poland with an educator

i landed in warsaw, where my dad was teaching for the semester at the university of warsaw..he's teaching through the fulbright program..according to the institute for international education, "Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills."...basically, professors from the US go and teach at other universities around the world, while students from the US and other countries do exchanges...
dad picked me up at the airport, and we took the bus into town..(i'll always love any sort of public transportation into a town)..the bus stopped at the university of warsaw, which happens to be almost exactly across the street from the flat in which dad was living..he lived in a studio flat, it was definitely small..(but still bigger than the last flat i lived in in korea!)...
during the days that i was there, dad and i visited two museums...one was dedicated to the warsaw uprising, (1944, not the same uprising as the jewish ghetto uprising, which took place in 1943) which involved the whole city...they fought to free themselves from nazi/german rule, before the russians who were thought to be advancing quickly arrived..(the russians in reality were waiting just outside the city for a while, waiting for the uprising to end one way or another)..the museum seemed huge, but maybe that was just because they had so many exhibits...so much information, so many things to look at..the city itself (what was left of it anywho) was pretty much torn to pieces during the fighting, it's hard to believe anyone lived there..one estimate says that only 64 of 987 buildings were untouched..general estimates say that 180,000 civilians died during the uprising..there is so much packed into this museum, it's almost overwhelming..the other museum we visited used to be a prison..a prison in the former jewish ghetto..it's a much smaller museum, giving information about the people held in that particular prison...many were taken on "day trips" each day, to the headquarters of the secret police, for questioning..they've kept a few cells and there are little plaques that tell who was kept in each cell..out in front of the museum they've kept the original gate to the prison, though it's been ripped in half..there is also a memorial tree out front..it used to be a real tree, but years ago it died, so they built a fake one..there are memorial plaques all around the tree..we walked from that prison/museum through what used to be the jewish ghetto..there is nothing left of the ghetto..none of the walls, gates, etc..there are a couple memorials as to where specific things happened, but that's it..oh, and there is a giant memorial, next to where a museum is being built that will be all about the jews in poland..i was surprised that this museum isn't already in existence, given that prewar warsaw was about 1/3 jewish..the country as a whole was 10% jewish, though the percentage was much higher in metro areas..at this point no one is sure what the museum will be like..anywho...

warsaw managed to stay quite religious over the years, even through the years of communist rule..there are lots of churches, people have been worshipping at them consistently through the years..some are absolutely beautiful, some are just plain old..there are people in the churches pretty much all the time...
since dad was in warsaw to teach, i took the opportunity to do something i've never done previously..watch him teach..i sat in on both of his classes, both having to do with east european media..(one focused on communist media, one on current media)..the classes were taught in english of course, and it was easy to tell which students had better english skills...believe it or not, i took notes during each class:)..(some habits never go away, i suppose)...
one day we walked through the old town, which i believe is mostly authentic..it's a really colourful area of the city, and due to the fabulous weather that day, the photos were fantastic..it's also called the tourist quarter, there are tons of stores selling polish kitsch...
one evening we had dinner with a guy named andrew..andrew is the son of one of dad's east european colleagues who teaches at santa clara university in california..andrew speaks polish, and lives in berlin, working at a foreign correspondent on a freelance basis..he knows poland practically inside and out, which is nifty..(at least for me and dad, who love history and culture and how things change)..we had pierogi (dumplings,) a typical polish food..(though it seems to me that many cultures and countries claim dumplings as a typical food)..another night we had dinner with kasia, who was in warsaw trying to study human trafficking (women, mostly)..she has a huge amount of energy, and was also in the process of applying for graduate programs in the states..i tried to talk her out of ohio state, as i cannot in good conscience recommend that school..(i'm a michigan fan)..that dinner was at a restaurant that was supposed to serve traditional polish food..YUM..i had something that basically amounted to stew, i loved it..we noticed a group having a birthday dinner, it was probably going to be a looooooong night for them..we saw bottles upon bottles being delivered to the table and there were several times when the entire group stood up to take a shot in honour of the birthday boy..lol..
warsaw isn't the city most people think of when they think of poland, most people think of krakow, and auschwitz, the former death camp..but warsaw is rapidly changing, and becoming a fully modern city..i'd recommend it:)

