Friday, November 30, 2007

Snow

It started snowing in Krakow on November 9th, and it hasn't really stopped since.

Here's what Krakow looks like these days:







Online

I'm typing this from my Mac, which after 6.5 months in Poland is finally online.

And it is all thanks to the first hockey fan I've met in Poland. I won't hold the fact that his favourite teams are the Leafs and the Flames against him.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Fluffy towels

The dryer part of my washer/dryer machine stopped working ages ago. Sometime in July I believe. Workman came to look at it and reported it needed a new part, which took forever to arrive.

Yesterday, in a flurry of activity (5 different tradesmen showed up at my apartment yesterday!), the dryer was finally fixed.

I realized this morning as I was drying myself off that this means my towels will once again be fluffy and soft!

Now if only the IT guys can get my router and internet connection to my Mac working.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Fog

Apparently, Krakow is famous for its fog.

Who knew?

After living here for nearly 7 months, and experiencing all four seasons (winter came to Krakow a few weeks ago with a 25 cm dump of snow that is still on the ground), I understand why. It can be foggy at any time of day - spring, summer, fall and winter.

Tonight my friends and I stepped out of the gym into complete fog. It is pretty, but not so much fun to drive through.

The Wall

I first visited Germany early in the fall of 1989. I stayed with some family friends for a week or so in Stuttgart, in what was then West Germany. We spent several evenings discussing the political situation - the German family had been divided after the war, with several members of their family still living in East Germany. The Germans were hopeful that change might come to their country gradually, allowing them to be reunited with their family, but at that time no one had any idea of the magnitude of events that would shortly occur.

6 weeks or so later when the Wall actually came down, I was somewhere else in Europe - I can't remember exactly where - maybe southern France. And like every other backpacker in Europe at the time, my friends and I wanted to head for Berlin to witness history. But when we checked the train schedules everything was completely booked. We figured it would take us a few days to get there, and we were nearing the end of our trip.

So I never made it to Berlin in 1989.

I'm finally going tomorrow, 18 years later.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

B-ball boys

I spend my Tuesday evenings playing pick up basketball with some of the guys I work with. I'm the only female that plays (I used to drag one of the writers along with me, but she finally gave up on it, in fear that she'd get hurt) and I am sure I am probably ten years older than most of them.

The guys are exceedingly polite to me. They apologize profusely if they even brush against me and I don't think they try very hard to guard me. And they continue to pass me the ball no matter how many times I miss . . .

However, I feel like I finally may be getting treated like one of the guys. Tonight I went up for a rebound against several of them, and got elbowed in the side of the head!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Cranky cat

It is only day 2 of Small's diet, but already she's meowing in protest. She gobbled up the "Obesity" wet food in seconds, and then started asking for more.

I weighed her today. 10.2 kg.

I've decided her goal weight should be about 8 kg (I've never seen what she looks like at less than 9 something kg). If she's still stout at 8 kg (if she ever gets there), we can readjust.

Wish us both luck. I think I'll need it more than she does.

All Saint's Day

Poles may not celebrate Halloween, but All Saint's Day on November 1st is one of the biggest holidays of the year in Poland.

Almost everyone travels to be with their families on All Saint's Day. People spend the day honouring the dead: visiting cemeteries to lay wreath's, flowers, and candles at the graves of their families.

Some friends and I went to one of the largest cemeteries in Krakow to pay our respects. Rather than being a somber event, the atmosphere was almost like a carnival. Vendors were selling candles, sweets, most notably bears made out of honey, while some street performers were even busking!

Once inside the gates of the cemetery, the mood was still festive, but more subdued, as people offered prayers and candles at individual graves. The largest group of candles were reserved for the Pope's parents.
The soft glow of the multicoloured candles lit our way through the dark to the area reserved for fallen Commonwealth soldiers. I lit a candle for the Canadian airmen killed in action in World War II, whose remains were recently buried here. We then lit our remaining candles for soldiers who had no family in Krakow to visit their graves.
Throughout the evening I thought of my grandparents, and wished that I could be lighting candles for them at their gravesides. The Polish celebration of All Saint's Day was one of the most beautiful and moving events I have experienced since being here, and is definitely one I'd like to continue in Canada.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

C is for cookie . . .

As promised. Apparently I was 5 the first year I was Cookie Monster.




And here I am with my brothers. We think Mike is a painter. As you can see, Matt's love for all things super hero started early.

Friday, November 9, 2007

The Great (Polish) Pumpkin

Growing up, I loved Halloween. I have always been a candy fiend, and really, what's better than running around with your friends in the dark, without adults, getting pillowcases full of candy?

Not much.

Plus I have a very imaginative mother who loved to come up with and then create fantastic costumes. My all-time fave is still the head-to-toe, fake blue fur Cookie Monster suit that I had when I was about 7. Dad, I'd be eternally grateful if you scanned a picture of that and sent it to me. I'll even post it here for all to enjoy.

