What I did on my summer vacation

Thought you might like to see how I spent my week on the Baltic coast of Poland.

I spent time visiting castles (this one at Malbork is a beauty),



walking through parks,



and hanging out at the seashore.

Expats

Today I attended my first expat event since becoming one. It's astonishing how many people from around the world live and work in Krakow - I met people from several different parts of Europe (a large number of French), India, Asia, and the US. No other Canadians though, although I know there are some out there since two work for me.

I am also amazed by the diversity of work in Krakow - I met people who work in fibre optics, IT, and someone who creates liquid nitrogen products that fuel space shuttles, (or something like that).

I had been a little hesitant about hanging out with the expat crowd before moving here (I thought I could more truly experience Poland by socializing with the Poles). However, the expat gang was extremely welcoming, and it's nice to be with people who are experiencing the same things as me (like struggling with the language!)

Meow!

Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow.

It started sometime after 5 am and didn't stop even after I finally fed the little monster around 7 am.

Then the other one started up!

Flying

I've flown to several European cities this summer: Paris, Rome, Gdansk. But I haven't flown directly to any one of them from Krakow, so I've also had pleasant stopovers in the Vienna, Munich, Milan, and Warsaw airports.

Krakow is not a hub and I can't ever get a good, cheap flight with one of the many discount airlines that apparently fly out of Krakow and fly directly to the above mentioned cities.

But, I don't mind, because one of the unexpected bonus of flying is free English language newspapers. Today I read the Warsaw Business Journal (yeah, I am a little desperate to read English newspapers), the Chicago Times, which I found lying in an airport waiting room, and the Financial Times, which is British and has an excellent weekend paper, including all my favourite weekend sections - lifestyle, arts, books, and home sections.

I have been reading more papers online lately, but nothing beats reading a physical copy.

Home

I just arrived back in Krakow after a week exploring Poland's Baltic coast with my parents. Like everywhere else I've been in Poland, the Baltic coast was surprisingly beautiful. The more I see of this country, the more entranced I am by it.

And on the way back from the airport, I realized that I felt like I was going home.

My new haircut

Pauline in Toronto has been cutting my hair for years. For so long now that I can't even remember the last time someone else cut it.

Like most women, I have a special relationship with my hair stylist. I trust her implicitly not to make me look like an idiot, and she pretty much knows that she has complete control over me when I sit in her chair. Plus, we have really good conversations.

At some point during the long lead up to my move to Poland, Donna, who also gets her hair cut by Pauline, turned to me with a horror stricken look on her face and said, "but who will cut your hair in Krakow?"

I laughed because at the time I thought, "I'll find someone to cut my hair. No problem."

A few weeks ago I decided that 4 months between haircuts was probably long enough. I got a recommendation from my friend Magda, who actually called her hair stylist and explained to her that I didn't speak Polish and booked the appointment for me.

However, Magda was busy the day I actually got my hair cut, so I went it alone. How hard could it be?

It's harder than I thought. Just try and mime to your hair stylist how you want your hair to look.

And hair cutting techniques in Poland are different than in Canada. At one point I had to stand up while she cut my hair. Then I had to turn my head in different angles while standing. Finally, I was allowed to sit down again.

So far so good. But when we came to blow drying and styling things got a little tricky. At one point she showed me a picture of a woman with incredibly curly hair. I thought perhaps they have really advanced styling products in Poland if they could make my hair look like that.

Then they showed me another photo of a woman with straighter hair, but flipped out on the ends. I thought that might be manageable, so nodded my assent.

Yet, the reality didn't quite look like the picture. And trying to explain that I didn't want wings at the side of my head (complimenting my brand new straight across bangs) was beyond my abilities. The stylist and I just looked at other, neither really understanding what the other was trying to convey.

It all worked out in the end, and Magda says that the stylist will take me again. I just miss my conversations with Pauline.

Maybe I'll even post a pic of my new bangs.

The princess and the pea

My mom is a notoriously poor sleeper. She's very particular about her sleeping arrangements and everyone knows if she hasn't slept well. As a result, both of my brothers and I have murphy beds in our homes (her bed of choice away from home).

After my first guest in Krakow told me that the sofa bed in the guest room was very hard, I started to panic. What could I do to make the bed more comfortable? Several helpful North Americans suggested I buy the egg shell crate foamy things you can put on beds in North America.

No such thing in Krakow.

So off I went (again) to Ikea to find something soft to put on the bed. My first attempt was a pillowy mattress cover. My second house guest said it was fine, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.

Before my third set of guests arrived, I went back to Ikea to find something else. This time I bought a mini mattress that was 5 cm thick to put on top of the bed. The third house guests said it was just fine (and one of those house guests sleeps on an extremely soft mattress called the Debutante).

I was hopeful that this solution would be enough - sofa bed, 5 cm foamy mattress, and pillowy mattress cover. For the first night it seemed to be.

But then a few days later, Mom admitted to me that she found the bed uncomfortable. So off we went to Ikea again. Mom's favourite option was a 30 cm thick memory foam type mattress (Dad looked aghast as he mentally calculated not only the price in CDN dollars, but how we would get it into the car and carry it up 61 steps). Fortunately, that one wasn't available in the correct size.

Instead Mom settled for a 10 cm thick foam mattress topper. Dad and I were relieved that it fit into the car.

Back at home, we swapped the 5 cm thick foamy for the 10 cm one. The next day, it was decided that the 5 cm thick foamy would also go on.

Since then, she's slept just fine (except when Dad is snoring). I haven't tried inserting a pea under all of those layers yet.