HollyŁódź

My day in Łódź was a lot of fun, especially when the weather would agree with me. :-P Before my trip, my program's assistant director gave me a great map to the city: http://www.use-it-lodz.pl/ [comes from this website, which has other places: http://www.use-it.be/europe/ since we also have a great Warsaw one: http://www.use-it-warsaw.pl/] that was very helpful. Łódź is a nice place for a shorter trip (or even longer if you have the time) since the train ride is a little over two hours there (so under five hours total travel since the trains tend to be late arriving when I board or disembark) and a lot of the main places for food, shopping, visiting, etc. are along one main street or not too far from it; this street is Piotrkowska [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piotrkowska_Street]. There is more than one train station in the Łódź area and the one I arrived at and departed from (Łódź Kaliska) was not bad at all (better than Torun, but not as nice as the main or central ones in Wroclaw and Warszawa, but those have more construction; it also had small kiosks, stores, vending machines: food, HOT DRINKS - I love these (for me, they're more for soup and tea) and the US needs more of them, and cold drinks). I walked along this main street and I went to a fantastic commercial spot called Manufaktura: http://www.manufaktura.com/ It was created from a former factory and became multi-purpose: a mall, bowling alley, museums - such as about the factory's history, galleries, restaurants, a movie theatre, and more. It was probably one of the nicest malls I have ever seen and it is so cool how the exterior factory-look was maintained. It was there that I had lunch at my go-to food chain (everyone else on my program tends to go to McDonalds wherever they go, but I like the Polish vegetarian food chain Green Way: greenway.pl and I just tend to select different menu items when I go - this time Krupnik soup: http://www.kwestiasmaku.com/kuchnia_wloska/krupnik/krupnik.html, a croquette filled with cabbage and covered in a mushroom sauce:http://greenway.pl/pl/katalog/dania_glowne/krokiet_z_kapusta_i_grzybami, with salads on the side: shredded carrots, shredded beets, a coleslaw-like other one); I am in a very Catholic country and it must be the leniency - authorized by the Pope - on meatless Fridays during most of Lent (mainly Good Friday as the one to be meat-free) that allows more Poles to be lenient themselves. I am one of the main people I have seen who stick to every Friday being meatless when I can, so many a Pole can be seen at KFC, kebab stands, McDonalds... Later, I walked around the mall and a few stores, such as grabbing some drinks, gum, and snacks at a real: http://www.real.de/real-startseite.html - a European supermarket and then went to a small market called Alma: http://www.almamarket.pl/ because it began to rain while I was inside the main part of the mall and I wanted to stall for time... but ended up walking in some rain anyway. The tough parts about rain are the loss of peripheral vision with a hood and the fear of being poked by umbrellas. Plus, it was very windy, so I saw some difficulty with using umbrellas when they would fold the wrong way. It was cloudy when I left Warsaw, sunny from the train window, and then cloudy, windy, and cool when I left the train until it began to rain when I was inside the mall (stopping sometime later before starting again). I walked along Piotrkowska Street (it stopped raining for a bit and began again shortly before heading to the train station as it began to darken earlier from the lack of sun and abundance of clouds) and I even stopped inside of some neat stores: a Polish folk store - full of Krakowiaka dresses and painted eggs and Polish stoneware - and this interesting market with one floor a grocery (with a candy/alcohol counter ;) ) and the upstairs a weird market considered a "Chinese Market." It simply had a weird hodgepodge of items and made me have that "where am I?" feeling. There are even some "stars" along Piotrkowska (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleja_Gwiazd_w_%C5%81odzi), a la Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but this one is smaller (only a few - not many - blocks on both sides of the street) and for Poles.

Not my picture ;)

I really liked this city a lot and I was glad to go, although it would have been cool to see the Corning, Inc. establishment there (since then my parents could tell their coworkers that their daughter had seen/visited an international location :-P). It would have been fun to stay longer since there were some sites left to see, but it was a pleasant trip. :) I did not see any of the museums or some places (ghetto, cemeteries, forests, some parks, some monuments, some important buildings/sites) farther from my train station, Manufaktura, or Piotrkowska Street. There also was an IKEA at a mall nearby. :-P ;) So, a longer time there could have been spent.

Pictures on Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kab1221

Since the weather is not-so-great (a bit windy, cool, cloudy, and drizzling on-and-off), I will not go out too much. I may wait and see how the weather is tomorrow before making definite plans (also because of it being the Smolensk anniversary), other than going to the classical performance at 6pm. I have been interested in seeing a movie, so there is a chance I will do that tonight or tomorrow. I also have a little homework to finish up before Monday or Tuesday. There is also an episode of "Castle" I have yet to watch and a new show called "The Borgias" that might fill the void left by "The Pillars of the Earth" (which I still might read one day).

And This Is Not All Of It...

First laundry experience at the Polish dorm was interesting... I could not fit all of the laundry... so my hamper is almost half-full. :-/ This is two loads and it took a while, now I have to wait for it all to dry overnight. I am trying not to take up a lot of space and I feel bad to do this to my roommate. :( I will not have to wait this long again; part of the reason for having so much was being at the hostel for several days. Somehow I will learn to figure out the laundry machines and I will not wait so long. :-P I learned some about laundry from my Babcia, but not how to use weird symbols and/or Polish. :-/ I may take pictures of the laundry room sometime as well... it's what I expect now from college laundry rooms, haha.

Pralnia

So, here at the dorm a key is needed for using certain facilities (luckily not the common kitchen or bathroom), such as the fitness rooms and the laundry room. This rule, in addition to lack of time and good dryers, has made my laundry increase in size. Yesterday I was going to do it, but then it turned into today. ;) I decided to clean my clothes between my morning class and evening class, but the key was not available when I asked and I was too tired to really go again - plus my roommate came back from Berlin and I did not have the energy to clean clothes before my final class by then. I came back around 7PM and decided to check for the key after eating. Well, the laundry facilities are interesting. I thought the microwave was a bit stange, but the washing machines are stranger. Two were open and only have symbols on them... okay. They are small and the room/equipment are the same soapy, wet, sticky areas I am used to by now after almost three years in college. And at least a few machines had mostly Polish on them, even the "directions" and signs posted around the room were in Polish. I did the best I could with these weird machines and I guess I will see how it ends up going...

Not much else to report on. I have three classes tomorrow and my roommate sounds sick. :( I both want her to feel better and, maybe selfishly, do not want to catch whatever throat problem or other illnesses she may possess. My Polish professor thinks she hears in me an improvement in my speaking/Polish, but I really think I am not working hard enough and sometimes avoid speaking, which I am trying to correct. I asked for the laundry room key in Polish the first time I went. That was a full sentence/question! Other than that I have done more reading of labels, signs, etc... And I think Slowania (accent on the l) might be the fitness/exercise room?

I just realized this is the longest I have been in Poland, so I still have time to work on the language since I hear/see it all day! Should have watched more Polish TV than occasional "Pierwsza Milosc"... and reading/grammar would have helped. I will make up for past laziness now. ;) And I am still working on figuring out public transportation, which I worked on some this past weekend.

Good Evening!

Quick Update

Hello again.

I am about the do some Polish homework since I am done unpacking for now. Today was the final hostel day! It was quite interesting taking eleven students and all of their luggage to the dorms. :-P It took a few cars and a lot of help, but we did it! Once we made it to the dorm we had to sign some paperwork to be given a resident card, room key, and bed linens. I started unpacking and then some of us went to a small grocery store; I picked up some waters, sodas, rice cakes/waffles, snack bars, soy milk, apples, yogurt, lettuce, sprouts, gum, jam, vinegar, and some kind of cereal (I think that was all of it...) It was in interesting experience walking back with all that I had purchased; Poles (and even many Europeans) tend to do more light shopping every couple of days at smaller stores. I had to lug a lot since I was uncertain about when I would want to go out to pick up more; us Americans earned a few stares from this behavior and I had to buy a bigger plastic sack to bring all of my goods back (reminds me of yesterday when I forgot to grab a basket at a store and dropped some items on the ground; I think I heard the cashier laugh at me).

The dorm is big and nice. I am rooming with someone I know and a lot of us are close to each other (about four others in adjacent rooms on this floor, while others are on the next two higher floors). The common kitchen and bathroom are big and everything that I have seen so far seems good (maybe even better than most I have had in CT/USA? Other than the townhouse facilities maybe - not including using the laundry room there - or avoided using in my case, haha). It is especially nice being closer to academic buildings compared to the distance they are from the hostel. Unfortunately, shortly after putting away groceries, Gosia called me to say I was late for a Polish class. Ugh. I did not know that I had to do Intermediate today... so I pretty much ran out the door again and went to class. I went to the wrong building at first (phone calls to Gosia helped enlighten me to the fact that I was at the main building and not in building A - when at least I did not go to the C building we had used last week...) and eventually I made it; I said sorry for the delay and luckily the teacher understood the misunderstanding (boy she is nice and a great language teacher. I feel lucky). The lesson was fun and I have some work to do for tomorrow. I also begin two other classes tomorrow (a politics class and a history of Jews in Poland one). I think that is about all for now since I haven't done much other than moving, shopping, unpacking, etc. I heard some people mention that it felt of Freshman year all over again when we were in line for keys. And how. I am looking forward to exploring more soon - from the dorm to the area to the city and beyond. I heard there is a gym and common areas in this building, but we need to ask the receptionist for a key... I will just have to become accustom to asking for keys to different rooms. :-P There is a lot of security here: we have to show our residence cards and there are strict rules in addition to many places being locked or having to ask for keys or other materials from personnel. It feels MUCH safer than the hostel where I heard about all kinds of people wandering in... One Polish-American girl on the program had her aunt and uncle help her move in (they live nearby) and the aunt had a chat with the Director Bogdan about not being so happy about the hostel. I completely agree since she was saying how it gave a terrible first impression of the country, area, and continent to us students, especially to those who have never been to Poland and/or Europe. That meant only a few of us understood (such as me and other Polish-heritage students and other travelers) and could see beyond it.

I still feel pretty tired from moving luggage around (even the Polish teacher noticed I looked when she would ask if I was sticking around for Beginner's as well and then said I was sleepy-looking - and hungry I would add), so I will take a break to do work now since I think that is all that has happened of interest recently. :-P

The Sun Shines in Warsaw!

Thanks for sharing some blue skies and sunlight, Jenn. ;)

Everyone put on sort-of semi-formal wear for the ballet; we stopped at an Italian cafe/restaurant beforehand for a quick dinner. I had a fish soup with pieces of salmon, carrot, and soba noodles with fish broth and a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, cheese (pushed aside), cucumbers, and dressing.
Restaurant: http://www.giovanni.pl/rubino/main.html

The ballet was GREAT. I adored the costumes and men in tights, haha. The dresses the girls wore I wish I could dance around in. :) After the ballet it began to POUR rain down on us as we anxiously waited for the bus. I stayed at the hostel while some of the others went out to a couple of clubs and to have some food (I heard kebabs and McDonalds mentioned... NO KFC OR MICKEY DS FOR ME!) I stopped at a gas station on the way back and bought a LITER of cola. ;) (in addition to an apple and gum). I relaxed, read, finished up homework (selected classes already, so it was pretty much finishing some Polish vocab) and fell asleep. :-P Tonight I have to finish up packing since we leave the hostel tomorrow! :-D We should all celebrate leaving! Hooray! Less than 24 hours before dorm life begins. I will not be living only out of a suitcase. :-/

Today, we went to the Chopin Museum. It may be one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen; gorgeous inside: marble staircases, chandeliers, classical music, artifacts... Wow. It is probably an important attraction I would recommend to anyone who comes here. We had made another Starbucks run before hitting the museum; this is still the only American chain I have had here, so I am still "pure." I had the fruit salad again, which is not cut up into the smaller chunks, but still mostly tasty (especially the pineapple). The only negatives I have about the Starbucks are the seeded grapes (have not really seen seedless there or at the market) and the lack of light mocha/caramel/etc. frappuccinos. :-/ What can you do? Near this Starbucks there is a Chinese restaurant and we saw a person dressed as a panda bear (second day in a row seeing it) advertising to eat there. It was walking near a woman selling flowers while holding a sign for the Chinese food.

Starbucks City Mug: Warsaw (with Chopin's Monument)

Other side of the mug

After the museum, the group decided to go have some great views of Warsaw from the Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) since the sun was shining and it was pretty warm. This is the first day of really nice weather - nearly spring-like. :) This made the group happy to stay out. We had a chance to walk around a bit - especially in the Centrum area. There are so many places I want to check out - tea shops, bookstores, cafes...

I prefer beautiful and meaningful art/graffiti. This is Chopin with his head being a map of Warsaw, the blue being the river (Wisla)

View from the Palace of Culture and Science (notice the tall building is the Novotel Hotel)

Another view from the Palace

The ceiling by the elevators on the observation deck floor

A few of us bought train tickets to Berlin (I am holding off for now since I know of at least a couple of other train tickets for which I need to save money). I stopped at a market with a few others for snacks: fruit, rice cakes (rice waffles here), and snack bars. I have had this German brand lately, in addition to Nestle ones:
http://www.corny.de/

Now I am relaxing again, about to pack, and wondering what else I may do before leaving this "fun" hostel at 10 AM tomorrow morning (especially glad to leave after so many days of "breakfast," "bathrooms," and hearing about people trying to break into our rooms...)

Pa, pa. ;)

"Golden" Terraces for Good Reason

Another long, cold, gray day here in Warsaw. Today included a presentation about a CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) class about social issues in contemporary Poland. The class seems interesting and it is one that I had put on my main list of classes to consider taking. After the presentation there was the first Polish lesson. I decided to stick around with the beginners for at least a few days since it will be helpful for me. Once SGH classes begin again I may join an intermediate there instead of being with the beginners or the advanced groups here. We learned the alphabet (not something I had a lot of experience focusing on, so I liked working with it) in addition to reactionary phrases, greetings/farewells, and numbers.

The group learned from our assistant director (Gosia) that we will be attending a performance at the end of the month of a traditional folk dance group from the area. Also, we will go to a ballet in March. After the lesson, we had a brief meeting with the program director (Bogdan) and then the advanced group had its lesson while everyone else went back to the mall Golden Terraces. It is so great. We all went straight to the food court since it was time to eat. Some had to comfort themselves with Mickey D's :-P but I chose to go to a place called "Salad Story." The menu was all in Polish, so I had to use the pictures and some knowledge to order a salmon salad (salatka rybaka). I was spoken to in Polish and answered brief bits in Polish. Not sure if I was convincing or the girl just tried anyway, haha. Somewhat success? Scary as well. Pertains to a "slang" word our Polish professor taught us: "cienki" (weak/afraid). Jestem cienki. :-P
http://www.saladstory.com

Salad with smoked salmon - second or third time having smoked salmon since leaving USA - , sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and vinaigrette dressing

After lunch, the girls who were there went to H&M. I bought a scarf and a dress:

The white one with flowers :)

Cotton dress :-D

I also considering purchasing a glitter headband. Maybe next time? ;) Since I was quick in the store, I told the mini group that I had to drop by the grocery store quickly and then I'd return. I bought more apples (yay fruit!), some gum, a Coke Zero to drink then, some baby wipes, and some snack bars (think that was all...). I walked around the mall a bit; it is one of the best malls I have seen. The Five O'Clock tea/coffee shop/store chain that I have been meaning to go to has a location at this mall; it smelled sweet and amazing inside, but I shouldn't be buying teacups and tea assortments when staying in a hostel. :-P I did not enter SEPHORA, but I think I may at this mall or another in Poland before heading trans-Atlantic again.

My sister's home away from home - this one being one of the Warsawian/Varsavian ones

On the way back to SGH for another class presentation, the mini group stopped at an CUTE ice cream shop (Malinova) that has been recommended to us before and is right near the school; I had a fruity-flavored scoop similar to sorbet. Us girls will be going back. Tasty. :-P The class presentation was on Jews in Poland. It seems interesting, so I am looking forward to it. Since then, the group bought some groceries (some of my purchases included frozen steamable vegetables (yay vegetables!), yogurt (mmm, apple-y and cinnamon-y), and more snack bars) and now we are at the hostel. Orientation continues tomorrow...

Na razie!