karolink

Ode "An die Freude" und Freunde

2007-12-09T19:44:23Z

Weekends in Vienna are my happy days. Well, and also the weekdays when I have guests ;-)

Last weekned started early on Friday when Kaisa came back to Vienna with Ana :-) It would be difficult to beat the quality of pleasure that our time together brought me . I will never forget it and hope to repeat it in similarly pleasant circumstances :-)
S
till, I must admit this weekend, after a yet another busy week, was also very nice.

On Friday I finally managed to go to Spittelbergmarket and Mariahilferstrasse and I even bought one Christmas gift and gloves :-). I consider myself (and Barbora, who accompanied me...) quite brave. Mariahilfer on Friaday afternoon = danger of getting smashed in the crowd :P But we're tough and have hardly any other free time, so we had to survive ;-)

Saturday was the day of "Judisches Wien." Well, not all of what we saw was actulally Jewish... We (me, Kasia and barbora) started with the old Jewish quartier and then also so the Greek one, and the oldest existing Church in Vienna, etc. Naturally, we ended up in a Kaffeehaus - Schwarzerberg this time. Kleines Cafe was far too small to seat all the people from the streets on Saturday night ;-) But Schwarzerberg was more than nice ;-)

And today we went to Musikverien. Nope, not for Wiener Philharmoniker. Those guys play too rarely and the tickets are sold out months beforehand. The group from BRNO was a worthy alternative though :-) It was a pity, however, that Barbora's father didn't play today (He is one of the trumpets there ;) )Would be even more exciting! Still, as I had never heard niether Brams nor Beethoven live, it was a great experience. Especially "Ode to Joy", of course...

And later on we found an interesting collection of street mirrors in the otherwise shabby undergrounds of Karlsplatz... Need to put the pics here some other time...

I just wanted to end with a thought that is puzzleing me a bit... I can't find a thing that really get on my nerves in Vienna. Not even the trafficlights, nor the dirty men in Karlsplatz... Even the higher prices don't seem that high anymore... Maybe I could actually stay here longer?? Oh my, I'd better start getting used to the fact that 'm leaving in less than 2 months...

catching up

2007-11-14T23:29:22Z

Winter came to Vienna along with my parents, my neighbor and my uncle on Sunday. Yes, it snowed for the first time. And, yes, both of my parents came as one of my neighbors got ill and there was a free place it the car. Their visit was generally great, even tough sightseeing was less pleasant due to the snow. Actually, it was the first time in my life when I would have preferred "the First Snow" to fall on a different day. Anyhow, I told myself the snow came from Poland along my parents and all the other nice/yummy/useful things they brought me, Like: my new and (let me say it) PRETTY winter coat i bought in September or DELICIOUS home-made food or a PRINTER!!! (Hurray, no more rushing to the city to print sth Monday at 8 o'clock!!!) I felt like a bourgeois ;-)
The only crappy thing about the visit was that it was only for 4.5h - really! The weather was so bad they had to leave early to get to PL safely and on time. Still, the fact that my family and neighbors are willing to come all the way down from PL to visit me for not even half a day told me much about our family bonds. ;-) Honestly, at first I was not that happy to find our that my dad was comming as well, but I really felt ashamed of that later on. I would liek to have them both for longer here. Heh, family visits do make one feel homesick-ish - a little bit ;)

Monday was a pleasant continuation of the homey atmosphere I got the short feeling of the previous day. I gathered a few erasmus friends (all female somehow...) and we had a Käsekuchenabend in my room, my mum's cheescake being the main attraction of the evening, suitably accompanied by Czech croissants with poppy seeds from Barbora and Turron (a Spanish sweet for Christmas) from my new Spanish neighbor, Maria. All the 8 of us 9in my smally room) finished the evening feeling full ;) It felt good to have those people around; to be the one who brought them together. I felt like I finally belong here, even though i still don't know most of the people on my own floor (and that sucks!).

A quote from Barbora: "CZ - the land of bear and croissants with naturally grown opium alkaloids." :-)

Yet another quote form B: "Ich freue mich!" How could I not like someone who ends EVERY email she writes with such words?! ;-)

OK, I was supposed to write more but... In a nutshell:

- I bought yet another poster with Audrey H. :-)

- I hope my cought won't develop into a cold. It simply can't! Deseases are frobidden when I'm busy, and I'm always more or less busy ;)

-I'm getting increasingly pessimistic about managing to catch up with my Dutch class in Poznań and even more so about my M.A. thesis. I mean, I'm constantly fighting with myself. How to reeeeally focus on studying and reeeeally take the (maybe unique) oportunity to explore the city?!! :-(
Heh, life's tough, but I need to catch up somehow...

Music in da haus

2007-11-09T22:39:44Z

I have not been to Albertina and Kunsthistorisches Museum yet. I'm not planning to go to Schonbrunn, as I've heard the Emperor Apartments in Hofburg are more interesting. I've only been to Volksoper but not to the bigger Staatsoper... Generally then, I have not visited the most popular, most famous places in Vienna yet. BUT, much as I reeeeally am a Museum animal, I do not feel sorry for that, as there is still some time for me AND today I've been to a MY BEST "MUSEUM" ever! Dori, do you remember how I liked the Cheaster Beatty Library in Dublin and said it was the best "museum" I had seen? Well, HAUS DER MUSIK took the first place now :-) INTERACTIVE MUSEUMS ruuuuuuuuule! I was there with Kasia for more than 5 hours and we didn't need a break in the meantime. Initially there were 2 Kasias with me but the second one lost interest after 2 hours. I mean, I have spend even more time in a museum but I always needed a break as my ability to appreciate the things I was looking at diminished with time, no matter how great/famous the exhibits were. This time it was all different because it was not visual art but an aural experience first of all...

