These Boots are Made for.... Snow...

BOOT UPDATE: I almost waited too late!!! If I had held off until tomorrow, I would have been stuck with Old Lady Specials, because apparently my size is the most popular size in Poland! Whew!!! So glad I listened to my gut and went this morning!!!!!!

The weather is calling for snow, the first snow of the season, and actually right now my phone shows three days of snow next week, so it's time I bite the bullet and buy snow boots. I'm warned by colleagues and students alike that once the first flake arrives the stores will magically be empty of any but the ugliest samples, so I'm heading out at the crack on Saturday on a Shoe Quest.  (Should I go to Warsaw????)

Snow and snow boots are relatively new for me, and hoping to avoid an expensive regret I've been Googling the features of snow boots.

The first requirement is pretty obvious -- tread on the sole. The better to grip the snow (and perhaps ice) while walking. OK, check.

A friend at school also suggests a thicker sole will add insulation from the cold. Check.

Next, the boot should rise a few inches above your ankle -- you don't want the snow to get into your shoe while you're walking... defeats the purpose. Check.

Next the boot should be super warm... maybe with fur or quilting inside. Check.

Next the part of the boot around the foot should be rubber (or some waterproof material) to better repel moisture. I'm not sure I can get behind this one --  I'm envisioning black leather with some groovin bling -- not LLBean's Ducks... Buzzzzz!

OK, so thick treaded sole, quilting or fur inside, 3-4-5 inches above the ankle, and a groovy style that I can rock with any outfit.. I'll send photos.

Noooooooooooooo

Mercury is going retrograde!!!!! As if my communications haven't been difficult enooooooooogh!!!

At the Cinema

I went to the movies this weekend, which everyone in the world but us calls “the cinema”. I saw Bohemian Rhapsody.

First, Mr Robot did an excellent job of capturing Freddie, or at least stepping out of one bizarro persona into another.

Next, the visit to the theater was a stereotypical exercise in exactly-the-same-only-different. The multi-plex is located at the very fine mall near my apartment , however the only entrance into the theater is from inside the mall proper. And, the entrance is not marked to the hysterical level I would expect, so as I glanced at it initially I thought it was just a mall information desk...

Next, there is no “festival seating”, every seat is reserved. At the ticket desk a screen pops up in front of you showing available seats. I hit the screen three times before I understood it was not a touchscreen and I was supposed to communicate my choice to the sales person using my vocal cords!!! Heavens! But hey, what a bahgain — 6pm on Saturday and the movie is approximately $6!!!!

Then I took my ticket and went upstairs where I had to go through the bottleneck of a single person checking tickets.

Once inside I find the theater spotless, with huge wide comfy seats, and enough legroom in front that an American or a German could scooch by to his seat without my inspecting his taste in jeans.

The decibel level was not so prohibitively loud that I was cringing in my seat — although I was at a rock music show, and not an action show with car crashes and bombs exploding...

No one talked. No phones rang. There were no screens lighting up with texting. No babies cried. I was the only one singing along… Not really, but… yeah, ok, I was singing along.

So all-in-all, on the exactly-the-same-only-different scale, I’d have to give the Polish movie experience a higher score than the US.

One moment when I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore was during a scene where Freddie was kissing a paramour, and it wasn’t enough that the guy next to me covered his own eyes.... but his date actually reached over and covered his eyes with her hand as well... on second thought, maybe I am in Kansas.

Google Marks the Date

The Google banner on the 100th Anniversary of Polish Independence

Whoops!

It just hit me. I did it again!

I'm in this Alternate Universe of George, on this detour originally, because I didn't trust my own gut enough to know I was on the right path for me. I had doubts about my decisions, followed someone else's truth, and was inadvertently hurtled through space and time into The Universe of George.

And now it strikes me like lightening that EVEN WHILE IN the Universe of George I have remained hesitant to trust my own instincts and do the things I know are right for me... the things to get me back on my path.

In October, in a moment of pure emotion, I was prepared to leave Poland, pack my bags and head to the airport for a warm beach in Africa or Mexico. But I was swayed by the superficial allure of attention. God. Yet more disappointing to me than being lured by the mirage of interest, was that I would even ask the opinion of someone else about such a huge decision.

What is wrong with me? When will I ever learn to trust that I KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT FOR ME?

My brush with spontaneity

Sooo, funny story... well, not really, but here goes.

So I get a notice in my inbox:

Jupiter has made its entrance into Sagittarius, the sign it rules, urging us to expand our minds and get ready for spontaneity and excitement. This transit encourages you to take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, even if you aren’t normally the adventurous type.

And anyone who knows me knows that I am anything but spontaneous.... But, in trying to live in the Alternate Universe of George, I decide I'm going to be spontaneous and open to adventure.

So, I go to my usual Friday night place. And all the usual seats are taken, so I ask the owner, who sits at the "family table" (in German restaurant parlance) which is to the left of the door "can I sit here", and he says "yes". ...

And tonight -- wild and crazy -- instead of apple cake I order what turns out to be toast with apples, blue cheese, honey, walnuts and arugula. AND, since the usual beer on tap was not working (sacrilege!), I ordered the darkest beer they have, even though they warned me it was "rye"... I said "is it good?"... they said "yes"... I said "ok, I'll take it"...

And everything was working great! Spontaneity rocks!

And I'm enjoying watching Stephen and Trevor on my phone, so I order a second beer.

And in walks this guy....

Now this is not my usual type of guy. First, he has a hipster beard. Next, he's wearing a black leather jacket.

But he's about my age, and he does a double take at me, and he's wearing some really cool glasses... and then he sits down at the family table.... with me. And it's obvious that we non parliamo the same language, but we're chatting on Google translator.

And he's pretty cute... He's done some manscaping on his eyebrows... His hands are really clean and maintained... He eventually asks me if I want to take a walk...

And I pay my bill and he stands up...

And he falls down drunk in the restaurant.

Seriously. He almost broke a big container filled with wine corks. He was so effed up that he could not stand up.

So, I gathered my school books, shook his hand, waved to my waitress and the owner of the restaurant... and I RAN home.

Screw spontaneity.

National Independence Day 3

This seems to be a practice session, staged on Friday before the holiday... complete with cannon fire and WWI uniforms  

National Independence Day 2

Nationalism is sweeping the globe and Poland is no exception, and on National Independence Day we are expecting Nationalists to stage marches in Polish cities. A large march is expected in Warsaw.

So -- I hope I have these facts straight, but don't quote me on it, hearsay from my students -- the Mayor of Warsaw came out saying "We don't support this march, so I'm denying permission to stage this march." Whereupon the President of Poland said "I support this march, so the march can go on." Therefore, we're expecting a Poland-for-Poles Nationalist march to occur in Warsaw on Sunday, which is almost certain to become violent.

Simultaneously, the police across the nation are negotiating a new contract, and they are not happy with what is being offered. And, they are not allowed to strike. So they are staging a Sick Out.

In one small town I teach in, the police force is limping by with 10% of officers working. In Warsaw, only 40% of officers are working.

So, on Sunday, we are expecting angry skinheads in SWAT uniforms to march in Warsaw, with only the barest police coverage.

Watch CNN for the latest!

Hmmmm, so I guess I won’t be going to Warsaw for my new holiday…..

National Independence Day 1

We've just had a new holiday declared in Poland, and not everyone is happy about it.

Just to clarify, Nov 11 is National Independence Day in Poland and it's not a new holiday by any means. However, this year is the 100th anniversary which is a big deal.

But on this big deal anniversary, National Independence Day falls on Sunday. And in a tres Catholic country where Sunday seems to belong to the family and the church by Cardinal Law, perhaps there won't be enough time during Sunday to also commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Independence with the governmentally expected exuberance. So the President announced about 3 weeks ago that Monday Nov 12, 2018 will also be a national holiday (from work!). He worked hard to shove it through the legislature, but was only able to git'er signed into law on Wednesday afternoon.

In Poland, while business seems resigned to give Friday as a holiday from work if the actual holiday falls on Saturday, it has never before been the practice to give Monday as a holiday from work if the actual holiday falls on Sunday. And in this case, business only has 2 business days to prepare for this new holiday on Monday (a totally foreign concept).

So there is a lot of talk about loss of productivity (especially in factories which run three shifts), about notification to your business partners (especially those in other EU countries), supply chain, and logistics.

But these corporate-centric complaints are not the only problem plaguing National Independence Day.

Deee lash!

My first goulash, at my favorite restaurant  

My Universe of George

For a moment let’s think quantum-ly, and briefly suspend the limitations of the universe as we know it… consider for a second, that maybe, juuuuust maybe, somewhere along the Italian Swiss border I was sucked into a portal of some sort, which hurled me into an alternate universe....

