Salt and Pepper Romance

Ok, trying again - the first video never loaded beyond 2 out of 3 seconds. So I added "a few frames" as the youtube help forum suggested, magically expanding the length to 22 seconds. But who needs content when you can have credits? ;)

Overliteral service

Odd moment:
I only had one set of keys, which can cause unnecessary logistic complications when you have visitors. So I set out to get copies. Hala Targowa seemed like a good place to go: It's pseudo-ancient outward appearance houses many different stands and services under a bravely curved concrete roof.

I had a helpful native speaker with me - anything to appear respectable and deflect all uncomfortable questions about security and permissions and certificates necessary to receive a legal copy.

But there were no questions asked. Instead, I received a 1:1 copy of my keys. Upon closer inspection, the new set gives the same instructions as the originals: "Nie kopiowac" - "Do not copy".

Gigantic Pixels

I somehow didn't manage to go in person but Tomasz documented the event for posterity:

A student dorm, transformed into a giant screen! (More videos are in his youtube channel.)

This is a really, really cool idea. :)

Welcome to the (sur)real world

There is something to be said for living in an environment where language barriers mean that sense routinely escapes you to some extent. My idea of what there is to be said for it varies, depending on how exactly I fill in the gaps of understanding and how much I like my resulting interpretation. On some days, I will happily assure you that it is inspiring and amusing and surely boosts your creativity and/or repertoire of anecdotes with which to bore potential grandchildren. On other days, I just silently plot my escape.

Examples?

1. Today. I walk home from a bit of shopping, the sun slowly setting, a park across the street, through the nice part of my neighborhood. An old lady moves toward me, she has trouble walking despite the cane, and from her toothless mouth, she tells me "Niech pani SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND nie tak czysty!". I detect a certain level of urgency but I have no idea what she is trying to tell me, except that she advises me to do SOUND SOUND and if I don't, something runs the risk of not remaining so clean.
Well, I have been monitoring my surroundings for sudden dirt since. Nothing so far. But I still wonder which dangers I am so blissfully unaware of.

2. A while ago. One of the little Zabka supermarkets down he street from my house. They are open until 11pm, as the windows announce in bold letters. It's around 9:30 but the door is locked, and an elderly couple stands in front of it, banging on it. One of the Zabka ladies emerges, unlocks the door, looks left and right, lets the couple and us inside, and locks the door behind us. There is no explanation. As we wait by the cash desk, one guy who was already locked in the cupboard-like shop stuffs his pockets with candy that he clearly has no intention to pay. We leave. They lock the door behind us. Why?!

3.


4. A few months ago. I have a note from the police stuck to my door, asking me to contact them immediately. A coworker calls them for me as I assume correctly that they will not speak English. I am informed that my neighbor has complained about me: I am too silent! He thinks I am just imaginary! Someone only told him that he had someone living next door when in fact I am never there!
I met him once, and he did not actually seem too concerned for my well-being but just went right at it again: How I'm never home! How I haven't been around in months!
The police had suspected the same because they never found me at home when they checked on me. "She works during the day. She's only home in the evenings", my coworker explains. They remain incredulous. (Truly, what an odd thing for me to do, "work"!). But I do not hear from them again - despite the loud SLAM when my neighbor closed the door on me, after I explained that I could not quite follow his monologue because of my limited Polish.

5. Seems that there are some fans of Düsseldorf right around the corner in my neighborhood! Now, the fact alone that you might like Düsseldorf enough to spray it anywhere seems surreal to me >;). On a house somewhere in central Wroclaw, above a third-floor window, this seems even less likely.

6. Jehova's Witnesses fleeing my door. The fact that I couldn't follow their speech (and that I pretended to know even less Polish than I do) did not lessen their enthusiasm one bit: The young man ventured boldly out into the world of spoken English. He was going to save me! Only that I, unknowingly, still had the power of making them flee in an instant: Upon discovering that I was Not Catholic but in fact Lutheran Protestant, they left within seconds. They were back a week or two later. When I opened the door, the young man just mumbled something about "Oh, I remember you!" and dragged the lady by his side with him, away from the... what? Am I a threat? Never before have I felt like I was perceived as a member of a dangerous cult! Heh.

Creative Androidery

My phone needed a home: All this touch-screen fanciness made it seem quite vulnerable to the rough life inside spacious handbags. But of course, it couldn't be just any home - little Androids are vain and have a strongly developped fashion sense. So an Android portrait it had to be, of course, and just to amuse myself, I used a "Teach yourself Java" book during its creation in order to attach the little feltbot to the corduroy, pre-stitching.

I'm ridiculously fond of this.

I also have (robot-free) plans for a skirt (that has been half-finished for over a year now) and a dress (not yet started, but I did bravely enter a fabric shop for it and managed the entire transaction from explaining what I wanted to the lady's recommendations to the actual purchase in Polish. So no matter the result, I'm already proud.)

Only that now, the evenings are mild and warm and beg to be used for walks and open-air beer consumption! I'll have to try and squeeze in some time...

Dublin: Palm Trees in the Snow

The main thing being discussed here, unsurprisingly, is the recession, what with Dell leaving Ireland and tens of thousands of jobs lost. More surprising is the speed with which small tourist traps adjust to it. I like their attitude. And the visual punk music reference.


For a few days, however, the recession was boring compared to the really big news: The Snow Chaos. For proper chaos, including a complete airport shutdown, one inch is plenty. And when the entire snow of a whole lawn combined is enough to make a knee-high snowman, taxi drivers will still find enough fun facts about snow to fill the long ride from the airport to the center. Our driver was around 60, but she seemed to share her grandchildren's excitement for this fascinating weather phenomenon. Amazingly, snow that melts a little and freezes over makes a crackling sound, and snow that melts more and freezes then makes... well, ice. "You have to be extra careful, dear, it is like... like... like walking on glass!!" She was excited that her grandchildren could finally do all the things they knew only from TV, and all around Dublin, children were hunting for remaining snowballable bits of snow.

(Let's digress. Small foray into Polish backyard discoveries: If you have a backyard the size of a medium suburb and everyone in the large multi-story houses around it owns a dog, winter weather and snow that is closer to 10 than 1 inch means that all resulting feces will find a nice, cozy bed, where they will be nicely preserved by the frost, and covered by the next snowfall to give an impression of complete cleanliness.
Until the snow melts. And leaves a whole month's combined digested dog food on the ground.)

Back to Dublin! The snow made way for glorious sunshine, and now for something halfway between rain and slush that still provide the frequent meteorological variations that every visitor to Ireland expects (and can do without, I would have been fine with lasting sunshine).

Winter Wronderland

I am quite fond of my new desk - our teams switched desks recently, and this move changed my view of an unexciting, yellow-brown Polish town house to a view of Wroclaw's skyline, including a bit of Odra river, several Odra islands and a couple of church steeples.

The sudden frost (-20°C!) adds some extra beauty, especially if you can admire it from the +22°C office!