Passionately Apathetic!

This is a funny story told to me by a friend recently. Tonight another friend used it to illustrate a typical Polish trait/stereotype. She said that Poles are reluctant to get involved. She said typically people stay to themselves and just stay out of each others' ways and rarely help or stop things. This she told me after I told her about my tram experience today. I was riding the tram and it was fairly crowded but not too bad. And this young guy, maybe early twenties decided to use his cell phone like a boombox and started blasting very loud Polish rap music. People looked at him, rolled their eyes and moved to the front of the tram. Pretty soon he was alone in the back of the tram enjoying his music still. And I was surprised that no one had bothered to say anything to him or asked him to turn it down.

So as Karolina was telling me about this habit of Poles, she reminded me of this story from Radek.

Radek has this thing about helping people who are homeless, sick, helpless or even drunk. It's his thing to collect life stories and listen to people that otherwise seldom get heard. He has a hundred stories with happy endings and feel-good vibes about these situations and I find I can listen to him go on about it for hours. He is a great story teller on top of having had these experiences.

So this one time, Radek was on a train or tram and this homeless man fell asleep in his seat and fell to the floor. Radek went directly to him and tried to wake him and help him back to his seat. Another man on the train was outraged by this behavior. He told Radek to stop it right away and get away from the "filthy bum who is probably diseased." And Radek said no. He said the man needed help and he would help him. The man became enraged with Radek and approached him aggressively screaming and cursing. As I recal from the story, Radek nearly came to blows with the man before leaving the train.

The irony of course being that this man cared so much that Radek should not care, that he nearly beat him up!

The week in review

This was a busy and fun week. I learned to use the trains, subways, and trams very well. The buses are still confusing, but I've discovered even the natives have trouble with them, so I don't feel so bad about that.

I acquired some city maps finally and that helps a lot. I actually have an idea about where I am now and that makes going to other places way easier.

I also learned to say my address! Actually I learned both addresses and used a taxi to get home by myself one night. Yay!

On Thursday, I went with my friend Kamila to her sister's house outside of town. It was a very nice "Suburban" area and she had a lovely home. We spent some time with Eva's little boy Josh who is beyond smart. This kid seemed like a tiny grown-up endowed with the wisdom of elderly scholars. His English is pretty good too, for a 6 year old. We worked out a deal to help each other with language. Should be fun, but I hope he is patient with me.

For the weekend, Karolina and I went to her family's country house. It was on the border of Belarus and all the signs were written in Polish and Russian. I have photos I will be adding in a while. The house itself was a turn of the century farm house very far back in the woods. It was so quiet there and at night, it was the darkest place I've ever been. There is no TV or internet or phones there. Well, there is a landline for local calls in case of emergency, but I didn't have any reason to ever find it. It was nice being in this quiet place. The house is heated by a tile stove fueled with wood and coal. Karolina and I were not able to use it correctly to keep it going. But there is a caretaker who lives there and he made sure we didn't freeze to death. We were very thankful for him!

While there, we did some exploring and Karolina told me about the local mushrooms and how to tell if they are poisonous or not. We saw some deer. The deer looked almost exactly like North American White tails, except their tails were almost fan shaped. It was pretty cool seeing that.

The drive there and back was... interesting. It took a few hours on a two-lane road, that apparently has an invisible lane in the middle. People going slower move over and drive on the shoulder and allow others to pass. Passing is tricky because people drive very fast and oncoming traffic has to move to the shoulder as well. But everyone seems to know when to do this. Also, there are no lights on the streets and people bike and walk on these very busy roads. I lost my breathe a time or two.

On the way home, we were pulled over. Karolina got her first ticket, but it could have been much worse. They filmed her making several violations, but only ticketed her for one. When the police asked her if she realized the speed limit was 50 km per hour, she responded, "I thought that was per person." Thankfully, he laughed.

Oh yeah... Why?

Someone asked me today why am I here. I probably should have explained that in the beginning, but I honestly assumed that anyone reading this would have asked me that in person already and wouldn't want a rehash. So stop now if you already know. Otherwise, here it is:

K and I have talked about me coming over to Poland for a while now, definitely since before graduation in May 2008. At some point I decided to wait and see about getting my career started in NYC.

