I have a routine down. Which means, there were some moments this week I got to join all the others out front to talk with people. That is exciting for me because I get lonely being stuck in the kitchen. I also, kind of got an assistant! One of the other volunteers finally had some extra time to learn things in the kitchen, which means a little extra help for me!

The highlight of this week is what happens when we are getting ready to close the shop. For some reason the end of the night is just a lot more fun. Of course by this point we have had too much coffee and are tired so we get a little goofy. But, those are the moments that I treasure. We discussed everything from what sounds animals make in different languages to guys and their computer games to how my preparation of turkey changed someone's life. There is even a song about my giving of turkey to eat! Crazy moments that only those involved would find hilarious. But, those moments with friends are memories that will last a life time. Far too often I have been tired of my daily tasks, but those moments of working with friends make it all worth while. It is hard to find a job where you not only spend hours laughing, but also crying and praying together. Though this week was filled with many funny moments, there were also many tear filled ones. These tears were not shed because of fights or problems, but because someone on the staff was hurting and as friends we hurt with each other. I am so thankful to be at a place where I can walk through the doors, share that I am devastated over bad news from home and immediately be prayed and cared for. It is a joy to be working with friends. That is what makes Sweet Surrender so much more then a coffee shop. I believe that our customers see the difference when they walk through the doors. When the staff is so close to each other and filled with the love of Christ it spills over to those we serve simple coffee and desserts too. I love being in a place where the joy on the staffs faces spills over onto to each person that comes through the door. That is how you change someone's life by working in a coffee shop!

Kitchen Work

I have been getting emails lately informing me that this November is my 5 year college reunion. Wow! 5 years! If you told me 5 years ago that I was going to be a cook at a coffee house in Poland I would have laughed in your face. But, yet here I am, spending at least 9 hours everyday in a tiny kitchen baking desserts and cooking soups & sandwiches. Much to everyone in Poznan's surprise, I actually can cook. Well, it's no surprise to me that I can do that part of the job considering that I grew up in a household where I was the only one who enjoyed cooking and tended to be the only one who cooked or baked anything. However, that was a secret that I kept from those I worked with here because the last place I wanted to end up was in the kitchen! :) Funny how God tends to put me in the last place I was trying to be! On the other side there is a lot more work in the kitchen then just following a recipe (which I tend to add my own flares too...). I am learning I have to think logically, not an easy task for me. What?! I have to plan how much of an ingredient I will need for a week??? What I have to actually keep track of exactly what I put into each recipe so it can be duplicated by some one else?! No, one told me that was part of working in the kitchen! I am learning... I think the greatest moment to show how I operate in the kitchen happened last week.... Our organized detailed oriented volunteer walks in and says, "Katie I would like a cost break down of our new menu items so we can check how much profit we will be bringing in." My response- an innocent smile.... But, I am learning and with the help of this particular volunteer I am becoming detailed in my kitchen. (Which has recently been given the name "Katie's Cave" because I am always hiding in it, not by choice, but because the work in there is never done!) And so here I am 5 years out of college using my theology degree to make scones and soups. Isn't it interesting where God moves us? Sometimes it is exactly where we thought we never wanted to be, only to learn that it really is not bad at all.

There are two big things that has made working in the kitchen something more than just a simple task of following the directions left by the last volunteer in charge. First, business has at least doubled if not tripled since the first directions were left. This is a huge praise! We are busy! And it means I spend everyday just keeping up with the orders that come in. The second thing is we have expanded our menu! I love our new menu items, however more items means more cooking! And with new items it means more ingredients and details that need to be organized for whoever will come after me. So, this has become my life standing in a kitchen during the shops open hours and spending time retyping changed recipes during non-shop hours. A busy life!

I hope you are not getting the idea that I am no longer having fun because of my new tasks and extra busyness. How could I be who I am without finding fun in each task?! And no one is as entertaining as me in the kitchen, there is always some disaster occurring! :) I will stop there before I get myself into trouble!

Moments in Time

It's no secret that I have been struggling a lot lately. It seems the past couple months have been nothing but emotional highs and lows. Some directly connected to the shop and stress and others connected to personal situations. But, I think I have finally figured it all out. Well, life is not going to get any easier at this point, in fact I think it is just going to become even more stressful for me. But, I have learned the value of the moment.

Last Sunday evening I wandered the streets of Poznan with one of my best friends. We had our french fries and ice cream because they are supposed to make us feel better. Then we just walked the city center and talked and talked and talked. We dumped everything on each other. We both have been going through so much and have been so busy that we had not really talked in weeks. So, we dumped it all and wandered the streets. Then we looked around us and said, "wow, Poznan is beautiful at night, all of the old buildings lit up, and standing here with a true friend." I realized it's moments like this that I should be living for. Nothing was solved, life still has all of it's stresses. But, that doesn't matter because in that moment there was total contentment in being there with a best friend and knowing that no matter what else I have to face, I have a best friend in a beautiful city that has my back and I have hers.