Some of the fun things one can do in haus der Musik include:

"Composing" one's own Waltz by tossing dices (me and the less enthusiastic Kasia)

Watching (and of course listening to) the New Year's Concert by Wiener Philharmoniker

Listening to various other sounds (odd as well as very common).

Now "CONDUCTING" was the best part! I'm not posing for the photo but I'm really trying to make those guys on the screen play Eine Kleine Nachtmusik... (I was not very successfull, though, and the Orchestramen started complaining after a minute :-P )

(Ok, there is much more to see there but I don't want to get to all the more typical museum stuff.)

it now came to my mind I might have liked the place so much simply because i had a bad day yesterday.... Neee, the place really IS fun! :-D

The sad thing is that going back to reality is not that pleasant :-P There's much work to be done! Ok, dear books, here I come, despite the late hour...

move-d :-)

2007-11-04T15:43:32Z

Yes, yes, I finally did it! i have a new room now, on the 6th flood, which means I have much more daylight and the inner energy one gets thants to it. Or so I hope ;-) The first thing i did after moving was a trip to the nearest shop to buy a plant. As it was on Friday, during the looong weekend, many shops were closed and my choice was pretty limited. Still, i bought a flower, got a GREEN pot for it for free (my obsession with green - have I mentioned it? - continues...). Now it feels like home. I just need to do one more thing - hang the Audrey Hepburn poster I bought some time ago. Now I finally have the right place for it as I know I'm gonna stay here for soem time. Yessss.

What I don't particularly like about the 6th floor is that it's not the 1st floor :-P That is: I need to use (and wait for) the lifts, the few people I've met in the kitchen so far don't seem to care (they did't even tell me their names when I enthusiastically tried to introduced myself to them... huh...) and people are allowed to SMOKE in the kitchen. Blaaaah. There are actually 2 kitchens on the floor and for now i'm using the one which is further away from my room, only because there is only one smoker there (= fewer chances of smoke in the lunchtime). I try to comfort myself saying that I won't have much time to cook&eat in the kitchen anyway and that i will become an even more dedicated non-smoker :-D

A few words about the weekned itself...

On Thursday I went with a newly met Polish student to the Zentralfriedhof. The place is kinda park-like (some people go there to read newspapers!) but there was the 1. Nov atmosphere in the air as well. I was happy to find out that Austrians don't swamp the graves with flowers and candles as much as Poles do. :-) We didn't manage to see all the different kinds of cemeteries they have there, e.g. the Greek one :-/ but the Jewish one was great to see as there were not htat many people there. The spot with graves of famous composers was obviosuly haunted by tourists, but I had been expecting even more of them, so the overall impression was positive. And, I got to know Kasia better. She is a former English language student who is now studying Economy, and since she comes from my region of PL, we had a lot to discuss.
Friday was the moving-out day and I didn't get to see anything in the city. Instead, Kasia and another Erasmus student from Finland came for a movie-night. Among others, we watched Before Sunrise again (in English this time). Heh, this movie always provokes much discussion both about life, love and Vienna among Erasmus students. :-D
Yesterday was what i would call GELB TAG (yellow day - guess why :-P). I went with two other friend to see Schonbrunn Gardens, as I was actually one of the very few people who had not been there before (so finding company was not that easy :P) Anyway, I decided to see the palace only from the outside that day and, taking advantege of the relatively good weather, go to the Tiergarden instead. Much as i love visiting castles, etc. i think we made a good choice. This Zoo was a bit different form the ones I've seen in Poland. And they have Koalas! And the famous baby Panda! Well, ok, tourists are only allowed to see his father these days, but still... All in all, I'm sure I need to go back to the gardens some time again. I already have a ticket to the Palmhouse, to be used within a year ;-)

Moves

2007-10-30T18:32:10Z

If one person in my dorm is finally gonna move out of his room, then another person is gonna move into that room an I'm gonna take the room of the other person. Unless the portier leaves for the long weekend and we won't be able to check out properly. Riiiiiight. The never-ending process of arranging things... **I shouldn't have got involved into the moving business**
Anyway, my potentially new room is gonna be smaller, with poorer furniture, less equipped kitchen (no table!) but I think it's brighter and less noisy. I also do hope I won't lose touch with the fer Erasmus students from my current kitchen as in the new one there's gonna be only 2 of us (me and a Spanish girl). The rest is Austrian. Of course, Austrian doesn't meen bad or unfriendly, just not-the-Erasmus-one...

And now a pathetic story. The long weekend (4 days off) starts on Thursday and: one of my closest people here, Barbora, has left for the whole week to visit her boyfriend in England. Another Czech friend, Marcela is expecting her boyfriend tomorrow. The boyfriend of my closest Polish friend here - Marta - is coming on Thursday. Ania is now in Poland, celebrating sth with her ... surprise, surprise...boyfriend. OK, I really think going to museums alone is better than in a group 'cos you may take your time,etc. BUT there are many other things to do here WITH OTHERS. A possible solution would be getting myself a boyfriend as well ;-) Right, just need to pick someone form the waiting list. Oh, right, there isn't any. Well ,ok , I have my phone and email book at least... So what are (the yet undefined) WE are going to do this weekend??

Oh, most probably my mum is gonna visit me for one day (10 or 11th Nov). Well, it's not the same as with a boyfriend but at least someone who loves me for sure... And I may be sure to get lots of delicious food from her...
OK.enough of this pathetic single girl crap.

The autumn is gorgeous! Why do I always have to carry so many other thing but I forget about my camera??!! I MUST have the city photographed.

