Wow. 6 months has flown by. What were you doing 6 months ago? 6 months ago, I was looking for an apartment in a brand new country, I didn't understand the language or the "way things worked", and I really had no idea what I was getting into. I got yelled at for not weighing my vegetables myself, I wore dirty clothes because I couldn't figure out my washing machine, and I stayed in on the weekends because I didn't know anyone. Times sure have changed (although I still don't know what people are saying to me).
I really can't believe it's been 6 months. 6 months is a short term apartment lease. 6 months is an entire MLB season. You can get free HBO for 6 months with the right contract. 6 months is even a long relationship with a girl, let alone a relationship with a foreign country. A lot can happen in 6 months. A lot HAS happened in 6 months. You've heard about some of the big trips and stories, but you haven't really heard about the things that happen in daily life. So I thought I'd share some of the less dramatic things that I've experienced every day (besides how to do my laundry and how to buy food), and also things I still have no idea about.
Things I have gotten used to
- Using mini shopping cart at the grocery store
- Polish Groupon - I spend more on it here than I did in SF...and none of it's in English
- Social events where I don't know anyone
- Musicians outside my apartment
- Leaving notes for neighbors in broken Polish when I have parties to make sure they don't call the police (and to politely invite them) - my downstairs neighbor Ania even came to my birthday party!
- Not all Asians speak English. I don't know why, but it's werid to me when Asians (that aren't tourists) don't speak English
- American movies on TV are dubbed into English by the same voice THE ENTIRE TIME. I mean the same guy does the voice for men, women, children, and I would imagine even Mister Ed if he was ever dubbed.
- Assigned seating in movies. Although sometimes I think I'm picking a seat in the back when it's really the front
- Free daily fruit in the office
- People wearing jeans and t-shirts to work, or Euro-style sweaters wrapped around their shoulders (awesome)
- Groups of Polish people speaking English around me to be polite. I appreciate it!
- Google Translate
- People don't put their phones on silent or vibrate, but it still drives me crazy
- EVERYTHING is wire transfer, which is so easy. They've never used checks in this region (and we call the US technologically advanced!)
- Celcius
- Negative 20 degree weather
- Cheep big beer and cheap big meals. 8 zl is a normal price for a large beer, which is not even $3. If someone charges 15 zl, I won't buy it, even though that's less than $5 (and normal) in the US
- Taking the bus to the airport
- Traveling on my own for a holiday
- Parties in the kitchen as if there was no other room in the apartment
- Pronouncing main streets like "Jerozolimskie" "Krakowskie Przedmiescie", and "Swiętokrzyska". Now you try.
- Eating at Subway is good practice for saying vegetables in Polish
- Jehovah's witnesses approach me all the time, because I look like I speak English, and they pretend they need help with something
- When it snows, workers are up at 4 am clearing the streets, without fail
- I haven't paid an ATM charge anywhere I've been around Europe
- Name days are as big of a deal as birthdays. By the way, my name day is April 23, so don't forget it
Things I haven't figured out
- How to unchain the big shopping carts at grocery stores (that's why I'm used to the mini carts)
- The new printers at the office (PC Load Letter?)
- My medical benefits
- When to pay my bills - I don't get "monthly" bills for everything. Sometimes I get bills from a single service provider in packs of 3 or 6, all at once. So I have to remember to pay them every month for the next 6 months. And sometimes I don't get a bill at all...I just have to remember to pay the same as last month every month. When I explained to them that's why I haven't paid my bills, they didn't find it amusing. Whoops.
- Polish
- How to check my voicemail. At last count I had 18 messages, none of which I've listened to. Oh well, they'll call back if it's important.
