Coming home

Today is our last day in Japan. Last night we went out for a lavish meal at an upscale restaurant to celebrate our month here and to say goodbye to Japan. I can't describe the food because of the variety and creativity of tastes and presentation, so I'll just let you imagine a perfect Japanese meal. I've compiled two short lists of things that I'll remember from here, notice that the second one is a lot shorter than the first.

The things I love about Japan and Tokyo:
1. Trains are always on time... exactly on time

2. Ice cubes are square, actually if you want perfection you can find it here

3. Breathtaking landscapes

4. Finding a restaurant is not a problem (reading the menu is a different story)

5. Japanese women wear the nicest shoes (in big cities)

6. Beer in vending machines on the street

The things that I won't miss about Japan:

1. The noise and all the people (especially in Tokyo)

2. The humidity (although it's great for the gardens)

3. Rainy days in big cities

3. Smoking in restaurants

See you in Canada!

The ocean must be empty now

It's been raining for days. Last night the sky opened up and there was torrential rain and booming thunder all night long. Because of this, I haven't been spending much time outdoors or taking many pictures of the sights around Tokyo so there isn't much to see in the Tokyo album yet, but I'll be updating it.

Anyway, this morning we got up early and tramped accross town to witness the biggest fish market in the world, the Tsukiji market. We dodged trucks, forklifts and mad carts to get into the market then we were dodging fishguts and sea water. If only I'd followed local fashion and bought a pair of stylish rubber boots, I'd have been happier.

I never knew that so many fish could be pulled out of the sea in one night, it was really something. There were stalls upon stalls of freshly caught fish, mollusk, and crustacean all waiting to be bought by local restaurants and stores. There was even a tuna auction where a whole tuna can go for ￥1,ooo,ooo ($10,000)! I saw a man cutting up a tuna with a knife that was at least 4 feet long and another that was chopping frozen fish with a circular saw. There were so many different sizes of shrimp, from krill to almost the size of a lobster. I'm amazed that the ocean still contains any fish with our appetite for seafood. I actually hesitated before ordering fish today, but it's nearly impossible to order a seafood-free meal in Tokyo.

Later we went to see the exhibits at the NTT Intercommunications Center. It was an interesting blend of technology and art, some of which was interractive. For example, there was a room where a 3-D projection was controlled by a joystick and you could zoom in and out of the projection as well as navigate through it. There was an "inorganic" creature that resembles and acts like a living thing but survives on the energy generated by urban environments (it was a robot that resembled a huge insect/plant and had lifelike movements, and an interesting fictional description). There was also a room with a visual gravity-field display representing the people in the room and showing the gravitational field around each one. Anyway, it was cool. The next couple of days should be pretty laid back since we're gearing down to go home. I'll have more time so I'll post again tomorrow.

Kimono exhibit

Today I visited the Suntory Museum of Art because of their Kosode exhibit. These are kimono worn by upper class Japanese in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries as fashion and art. Kosode masters produced books with pages of black and white designs from which women would choose new ones to be made. The amount of work was incredible, for instance many were made of patterned silk (where a complicated pattern was woven into the silk first) then they were resin dyed (where resin is painted where you want the silk to stay white then removed after dying), hand painted and embroidered. Apparently women had different ones for each season and occation with appropriate themes. This was another highlight of the trip for me since some of the pieces were really spectacular. I've attached some pictures that I got off the web, so they're not the actual ones that I saw, but they're very representative and you get the idea.

Tokyo!

On the final leg of our travels, we're now in Tokyo and it's living up to its reputation as a big, busy, stimulating urban jungle. Last night I saw the entire city from above and it was like an ocean of lights that stretched into the distance in all directions. Honestly, I think that it'll take me a couple of days to adjust to the crowds, noise, lights and excitement.