They are already selling chestnuts here but I've decided (advised by Barbora) to wait with trying them out until it gets really cold and Christmas-like. I need the right atmosphere to enjoy them to the full. Or so Barbora said and I've been trying my best to believe her. I already lack strong will when it comes to chocolate here so I treat this as a remedial self-improvement exercise ;-)

Oh, I also wanted to mention I had a super Narionalfeiertag-sightseeing tour on Friday. Some national museums and the Parliament could be visited for free. Naturally, I couldn't say no. :-D

I'll take the rain, I'll take the rain...

2007-10-23T17:23:13Z

As I know nothing more about my potentially new room 'cos (for quite dubious reasons, i'd say) it was not possible for me to see it yesterday, and sine the weather is getting colder and colder ( + it's raining cats and dogs right now!), I really feel like sharing some photos I took during my September trip to Melk and Wachau. How I miss the weather then...

Welcome to Stift Melk

The Gardens through which I walked with Johanna - a very nice Swedish student of urban design, who knew the Latin/English/Swedish and German names of almost all the plants we saw there. I was impressed.

As the garbage bin in the photo shows, simple ideas are often great.

The town itself.

Attention Umberto Eco's fans! This library inspired some of his ideas in The name of the Rose Or at least that's what the guide said ;-) Not that improbable though. The place is really impressive! Just that it's so beautiful (well not on my photos maybe...) that I think i wouldn't be able to study there :-P

My beloved staircase...

Time for soem Austrian folklore. Natürlich :D

Enter Wachau! it's not only that the valley is picturesque but also that it can be seen from the Donau perspective - sitting comfortably in a pleasure boat, as we did :)

Durnstein - even more Austrian "Gemütlichkeit"

A little bit of climbing up for a good end.

And back to the Blue Donau...

Wpisz Twoją zawartość wcięcia tutaj.

karolink @ 2007-10-20T00:23:00

2007-10-19T23:49:06Z

Since it's the beginning of the weekend I'm not gonna write in detail about the things that have been stressing me out lately, like some mess I still (!!!) have with picking the right subjects here 'cos I'm a poor strategist and 'cos my Uni. always "knows better," only does not inform me on time, etc. or about the fact that on Monday I'm finally gonna see my potentially new room, which I don't know if I want to move into 'cos I really don't feel like being an outsider on a new floor and in a new kitchen again. I'm still learning the names of the more-than-twenty people with whom I'm sharing my current one... I finally wanna feel like I have my own place here. I wanna buy a plant, I wanna make the room mine...
Right, I was supposed to write about pleasurable things, so let me start with a few photos, before I go to bed. (Tomorrow I'm planning to go to the Volksoper with Barbora and Marta... i need to get some good night sleep if I'm to STAND there for a couple of hours. Yeap, we're getting the cheap Standplatz)

Retrospection - September language course 1
The language course I attended in September was really great. It was a well-balanced mixture of learning, partying and sightseeing. I miss this balance now that I need to focus on studying much more...

"My people' at the September-course dorm. Unfortunately, now i only stay in touch with Ania.

With AKrol and Ania in front of Belvedere. That's where they keep Der Kuss. Gotta love Klimt no matter how cliche some people find him these days.

"Keller Party" at the dorm. The girl in the red T-Shirt is Barbora from Brno.

have I mentioned that the Pope was in Vienna in September? i was at the Stephansplatz for a moment. It was a strange experience as I had never witnessed the Pope's visit in the city center... I suppose people would not sip their coffies that calmly in Poland. But well, it's Vienna. Coffee rules the world here, not the Pope, I guess. (personally i find this picture very interesting from the sociological perspective....)

Another Viennese curiosity - newspaperstands. take a look at the message "Du sollst nicht stehlen." Nice :-D

A sample of the Innere Stadt now - Hofburg.

(one foot) back in Poland

2007-09-25T09:23:16Z

I'm back in Poland for a couple of days :-) I'm ill, busy but also very excited by the past 3 weeks in Vienna and by all what there is still to come.

Now it's finally the time to upload the rest of my photos on my notebook and read, read and reeeead what has been happening around in the lives of my dear friends... My own LJ-update will come later. My life is not that important after all. ;)

herzlich willkommen

2007-09-13T22:21:46Z

Today I told myself: "No matter how tired I may be in the evening, I am finally gonna update my LJ." But since I'm actually about to fall asleep after yet another exhaustingly active day and i need to get up at 6 tomorrow to register for PE classes, I guess I can excuse myself for taking the easiest way round and starting with the post I began to write almost a week ago (and was wise enough to copy before my Internet got kaputt , as the Germans say). Huh, i can't believe it was such a long time ago... Anyway, here it is...

”Miracles happen. From now on I have Interent in my own room. Wunderbar!!!! I'm just wondering whether I'll have the time to use it :P There is soooo much going on right now that... No, no ,no I'm not complaining. NOT AT ALL!! The only thing that anoys me is the weather. It god bad yesterday and today it's raining heavily.
That is why I've decided not to take photos yet. Vienna deserves to be photographed in good weather in the first place. There'll be much time for rainy photos yet, I guess. Besides, i don't want to take photos in a hurry and I'm now on the go all the time.
My German course has already started and as yet my schedule has been the following: classes from 9:00 till 13:00. Then some shopping for food and a lunch (I'm trying to eat up all the food I have taken from Poland first so I haven't been to any restaurants or canteens yet). Then I do my homework , which is quite time consuming as we get many things to do. Fortunately, I was put in a proper group. The level I mean. We have started with Passiv and that is exactly where I've ended my self-study. My priority is to revise vocabulary as sometimes I actually don't remember the simplest words. But so do some of the others, as far as I've noticed. Phew :D Anyway, after I do my homework I meet with other people from my dorm and we party together. As yet all the parties were organized by ESN (Erasmus Student Network) so I got to know people from so many countries I won't even try to list them. If I may say that there are some with whom I hang out more than with others than these would be Karol, Ania and Kasia - 3 Poles who fortunately insist on speaking German/English most of the time. Yes, Poles are everywhere and I couldn't escape them. I didn't even try as they leave next door.). Then there is also a guy from Serbia, one from Norway and 2 girls from Hungaria and my roommate from Switzerland. As we live on the same floor and share the kitchen, we spend quite a lot of time together... "