Today is my day off. But, I traveled to the shop to meet another good friend to go jogging. (Yes, I am allowed to jog if I wear my brace!) I look forward to these days every week. It's a moment in time where we can just release everything and share about anything. I have never been a person who needs to workout with a friend, but these mornings have become almost therapeutic for me. And since I was at the shop, I might as well make myself my Kenyan pour over. But, I did take it to go! As I was riding the tram home, sipping my coffee and nibbling a raspberry bar, I had another moment of contentment. I enjoy working in a coffee shop and being able to work with friends. And even though I know things are going to get more stressful for me and changes will be coming, I am content with good friends and good coffee.

Life is a series of moments and no matter how hard we try we will never be able to predict what will happen in the next moment. Life will always bring more and more stress. We will always face ups and downs, but they are simply moments in time. The only guarantee we have is this one moment. I have decided that in this moment I want to be happy and feel the contentment that life is good.

Go Team POLMERICA!!!!!

I spent the last week in Oslo, Norway attending the Nordic Barista Cup. There were 6 of us from the Poznan shop that were able to attend. I really wasn’t so sure about this trip when we decided to go. I mean, I like coffee, but I was far from being a coffee nerd. However, I made the commitment that I would learn whatever our coffee expert volunteer wanted to teach us. So, I left on this trip ready to try to learn and to be the one who keeps the energy high. The moment we stepped off of the tram in down town Oslo, until we stepped on it to leave, I was in heaven! Ok, maybe not exactly heaven, but it was wonderful! I saw a seagull, in the middle of the night while walking to find our hostel and I knew WATER!!!! The first day we had time to explore the city and we did! The opera house, the streets, the bay, it was all beautiful! And then the conference started. I realized I had no idea about coffee and what gourmet coffee was. I was taught how to do cupping, how to taste the differences between different roasts, beans, and such. It was an eye opening experience! I drank my first cappuccino without sugar! Yes, if it is a quality shot of coffee, you do not need sugar. And I have to say, Starbucks is not quality coffee. (I learned that too). Also, hearing from farmers and seeing the work it takes to actually get a coffee bean was impressive too. I never realized how much went into such a simple shot or cup of coffee. But, it was not all session of learning. We had a lot of fun too! Each night was a different amazing dinner in an amazing venue. Each night we ate wonderful Norwegian food. I had salmon, whale, moose, pine jelly, brown cheese, fresh crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops, and so much more. One of the dinners was a Harry Potter theme. It was amazing! The lodge they rented looked like something that could have been in the movie. And it was located on a mountain overlooking the city, right next to the massive Olympic ski jump venue. The sites were amazing! But, with all the amazing thing we learned, and saw, and did, there were 2 things from this trip that really stuck out-

First, I am in love with siphon coffee. Siphon’s are amazing they are so much fun to brew coffee. I really, really, really, need one of my own. I also learned what my favorite kind of coffee is. I tend to choose Kenyan coffee, or ones with the fruity flavor. Also, I was inspired to do coffee and dessert pairings. I can create menu items that go well with different coffees. I have become a barista chef! And I can inspire our team members with great stories about great coffee vs. the evil king starbucks!


Second, our staff at the Poznan Sweet Surrender has never been closer. We developed our own country! We became one team combining both cultures into one! Being away and learning together has grown us all. It seems we are all on the same page and wanting to jump full speed ahead into creating a higher quality shop. Gourmet coffee is scarce in Poland; our shop has the opportunity to be on the front line. So, if people in Poznan want gourmet coffee they must come to our shop. And when they come into our shop for great coffee they also get to experience our great love for Christ and each other! We had a brainstorming session about where we wanted to go after what we learned. The excitement coming from the 6 of us was overwhelming. We dream big! I am so glad that we had this chance to grow closer and the opportunity to bring positive change to our shop and our ministry!


Oslo was amazing! Go Team Polmerica!!! Where we are Polmericans that speak Polmerish! :)

Busy Doesn’t Even Begin To Describe It

I know it has been forever since I have updated anything. Life is CRAZY BUSY!!! I have not had a moment to stop since the Krakow W & W Trip. The shop has become busy! And that is great! Our business has sky rocketed compared to what we were doing before. What a blessing that is!

We lost our cook! Our volunteer kitchen manager had to return home to take care of family business. So, this left a hole in our shop that needed to be filled. I was asked to fill it. I am now not only in charge of Outreach I am also head cook and menu planner. The funny thing is that I have been spending so much time trying to avoid being in the kitchen and now I am running it! I now have mixed emotions about this job. I don’t mind doing it, but with everything going on it seems I spend all day in the kitchen, which is not where I want to be. I am also training one of our volunteers how to do the basic menu food. He’ll get it all learned just in time for us to change the menu for fall!