Now for the exciting news! We found the place where they sell the fake food - Kitchenware-town in Asakusa district here in Tokyo. I spent the morning wandering around the restaurant supply stores and shops that carry all the fake food you could ever want from whole fish to mixed drinks. I was really impressed by how well-made the food is, which is probably why one item costs upwards of 5000￥($50). After spending some time perusing all that food we were hungry and went for lunch.

Other highlights have included a visit to Senso-ji (a very big and active Buddhist temple), a Kabuki performance last night (none of which I understood), and a visit to Electric-town where they sell all things electronic. I'm a little tired from all the hustle and bustle so I'll get a good nights sleep and post more later.

Impressions

The last couple of days were pretty hectic as we covered a large part of Shikoku in two days. Both days were somewhat dissapointing since the things we'd planned to do didn't turn out but were interesting none-the-less because we still had some adventures. The whale-watching trip turned into a whale-waiting trip, but we landed in a fetching little village and met a really nice Japanese couple who rented us their entire house for very little money. The hike in the Iya valley turned into a frantic hitch-hiking adventure, but we slept at a rustic guest house tucked away in the mountains and overlooking the rapids of the gorgeous Yoshino-gawa (river) in the Oboke gorge. The guy who lives there uses the river water, has a goat... and a cell phone.

I'd like to tell you about some of the stuff which has become comonplace for me here, but which you might find interesting. For instance, I'm in an internet cafe right now but they call it a media cafe. There are probably 200 computers in here in various rooms with different music piped into each one. They also have books, blankets, showers, tanning beds, meals and beer... oh and you can buy a 10 hour pass if you want.

Toilets are very odd. They have so many buttons, many of which turn on automatically, that you can't find the handle to flush. The seat is heated, the toilet blows air and can spray water in four different ways, there's even a musical note which plays the sound of water running.

People on public transit are pretty funny. In every case, every bus, plane, train or boat that I've been on, everybody is sleeping... Everybody! One time I swear the bus driver was sleeping too. They don't curl up and lay down either, they all sit with their heads forward bobbing along and almost falling over, it's crazy. The worst part is that I've started falling asleep too!

There's this ridiculous music that's played on public transportation, in stores and at cross walks, It's kinda like the music on kids shows or jingles for chewing gum, which is probably to wake people up (Pawel loves it!).

My favourite is the fake food. In the front of restaurants there's sometimes a display window with dishes of the food that they make inside but it's all fake AND it looks delicious. I still can't figure out who makes this food, if there's a fake-food-factory somewhere in the country side where they pump out tons of rubber food items to be made into complete dishes or if the dishes were once real and have a thick layer of shellac to seal in their yummy appearance.

There's also vending machines everywhere, usually for drinks, and even the bottles on display here are fake!

Hiking no more

We are in the city of Matsuyama in northern Shikoku taking a few days off from travelling. It looks like our hiking days in Japan are over because Pawel slipped on a steep trail a few days ago and is injured. It's only a pull or tear in his quad muscle but he won't be climbing any mountains for awhile. Our hiking trip has now become a backpacking trip, which is fine with me because I've seen many beautiful natural sights in Japan and now I'd like to spend some time experiencing more of the cultural side. That said, we spent today visiting a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple in Dogo. As you can see from the pictures the Buddhist temple was very ecclectic and is considered to be one of the most unusual ones in Shikoku. There was a secret passage behind one of the main buildings that led to a tunnel through the hillside. It was filled with stone and gold Buddhas and ended in an eerie garden. At the end of the garden was a big gold dome (that looked like a UFO) which was filled with all these crazy looking wooden Buddhas. The whole experience was surreal. After walking back down the hill we had some beer then took a dip in the royal family's onsen. Tomorrow we will take the train down the southern cape of the island and take a whale-watching tour, then head back toward the center of the island to the Iya valley.

Here are some highlights from the last few days. We took a sand-bath in Ibusuki, where we put on a yukata (cotton robe) then lay on the hot sands with a view of the ocean while an attendant burried each of us with more sand. This was actually really nice but the sand was something like 50 degrees C so I lasted less than 15 minutes. It was really cool to see all these heads sticking out of the sand in neat rows along the beach. Afterward there was a lovely onsen and a cyprus sauna with the Olympis playing on TV. The steam in the sauna was extremely hot, but it smelled amazing.

We spent a couple of days on the island of Yakushima, where we hiked in the most incredible forest I have ever seen. The rainfall there is between 4 and 10 meters per year so conditions are perfect for the trees to grow to be thousands of years old (called Yaku-sugi). The entire forest is a tangle of vines and trees growing on other huge trees, all is covered with moss and the rivers are strewn with boulders and rocks. Trees are growing on the stumps of giant cedars that were cut down 400 years ago. We saw 7 or 8 trees that were over 2000 years old, around 30 m high and 9-10 m in diameter. We even saw wild deer on the trail and monkeys by the side of the road. The whole place was unreal, I felt like I was on the set of Lord of the Rings.

I've included a bunch more pictures for your viewing pleasure, let me know what you think. Talk to you soon!

Kyushu

This is the first chance that I've had to post an update because we've been travelling quite a bit and many small towns don't have internet available. This is what I've been up to. On the 11th we undertook our first backpacking trip into the mountains in central Kyushu, starting with a series buses which got progressively smaller until we were in a large van destined for a small village in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was breathtaking with huge stands of poker straight cedars covering the hill sides and ledges of rice fields leading down into valleys covered with small settlements and farms. We optomistically started our hike in the afternoon and after hitching a ride part of the way up, we started "hiking" for real. I say "hiking" because this treck can only be called "climbing" since it was so steep. In many places here there are mountain huts set up for hikers and we spent our first night in an amazing log cabin complete with solar panels, windmills, a composting toilet, blankets and running water! It was nicer than most cottages back home. The next two days were arduous to say it gently, as we climbed three peaks with our huge packs, and we emerged from the forest exhausted and soggy. Fortunately we didn't offend the mountain gods too much because we managed to hitch a ride the 20km or so down to the nearest town (in the back of a pickup truck). The views on the way down were amazing, but because it was raining I don't have any pictures.

On the 13th we took a train into the Aso caldera to stay in a small town at the foot of mount Aso. The caldera is a huge crater (24km across!) inside which are four or five more volcanoes around which complete towns and farms were established and the bottom of the crater is a patchwork of fields. As a reward for our bravery and perseverence, we spent all of yesterday soaking in onsen in Kurokawa, which is a village of 20 or so luxury ryoken (Japanese style hotels with outdoor onsen). Onsen are spas where the hot mineral water coming out of the ground from all the volcanic activity is harnessed to create luxury baths. You first sit on a little stool naked and soap up until you're squeaky clean then rinse off completely and slide into the super hot water to soak. Some baths were reddish from the iron, others were milky white, but all were outside in an idylic setting of rocks and trees and fountains... heaven!

I should be able to post some more in the next couple of days because we're going to a small town that has an internet cafe where I might be able to download some pictures. I want to write about some of the cool Japanese things we've seen, like the fake food, the vending machines ect... so keep checking. See ya later!

Getting out of Dodge

So getting back to the mainland is not as easy as we first thought. The reason is that the ferry company that operates out of Ishigaki (to Okinawa) went belly up in June and you can't leave by boat anymore, only by plane. The way we figured this out was pretty funny since no one we talked to spoke much English. First we took a taxi to the main port where they told us that there was no boat to Kyushu (mainland), but we knew this and took a second taxi to the smaller port where the long distance ferries are supposed to leave from. When we got there we were in for a shock because the whole place was deserted and run down and boarded up. There was one old cleaning lady who looked at us like we were crazy. I can only imagine what the cabby was thinking when he dropped us off! So we eventually caught another taxi to the airport where they told us that flights to Okinawa (which is still a small island in this chain but from which we could catch a long distance ferry) ￥29 000 each ($290)! So we caught a flight to Okinawa. Once there we got a room for the night (where I wrote my last post from) and went looking for the ferry in the morning. Three taxis and a lot of patience later we found out that ferries only leave a 7 am each day and take 25hrs, and you have to get there early because there's usually a huge line for tickets when the office opens at 6 am. After some discussion we decided to get another room for the night and hang around here until we could catch a flight (which　I'll be boarding in 10 min) to the mainland. In the meantime I got to make my own crafts at the Naha Municipal Arts and Craft Museum (which was really cool) and the pottery museum. We also wandered around Ichiba market where locals buy tea, fish, seaweed and sweets. Ok, gotta go!

Konnichiwa

Hello from Japan! I'm in Okinawa waiting for the ferry to Kyushu (which should take anywhere from 16 to 36 hours according to Pawel). After flying for 15 hours we arrived in Tokyo, slept briefly, then hopped a 3 hour flight to Ishigaki in the Yaeyama islands, then took a short ferry to Iriomote-jima, a tiny island in the East China Sea which is very close to Taiwan. My first impressions of Japan are that it's the most civilized and clean place (showers everywhere), everything is really small (like everything), and the people here are really nice (even strangers on the street will go out of their way to help you). It's really hot here and the humidity is probably 100%, but the food is really good (although I just point to something on the menu and take what I get).

The last 5 days were spent on Iriomote-jima. We pitched our tent at a campground next to an incredible little beach where each grain of sand is shaped like a star (Hoshizuna). I watched the sunrise and set everyday on this beach which was littered with washed up coral and dotted with volcanic rocks. Other highlights included touring around the island on a rented 100cc scooter, hiking through the jungle and walking through the stream of the waterfall, visiting my first onsen, and snorkeling at the coral reefs of the north coast of the island. The coral reefs were amazing, it was like National Geographic (the picture is from the Ministry of Environment website, since I forgot buy an underwater camera). We took a boat tour and stoped at 3 different places. I must have seen over 50 different kinds of fish, not to mention all the brilliant colours and interesting shapes of coral. I even saw a few families of clown fish in their anemone homes. That was yesterday, it was an amazing day and I only got a mild sunburn. Last night we slept in a nice tatami room hotel (which is a room with mats on the floor for sleeping) which had a nice balcony for hanging up laundry, and free internet. Today we'll find out what the ferry schedule is like and when we can leave for the "mainland" of Japan.

More pictures as promised

I'm back in Canada for the next three days, so I thought that I'd update the site with the rest of my pictures from Poland. I'm sure that you're curious to see pictures from Babcia's house and the cabin in the woods that I visited on my last weekend in Poland. Unfortunately I was wrestling with a nasty head cold all weekend, so I wasn't snapping pictures with my usual gusto. I did get some good shots of Czocha (a medieval castle 130 km outside of Wrocław) and of the cabin in the woods of Zapusta. I'm starting to feel better now that I get to sleep in my own bed (yay!) and I hope to be completely recovered by Saturday when we leave for Japan. If I don't get to see or talk to you before I leave again, I appologize, but I hope to post at least once a week from Japan. The itinerary is that we'll be flying to the south-most point of the country then taking a ferry to the small jungle island of Iriomote then make our way progressively northward over the next 30 days or so. Our main shelter will be our tent and I'll be clutching my Japanese phrase book most of the time. Wish me luck!

I'm back...briefly

Ok I'm finally able to update you on my travels. I should first tell you that I'm writing this on a friends computer in a forest near the German border (Zapusta, near 30km from
Gorlitz). I'm using a super slow internet connection with the help of an antenna placed on the top of our picnic table roof (pictures to follow, because I can't connect my camera right now). We have wooden cabins complete with power and flush toilets, but it's still a little rustic.