So, this is where my unfinished post ended and in general I'd say the first week was mostly INTEGRATIVE (new people, new places, parties...) and the second one has turned very ADMINISTRATIVE. All day long I'm busy if not with my German course than with various bureaucratic stuff I need to do to register into the courses that I want to attend. My co-ordinator (a very nice lady as far as I can say after our first meeting today) offered me some help but since I'm attempting to have courses at 3 different departments, I need to do most of the registration myself. Busy, busy,busy…

I hope the third week will finally be more sightseeing-oriented 'cos as yet I've only been to Oberes Belvedere to seen my beloved Klimt and to Freud's Museum, because it is in the neighborhood :-D I'm not loosing hope of finally finding the time to put some details and photos here ;) I have also visited the dorm where I'm gonna live since October. Not the best one I could expect and far worse than my current one but anyways...
Oh, and I've also seen the Pope, who happened to be in Vienna last weekend. And on Saturday I'm going to Melk, Wachau and I hope the gorgeous photos of these places that I've seen on the Internet were not improved in PhotoShop ;-) The weather got a little bit better today and I hope the sunny sky is here to stay for some time and that I can finally take some photos with my lousy camera.

**As I have just noticed, the word ‘hope’ has been used so many time in this post that it says it all: I’m really looking forward to my time here!!! Yet, some many times when I was excited by something here I wanted to share my feelings with you all immediately… I miss you, despite all the business I have here…**

[[Hugggggggggssssss]]

so this is it: I'm leaving to Vienna...

2007-09-01T21:01:06Z

... (first to katowice from where my train departs) in about an hour and I should reach Sudbahnhof at about 6:00. Then I need to get to my hostel. Sounds easy, but when I look at my huuuuuge and heavy suitcase I have doubts. My meager knowledge of German only adds to the general feeling of anxiety. But there's no turning back. Nope, not after all the trouble. Having survived this last busy week, full of goodbyes, errands, etc. I need to believe Vienna won't swallow me :P
I'll be back ASAP. Luv U all!

herbal cure, all-cure, faith-cure... anything!

2007-08-24T20:19:06Z

Yes, I'm yet another person with a mild cold. I mean, I hope it's mild, even though the cough is killing me. It's so hot outside and so many people have cold... Blah. I dream of ice-creams but I need to be healthy before I leave to Vienna. I've even managed to persuade myself that the mysteriously tasting pectoral species my mum has bought for the cough are a must and will cure me. Absolutely. :P

What sucks most is that I'm a bit less energetic due to the cold whereas I actually have so much to do, e.g. today was mostly spent with my mum on repairing, narrowing, shortening (...) some of my clothes. There are things to buy or arrange, e-mails to be written... The fact that I depend on my parents when it comes to funds and some arrangements doesn't help. Nor does my limited access to the Internet.

How I wish I were in Vienna already. Once I have my own budget (limited as it will be) and a safe room with proper Internet, a fascinating city and friendly people around I'll be fine. And I hope no herbal brews will be needed :P

Tomorrow is the last meeting of my self-defence group. Don't worry, I did not join the odd populist Polish political party called Self-Defence (Samoobrona). No way. I'm not sick enough, even now. :) I've simply been attending free summer classes in self-defence for a few weeks. I have no idea why I forgot to mention that in my last LJ post... The classes are organized annually by the municipal police in Tychy. I had always wanted to join but the dates never suited me and my summer plans. Huh, staying at one's hometown in the summer has some good sides after all... Anyway, I'm now hoping to experience some kind of a medical miracle that will cure my cold overnight and allow me to go to the last meeting, at least to get my dyploma ;)

IMPORTANT NEWS is that I finally have an account on Skype. In case you're there and I can't find you, you can find me as karolinakle I do hope it will work. Haven't had the chance to arrange a test-talk with someone yet...

armchair travel

2007-08-19T20:20:48Z

Yes, I'm still alive, just that my PC was broken for some time or we had no Internet connection or there were awful storms and we had to disconnect our freshly repaired Internet connection or, finally, there was little connection or, I should say, communication between me and my dad and I didn't feel like visiting "his" TV room which is the only place in my house with the above-mentioned faulty access to the Internet. Blah...

Anyway, some nice things happened since my last post, such as a one-day trip to the nearest mountains, but otherwise I generally stay at my hometown creating lists of all the little things to do and buy before my departure to Vienna, visiting the few friends from secondary school that are in Tychy at present (most of them is somewhere abroad now), watching movies and GG. Yessss, the long-awaited 7th season is finally on Polish TVN7... Sadly, it started 2 weeks ago and with one episode per week I will only manage to watch the first four. Heh...

Oh and I'm trying to learn German, but in a house/garden full of people it is more trying than learning. I'm suffering from a shortage of both motivation and free/quiet time as for about 3 weeks I'm surrounded not only by my family but also our guests: my uncle and aunt + my 3 cousins + 3-5 of their friends who visit us every day - morning till late afternoon - to play table tennis in our garden ('cos that's the only unoccupied space left at our place :P ). Yeap, the sound of table tennis ball is haunting me every day, but well, at least someone is using our old table tennis equipment :)

What else? I'm doing my best not to read all the academic books that I honestly should read during the summer to finally gat an idea on what to write my Master's thesis about. Instead of reading psycholinguistic e-journals I'm occupying myself with travel books and biographies of travellers. And I'm eagerly making up for my absence here, reading travel accounts of my LJ friends. I know it's only armchair travel. Yes, it is a substitute, but actually a very very good one (Thank you all for the pics!). It is a remedy. And I don't care that the armchair is uncomfortable or that it's in my father's room. Not anymore. I'm already far away...