In July, a friend and his father and brothers came to NYC for a Yankees game and wound up having to stay over in the city because of flight scheduling or bad weather or something. I invited them to stay at my apartment. It was fairly big and my roommates were out of town.

My friend's father is retired from Delta and to show his appreciation, he gave me a buddy pass for a round trip ticket anywhere Delta flies. Wonderful! An amazing gift for me.

I had been bumming around in NYC for a little over two months at this point and not having a lot of luck on the job front, so this pretty much made up my mind. I decided Poland it is. Jobs here and free place to stay for as long as I like. Can't beat that deal! Plus, once in Europe, especially an EU country, travel within is really easy.

So that is how I wound up here. That is why I am here.

But I am looking at jobs both here and back in GA currently. More than anything, I need to get started working. That's the great part about a buddy pass. I can change my return date anytime I like and stay up to a year, or leave whenever the timing seems right.

Anyone got a job for me? :)

A magic word!

I noticed that there is one word used for all occasions and it is so handy!

Prosze: There should be a little mark under the e. It is pronounced [Prosheh].

I would give a definition, but there are really so many. It means "please" in the literal sense, but you use it to walk past someone blocking an isle. You use przeprazam [psheprasham], another form to says excuse me when you've bumped into someone or to say "I'm sorry" when you've stepped on a toe or something.

Prosze is also used to say "I want something" as is "Prosze woda" --meaning, I would like some water.

Prosze is also used to say "You are welcome!" when some one has thanked you.

It's like you use it in almost every sentence you say. Love it!

Ph.d Thesis defense

This morning I went a University in Warsaw to see Radek defend his thesis and to be formally announced as a Doctor. It was all in Polish. I was happy to find that I recognized more and more words as it went along. I knew the topic already from Radek and that helped. With the context, the speaking actually made more sense. It was about 2 hours long and then a reception. Great food at the reception. There were several finger foods, fish, two salads and soup. There was a variety of wines and other beverages. Nice.

For this trip, more trams. I don't know if I will ever figure out how to take the tram on my own, other than the simple one direction ones. I am pretty sure I can get to the center of Warsaw. I'm not so sure I could find my way back to the school.

After this I took a train out of town with Kamila. There are forests out here with pine trees. It's really pretty. I met her mom for the first time and she is extremely sweet!

Today I learned that when you are formally introduced it is a three cheek kiss. Left, Right, Left. I keot expecting just two for some reason. Also, Polish moms are awesome and they keep telling me how beautiful I am. I like that :)

This sleep thing...

It is now Saturday afternoon here. I went to bed at 3 am here (Which is 9 pm in Georgia), and still slept until 1:30 in the afternoon. I am still so wide awake late at night and wanting to sleep into the afternoon.  1:30 pm is 7:30 am in GA. So if I were home, I would be on the most perfect sleep schedule I've ever been on. 

I think maybe if I just get lots of exercise today and cut out the night time coffee, maybe I can go to bed tonight. I hope I can. 

Friday

So today Karolina's cousin and my friend for several years now, Radek (aka Philip) and his lovely dog Soran came to see me. We took the tram into Central Warsaw and he explained a little about the tram to me. I now know where to buy the ticket and how to use it. It looks like most of the trams will take me into the center but two of them turn. I should have written that part down, but I wasn't thinking I needed to at the time. 

We walked around something like Warsaw's version of Rodeo Drive. Lots of expensive and stylish clothing shops. There was also an outdoor market where local craftsmen sold things. And oddly enough, there was a troop of Native Americans wearing outfits from old Western Movies playing music and singing in Polish.  I'll go back there when my camera arrives. 

We ate something Radek said was a Polish version of a donut. (I'll get the name of it from him again.) It was like a donut, except it didn't have a hole in it. It was covered in almond slices and filled with rose marmalade. Delicious!  

After that we went to a bar called Melange. It was a very small room with big soft chairs, sofas and tables. The walls and ceiling were coated in red velvet and it was all lit with small warm lamps. And we drank coffee there. It was nice and warm compared with the 45 degrees outside.

On the way home, we went to the market and Radek bought things to cook for dinner. It was curried chicken and mushrooms with curried spinach and rice. Really good dinner. 

I'm still not on a good sleeping schedule yet. I woke at 1 in the afternoon.  Hope this works itself out soon.