This weekend we had a special treat! We had 3 couples from Nampa, Idaho come visit us. The Neils, Stallcops, and Hulls. It was great to have them here. Especially the Neils because they are practically family! With their help we hosted a proper High Tea Party. We had a great turn out of women and we even had a news crew show up! We were advertised on the local news! I had the joy of preparing the food for the Tea Party- everything from sandwiches, to shortbread, to yogurt parfait to panna cotta. But everything turned out perfect! And our Sweet Surrender staff stepped up and pulled of an amazing event! Plus our guest servers from Nampa were perfect!

As we head into September we are expecting to continue getting busier and busier. Business is beginning to take off! And I am ready to face head on any new challenge that is brought to me in the kitchen!

Work & Witness To Krakow

Back in August I got the privilege to head up a work and witness team from my home church. My parents and my wonderful friend Shantel came a few days early and joined me in Poznan. I got to show them my church and my city! I loved having all three of them squished into my tiny little apartment. I think the greatest thing about it was that I got to show them my life here in Poland, the sites, sounds, people, and food I am surrounded by everyday. After a very short time of touring we hopped a sleep train to Krakow, where we met up with the rest of the team.

In Krakow we began the process of transforming an office space into a coffee shop. There was a lot of busting holes and trenches into the cement floor and brick walls. All of this had to be done so my Dad could do all of our plumbing. We had to design the bar and where the client bathroom would be. Plus the entire kitchen set up. It was a lot of long days of hard work. We ended up finishing most of the plumbing, all of the electricity, most of the bar, the tables, most of the painting, and the furniture bought.



But, all work and no play is not the way I do things! So, after each day of hard work I took the team to a different spot in the city to explore. We saw Schindler’s factory, the Jewish district, Auschwitz, Wawel Castle, the Old Square, and other random parts of Krakow. It was great to have my friends from home here. I loved sharing my life and my passion for Poland with them. The team was great! They all worked hard and stayed positive. However, I think them being so great made the distance a little harder on me. It’s hard to see and hear what you are missing. It would be nice to be able to have both worlds together all the time!

Exploring

Last Sunday I met up with two great girls and caught a tram to the train station. Once there we climbed aboard a night train from Krakow to Poland. The great thing about catching the night train was that we could buy tickets for a sleeping car. Which means we got to sleep in beds for the 7 hours it took to get to Krakow. The greatest thing about this is we did not waist a day on traveling. But.... it was an experience of togetherness. The beds were not too bad, I actually slept! But the room was tiny, it had 3 beds on one side, stacked up the wall and then a narrow place to stand and a sink in the corner. It was extremely close quarters! But we each climbed into our bunk, talked for a few hours and then passed out to awaken outside of Krakow. Once we got off the train I had to find a tram that would take us to the other side of the city, with only a street name... We made it to the correct neighborhood, but did not see a street name anywhere. Finally I entered a hotel and asked where the street was. Once we got on the right street I then discovered that the street number we were looking for was at the other end of the street! Finally we made it to the location of the soon to be newest Sweet Surrender Cafe! The building is so cool looking. A great use of metal and brick inside and out! I am so excited to have our shop there!
After a much need rest we set out to explore the city of Krkaow. Once again we had a detour of finding a tram stop, but we made it to the Town Square. We explored the shops and churches around the square. Then headed over to Wawel Castle and the Cathedral! I LOVE Wawel! It is my new favorite place. The sights from Wawel are amazing and there is a dragon the spits fire! How could I not enjoy that? We also explored the mall located across the river from the shop location. After all, I need to know all the great places to shop and eat nearby! :)
After exploring the sights and enjoying eating out on the square we called it a night and headed back to the apartment we were staying in. One of the many located above our future shop. This time I was able to get us the perfect tram and bus routes to get us dropped off right in front of the future shop. The next day the girls took off to Auschwitz and I took off to learn more about Krakow on my own. I was excited about exploring the city and finding great places....and then it started raining.... and I didn't have my umbrella.... But when has some rain ever stopped me before? I explored to Jewish Quarter, saw a synagog and a cemetery! And I even got to try and practice that Hebrew I studied in college.... yeah I don't think I remembered much of it... I toured Schindler's factory and was reminded of the tragic past that Poland holds. I also heade back to Wawel where I explored the grounds in the rain! I may have been soaking wet, but it was beautiful and worth it!
After a day of exploring in the rain I met up with girls and we caught another night train back to Poznan. I loved Krakow! It was a beautiful city! I am so excited to take my Parents and a work team from my home church there next week!