2 weeks to go and I'll be starting my 3-week language course in Vienna... Der, die, das...

bedtime story desperately needed

2007-08-05T21:10:03Z

I haven't been here for a while 'cos my Internet connection at home is not working at all these days. **And it's driving me crazy!!!!** Fortunately, my sister is away with her family for a couple of days and tonight I'm staying at her flat, trying to make up for all the days without access to the online world. Tall order, I must say.
I was later planning to watch some movies but I guess I'm too tired. Or actually, I have something better to do... There is this nice pile of beautifully illustrated books in my niece's room that is tempting me... I've been re-reading Bruno Schulz's stories recently (we had them at secondary school) but, not having the book with me at my sister's place, I guess I just need to get my dose of "the bizarre" in the simplified form of a typical fairytale for children ;) A proper LJ-update will thus have to wait. The child in me needs a bedtime story. A goodnight kiss would also be nice ;)

Packing to W and V

2007-07-17T18:41:31Z

So, tomorrow I'm going on this trip to the ZOO in Wrocław with my father and my niece. it was supposed to be a one-day trip but there are chances of me staying at my cousin Aneta's place in Brzeg for the night and coming back home the next day. I'm kinda excited about the trip 'cos I'm a bit fond of Wrocław.At the same time I'm a little bit afraid of the heat. It's hardly bearable and I've already got two kids to take care of. My niece and my dad that is ;-)

The news of the day is that I am going to take part in the German language course in Vienna so I'll be there already in September. i got a confirmation letter today.
Gotta start packing. ;-) I'm a freakish packing perfectionist.

Oh, and the discovery of the day was that our cable TV includes the E! channel and that I'm much more effective doing the ironing while following the list of the most affluent celebrities. Another discovery was that watching a 1-hour biography of Paris Hilton (yes, I was determined to watch the whole of it...) can leave one with a bunch of serious existential questions. Honestly. :-P

Family trip and smažený hermelín

2007-07-16T13:01:27Z

My weekend turned out unexpectedly attractive... It started with mundane house cleaning all Saturday. Even my PC and Internet connection refused to work properly so as not to distract me from the noble attempt to come to grips with the chaos in my room. But then, in the evening, my mum suddenly announced that the next day "WE [me & my parents] are going on a 1-day trip to the Czech mountains." They had forgotten to tell me. Right. The truth was that the small & cheap travel agency they usually go on trips with didn't gather enough participants for the trip to happen so my mum enrolled me to rescue the whole event from coming to nothing :P Also, my dad, being a hothead, sometimes becomes a real nuisance in situations when we generally expect him to be relaxed, such as mountain hiking, so my mum wanted me to serve as a sort of family buffer. Well, I admit I had mixed feelings about it 'cos, much as I love him, I can bear my father and his complaining in small doses only and I wanted to save my nerves for the Wrocław Zoo trip with him and my niece, a trip which he has planned for this week. But well, the prospects of having a nice walk in the mountains, observing nature, getting some suntan aaaand having real Czech smažený syr for dinner was far too strong a temptation to resist. Besides, even the horoscope in my local newspaper (the only horoscope I sometimes read, even though I hardly care about what it foretells) said I may save my family from a nasty disagreement, so I really felt obliged to help my mum bear my dads possible grumbles.

And so we went to climb the Praděd - the highest peak in Moravia. We were initially disappointed that the track to the top is largely asphalt (and we had out heavy leather mountian shoes on!) but then... a charming landscape on our way down the yellow track (which I recommend to any mountian lover) made our day. It was simlpy beautiful... All the rocks, fallen treas, a murmuring brook with a coulpe of small waterfalls... simply a small paradise!
Well, almost. As expected, my dad had to discharge his share of complaining His favorite cause of complaint is an incompetent bus driver. The one we had this time was very slow indeed so I forced myself into my fathers shoes and managed to understand his grumbling :P Besides, I had a (little bit disappointing) book on the Czech society with me and tried to entertain myself and my dad by reading parts of in aloud. Gosh, impatient adults are to be treated like children, I guess. Also, I dropped my camera and most of my photos are gone. Fortunately, my parents had their own equipment so there are some photos to download and see :-)
Finally, before setting off for the whole trip, as I packed my rucksack in a rush, I forgot to charge my cellphone battery and couldn't really send SMSs later on; I didn't update my LJ (I didn't even check if my Internet connection was back...), I forgot about important dates...

Generally, however, the trip was far better than I would normally expect. As I eagerly looked into my plate with smažený syr during out dinner in the hostel, I came to the conclusion that this family trip was like smažený hermelín. If I had listened to the waitress and ordered an ordinary cheese instead of the smelly Czech hermelin, that is: if I had not given this trip a chance for fear of my father's complaining, or if I had smelled the (honestly, stinking) cheese too much before eating it - that is: if I had cared too much about what my father said, I would have missed much - new experience, new taste, new perspective. Although I still prefer ordinary smažený syr to hermelin and although I'd still prefer my father to be an oasis of calm, I'm able to tolerate and enjoy more than I'd expect. I just need to remember about that.

I hope this optimistic attitude won't leave me soon...

2 more exams to go...

2007-06-12T14:18:16Z

... and I'll be back to life :) Damn, I feel as if I was one big head and nothing more... ;) Blah. Yesterday I was on the verge of becoming a eurosceptic.. Having studied for my "Introduction to European Studies" exam for sooo long I simply couldn't even stand the sound of our continent's name :P. It's better now that the exam is over. The bad thing is that the next one is on Thursday and I technically haven't had the time to study yet.
Any fingers left free and could be crossed for me? I'd be more than grateful.

