Friday, September 14, 2007

Ładny Dzień






Nice day. The sun was out all day, little or no clouds, a grat day to take a walk and ride the bus so we did. We bought our 10 minute tickets for bus and tram, got on bus 77 heading for the Baltyk stop near Rondo Kaponiera and then decide we would walk to Płac Wolności instead of taking the tram. We passed by some buildings belonging to Mickiewicz University and the academy of music. We arrived at the building where we were to leave our applications. In front of us was a guy from the U.S. and his Polish girlfriend. He was applying for his second visa and didn't have all of his papers in order and when they told him he would have to come back with them he got very beligerent. Fortunately the woman behind the counter didn't know what he was saying but I did and I was ready to take him outside and teach him a little patience. I think it's people like him that create the image here that all Americans are like him.


After he was done, leaving angry, we were next and we turned in our papers. The lady looked them all over, said they were all in order and asked to see our passports. I pointed out that she had copies of our passports but she needed to see the originals. Of all things to forget, our passports. So...............Monday we will return and show them to her. I thanked her for her time and said we would be back Monday.


We walked down Paderewskiego street to Stary Rynek, a little hungry so we stopped at a favorite spot, Room 55 with it's outside cafe. I, again, ordered Zurek Staropolski and Joan, Zupa Grzybowa, both finely prepared soups. Not only are the soups great but the bread they serve is outstanding. We sat and ate, watching the people pass by and the usual Friday wedding taking place in the square. We were done about 3PM and walked the ten blocks to Stary Browar, to a health food store to get a few items we wanted. We stopped along the way at a music store and I bought a set of strings for my classical guitar. It's been so many years since I played, it's like starting all over again. Then we walked the ten blocks to Rondo Kaponiera where we caught bus "69" back home.
Dzień miłego. Słońce było poza cały dzień, mało albo żadne chmury, grat dzień by pospacerować i jeździć autobusem tak zrobiliśmy. Kupiliśmy nasze 10 biletów minuty dla autobusu i tramwaju, dostaliśmy się na autobus 77 kierowania się do Baltyk zatrzymania blisko Ronda Kaponiera i wtedy decydujemy się, że chodzilibyśmy do Płac Wolności zamiast brania tramwaju. Pominęliśmy kilka budynków należące do Mickiewicz Uniwersytetu i akademii muzyki. Przybyliśmy do budowy gdzie mieliśmy zostawić nasze aplikacje. Przed nami był facet ze Stanów Zjednoczonych i jego polskiej dziewczyny. On zwracał się o jego drugą wizę i nie miał wszystkich z jego papierów w porządku i kiedy oni powiedzieli mu on musiałby wrócić z nimi on dostał bardzo beligerent. Na szczęście kobieta za ladą nie znała czego on mówił ale zrobiłem i byłem gotowy by wziąć go na zewnątrz i nauczyć mu trochę erpliwości. Myślę, że to jest ludzie jak go, który tworzą obraz tutaj, że wszyscy Amerykanie są jak go.
Gdy on był zrobiony, wyruszając rozgniewany, my byliśmy następnym i skręciliśmy w naszych papierach . Pani wyglądała na nich po, powiedziała, że oni są wszystkim w porządku i poprosili zobaczyć nasze paszporty. Wskazałem, że ona miała kopie naszych paszportów ale ona potrzebny by zobaczyć oryginałów. Wszystkich rzeczy by zapomnieć, nasze paszporty. So...............Monday wrócimy i pokażemy im do niej. Podziękowałem jej za jej czas i powiedziałem, że będziemy z powrotem poniedziałkiem.
Zeszliśmy Paderewskiego ulicę do Stary Rynek, trochę głodnego tak zatrzymaliśmy się przy ulubionym miejscu, Pokój 55 z tym jest zewnętrzna kawiarnia. Ja, znowu, rozkazałem Zurek Staropolski i Joan, Zupa Grzybowa, obie świetnie przygotowane zupy. Nie tylko są zupy wielkie ale chleb, który oni służą są widocznym. Usiedliśmy i zjedliśmy, obserwując ludzie mijają i zwykły piątku ślub mający miejsce w kwadracie. Byliśmy zrobieni o 3PM i chodziliśmy dziesięć bloków do Stary Browar, do sklepu ze zdrową żywnością by dostać kilka pozycji, których chcieliśmy. Zagrodziliśmy naprzód drogę przy sklepie muzyki i kupiłem zestaw sznurów dla mojej klasycznej gitary. To było tak dużo lat odkąd pobawiłem się, to jest jak zaczynające się od nowa. Wtedy chodziliśmy dziesięć bloków do Ronda Kaponiera gdzie złapaliśmy autobusowi "69" tylnego domu.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to thank you for putting together such a great blog. I have recently been getting in touch with my Eastern European roots (learning Polish history and taking language classes), hope to travel to Poland in 2008, and (maybe) eventually live the expatriate lifestyle. Your blog gives us a picture of what daily life is like for an American in a foreign country.

A few questions – Given the difficulty of the language, how long do you expect it to take to become proficient? If you were not retired, do you think you would be able to find gainful employment currently (assuming you had the proper work permits)? I know you touched upon the cost of things earlier, but in general, coming from a major American metro area (Chicago, Philadelphia, etc.) is the overall cost of living (e.g., housing, utilities, car, food, etc.) about the same as in the US? I recall from being in the Czech Republic that food and services were inexpensive, but most other things were not.

Keep up the good work.

Jeff (jnekrasz@yahoo.com)

Joan and David Piekarczyk said...

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the input on the blog.
How long do I expect it to take to be proficient in Polish? God only knows :-) I'm hoping one year to communicate better but at least 2 years or more for proficiency. Our lessons are 3 times a week for the next school year but we have to get more involved with people who speak Polish. My young relatives like to practice their english when speaking with us so the only practice of Polish conversation is outside of the family or with older relatives. It is difficult but something is stuck in my brain from when I was much younger and speaking Polish so it seems to come to me easier than my wife, who is not Polish descent.
Gainful employment? That's also hard to know because I worked as a programmer but we used a specialized program that only a few company's can use so progamming would be out. I think employment might be possible but certainly not at the wages in the U.S.
Cost of living in Poznań, for us, is cheaper than Chicago. But the savings comes from health insurance and prescriptions. In the states that would be $40,560zlotych, here it's $10,800zl so that's our biggest difference. Food, in most cases, is almost the same cost now.Gas, of course, is outrageous. Flats are about $200 cheaper here. Houses are closing the gap to American prices. Our money will be coming from our SS checks each month and what we actually will see will depend on daily rate of exchange but, even with all that, we are happy with our decision to move to Poland. I just read today a message from an 89 year old woman who said that life stops when your dreams stop. This is our dream......and it's just beginning.