I'm going to clean the whole flat today! If anyone has some music they think I would like then you should recommend it to me. I was planning on taking a walk around the city to excercise my body and my creativity, but to no surprise it's cold, dark, and raining. So, now it's "dance around with a mop and broom" time.
I found this and I thought that it was funny. I don't think this guy likes to read. Do you?
Oh! BTW, the movie for this week was equally as unrelatable as last weeks. I also went to the counter culture exhibit, but it is in Polish. My friend Maria's friends are coming into town this weekend and we are going to the Panorama. It's a gigantic mural. Maybe I can put together a history presentation from that.
Yay! I have 4 followers! I would like to take this time to thank you all for electing me team leader. I will do my best to take you to the most extreme limits of blogging. I promise to be a gentler, more rational, and more audacious writer than other bloggers that have come before me. You will not regret this.
Today was the Polish independence day. Mom, I saw your question, "What do they do to celebrate?" The answer is: not much. They had a parade this morning, but it was very small. Some people hung flags, and there were people passing out balloons in the town square. Apparently, the Polish people aren't used to celebrating their nationalism like the United States does. I would imagine that if the United States had been erased from the map three times we might find it hard to feel as much pride and devotion to the symbols that represent our "freedom". Everyone got the day off, and that was nice.
I skipped the parade, and made breakfast for my flatmates. I have been gone the last three weekends so it was nice to spend quality time together. Then we met some of the other international students and a few Polish students in the main square for a scavenger hunt. We had to walk around and see who could find the most dwarfs. We won with 38. Our first place prize was a bottle of vodka. I'm pretty sure that none of us really cared about the vodka. We just wanted to feel like winners. It wasn't very nice weather, but it was nice to walk around the city.
Lately, I've been staying around the dorm to save money. It's so boring. Luckily, I met a nice Turkish girl who studied here last year. Over the summer she lived in Boone and just returned to finish her University career. She knows heaps about the city, and I'm looking forward to her taking me out of the monotonous life that I've grown to hate here. I'm also trying to get a job. I can't express to you how much time I have free here. I have no classes until next Tuesday. I know that I wanted to grow as a person, and I promise that I am. I just think that if I spend too much time thinking about things I'm bound to over think them and thus drive myself crazy.
Today also marks the end of my second month. It's easy. No, not really. I think that I've adjusted, and some ways I have, but I can never fully adjust because it's all so temporary. Plus, the multiple levels of cultural adjustment are mind boggling. I couldn't even fathom moving all over the world, or giving up everything to move somewhere and help other people. This is kind of personal, but I think it's very interesting. You see, I've always thought myself to be an unselfish person, but now I think it's not true. I find myself longing for my things. These objects which I acquire at an alarming rate. Also, I feel as if my friends and family also belong to me. You all feel like possessions that I want to protect. I never thought about it this way before, but you all define me. Here, what am I without you? What am I without my things? I'm still me, but a disjointed self. I can't really speak about you to my friends here because there is no tangible connection. I can see they become bored and can't relate. Yet, my friends here and I are so close because this transition is so difficult. The honesty that our behavior exudes is incredible. There is so much wonder for what this world holds for us. Together we embrace it to whatever extent we can afford.
I can remember waiting to come here. Looking out of my apartment window, I would wonder what it would be like to look out of my dorm window for the first time in Poland. When I got here the first thing I did was look out the dorm window, and I remember thinking nothing. Just staring in disbelief. As if I was looking at the world through new eyes. Now, I find myself standing on my balcony wondering the same things about the U.S. What will it be like when I come home? It's strange, but I want to be the same person for you, and yet I fear that I might be a stranger. I won't think about it anymore. Happy independence Poland, and I love you America!
I just want you to see the madness that is my life. I came home to this last night and just bursted out laughing. How does this happen?I feel like our kitchen is possessed. Seriously, why are all the drawers open?
Before I went to sleep I cleaned the kitchen and washed the dishes. The next morning I awake to this.
Control is an illusion.
It's cool because check this out. That is my dorm made cappuccino. I'm like a MacGyver in the kitchen. I'm bringing this back with me Ameryki! I will share the pleasure of my ingenuity with you.
There are just so many plans to make. Currently, I am working on a new trip. I think we have it all worked out, and the next step is to book it. Two other American girls, myself, and my right hand man Nils are going on a 6 day vacation during our 5 month vacation. The plan is to drive to Berlin. From Berlin we will catch a flight to Paris and spend a two or three days there. Then we will take a train over-night to Barcelona and perhaps Madrid. Then we'll spend a couple of days in Spain before we catch a flight back to Berlin. Then we'll drive back home. Since there have been so many trips back to back, I need to regroup. This trip won't be until the beginning of December. Then I need a plan for Christmas. I've still got time for that. I'm so super excited about this one because trains are the coolest. I'll probably be singing a different tune when I'm trying to sleep on one, but for now I'm going to marinate in my own happiness. Weee! I'm spending so much money in Europe. I've thought about it and this is the vacation of my life. Seriously, when will I ever get to live for 5 months in another country, travel, not stress, and not work. It's amazing.