Everything and anything can be bought nowadays.

2007-05-25T21:41:23Z

Today I bought 400 mililiters of... air. Well, ok, it was not ordinary air but compressed air used to clean computer keyboards, etc. Still, it was so funny to say "400ml of air, please" to the shop assistant. I couldn't stop laughing.

I hate bureaucracy...

2007-04-21T20:25:21Z

... and unfortunately the combination of chaos and bureaucracy is what has been occupying me since Easter :P I can't wait for the moment all my Erasmus arrangements will be made... *When oh when?*
And I need to buy a laptop soon and the prospect of spending much money and making use of all my savings is not an optimistic one :-/

I wanted to write about a couple of things that happened recently, but somehow i cannot even arrange them in my mind. The chaos in my department's student exchange office must be "infectiuos" ;-)

Oh, yes, one thing I want to share is my "academic" contribution to my uni. department. A group of some younger students wanted to do something with the awfully Unkempt patio in our department and, since I honestly couldn't join them in cleaning or painting this week, I chipped in with my friend Ewa and we... bought a rhododendron :) I'll take care of it, at least till I'm in Poznań, and I hope it will grow big and beautiful :) Hihi, there's always a way to leave a personal mark somewhere... not that I wouldn't like to become an exquisite linguist and be able to make some more academic contributions ;-) For now I can at least make my department a greener and more pleasant plAce :D

I may prefer mountains to the see but I really like ships...

2007-04-01T12:04:30Z

... and my favorite kind is friend-ship. And this special ship may actually come by train. And there should be some extra connections for spontaneous "ships" with friends because such spontaneous visits rule (and should not end that quickly because of a limited number of train connections!)! And Dori rules for being such a spontaneous sailor of friend-ship. Since I can only speak for myself, I'll say that I had a wonderful time with her and I'll miss her and our (today's and yesterday's) walks around Poznań soooooo much. Still, such visits are definitely worth the post-visit longing, because we have nice memories to ease the parting. (I demand more and cheaper Warszawa-Poznań trains!) Yes, and there always remains a whole group of important and unimportant matters I somehow forget to share with Dori. Hmm, but it simply feels like I don't really need anything more that the presence of a friend, especially if it's a rare one. :) Being with friends, all other issues of my life are put aside.

We took a couple of photos and I'm really looking forward to see/share them in due time... (Dori, remember I want at least the portraits at the railway station : ) )

And... We watched the clip, "Pop! goes my heart," which was totally funny but shall not be mentioned anymore this time 'cos I'm now trying to cure myself from the image of Hugh grant in his frilly shirt, tight pants, etc. that I still ahve in my head. (As a compromiose, I'm now listening to the other song from the same movie)

There was one especially important, entertaining, nostalgic (...) great thing we did with Dori. We watched FFH! :) This was the first time I saw it since we left Latvia, so I was all very very very excited. OMG, on the one hand, it feels like ages ago; but on the other hand, those memories are still so vivid. I was so great to see us all together :) (and so strange and funny to watch myself. I've discovered I can have a friendly/understanding laugh at myself and that seems good.) Actually, I'm still so excited about it... yah, who cares about studying... I need to watch soem bits of FFh again NOW!!!

(Dzieki za wszystko, Dori :)

good&bad&ordinary news

2007-03-29T22:06:19Z

And again I feel like writing about so many different things... I need some form of a system to shorten my flow of words. Maybe this'll work:

The good news is that:

- my application for Erasmus was ACCEPTED!!!!
So, unless sth seriously problematic crops up...*wait a sec! this was supposed to be about GOOD news! Start again...*
I'm going to spend my next winter semester in VIENNA! :)) Where are my guidebooks?! Viennese museums, parks,...., beware, I'm coming!

- my salsa course ended some time ago nad since it wasn't thaaaat much fun for me I decided to look for something else and I went to... BELLY DANCE classes... Yes, you've heard/read it right; strange as it may seem :P Honestly, I would have never ever thought such things are for me... but it's actually so much fun!!! And there are few steps so I don't get lost and lose the rhythm much. And it doesn't require much space so I can practice at home as well (which was a bit of a problem when I tried to dance salsa) And although it's not really that exhausting and I'm not loosing weight, and I'm not reeeally good at it, etc. it atcually made me LIKE MYSELF more (my body, I mean). It's more than a dance. It teaches patience, makes you calm and energetic at the same time. Physically & mentally... And, well, don't get me wrong, I really like men, but... It's kinda nice that we are all women there; many of us being not that young and not that slim (if ya know what I mean...) and we still try to muster some grace in the moves we make, successfully or not... And, insignificant as it may seem, the long colourful/shiny skirts some of us have are cute, I must say :) Yeah, I've found my type of "dancing".

- I'm getting more and more proficient in finding my no-charge methods of entertaining myself. :) I've been to two nice plays recently. One was in German Konig Ubu (Ubu Roi/ King Ubu)and I understood litttle beyond the general storyline, but the acting was so professional it made it all really worthwhile. The other was E.Ionesco's "Jacques, ou la soumission" (Jack or the submission / Kubuś czyli uległość). This one was in Polish, fortunately, 'cos I wouldn't wanna miss all the language-based pjokes, puns that is. :)) One joke actually saved my day, 'cos it referred to cats and the topic of cats was very important to me that day (for the reasons given it the "bad news" part)

The ordinary news is that:

- I had to give up leaving some of my stuff at my faculty's library lockers throughout the day 'cos other people got the same idea and there were no free lockers left for those who wanted to enter the library. And so the librarians "rebelled." Of course they were right. I knew that from the very beginning, but it was sooooo damn comfortable (hihi or should I say: light) without all the kilograms of books I often have to carry with me :(( My poor spine will really miss the locker. And they say that studying is a mental activity... Nope, carrying my bags today - I sometimes need 2 bags of Thursday - is an arduous, physical, spine-damaging task! :P

The bad news is that ...
... well, it somehow doesn't feel right to mention this as the last thing and i should have devoted a separate entry to that sad fact, but I couldn't have done that 'cos there was something wrong with my internet connection at that time... anyways...
I used to have a dog and 2 cats (in Tychy). And we allowed the cats to go outside quite freely' cos we somehow feel pity for those cats who are kept indoors all the time (and may get crazy or depressed). And everything was fine as we live in a quiet neighborhood with little traffic in the nearest vicinity. But... Now I have just 1 cat, the younger one. Her mom, Nina, is gone :((( And because I really can't blame the cat for her behavior and I don't want to blame my family for the freedom we gave to our cats, just let me say... I HATE CARELESS DRIVERS! :(((

- My old and epileptic dog is really old and epileptic, and any day...

So as to finish this post on a less sad note... The Easter break is coming. The spring has already come and the days seem longer, especially after the time change. And me & my flatmate got some flowers in the kitchen. :)))

voorjaarssneuw

2007-03-22T08:06:45Z

I really have nothing against that beautiful (!!!) SNOW I see on the second day of the calendar SPRING, but I won't be that happy is it snows in June, etc. Dear Mother Nature, don't freak out, or I'll freak out.

attic... attracted... possibly addicted...

2007-03-17T22:47:51Z

My Irish theater night was indeed exciting, if not magical. Initially it all got a bit wrong when my friend called and told me she couldn't go and I couldn't find anyone else to join me 'cos half of the people I know in Posnań has the flu and the othr half was busy with their studies, etc. Damn, I got mad 'cos it took me some effort to get those free tickets & I wanted to celebrate my first time at the cafe/club/theater "U przyjaciół" ("At friend's place") with friends! I've heard soooo much about that place and visited their website a couple of times but somehow could not end up going there. This time I promised myself not to miss the chance, and I'm very grateful to myself I went there.

The play was awesome! The story line was actually quite simple. Since it's St Patrick's Day, it was the legend of that saint, "the true version of the legend" as the posters said ;-) The thing is that the atmosphere was extraordinary. The whole event started outdoors at a small square and than we moved upstairs (up a very old wooden staircase) and ended up in an attic of an old tenement house. That's where the play was performed. The stage was actually screened with a sheet so we could only see the shadows but it was this very effect and the atmosphere of an old attic ( enthusiastic and funny actors an even more enthusiastic and relatively small audience) that made the whole event really special. I feel like going there again ASAP, aspecially that I still haven't actually been in the cafe itself. I only know it's attic :-) Yes, "U Przyjaciół" is definitely worth becoming my next "magical spot" in Poznań. i need more of such places, especially when I miss soem people or places far away.

One other such place is at Poznań's newly opened part of the Old Brewery Center (Stary Browar). Nope, it's not that I like shopping there. Most of the shops seem to posh for me, but there's this one place at a small square between the older and the newer part of that shopping mall... That place in Poznań is my personal substitute of the railway station in Kraków... Now that I've discovered that spot I'll go ther everytime I miss Kraków and it's railway station. (Yes, some people can miss railway stations...)

Hmmm... I wanted to write sth about my new dance experience but neee... Let this note be my reminder to do it next time.

Bloody Sunday on Good Friday

2007-03-16T23:13:13Z

I wish other countries would be as popular as Ireland is in Poland. There's always something interesting going on during the Irish Week in Poznań. Today I had the chance to re-watch "Bloody Sunday." I mean "re-watch" in two senses. I had already seen it before, but this time was different in two ways. It was not on a TV screen but in a movie, my favorite Malta movie (caught no sight of the heebo usher, though...). The other ting is that I watched it on a day that was actually rather good. My personal happiness made me see the sadness *not the best word* of the whole story even more clearly. A real mixture of being happy-moved-appalled. Ironically this truly was a good friday for me. And I made some decisions. Yeah, I had my own Good Friday Agreement. *I do hope my history teacher would appreciate such an association, ironic though it is*

Anyway, today I finally submitted my Socrates/Erasmus application form. I had beed thinking about it (whether to go or not and where to go) for so long that I had had enough. It all got hard 'cos I'm also learning Dutch and need to have a chance to continue that abroad... And I need to write my M.A. thesis next year... And, of course, money is always the problem... And the apartment... etc etc. There are actually more minuses than pluses but I just couldn't resist. Making the decision to try and apply was a great relief. So, now I have to wait and see what happens. At best, I'll spend my next winter semester in Vienna. Or some other place. Or in Poznań. :)

I have to admit, "SAVE MONEY" is much towards the top of my living-rules list now. The good thing is that I don't spend that much on food now. The bad thing is that this doesn't directly translate into eating less. Crappy food can be soooo cheap. Another good thing about saving money is that I'm now again more determined to search for free entertainment. I mean, I've never been a frequent cinema goer and preferred to watch movies at home, but I've always enjoyed theater and museums, etc. Now that I have a little bit more free time this academic year & an urge to save money, I really appreciate the small joys of life that are free of charge :) I try to go for walks more often, I read for pleasure more, I lend movies from others, go to free cinema nights, free theater evenings, exhibitions... Well, ok , *hold on, girl* there's not that much of that fun 'cos I still have to study a lot; but it is an improvement.

And so, tomorrow I hope to continue celebrating "Irishness" whatever it means in Poland... Theater this time.