Anyway, I can update you on the last couple of days. I actually stayed in Kraków for an extra night and on Thursday I spent the day driving through the countryside in search of former synagogues for an art project. Alicia, the art major, had rented a car for this purpose and procured a guide (Zigi) at the bar the night before, we were also joined by Jason (who slept almost the whole time). It was a really nice day and gave us a perfect oportunity to see some out of the way towns and villages in the farmland north of Kraków. Some highlights included the lady in the ditch cutting grass with a scyth, the children riding in the wagon of hay and the many interesting forms of architechture. We also drove though Nowa Huta, with it's many smokestacks and bluff faced architechture. After a day of driving Zigi suggested that we go to a quary just outside of town for a quick dip. The hike down into the quarry was trecherous (especially since I had to do it barefoot) but was totally worth it when we jumped into the freezing and strangely saphire coloured water, I wish I remembered what this place was called because it was really amazing.

On Friday, I travelled by train to Wrocław to Babcia's house. It was an uneventful trip, but I alway love riding the train through the countryside. It's amazing to see the lush farmland next to abandoned factories and villages which could use some sprucing up. Once I arrived at Babcia's I was given the grand tour of the garden and was soon holding a branch of cherries (still warm from the sun), apples, strawberries, raspberries and red currants from around the property. She was very concerned that I should eat and although I kept her at bay for maybe an hour, I eventually had to give in. She made me a wonderful feast of kielbasa, bread, homeade pickels, soup and (of course) 3 shots of vodka (Gorzka Żołądkowa). Needless to say, I was a little sleepy afterward and fell asleep around 9pm. The next morning breakfast was another spread of the same things that I had for dinner, but with only 2 shots of vodka.

Krzysiek and Gosia picked me up shortly thereafter and we drove out here for a rest. I'll have to post more later because the battery is dying. See you tomorrow in Canada!!

Farewell

This will be my final post from Kraków because I'm packing up and leaving for Wrocław tomorrow. I'm actually kinda happy to be leaving because I haven't had a green salad or a decent night's sleep since I got here. I haven't been writing much because I reached a saturation point last week and since then it's been a struggle to speak in full sentences, let alone write in them. It's been raining and cold almost everyday so I've got cabin fever and I'm pretty homesick. Tonight I'll go to the farewell ceremony and party then maybe I'll go out dancing. I have to say that the "intensive program" is a little too intense for me. I'm including some pictures of everyday stuff around here and of my trip to Częstochowa last weekend (which I didn't have time to write about). I'll try to find an internet cafe in the next couple of days and update you on my recuperation. See you then.

School

Language class is like being in elementary school again, except you don't know what the teacher is saying to you. We're learning how to count, tell time, describe stuff and talk about ourselves. It's strange because everyone is at a different level, some can speak and understand but not read or write and others can write but not read etc... Our teachers are nice, they have infinite patience and try very hard to teach our unruly class to communicate in Polish. We walk about 5 min each day to get to class in a liceum nearby (I'm not sure if liceum is elementary or highschool, maybe you can tell me). We have these cute classrooms and a little canteen with a nice lady that sells us coffee. We are in class from 8:30 am until 1:30 pm with a couple of breaks, but honestly it's killer. By the third period we're pretty beat.

Today I wrote the final test and did my oral presentation to the class. I feel that I could have done better, but I also feel that I've tried really hard over the last three weeks and I can accept that I'm not going to be fluent overnight. I'm sad to leave but also happy to be finished.

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Ognisko

One truly Polish tradition is the Ognisko (or bonfire), where people roast sausage and sing songs. Since Tuesday nights are "cultural" nights we all hopped on a bus and headed to The Wolski Wood (Lasek Wolski) which a big park (>450 ha) in the west of the city for a bonfire. The woods were really nice and secluded and it had a really nicely organized firepit with lots of comfy benches to sit on. The organizers came prepared with rubbermaid containers of sausage, potatoes and corn on the cob as well as pre-made roasting sticks and a projector to show the song lyrics. We were taught a couple of songs and some dances and games then headed back to town on the bus. It's always hilarious when we try to go somewhere on the public transit because our groups are always huge (I don't even know how many people, but I would say 50-100) and we take over the tram or the bus. The locals must just love us!

Food

We have three meals a day here: śnadanie (breakfast from 7-9am), obiad (dinner from 2-3pm) i kolacja (supper from 6-8pm). Unlike back home, lunch doesn't exist and dinner is the main meal of the day (and my favourite) and we always have a meat and a veggi option, but the later is usually full of cheese. So I guess I'll start at the beginning. Śnadanie is a buffet of ham, bread, various cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs, yogurt and of course juice, tea and coffee. If you really want there is a pot of boiled wieners and cereals of various kinds. Needless to say, breakfast is not my favourite meal, the idea of eating meat for breakfast everyday is foreign to me, but I've started doing it since there is such a long time between the first and second meals, as you'll soon see I'm eating a lot of meat. Obiad is usually a full dinner starting with a delicious soup, then a tasty kutlet or chicken leg, potatoes, carrots and kompot to drink. The dessert is always cream based so I skip it and opt for a cup of tea. Kolacja starts with sałatka (salad, which sometimes has lettuce in it) and is almost always followed by pierogi of some kind, but I'm happy to report that the potato ones (ruskie) are not my favourite any more. This meal is always smaller, if not lighter, and I sometimes skip it all together since it's mostly potatoes. When it's not pierogi, they serve potato pancakes with sauce, zepiekanki (which I can't translate) or gulasz, then a piece of fruit (which is never ripe and I save in my room for breakfast a few days later). Overall I'm surviving pretty well, but I fear that my pants won't fit when I get home.

Meltdown!

The inevitable mini-meltdown happened in class today, due to a combination of lack of sleep, a persistent headache, a random charley horse that appeared in the night and the sheer volume of information which I've tried to absorb in the last 10 days of class. In addition (since I'm on the subject) the laundrymat, which is not self-serve and costs a fortune, accidentally shrunk a load of my clothes, it's been raining and cold for days, and the lack of veggies is starting to take it's toll.

The crisis is about to pass because I skipped my afternoon classes today to sleep, I found a drugstore and bought some Advil, the cafeteria has started serving more corn and peas (I'll take it) and the weekend is coming. I have some posts lined up about the Polish bonfire on Tuesday night, food here, my classes and everyday stuff, which I really want to show you so I'm just going to stay in my room, drink some wine and play with that tonight.

p.s. I excitedly check everyday to see who is reading my blog, but there's rarely any comments. Send me an email if you can't sign up to comment, I miss you!

Around Kraków

Yesterday I had the day to myself so I decided to spend it sightseeing in the old city. On Sundays most stores are closed except in the Jewish part called Kazimierz and in the really touristy parts of the old city square. So I headed out to the Sunday market in Plać Nowy of Kazimierz, which is like a flea market held in the old butchers square. It was cool to hunt for treasures among the piles of new and old stuff. I bought an old wallet for 40 zł then realized when I got home that it had some old German stamps in it. I wonder if they're worth anything?

I had a really nice lunch in a quiet out-of-the-way patio then headed to the center of town to tour some churches and possibly a museum. I didn't really have a firm plan so I just headed out in the direction of the old University. Along the way I came upon a shop with shelves of glass containers each with a different type of Polish liqueur. Naturally I stopped to try some since it kind of reminded me of Paweł's uncle's basement, which is full of glass jars with liqueur made from all kinds of fruit from his garden. After sampling a few different ones (blueberry, cherry, lilac berry and currant) I drowsily headed back out into the street.

It was really hot yesterday and I was starting to get tired so I decided to go to the Church of the Holy cross, which I read is a 15th century Gothic church with a central pilar that holds up the entire structure. When I got there, though, only the foyer was open, but it was so cool and quiet inside that I decided to sit for awhile on the inside steps. A man, who I assume is the priest there, arrived let me in to the main church for a couple of minutes. The arches of the ceiling were amazing with the center column fanning out like a palm tree to support the side chambers. The inside of the church had been gutted by fires throughout the years, so only the architecture is Gothic but it's filled with ornate gold and marble articles which seem out of place. Even thought this church is in the middle of a bustling area of the old city, inside it was totally calm. It was a bit of a shock to step out into the steamy, bustling street again.

I continued my adventures for the rest of the afternoon, but I never made it to the museum since it closes too early. I did visit the Florian gate, Jagiellonian University courtyard, Rynek and lots of art shops. I just had time to get back to the residence and have dinner before falling into bed, unfortunately I forgot that I had the "midterm" today in my language class so I got up a little early to study and now I can't think straight. I can't wait to go to sleep!

p.s. From now on you can click on the title of the post to see the rest of my pictures or follow the link in the sidebar.

Night out

I just got home from dancing my ass off in town. We finally get a day off tomorrow, so in celebration the whole group went out dancing. Many of the bars in Kraków are underground in these cave-like dens made of stone and brick. It's pretty standard to have many different rooms that lead off each other in random directions with lots of little cubby holes to hide in and two to three bars. You can walk around for 5 minutes before you find the pulsing dance floor way in the back. They really like techno, trance and a bunch more that I can't name, but at one place I actually heard a dance remake of "Greased lightning". Some friends and I walked from bar to bar in the center of town but the best one was a trance bar called RDZA. It had a really good dj in this vaulted room made of huge stones. There were so many people dancing, it was cool. I added some pictures from their web site, since my camera dosen't work well in dim light. Ok, I'm going to bed now, since I want to get up for the market in the Jewish quarter Kazimierz.

Update

I wish I had something more interesting to tell you than "I'm really busy", but that's about it right now. The language class is improving but the food and the lectures have been declining in quality lately. I wanted to take pictures of the food to show you how well we've been eating, but for the last two days there hasn't been anything to write home about (he he). Hopefully by next week the kitchen staff will be rested and I'll have something to post. The language teachers are really nice (and gorgeous) and super perky so I'd like to post some pics and stories soon. What else would you like to know about? Well I'm going for a pint then it's off to bed. By the way, I just discovered that the beer here has something like 7% alcohol, which is probably why two pints knocks me on butt.
Post comments so that I know you're out there, miss you!

A truly Polish experience

As it turns out, we need to acquire the reading materials for our classes. Many of these are located in the main (głowny) bookstore which is 5 tram stops away. Our teachers have made strong suggestions that we acquire the books by tomorrow, so today after five hours of class, I asked the teacher if I should skip lunch and go down to the main square and get the books (actually only one is required), and her answer was yes. Against her advice I had a quick dinner then bravely searched for the store in question, with about 1 hour of time until my next class. Well... I navigated successfully to my desired tram stop, located the store, then tried to locate the section where the language books are kept. Once there I realized that my book was not available, a suspicion which was quickly confirmed by the (brisk) cashier. Having only 2o minutes left to get to my "History of Poland" lecture, I raced back toward the west of town, sans book. Unfortunately for me the directions given for how to get to the lecture hall are less than ideal (see picture). But seeing as I had been there once I decided to give it a try. I wandered around becoming more and more distressed until I finally arrived 10 minutes late. Our professor had made it clear that latecomers would be subjected to ridicule, but as I hesitated outside the auditorium room I realized that I would be more upset by missing the lecture than by suffering his comments on my late arrival. But all was well and I learned about the Jagiellonian dynasty and its impact on the political and economic history of Poland. The second lecture was also good since it was about Marxist theory and the implementation of socialism in Poland after WWII. I'm sure my teacher will ask me tomorrow where my book is, to which I'll reply "nie ma" (there's none).

My first day of school

Today I had over five hours of Polish language lessons (in Polish), three hours of lectures on Polish history and politics and two hours of conversation, so I apologize if my spelling is atrocious. So last week after arriving here we immediately took a placement test to help the teachers decide which level of Polish we should be studying. It was a one hour written test followed by an oral interview. Needless to say, after being awake forever and the jetlag and everything, I bombed the test. So today I was assigned to the A1.1 class, which is the most basic level. We learned how to count to five and to pronounce the alphabet, but I'm happy to report that now I'm in the A1.2 class. Maybe tomorrow I'll graduate to A2 but I doubt it since I can't understand anything anyone says to me. We have this really nice teacher that writes everything on the board which is a big help though. I'm going to fall into bed now and start over tomorrow. P.S. We had strawberry pierogi for dinner, yum.