Sadly, the Polish don't celebrate Halloween. They have no idea what they've been missing out on.

So last Wednesday morning I dragged two of my Polish Canadian colleagues to the local pumpkin patch (okay, it was really a market) to buy as many pumpkins as we could carry to take into work.



I was giddy with the whole adventure and kept snapping shots of the possible pumpkin candidates, much to the chagrin of one of the farmers. Apparently he was telling me not to take pictures, but since I didn't understand him, I just smiled and took his picture. He became much more accommodating when he realized I was spending major zloties at the stand next to his, and even started pointing out pumpkins he liked.

People didn't quite know what to make of me when I showed up the office with a trolley full of pumpkins. But my team embraced the jack o lanterns quickly. I had to explain to everyone that you had to clean the guts outside of the pumpkin, and then had to retrieve more than one pumpkin "lid" out of the garbage after they threw them out.

As soon as we had the first pumpkins finished and on display, other teams started asking if they could carve one.



Luckily my manager was out of town and wasn't able to witness me violating several office regulations as I lit candles in all of the pumpkins. It was well worth breaking the health and safety regulations to work in the soft glow of the jack o lanterns. And as the pumpkins heated up they gave a lovely smell, as if someone was baking in the office.

But my favourite memory of the day will be the look of childish wonder on the faces of the steady stream of people who came by to see the pumpkins. Most came back for repeat visits, often with their cameras.

Delivery

The veterinary-approved obesity formula cat food just arrived at my door. It was delivered by the company I purchased it from, and carried up the three flights to my apartment.

Delivery seems much more common in Poland than it does in Canada. Aside from the cat food, I have my drinking water delivered, and apparently doctors and vets make house calls.

The service industry in Poland is a contradictory hybrid. Waiters and waitresses although usually quite friendly aren't quite up to the service standards of many western countries, and don't get me started about the customer service ethic of many of the bureaucratic organizations. I have multiple horror stories about attempting to get a parking permit from Pani Ewa at the Motor Vehicles office.

But in other industries, the Poles are far more service-oriented. Apart from the home delivery services, many retail industry clerks actually serve you. For example, in small fruit and vegetable kiosks, you ask the clerk for what you want, and they get it for you. Same thing in drug stores (aptekas). It makes it a bit harder for a non-Polish speaker, since I can't just go up and grab the band-aids off the shelf, but it does make me practice speaking Polish.

I like it, particularly not having to drag 8 kg bags of cat food up all those stairs.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Jestem stara

Many of the new writers I have hired for my team here have similar educational backgrounds to mine - Master's degrees in English. In Poland, the degree is called English Philology and covers the areas of translation, linguistics, writing, and pedagogical theory, as well as literature.

Yesterday, I had coffee with one of my writers who is just finishing her master's thesis. We started discussing linguistics and the effect of cultural differences on languages and I told her a little about my master's thesis (which some days I can barely remember).

When I mentioned the main theorists involved (Brown and Levinson's Politeness theory for those of you interested in linguistics and literary theory), she exclaimed that they were the classic authors in the field and everything she had studied in the area was based on their research.

I remember the field being quite new when I was doing grad school research. I looked it up today, and their theory was first published in 1987, only 4 or 5 years before I started grad school. Of course my writer was only 4 years old at the time.

Yep, I feel old.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Grrr

Sometimes it sucks not knowing the language of the country you live in.

Yesterday, I called the company that is supposed to provide me with bottled water (no one in Krakow drinks the tap water although apparently it is safe). I haven't had water delivered since sometime in early September, although they keep sending me bills (which I keep paying). So I finally decided to try and call and figure out what was going on. My Polish hasn't progressed much past me being able to say Good day, do you speak English? The person said yes, so on I went.

But her English was not much better than my Polish, so I had to resort to asking one of my colleagues to speak to her.

And then my hair appointment was rescheduled to this afternoon, and the person who was going to come with me and translate can't make it. So once again I had to ask around for someone to accompany me.

Usually I don't mind asking for help, but some days I hate being so dependent.

Then this morning I spent an hour in an aerobics class that was full of dance moves I didn't know. I am more sporty than dancey (as anyone who has ever attended my step class can attest), so I probably would have struggled with this class in English, but I spent a good portion of the class feeling sorry for myself, even though four or five other women were having as many problems as I was.

The Polish language continues to humble me. I struggle with pronunciation and remembering the words, let alone the 5 grammatical cases, which I don't really even understand in English. My head is so full of work when we have our classes that it is hard to switch modes. And I feel inadequate since everyone around me speaks multiple languages.

But some days I have small victories. I can order in Polish in restaurants now, and I love going into shops and ordering fruits and vegetables and making other purchases in Polish. And I can understand a bit more when I listen to people speak, so gradually it will get better.

But some days it still sucks . . .