But now, I need some sleep. I can't even recall the next thing I wanted to mention... Anyway, I have a hardworking day ahead of me before a (hopefully) pleasurable evening tomorrow... Time for bed.

we fly, we fall...

2007-02-27T22:46:00Z

Last Friday I finally managed to go and see Polski Teatr Tańca (Polish Dance Thearte). Wooow. All those people who used to tell me that this dancing troupe from Poznań simply rocks proved right, sooo right. I did not expect that watching modern dance could move me so much. And those bodies... I'm straight so it's not surprising I find male bodies attractive, but the thing is watching those dancers, their perfectly harmonious bodies & muscles in action, made me think of human physical beauty in general. And human capabilities... On the one hand, we are capable of soo much. It's enough to look at all the sportsmen... On the other hand, some of us go too far. I mean, those performers were extraordinary dancers-actors but when I think of those bodybuilders who simply work at the gym to have more and more muscles to show off it makes me feel sick. Blah. I like strength and harmony, not excess.

Yet another thing is that some of us are so weak... On Saturday I watched TV and noticed that ta big issue started in Poland, concerning a paralyzed guy who asks for euthanasia. He's so helpless... I feel sorry for him. Actually , not only because he's paralyzed but even more so because he doesn't see the point in living anymore; and he is perfectly ok with regard to thinking and can communicate (though with considerable dificulties). Still, the fact that he cannot control his body makes him think he is useless. He seems to find his body more important than his mind. I think it's sad and very human at the same time. He's body's suffering so his mind must be suffering as well... But is his life really pointless? Somehow I still see the point in it... with my poor short-sighted eyes, though. Damn, life's tough.

So, our bodies can fly in a dance and fall (from a motorbike, like that guy did) and become numb. Our minds can fall as well... And sometimes both our bodies and our minds (or morals) fall at the same time... and then... and then, among other stuff, I hear (on Sunday) about yet another woman I know being betrayed, etc.

And then on Monday, I mean yesterday, I saw it all, fallen bodies, rejuvenated bodies, fallen souls, rejuvenated souls (in all sequences) in a theater play shown on TV. And the main hero is to stand for a real man - father Jan Góra, who's still living and whose sermon I happened to hear the previous day at a student ministry in Poznań. I thought it would be surreal to see a play about someone whom I could actually see every Sunday or averytime I wanted, actually. But the whole play proved, very unexpectedly, truly realistic. It showed that controversial monk with all his weaknesses, flaws, etc. but also with his constant fight for what he believes in.

So, that's about it... Flying. Falling. Fighting (in the meantime?).

Heh, I think I'd like some more of the MIDDLE ground this week. :-P

Oh, and there was one more flying-falling thing yesterday... My friends and me came up with a new holiday... Squirrel Day. The reasons for that were many and complex. For me it simply suited the whole flying-falling matter. After all, squirrels don't fly but they also don't fall that easily... And, after all, sometimes any reason to cheer up is a good one.

"Some movies should never end..."

2007-02-18T20:07:07Z

That was my first thought after watching "Paris, je t'aime" (a.k.a. Paris, I love you or Zakochany Paryż) yesterday. This movie stole my heart. It made me believe again that the topic of love is still productive. I mean, I know love is not a cliche but a really great and important thing. It's just that good movies about love happen so rarely. (Not that I hate romantic comedies as such. They serve their own purpose... but they don't really move me deeply). Well, watching "Paris, je t'aime" made me feel I was experiencing something grand. The stories (and there are like 20 of them, each directed by someone else) were sometimes simple but somehow very original. Some made me laugh, some made me a bit sad. Together they made me see many of the countless shades of love. The fact that it was only the general topic (love) and the city (Paris) that bound the stories together was really refreshing (no time to get bored!) but at the same time I got emotionally attached to the multiple characters whenever a new story began. Which was the best one? I don't know. I think I enjoyed them all, but maybe the one by Tom Tykwer. It was so "tykwerish"... I luv his style. But then again others played with my emotions as well... The one with the mime and the last one were so funny. And that with Gaspar or the stabbed man... And that with... OMG! I really need to watch that movie again.

Another great thing about this film was that I watched it with Agata (a.k.a. Agasta, Stacha...) whom I havn't seen for more than a year now that she has finished her studies and moved out from Poznań. I am really thankful to her for inviting me to see that movie. And for choosing the cinema! I had never been to Kino Malta in Poznań before and that was a mistake. It is an absolutely lovely little cinema with walls full of old photos and a cashier, usher & operator of the film projector in one (heeboish) person. Oh, right, the heebo may also serve as a photographer when asked (I reeeeally had to have a photo of me and Agata and the walls) and a specialist on cell-phone cables (thanks to whom I'm now encouraged to buy the damn thing to get my photos out of my mobile). Heh, I feel like going to this cinema averytime I have some spare money now! Now, not for the heebo. For the movies (obviously) and for photos on the walls. I'm a great fan of Audrey Hepburn and they have a couple of her pics there. Soo nice.

Audrey is my second reward for finishing the awful (blah blah blah) term papers. (The first one being my trip to Kraków, as I mentioned the last time) Well, not Audrey herself of course but two lovely posters with her that I bought for half of their ordinary price. I've been meaning to put them on my walls for some time now but I can't decide about the place. And I need a special adhesive tape or sth else that would win with my walls. Nothing sticks to them. Even nails don't hold! *grrr*

Oh, one more thing i realized yesterday. Good teachers are essential. I'm not much of a skater and I always wondered why. No one ever taught me how to skate on ice, I usually went skating alone in Tychy, and I always felt I was going it all wrong. I finally got someone to go skating with me in Poznań yesterday and my friends gave me some hints. :-) The chances are I will learn how to push both of my legs properly one day. Unless that was the first and the only time I went skating this season (which is actually quite probable :-/ ).