back in the fatherland

after taking a bus from central london, i arrived at stansted airport, ready to spend the night...apparently i wasn't the only one, as there were LOTS of other people all around the building..i ended up putting my stuff down near a guy who had a sleeping pad underneath his body and was covered in a sleeping bag..he was definitely prepared for a night in the airprort!
i didn't sleep much that night, but that's been the norm these days..i have had a lot of trouble adjusting to the time difference..i flew ryanair for the first time, not much to say about that airline..as far as budget airlines go, i like air asia better overall..(and i wish there was something cheaper than southwest in the states)..ryanair flys to frankfurt hahn airport, which isn't anywhere close to the other (larger) frankfurt airport..anywho, my friend mandy picked me up at the airport, and we drove around for a while..it's nice to be on good roads again, (in a nice vehicle,) but go figure, they make me carsick!! argh..we saw rivers and castles and all the lovely german architecture i've missed over the last few years..
and then we got to her flat..it's HUGE!! i got to have my own bedroom:)..mandy had to work one of the days i was there, but the other days we just hung out and got caught up with each other..we know each other from my hometown, so we know a lot of the same people..i learned about the existence of apple tv, and we raided a large german grocery store..she had a snowboarding trip planned for american thanksgiving, so we spent a couple hours in an outdoor store figuring out everything she would need..even though i wasn't buying, it was still fun..
from mandy's little village of schopp i took the trains to stuttgart, and met up with jenn..jenn and i met in australia in 2008, near uluru..she also has a huge flat, in the city..surprisingly, (because trains in germany almost always run on time, down to the minute) one of the trains i took was late leaving, so i was an hour later than expected getting to stuttgart, which has a huge hauptbahnhof...thankfully i had jenn's handy number, and we met up quickly enough..after dropping my stuff off in her flat, we went walking downtown..there is an old schloss, an old church, and other stuff to see in stuttgart..plus, since it was november, the christkindlmarkt had started..even though i couldn't drink the gluhwein, it was still pretty to see..a nice walk..
that evening jenn had a birthday party to attend..the birthday boy was american, but his wife was german, and he threw the party in german tradition..that is, he paid for everything..he had reserved a room at a restaurant and had a buffet set up with lots of yummy food...the evening was fun, and i enjoyed meeting new people, even though i felt a bit odd, since i was a complete stranger to anyone else in the room..the next afternoon we went to the tv tower on the outskirts of stuttgart..the city has a great public transport system, each time we wanted to go anywhere we were able to hop on the s-bahn or the u-bahn...yay!! the tv tower is one of the tallest in europe..i think berlin has a taller tower? anywho, you take the elevator up, to your choice of three levels..one is a cafe, with views all around of the entire area, and the other two are entirely open to the elements..jenn and i had joined up with one of her friends, kristina, and all three of us signed the tower..that evening, the three of us went to the flat of more friends, and i got my first experience playing wii..according to the wii, my fit age is 45..hee hee..i got my butt kicked (in 3 rounds) in boxing, and ended up actually being sore a couple days later! eeek!
jenn had to work the next day, so i wandered around downtown stuttgart again, taking pictures, wandering through shops, watching people, etc..jenn and i cooked dinner that night, fun..the next morning i was up early, to take trains to the airport in frankfurt..(thankfully, these trains ran on time)..when i checked in, i received a "coin" worth 2 euro off anything i wanted to purchase in a duty free store..i ended up not using it, given that things in duty free are still pretty expensive, and there wasn't anything i needed..
the end of germany for a couple weeks......................

