Party
polska
My always obsession...
Easter
Easter "vacation" is over. It was pleasant enough, but I was a little sad at the end, knowing it was the last major holiday that Kinga will be in her native country for some time. All things come to an end, I suppose, but that particular end is creeping ever closer.
The surprise of the weekend for me was how Wiktor, Kinga's two-and-a-half-year-old nephew, was virtually obsessed with me. Every time he saw me, he was asking, “Wujek, co robisz?” (“Uncle, what are you doing?”) I enjoyed spending time with him, and I actually looked after him for quite a while Friday – or was it Saturday? Can’t recall. At any rate, I enjoyed it, but it was difficult understanding him sometimes. Understanding “baby talk” that’s in a foreign language -- it’s a nightmare. I felt, once again, like I was new in the country, fresh off the plane.
The second surprise: an evening of bridge with everyone. Jan (my father-in-law) taught Daniel (my brother-in-law) how to play bridge, and we played until after midnight Sunday. Kinga and I were partners, and it turned out that she’s an excellent bridge player – better than I am, for sure. We cleaned up, that’s for sure.
This was the first year I didn’t go to the resurrection service. We changed to summertime that Saturday evening/Sunday morning, and the thought of getting up at four (body time) to be at the church at five (again, body time) just did nothing for me.
I went for the blessing of the food -- a Polish tradition that involves going to the church Saturday morning to have a basket of food for Easter breakfast blessed by the priest-- and I went for the night watch, but I just decided to pass on the early morning mass.
A Walk
Views from the Apartment
Around Centrum
Spring
Spring is arriving on time with the calendar here.
The snow is finally beginning to melt. I saw the ground for the first time in months yesterday. Of course there’s still about three feet of snow in most places, so it’ll be a couple of weeks before there’s more green than white, but it’s a start.
A Walk
Brain Leak
It was bound to happen, I suppose. I’d heard of it, but never thought I’d experience it myself.
I’m forgetting English. Not the whole language of course, but isolated words here and there.
For instance, the other day a student asked me what “zniżka” is in English. I stood there thinking, “What is that? ‘Lowered price?’ ‘Rebate?’ What the hell do they call that, a lowered price. Student’s price?!” I couldn’t remember “discount” to save my life.
Exhibit two: I was making a test key for a first-year class’s test, and I came upon the word “pralka.” “That thing for washing clothes,” I mumbled to myself. I closed my eyes and I could see my in-laws’ sitting there. Clothes washer? Washing machine.
Now this is not to say that my Polish is so dang good that I’m more comfortable speaking it than English. No — quite the opposite. I am to Polish what clear-cutters are to bonsai. But as the saying goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Despite my constant reading and writing, words manage to get wedged in my head and I can’t shake the jumble out.
Of course, I have the same problem in Polish. To an exponential degree.
You know you’re in Poland when
discussion in a bar turns to the question of the next pope's nationality.
And it includes names.
Emil Kowalczyk’s Grave