Chilly Zakopane

In order break the ice and get everyone settled in before classes start on Monday, we have the option to attend some touristy excursions. Today I went to the mountain village of Zakopane at the foot of the Tatra mountains. Unfortunately it rained all day so things were a little chilly and soggy.

Our first, and my favourite, stop was at the Willa Koliba museum of Zakopane style designed by the famous artist and writer Stanisław Witkiewicz at the turn of the 20th century. To tell you the truth, I did not catch all the details since there was no guide and all the signs were in Polish. I was able to glean some information from the handout given to us by our program leader and from the internet, though so here are the interesting bits. The house was basically an experimental design that Witkiewicz was trying out in an attempt to develop a unique Polish style of architecture (see more at www.culture.pl). It was originally built as the summer home of Zygmunt Gnatowski, who collected Tatra folklore and artifacts, but is now a museum containing treasures of Góral (or Highlanders) culture. All the furniture was carved with ornate Tatra motifs and many examples of ornate lacework and embroidery from early in the 20th century. It was really something. Also displayed are pastel sketches by the architect's son Stanisław Jr. (a.k.a. Witkacy) which were done in the late 1920's. Featured prominently is a woman named Neny Stachurski (pictured here) who I can only assume was an intimate friend of the artist.

Next we visited the old cemetery, which had some of the more artistic tombstones I've seen. Many of the headstones were hacked out of bigger rocks which were already weathered, a light layer of moss and an elaborate garden planted in or around it added an interesting effect.

In order to escape the rain we rode up Gubałówka hill by funicular, which is essentially a railcar with a rope underneath to pull it up the hill. At the top we had a much needed break and sat inside one of the large wooden halls at huge tables made of logs and drank beer. Some meandering through the touristy streets and some light shopping and it was time to go home. I'm pooped.

Ok, more info

Now that my belly is full I can give you more info about what I'm up to in the heart of Poland. I'm starting a three-week intensive polish language and culture course (http://www.uj.edu.pl/SL/en/) at the Jagiellonian University (www.uj.edu.pl). I'm staying at the PIAST student house, which is student residence in the west of town. My room is really cozy, I share a bathroom with only one other person, I have internet and a phone in my room and the cafeteria is more like a banquet hall, with waitstaff and polish ladies that henpeck them. The meal situation is very communist-esk with food stamps for every meal. My timetable is essentially language classes in the morning and optional cultural classes in the afternoon with movies (subtitled) in the evening. Since classes only start on Monday I'll be sightseeing this weekend with the group: on Saturday we're going to the Zakopane mountains and Sunday we'll be taking a guided tour of Krakow and Wawel castle. I'll keep you POSTed...

Safe and hungry... I mean sound.

After a delay of more than six hours my flight left Toronto (finally!) at 12:30 am (EST). I think I waited all day to leave without really doing much else. So much anticipation and very little sleep later I arrived at Warsaw Intl. Airport at 3:15 pm local time (+6 hours from EST). One quick jaunt across the terminal, which was not direct by any means since I had to force every poor person wearing a badge or holding a walkie-talkie to speak English to me, and I was on a flight to Krakow. My luggage however had other ideas and is spending some time chillin' in Warsaw. One airplane, one bus and one train later and I was chatting happily with my new Brazillian friend Jose-Louis in the old town square in the center of Krakow. Thanks to the maps that Pawel printed for me I had no trouble navigating accross town to my student residence, however I arrived just after the caffeteria closed... so no dinner for me. I was so happy to arrive during daylight that I didn't stop for food. Well I'm rested and happy and the caf opens in 30mins for breakfast so I'll talk to you later!