W Warszawy - Ost Blog
Chapter I - Arrival
[Tue, Sep 26th, 2006, 9:00] Stripped
The national anthem was playing while i lowered, folded and packed the Finnish flag into my walizka. A few other things will join me tonight in the first wave towards Warszawa: Notebook. Shirts. Polish dictionary. Toothbrush. If these were my only belongings i could leave right away. But the abundance of my possessions made it necessary to pile my stuff up: A second wave of things i will need in Warszawa as soon as i get a place to stay: Science books. Favourite mousepad. Chess board. Another pile is the heavy equipment i will not use there: Drilling machine with german power plug. Toys and children's books. Grandmas 12-person set of porcelain. Lots of entirely senseless things also turned up: CD records. Huge paintings. Table covers. Things i need to give back to other people. Not to mention all the furniture.
Leaving all this behind, i feel like stripping off several layers of old skin, worn and dry. In some way, they no longer belong to me, as if they never did. My young skin seems to reflect the sunlight, and sensible enough to feel a single beam.
[Tue, Sep 26th, 21:06] OkiDoki
Tonight i will stay at the OkiDoki hostel. The building houses a splendid bank foyer in the ground floor. Entering in early morning, the first thing i saw was a mermaid statue with impressive breasts. So the place suggests to nurse its residents well, and i wasnt disappointed when i saw the interior. Clean and well-equipped. Of course, there was the usual western mixture you find in every embassy of the global nation: Freedom crusaders, aimless students, nice local clerkesses, sense-seeking mid-aged women with huge backpacks, and as always a surprisingly high proportion of australians. There also was an annoying guy who claimed his stuff was snitched at the breakfast table in some Polish/English blather "Someone drugi my sok and my jajka".
In the afternoon, Andrzej and Michael from the institute helped me in my quest for a flat. We checked a 500zl room in a flat-share together. The room was fully furnitured, which seems quite common in Warszawa. Ok. It were dark brown oldschool pieces which i hadn't been allowed to move. Ok. The place just wasn't extraordinarily clean. Ok. There was a smell comming from a dog constantly yipping in the room next door. Not Ok. Maybe i should make myself comfortable in the OkiDoki.
[Wed, Sep 27th, 23:30] Biotech
Had to pay a visit to the doctor before starting to work. Dorota from international affairs came with me to a public health center. This was a crowded place housing lots of doctors in small rooms. We were first sent to the okularist. There sat a friendly old guy who obviously was the doctor. He let me read some letters. I had more difficulties spelling the polish characters than actually recognizing them. In fact, i didn't even take off my glasses. Next door, i was asked whether i had diabetes, hemophilia type MCMXIII, regular doses of cocaine and the usual crap. Another doctor measured my blood pressure and tried her stethoscope. That was it.
Having all possible medical checks made in Berlin, i didn't bother. With an official certificate of being alive, i could start working.
[Thu, Sep 28th] In the Ghetto
It seems my quest for a place to live was successful. Michael drove with me to a place not more than 2km from the institute. There, several dozen apartment blocks were lined up, surrounded by a respectable fence. The gate was secured by a bar, a security guard, and by spikes on the ground ready to perforate any vehicle trying to breach in unless it was a tank. Nearby, there even was a railway line. Felt strange, but the people were living there voluntarily, they even had bought the place.
Mr. and Mrs. Ostrowski showed me their 'kawalerka' in the basement. A single 40sqm room with kitchenette plus bath. Currently, there were two bored guys about to leave for the UK. Lots of furniture, a brown filthy carpet, almost no windows. But well-cut, lots of space, and a building in good shape. Surely something i could make something of.
We went upstairs into the Ostrowski flat, starting negotiations. Meaning, i sipped tea and candies most of the time, listening carefully. To my surprise, i understood quite a lot of what was going on. The couple was warm and welcoming to us, otherwise i would barely stood the 1.5 hour marathon. I needed to confirm several times that i needed zero furniture. We talked about rent, warm and cold water, about getting internet to the place. They even called the local network administrator and the installation company (and reached both after 8 p.m.!). When they started exchanging job-related stuff and the school situation of their daughter, i knew it was through. Everything for less than 250 Euros. Fully renovated, two weeks from now. The OkiDoki didn't feel the same afterwards.
[Mon, Oct, 2nd] Exploring
Returning from the weekend in Berlin was like tapping on an energy line. In the train, i met a student of my boss. Immediately was back in the science matter. On the train station i managed to explain that i was about to buy a one-week bus ticket. I got a three day ticket, at least, feeling a lot less stupid.
Staszek arranged accomodation for me in his mother's empty flat. Empty, not counting five thousand books and three cats. I quickly made myself comfortable with them. The black one was constantly on the hunt: For freedom, for my salami. The gray one was incredibly adipous. The orange one seemed the most sensible of the trio. She found an excellent resting place on my suitcase where she could scratch her claws. Among my jobs for the next two days is feeding the cats, and watching that they do not spill all the place.
In the evening i went exploring the old town. After a long quest, i found a tiny net cafe in a side alley. There was a crowd of U.S. girls besieging what seemed to be the only telephone line out of poland. After considerable time, i managed to call Nils who sounded like he had eaten a yoghurt including the plastic jar. Calling Marei in France was even worse: i received scattered pieces of sound, occasionally broken by a piece of laughter. After a few minutes, the connection broke. This definitely needs optimization.
[Thu, Oct, 5th] Street lore
Staszek moved me to his father's working place when his mom came back. They host me even better as in the last flat. The room is filled with a mixture of furniture from all ages, a roaring PC, an chinese ad poster from the 1930's which was bought in Berlin. Here, three cats are living, too. The first is Staszeks and Adas kitten, Kielbaska (sausage). The second is bigger and always finds the right moment to jump on my nerves. We don't really get along. The third cat has been invisible so far, but i believe its out there.
Today, Stasz's mother visited us. We were listenning to Kaszik, who is a very versatile polish singer. He adopted some of Tom Wait's music, and some from polish prisoners. Speaking of crime, i recognized that the potential for street violence is much higher than in Berlin. The folks lingering before the late-night alcohol shops spell a different kind than the wracked but usually peaceful bums from Berlin-Moabit. Today Kogut, our crazy system admin, brought an eight-pointed shuriken with him. And Ada recently watched some long-haired bloke popping into a Kebab shop with a real sword on his back. No need to fear. I have my Finnish puukko in my suitcase.
[Mon, Oct 9th] Settling
23:07 I am sitting in a 40 sqm room with clean white walls and decent lighting. Two black cabinets, a small kitchen and a metal wardrobe are my furniture. A big suitcase in the middle of a brown carpet. My bed consists of some thick covers and blankets, a big fluffy pillow and a sleeping bag. I put my favorite picture of the Brandenburg gate right next to it. There is also a strange porcelain elephant, polish luck symbol. A permanent smell like from a haystack is floating inside. I deduce it to the carpet, which i consider architectural fallout. I've reached ground level, landed, dug my first outpost in the uncharted territory. From here, i can begin to work my way up. Twelve hours ago, i finally signed my employment contract.