Click and spin this: http://fromparis.com/modules/quicktime_fullscreen_display.php?style=qtfullscreen&pano=000091_02
The other plan, I was talking to one of the American girls and she was telling me that in ECU they are currently playing a campus wide game of Zombie tag. I would also like to play a gigantic game of zombie tag. Apparently, they wear something to show if they are a zombie or not, and someone has an online list of whose a zombie and who isn't. So, put your brains together and organize this for me because it sounds fantastic.
Think like one: http://io9.com/5286145/a-harvard-psychiatrist-explains-zombie-neurobiology
Hold on a second. Someone call the gazetta. We've had a break through. I was waiting in the cold dreary Polish rain for my tram. When it came, it just passed me by. THANKS POLAND! So, I had to wait for the next one which would be somewhere around 12 minutes later, and would make me late for class. This older woman in her 60s walks under the tram stop with me. She started talking to me in Polish and she was being so nice I just didn't tell her that I spoke English. I just smiled and nodded. I think she was complaining about the rain, her hair, and her broken umbrella. Regardless, she just kept talking, and I kept smiling and nodding. I gave her the time and she smiled at me. Did you read that? SHE SMILED AT ME! Oh, the joy was over whelming. It was like realizing I'm in love. The tram was late, but she just kept making frustrated faces at me because of the tram's tardiness, and I kept smiling. Just as the tram arrived she asked me a question, and obviously I couldn't answer. I told her that I didn't speak Polish, and she laughed. That's right, LAUGHED! Then she continued to talk to me in Polish. She didn't care and neither did I. This event has not just made my day, but my month and next month too.
Listen up Poland! You think you can be mean and break my spirits, but you can't. I'm going to love you anyway. Do you hear me! Deep down inside you know it's true. You can be as cold as you want, but I got a light and it's going to shine, and you can't take that away from me!
Anyway, I'm so over dramatic. I did, however, have to walk quickly to class so I didn't dance and skip down the street. This Wednesday is so much better than last Wednesday.
Halloween adventure is completed. It was a rocky start, but we got through it with only a few tears. My tears that is. I'll explain it to you since my weekend was full of unnecessary explanations. You see, in a rented van with 9 people, we drove 2 hours to the border and got stopped by control. Now, even though I asked if I needed it before, to my chagrin I didn't have my passport. They told us that either I could go to jail and the rest could continue the trip or we would have to return to the dorm to retrieve the passport. I detained the entire group for 4 hours. I swear, before you all think I'm an idiot, I asked and they said my I.D. was fine. Also, in my own defense, I didn't need it in Berlin or Munich. Everyone was very nice about it, and they explain to me at least 20 times that it would only be a joke in the future. I learned my lesson.
I am a firm believer in the fact that Amsterdam is just one gigantic tourist trap. It goes something like this: get up, go to a coffee shop (if you catch my drift), walk around and laugh at the city, go back to a coffee shop, laugh some more at the city, take a boat tour, coffee shop, walk to the Red Light District and go to a bar. With this mentality the city just rakes in the money. People who are high on coffee and other such things will impulse buy like you've never seen. Sadly, the industry has grown too large for the cities own good. There are far to many ethnic groups inhabiting the city. If you saw the pictures on Facebook you might have seen that I named only the restaurants on our street. By the restaurants alone you can see the booming diversity.
Why? One might ask. Well because nobody works there and nobody cares. They just own hostels and let the tourists do the rest. Our hostel was 36 euro a night and it was filthy. It wasn't even masked to look nice. I am positive the caretakers were out on the veranda smoking pot and laughing at us behind our backs. They told us they were going to provide us with breakfast. Breakfast turned out to be toast and marmalade with coffee. I, for one, feel satisfied that my money was well spent (actually no, I don't). Aside from the hostel, the atmosphere of the city was pleasant. Everyone was so nice, and I think that we all needed that because there is such a tense atmosphere in Wroclaw. It felt like being home in the U.S. but everyone is a liberal. The good news is I myself bought a few senseless things. I couldn't help myself. I thought they were funny.
Next weekend is Krakow. I know I've told you all that a thousand times, but once more won't hurt. The Polish movie this week wasn't interesting enough to blog about. I'll go tomorrow to the counter culture exhibit that I said I would go to last week, but didn't. I can see that no one was interested in my college discussion so I'll try something else. I'm beginning to fear that no one is actually reading this, and that you all tell me you are to make me feel better. I won't second guess myself and continue to write as if you were completely enthralled.
One final note, with the time I've spent here I've been thinking about a lot of things. One of those things is how important you all are to me. I feel like I took you for granted and often didn't listen when you were talking, or I was just plain old mean spirited. I promise when I return to be a better listener, take careful consideration of any advise I seek from you, and to have an optimistic view more often. I think that you should all keep in mind how important those that you love are and take the time to tell them so. Moreover, as I said earlier, the people in Poland are not so friendly. I also took that aspect of my everyday life for granted as well. So, try to do nice things for strangers when you can, and smile more often. Even if others don't smile at you just do it anyway. I promise it will make at least our country a better place. I know this is cheesy, but I don't care. Usually when I put cheese on top of gross things it makes it better. Meanwhile, I'll be standing on my balcony singing this:
