W Warszawy - Ost Blog
Chapter VI - Polska Reloaded
[Thu, Oct 30th] Restart
After a week of doing nothing in Berlin, I am working with the students in Poznan for this week. Poznan feels like a gentle and warm haven caressing my wretched self. I fell in love with the place.
Like one year before, I am staying at a hostel, exploring the city on foot, knowing almost nobody. Living off the shelves of department stores. Yesterday I spent one hour buying a towel. Bought a luxury towel, which was the only one I could find. I could metabolize now about the ratio of towel stores to stores for ladies' wear and conclude that towels simply are not sexy enough for Poznan.
On the other hand, I am taking little luggage by intention. Cut off my supply lines deliberately. Playing short-stacked, as my brother would say. Or burning my ships, like Pizzarro. I don't feel lost for even a second. Knowing both my assets and my limits now, the future unfolds like a blossom.
[Thu, Nov 15th] Por la Manana
After attending dancing classes sporadically for a while, the dancing fever got me again. Last weekend, my colleague Michal and me went to a Salsa workshop. We barely came out until monday night. Salsa Libre had prepared a gorgeous programme with cuba-related dances, shows and parties. I had the pleasure to watch the one or other face become dizzy after lots of Coppelias, Enchuflas and Caresses, and still smiling. My cup of life is full again.
[Mon, Dec 3rd] Zobrowka
Two Poles, a Dane, an Indian, an US American and a Finnish-German drive through Warsaw at night. Cruising through the east side of the river between brick buildings kept together by wooden bars and the will of god. Where are they going? We were looking for the Zobrowka factory, where one of Polands most famous Vodkas comes from. The environment and the whole idea of getting there made expectations high: Endless trains of tank wagons, guards armed with automatic rifles, huge distillation towers where they are burning excess alcohol on top. Of course, it was less spectacular in real but still a funny trip.
[Wed, Dec 5th] Moving out
I moved out of my flat, but did not really move into the new one yet. Two guys, two hours, a few boxes, lots of heavy gear left behind. I hardly noticed, if it were not for saying goodbye the Ostrowski family who I rent the old place from.
[Thu, Dec 6th] Independence Day II
The main disadvantage of being a member of a very small national minority is that you almost never meet your fellow countrymen. The advantage is that your ambassador can afford to invite everybody to the party. So I came to see the interior of the Finnish embassy. It was beautiful indeed, and very Finnish: Big rooms, bright wooden panels, modern art pictures and minimalistic glass design. Almost like my old flat. Security was very low; Finland has not joined the ranks of paranoid countries in this world yet. There were free drinks and very delicious fingerfood. Unfortunately no music. Lots of well-dressed people, foreign diplomats and kinky military uniforms. Of course, I didn't know close to anyone. Thanks to my very pleasant company, it was not boring for a minute.
[Fri, Dec 11th] The trophies of Mr. Pingoud
I visited Giessen for several days again, to do my homework in a place where my projects do not constantly distract me from each other. Professor Pingoud, the head of our EU network, has an impressive record of about twenty PhD students that completed their theses with him. Each of these fellows got their tie cut off and nailed to the wall. Wow.
[Mon, Jan 7th] Kochbattle
Following a statement about my cooking abilities, my friend Borris and I met for a cooking contest. We had Ostrich in Pomgranate and Deer in Cassis/Cranberry. We both had a lot of fun, and were well-prepared. While Borris scored with a carefully selected wine, I had some well tested arrangement on the table. Our four-person Jury certainly had a lot to do eating and sharing points afterwards, and it honored both contestants that it was a very tight contest.
[Sun, Jan 27th] Home improvement
I moved in almost en passant. Now I live above ground, closer to work and leisure, and, most important, with my colleague Wojtek. Spent a few days painting, drilling, screwing. Was more for the fun of it than necessary. I like the result. My room has become a source of energy, motivating me to go out right away.
[Tue, Feb 5th] We got robbed!
While in Berlin for the weekend, my debit card suddenly stopped working. When I checked my account balance, I noticed that 500 EUR had been withdrawn from an ATM in Rome, Italy. I could't remember being there at all, so I asked the bank what was going on. They informed me that someone has copied my card, stolen the PIN and started using it. Without suspecing any Family in particular, this sounded way too organized. At the Police they had already seen a queue of local people having the same problem recently.
Currently, I am waiting for my new card to arrive and the insurance paying back my money. Means I'm effectively cut off supply lines, living of some cash reserves. The lent period is starting tomorrow anyway, so thats not too much to worry about.
To see who else got robbed, see the McVegas Blog, and more recently Becoming Luthier by the same author.
[Wed, Feb 6th] Carnival
Wojtek and I celebrated carnival and our flat-share with some people. Among our most illustrous guests were Andrzej, who is a writer and cabarettist, Kogut, our crazy system administrator, a Chinese, a Swedish girl and Jassir Arafat. In the middle of the party we encountered a priest on the stairs, but he was real, not a disguised one. We killed the Champagne that I had left since my PhD defence. It was awesome.
The cleanup on the next day showed clear signs that the party must have been a success: three or four broken glasses, one broken hand, a wasted kitchen, and almost no headache.