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!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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.
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.
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