my first visit

the UK..a country which i haven't previously visited, at least not that i remember...my dad says that isn't entirely true..he says i spent a night here when i was 4..clearly, i don't remember..so i don't count that..lol..
getting to london wasn't fast, to say the least..it's pretty much on the exact opposite side of the world from new zealand..i flew from auckland to brisbane, coolangatta to kuala lumpur, and KL to london..i finally arrived at my friend brie's flat around midnight, the "same" day i left KL..a measly 14 hour flight, with an 8 hour time difference..i met brie when she and i taught at the same school in korea, she's canadian..once i landed at stansted, i took a bus into the center of the city (liverpool street station for those who know it) and from there took the tube to brie's flat..not surprisingly, the weather as i arrived was crappy..not pouring rain, but definite precipitation..at least it wasn't windy..and not all that chilly..we stayed up a couple hours, getting caught up on each other's lives as well as the lives of the other people we know..i didn't sleep that night, even though i tried..apparently i slept too much on the plane, and my body hasn't been adjusting to the time difference..so i was awake long before anyone else in the flat, but that was okay..
we tried to go to the grocery store to get scones and cream for breakfast, but it was closed..go figure, the biggest grocery store in central london is closed on sunday mornings!! so that plan changed..instead, we took off for some mystery shopping, and then a walk along the thames..i didn't know that the thames is tidal, but now i do..i even got to see a beach..of course, it wasn't exactly the type of weather that made me want to strip down to a bikini and lay out... as we continued walking along, i saw a face that seemed really familiar..another traveler, a woman i had met in nepal, while trekking through the himalayas..nikki is british, but currently lives in chiang mai, thailand..neither one of us knew the other would be in london, we were both surprised..a quick catch up, a quick photo, and we split..brie and i were walking with one of her friends by that point, a girl in the film world..tansy..tansy talks a lot, she's really entertaining..she has fun stories, and has lived in places like cuba and russia..
brie is an awesome cook..she made phad thai, and i stayed awake all the way till 1900..jet lag was horrendous when i got to london..not only did i not sleep my first night in london, but even with falling asleep at 1900, i only slept until just after midnight, then was up all night again..ugh..
brie went to work the next day, i stayed home..i know i should've gone out and seen a few sights, enjoyed london, but i didn't..i didn't do a darn thing but play on the computer and take quick cat naps..after a year of nonstop traveling, i figured it was okay to take a day off and not see anything at all..
the following day brie and i took a day trip to brighton..it's a seaside town, about an hour outside of london..london has a great train system, and the earlier you book tickets, the cheaper they are..brie booked ahead and we only paid 3 pounds each:)..the beach at brighton is a pebble beach, probably not the best for laying out and enjoying sun..it wasn't sunny the day we were there, so that didn't matter..we enjoyed lunch at a lovely restaurant near the beach, and walked along the beach for a while..there is a nifty boardwalk with a bunch of carnival rides, unfortunately none of them were open, due to the time of year..
brighton used to be a seaside getaway for the royal family..king george built the royal pavilion there, back when he was the prince regent..(his dad went crazy while on the throne, so the prince took on ruling duties while still technically a prince)..the pavilion is "interesting" architecturally.. it's built in what they thought was indian architecture..those who designed and built the pavilion had never been to india..the inside is where the prince entertained..a huge dining room, an even bigger kitchen, a music room, several rooms for lounging around..the interior decor is totally over the top, totally flash..chinese in theme in one room, gold gilt in another, etc..it's stunning..there is a free audio tour and while listening it was easy to imagine the life they led back then..since brighton is british, it's easy to find tea shops serving tea and cream and scones and all sorts of yummy stuff..YUM!!
that night i took a late evening bus back to stansted..