Maybe not an evil alternate universe ala SouthPark... 

But maybe... The Universe of George... where as Jerry said:  

If every instinct you’ve had is wrong, then the opposite must be right

I think this might explain the curse... I do something on instinct... an action that has always turned out right in the past... but now it turns out all effed up... because in doing it NOW (AFTER I crossed the Italian Swiss border and was hurled into the alternate universe) the normal rules no longer apply... and in fact, the OPPOSITE of the normal rules are enforced.

So... I’ve done it before this way, and it turned out right.... but here in The Universe of George I need to take the exact opposite action to get the result I need...

it’s almost too difficult for me to put into words. definitely too difficult for me to put into action without major checking and rechecking of algorithms... I think I’m gonna be chewing up a lot of Number 2s before I make any big decisions in the future.

Strong magic

I was scheduled to have a lezione d'Italiano this morning. It's been scheduled for a few days, and I've really been looking forward to it.

OK, that was an understatement designed to leave me a tiny shred of dignity. Truth be known, I've been holding on to this lezione d'Italiano like it was the only life vest on the Titanic.

So, during the night, the WiFi went out.

The entire city's WiFi went out.

And I didn't get to have my lezione d'Italiano.

Coincidence?

(It's ok to laugh. It's reached that point.)

Vampire for English

I stopped an Indian guy on the street in Radom last week -- total stranger, just walking down the street minding his own business -- just to chat in English.

Poor guy could barely get a word in edgewise.

I even followed him back to his car.

Seriously. I was like an English Common Culture Vampire.

Do you live in Radom where do you live what do you do in Warsaw groupon is in Warsaw largest office outside the US wow how long have you lived there what about the cold are there lots of native English speakers there are there any Facebook groups you could point me to are you going to be doing diwali how often do you go to india...?

Thank you Unmilan from Kolkota. I survived for three days on only 15 minutes of conversation with you!

Wroclaw The End

apparently I’ve supposed to have been looking for these guys all over town... I was not at my most observant 

stazione colazione

A real brioche!!! And the second best Americano I’ve had in Poland

Wroclaw 7

In a restaurant called Sphinx, eating Lebanese food, drinking Polish beer, overhearing a German guy speaking Italian  

Wroclaw 6

After my lunch of wheat and meat (and hops) I thought I'd stroll home and sit on my rooftop patio or take a little nap.

Happily I overshot my left turn, and came upon an art installation I'd been wanting to see. Anonymous Passersby.

Sadly I got lost trying to find my way back and my phone died from taking too many photos and using Maps too much. But, being the good scout, I had hard copies of the map.

I made it home, though the security at the ground floor with a key, and then up the elevator to the outer door of the apartment... where the Yale electronic fob refused to work.. I'd used it the the night before, and I know it's operational... but it just won't work today.

Luckily there is an override -- a code you can key in (in in in in) in case you don't have the fob. And that code is safely stored... in my dead phone. Drat!

So I made a wild search through my ever present backpack... and found no charging cable. Uh! I can see it on the counter in apartment D. Dammit!

I went downstairs and popped to a few very close shops (having PTSD about getting lost again) and no one had an Apple charging cable.

What to do... what to doooooo?

So I went back upstairs and sat outside the door. I figured eventually someone from one of the other three apartments would come home and let me through to the promised land.

Two hours later yada yada yada I'm in my apartment, the phone is charging, and I'm writing that freakin' code onto the hardcopy map.

(I'm thinking there are some tendrils of the curse still swirling around me which need to be exorcised.)

Anonymous Passersby

What kind of jerk would deface a beautiful piece of art like this???

Eating in Poland

I've been eating out a lot -- because the food is delicious and inexpensive -- and I'm putting my reviews here on Yelp...

I'm really impressed by the care in presentation. Sometimes the dishes are truly works of art! And the restaurants all have such lovely decor and ambiance.

My reviews -- international dining from an American perspective -- can also be accessed by my Yelp tag in the page footer.

Wroclaw 5

Relaxing morning wandering, with no particular place to go....  

Some Pope (JP II?).... 

.... with his candle

Wroclaw 4

What a beautiful day to eat outside...

... and who could resist bread with lard? 

The elusive PP (Polish Pretzel)