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.   

First night

Dinner: A variety of peroigies. I tried one I had not tried before. It was buckwheat which sounded like it would be bland, but it's really,really good. I also had some with meat, spinach, potato and mushrooms. All good. We had them steamed instead of fried and I think I might have liked them better this way.

Afterward, out for a quick drink at a little techno bar. Really awful music. It was dance remixes of American songs, Thriller for example. But it was a very pretty little place with interesting art and lights. The drink was some concoction with banana juice. I'm not a banana fan so it wasn't the best thing ever. But it was different. All the people there dancing looked like they were maybe 12. I think the drinking age is like 16 here, so that might explain the fruity drinks and young crowd. Not my thing. But I did get to ride around the city some.

My room has a view of the downtown skyline. It's beautiful! It's nice to be in the city.

Tomorrow, I am taking the tram somewhere alone. This should be exciting... I don't understand the system at all, but I am meeting a friend who assures me that I just need to count two stops and get off. We'll see :) I've attached a photo of a tram.


Correction: The drinking age is 18 here.

Warsaw: Day 1

I woke up 1:30 this afternoon Warsaw time, which is 7:30 on the East coast in the states. I guess that is jet lag. 

So there was no milk, sugar, artificial sweetner, shampoo or conditioner here. So, for the first time ever, I went grocery shopping alone in Warsaw.  I'm still not sure if I bought hand creme or hair conditioner. Gross as I am, I will find out soon enough. I'm taking a shower the minute I finish this entry. 

Most things were easy to find. I bought things I've had here before. Most everything has a photo on it. It wasn't a big problem. There wasn't a credit card sign on the door, but they took it. I have to remember to buy some zloty today. 

The sun is out and yet it is still foggy. The view is wonderful though! I think I'll take my coffee outside for a bit now. 

Cheers. 

Berlin

Oct 22, 2008 

I arrived in Berlin after an uneventful flight.  Let me rephrase that. The flight was excellent. I was lucky enough to get into Business class and basically spent the entire flight being stuffed with great food and coddled. I managed to sleep around 3-4 hours.  Since I had only slept around 3 hours the previous night, it really wasn't enough, but I expected I could catch up on the train to Warsaw. 

Berlin: Beautiful city. I took a bus from the airport the the train station (The wrong train station...) and we went through around 6-10 miles of the city. Lots of beautiful old buildings mixed in with very modern colorful structures. I was pretty uncomfortable at first. I have never even tried to learn a word of German before so I couldn't fake my way around like in France. The signs had no obvious meaning to me. And I don't like bothering people in English. I feel guilty when I'm in a country without knowing the language, and in this case, I felt like if I asked for help, I would need to justify that I am merely going through Germany and would certainly learn the language if I had any intention to stay there more than a day.  

I arrived at the main train station only to find that it was another station I was supposed to go to.  It was just one stop away, easily remedied.  So, on Gesundbrunnen train station. This was a pretty big station, and most of it is underground. I had a hard time at first finding the ticket booth. Turns out it is located inside a convenient store/del above the station. The counter attendant didn't speak English but she saw what I needed from a copy of an email that my friend had sent me with train instructions. And we managed. But, there is no checked baggage on this train. There is no place to store bags either.  So I was stuck with my two huge suitcases, backpack and purse. 

I was limited in the area I could travel. For around 2 hours I sat in an outside cafe area and drank coffee.  I had a book to read and it was ok. But it was also really cold and wet.  After a while I couldn't stand it anymore and decided to brave the stairs down to the giant mall. It was worth it. There was must more to do  and see inside and it was warmer.  One shop inside had cheesecake slices the size of NYC pizza slices. It was impressive, but I don't know who could eat all that. I stayed away.  There were some nice stationary stores and such. I picked up some post cards and writing tablets. I had to draw a picture for the clerk to find envelopes, but it worked out and we found them, me all apologies as usual. But the people I encountered were patient and friendly. What more could I ask for. 

I basically walked circles around the mall for 3 hours, bags in tow. I needed this. After so many hours flying and the coming 7 hours on the train, my legs needed to stretch out and move. 

On the train: 

My seat was in a cabin, which it seemed this whole train was cabins. I guess that makes sense for longer trips.  I was by myself for one stop.  Then a girl from Poland joined me. Her English was as good as my Polish and we mostly smiled and nodded to each other. Although occasionally she would ask me how to say something and I would ask her to help me with some words as well. We got along fine. I took a nap for about an hour, then a man came into the cabin with us and took the seat where I had stretched my legs. A couple of stops later the girl left and 2 more men entered the cabin. These two talked to each other and played video games on their cell phones. I was unhappily awake myself, but the man who had entered earlier was visibly upset. I guess he needed to sleep more than I did.  A little while later, another two men entered the cabin. One of them was yelling on his cell phone for the next hour. After that, he yelled to the two younger men who had been playing cell phone games before. And the first man, went outside the cabin and sat on the floor, obviously annoyed. 

Throughout the trip, I listened to my language book and music. I never spoke to any of them and they thought I was either dumb, unfriendly or frightening. I can see how I might have been frightening after 30 hours of traveling and no sleep. My eyes had bags as big as my luggage. 

Arrived in Warsaw at 11pm.  My two new roomies greeted me happily at the station. And it was the biggest relief of my whole life! I had no previous idea that a full day without internet or a cell phone could leave me feeling so vulnerable and strangely lonely.  Plus I realized at some point that Karolina had never known for sure that I would be on this train. I was so glad she showed up.