nz vol. 4, iss. 4

the three of us (lynne, ann and i) had decided to take a quick road trip up to northland, the area north of auckland in the north island..there is so much beauty up there, and a lot to do activity wise..we ended up getting started a bit late, so by the time we got to the big tree, it was already dark..tane mahuta is the biggest kauri tree in the country..think redwood national park where the trees are so big around it takes lots of people to link arms to get all the way around the tree..tane mahuta is the same..unfortunately, since it was dark and rainy, we didn't get to see much..i should mention at this point that the road was REALLY curvy, so both ann and i were somewhat carsick..we got back in the car, drove north again, to a small village called opononi..we pulled into a motel, and the guy looked at lynne and i a bit funny when we got out of the car and waddled into the reception room..his confusion cleared up when we told him why we were walking so funny..sitting in the car, our muscles weren't able to relax much...dinner that night was basically leftovers of the stuff we had in the chilly bin in the back seat..bagels, rolls, cucumber, and i don't remember what else..opononi is a tiny village on hokianga harbour, which is the place of maori legends..it's beautiful..you can see dunes across the harbour, and we had lovely weather..a camera case had been left behind at tane mahuta, so we drove back..not fun going on the curvy roads again..ugh..by that point, lynne's leg hurt too much for her to walk w/out assistance, so she didn't get out of the car...the camera case wasn't there anymore, so we turned around and drove north again, continuing through opononi to a town that starts with a k (i can't remember what it's called) where we got lunch (more fish and chips for me, YUM) and a cane for lynne..she hated it though..more driving, more driving, and we arrived at cape reinga..it's not quite the northernmost point on the north island, but it's close..there is a lighthouse up there, and a sign pointing in different directions telling how far it is to different locations around the world..i'd been up there previously as well, but the entire area had been redone since, and is much nicer now..the weather was a whole lot nicer too..still super windy, but i'm pretty sure that's the norm up there..i don't think the wind is ever not blowing at cape reinga..one of the coolest spots you can see from the cape is the line where the tasman sea and the pacific ocean collide into each other..on a clear day (like we had) you can see exactly where it happens..you can see the waters creating waves in both directions..i hadn't seen it before, and was thrilled to see it this time..
we got back into the car, (i had been driving all day, and continued to drive for the rest of the time in nz) and drove back down to paihia..paihia is the main town for tourist accomodation in the bay of islands..since we were arriving so late, lynne picked a hotel listed in the gps, and that's where we ended up for the night..two bedrooms, a full size lounge, a full kitchen, and a great view..(though we didn't know about the view until the next morning..too bad we couldn't have stayed there longer, especially because we got the best rate of all the places we stayed..fantastic..
paihia is REALLY close to waitangi, the place where the waitangi treaty was signed in 1840..the treaty is what the crown in the united kingdom used as validation for "ruling" new zealand..there were two copies of the treaty, one in english and one in maori..it's now acknowledged that the maori copy doesn't say the same thing the english treaty does..the maori chiefs who signed the treaty thought they were signing something very different from what they actually signed..the treaties (there are 9 in all i think?) are kept in the national archives in wellington but there are reproductions at the treaty grounds..also on the grounds are the treaty house, a large maori canoe, a marae, etc..there is a large flagpole on the exact location where the treaties were signed..the three of us wanted to walk around, but the entry fee was a lot higher than we expected, (i'd seen it before, so it didn't matter to me whether i saw it again or not) so we had coffee instead..that afternoon we signed ourselves up for a cruise around the bay..it's one of the most popular activities, and well worth it..i think you get to see 9 different points of interest while cruising around..we saw a few dolphins too, they were playing around the boat..soooo cute! there were massive clouds over paihia, but as soon as we headed out, the weather cleared, and we were treated to a lovely afternoon..what a great way to end a road trip..i ended up getting slightly boat sick just after going through the hole in the rock, but that went away soon enough, partially thanks to the ginger beer the girls got for me..(THANK YOU!!)..a four hour drive back to auckland got us back around 2215..
the next morning lynne and i took the train into the center of auckland (ann couldn't come with us, as she had already made plans to go to wellington that day) and got on the ferry to waiheke (sp?) island..it's an island in auckland harbour, well known for the wineries all over the island..we hired scooters and drove around all day..lovely day..we got lost a couple times (the maps weren't great) and both of us tipped over, but the scenery was fantastic (again the theme of great natural beauty all over the country,) and the weather great..we took the ferry back to the city, and met up with amy and ivan for dinner at one of their favourite restaurants..and after that meal, i can understand why..we got there early, and for a while we were the only people there..i wish i could remember the name of the place, i can only remember that i want to go back!! we were all stuffed (and i mean STUFFED) but that didn't stop us from going to mission bay afterward and having ice cream on the beach..a perfect last night in a country i love..
that's it, my last visit to nz for i don't know how long..i will go back sometime, i just dont know when..

nz vol 4. iss 3

after dinner with my mom, we arranged to meet up with her again the next day..then lynne and i checked into a hotel..because the marathon was only a couple days away, we wanted to be in the hotel for that night and the night before the race..
the next morning lynne and i lined up to pick up our packets for the marathon..race number, timing chip, all that sort of good stuff..the expo was smaller than we expected, way smaller..(it wasn't until the next day that i realized the new york marathon had taken place the same day as the auckland day, as well as a marathon in seoul..its not a wonder there aren't elite runners at the auckland race, since new york is the same day)..adidas was the main sponsor, and they had a lot, but there was very little else..oh well..
lynne, mom and i went to a museum..the auckland war museum, it's huge!! i've been there before, but i love historical museums, and both australia and new zealand do those sorts of museums really well..anywho, after the museum the three of us met up with amy and another girlfriend in mission bay..i knew the other girlfriend, ann, from primary school!!! crazy that there were 5 americans who had/have all lived in bloomington having lunch together in auckland..
lynne and i didn't do much else for the rest of the day..we tried to go to bed early, since we had to be up early the next day..trying to go to sleep at 8pm just doesn't work very well..i dont think we made 10pm either..
anywho, the alarm went off around 0400 or so the next morning..soooooooooo early..lynne and i had set out everything we planned to take with us the night before, so it wasn't all left until the last minute..i tend to take too much with me in prep for a marathon..our hotel was almost across the street from the ferry we had to take to get to the start line of the marathon..even though it was a small marathon it was fairly well organized..we were on one of the first ferries (if not the first) to devonport, and ended up with a while to wait before the start..sorry lynne!!..we dumped our bags in the bins with our numbers, and figured out where we wanted to stand in the crowd at the start..i was prepared with my inhaler, my ipod, and a bag of lollies..over the years of running ive discovered that sucking on lollies while running has the same effect as consuming energy gels..and lollies are way more fun:)..as some of you know, i wasn't exactly fully prepared for this marathon..i had run a few times (15x max) including 2-3 long runs, but i hadn't been running for months..but after failure at my last race, i knew i was going to finish this race, one way or another...i knew i would cross the finish line, but i had no idea what kind of condition i'd be in when i finished..somehow, after doing my meditation retreat, i wasn't worried about my mental state during the race..as long as a marathon is, there is plenty of time to talk yourself into and out of things..i went into the race looking forward to the long run, just to see where my mind went..the weather was awesome..chilly at the start, but that's the best for the start of a long race..sunny, slightly breezy..the first half of the race was slightly hilly, the second half entirely flat..part of the course takes the runners over the auckland harbour bridge, which was nifty..but we were on the wrong side of the bridge for seeing the view of auckland that we all wanted to see..running over the bridge was rough, but still fun..not many people get to do that, it isn't like the sydney harbour bridge which allows pedestrians..the bridge was at about the halfway point of the route..the second half was an out and back along the water..beautiful, sometimes a little chaotic in terms of aid stations..it wasn't always clear who was supposed to pass on what side..i usually aimed to pass on the left, as kiwis do..but the person running toward me didn't always go to the left..i'm glad i know auckland a little, as it helped me know how far i had to go to the turnaround..for the first time ever, my mind was entirely fine during the race..in a totally objective way i could feel my body start to break down as i kept running and running and running..the way my lower back was super tight from all the pounding..the way my quads complained just a little more each time i started running again after walking through an aid station..(you all know i'm not the most coordinated person, it shouldn't come as a surprise that running and drinking is far beyond my capabilities)..i remember being so excited that my mind was good that it didn't bother me that my body was falling apart..after all, running 42.195kms is a long way to go..falling apart was expected..i crossed the finish line in my second best time ever, and stopped..and so did my body..it was a struggle to walk, let alone carry the banana and whateva else i picked up to eat/drink..thank goodness there were volunteers to take the timing chip off my shoe, as there was no way i could've done it myself..it took me about 10 minutes to get over to where our bags were being held, only about 300m..i think..distances at that point were tough to judge..then it took me another five minutes to pull my jackets out of my bag and put those on..at that point, i saw both lynne and ann..(amy and ivan had dropped ann off at the race on their way out of town)..lynne didn't have the race she had planned and trained for, definitely a disappointment..she was far better trained, and far better prepared than i was, but she ended up with an injury..argh..
after slowly walking back to our hotel and getting cleaned up, ann, lynne and i enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the viaduct..then we hopped in the hire car lynne and i still had, and started driving north..