Is there really spring in Estonia?

I finally figured out what traditional Estonian food is. It took 2 months to officially uncover the well-kept secret, but here is a typical Estonian dish: usually some type of pork, potatoes, rye bread, and slaw/salad. I've actually had several Estonians tell me that they feel Estonia doesn't have a lot to offer in food, so they don't promote food as part of their culture, like say Italy or France for example. This is why there is a Georgian, French Crepe, 2 Chinese, 3 Italian, and several other international restaurants in the town square. Many of us have picked up on the fact that Estonians like food that is very simple in taste. Especially those of us used to a lot of spices, sauces, and heat. I do really like the food here though. Especially the coffee and pastries everywhere!

We started to celebrate spring's arrival too soon. But we really did think it was coming. I mean, what else are you supposed to think when the sun comes out for almost a week and melts all of the snow and ice from the side walks while being serenaded by birds? But oh no, winter is not done yet. This past Saturday it was freezing, gray, and rainy. And Sunday morning we woke up to a view of white outside the window, with continuing sheets of snow falling all day. Thankfully today was a bit sunnier, but I am so longing for spring. When I mentioned spring coming before this weekend's blizzard, an Estonian actually laughed at me and told me I had at least through April before I could start talking like that. But I'm hoping this year is different, just this once!

I was waiting for it to come up sooner or later, but I finally got scolded for being a wasteful American yesterday. As my Georgian flatmate was washing her dishes, my Spanish roommate began to lecture her on using too much water. When the rest of us defended the Georgian for the fun of a debate, my roommate looked at Kaylee and I and said to the rest, "You know what they do in America? They flush the toilet every single time. Do you know how many liters of water they waste a year?" Of course she was just giving us a hard time. But when I started to think about it, we do use a lot more single-use items in America, which generates so much more trash than we do here. I've noticed I use less plastic bags, paper towels, and things like that here. Maybe Europe can further motivate me in effort to go Green.

Drinks, please!

Something that has been noted before but never commented on from my behalf is the amount of alcohol this building consumes daily. Maybe I just missed the "college experience" when I was back at home, and correct me if I'm wrong, but did the students drink EVERY night of the week? Did I miss this?
To me, it is far from a party if it happens every night. Don't get me wrong, it is great fun going out in Wroclaw, but I would really like to come home with my liver intact. And 'no' isn't really an answer in Poland, at least not to drinking, as we've learned from our Polish language course. In colloquial Polish, the word "no" actually means "yes."
But what are we to do? Every night, the party folks come round and try to convince every one to go out to a certain place with them. They are persistent. And if they leave with an English "no" instead of a Polish one, they aren't the most pleased people in the world. They still go out, and you wonder what experiences or fun you'll miss out on that night. If you become one of the crowd that commonly doesn't go out, the number of people you see and talk to on a daily basis begins to dwindle.
This also brings me to the realization of how badly I want alone time. I want to be around everyone here, I love them all. But every one has limits before they just need a little bit of time to themselves. I have had no time to myself in the 7 weeks that I have been here. No mental health days, no peaceful, quiet days to myself in my room, and no completely alone wanderings. Someone always pops up to your room, or you run into someone while you are out. And not that there is anything wrong with that, as I said, I love seeing all the people here, but some days it would be nice to just fade into the background and mill around as a nobody for a while.
Everyone keeps saying, "It's Erasmus, you have to live it up!" But are we living it up if we only experience it in the same way, time after time, through beers and vodkas? I feel that nothing new really happens in this city, everything is actually a secret routine that hides behind the premise that each night is a new adventure.
Maybe it's just me, but I for one would like to see something different. Fun that borders on alcoholism has become far too routine and ritualistic. I guess I'm going to have to start a new wave....

There are so many hours in a day

This week I've been thinking a lot of how my daily routine at home compares with the one here. It seems that during the school semester at UNCG, I hardly have time to breathe. With every day scheduled down to the last minute of study, I run from class to activity, from meeting to meeting. Although it's quite overwhelming and exhausting sometimes, I enjoy the busy life pace. My typical day in Tartu, however, is a little slower. Each class only meets once a week, so actual classroom time is cut down considerably. The work load is also very different. With classes at home, I'm used to having several assignments given and due everyday. In contrast, my lecturers here assign papers with aloof topics and vague due dates. I have a good amount of work and reading to do, but nothing pressing to be done. The Estonian students are incredibly disciplined, with any assigned work always done and the up most respect given to every lecturer. So maybe I don't feel so much pressure directly from my lecturers because it's expected that I don't need it to be motivated.
It's possible that the slow and easy pace is unique to Tartu. I finally had the chance to visit Tallinn, the capitol of Estonia, this past weekend. Tallinn is certainly bigger than Tartu and felt much busier. But still, in comparison to other cities, Tallinn could be considered a little bit slower too. I enjoyed my visit there. I got to see the Estonian Parliament building, the president's house, and many medieval themed shops and costumes in Old Town. One if the biggest things that stuck out to me was how closely we could get to the President's house, and without being monitored. I was just in D.C. over Christmas break, and could not even take a picture of the White House without feeling the security guard's stare. Of course, I must recognize that even though Tartu is certainly a calm town, this is only the observation of my small bubble here.
It also hit me this week how much the U.S. has infiltrated seemingly everything. My teachers continually reference U.S. history. And just today in a t-shirt print shop I saw several design options that promoted America somehow. It always takes me off guard when I see or hear these things, because at first it seems natural to here about the U.S., but then I suddenly realize that I am not in America, and quite far from it.

Russia Trip

Hey Danielle,
I think that my posts said we are meeting in Estonia to leave on a bus the evening of the 8th, and arrive in St. P's the morning of the 9th. So, meet on the 8th, but we'll be in Russia May 9-13.

Hope this helps,
Kathleen

"The semester is almost over"

That's what everyone keeps saying as we all plan for trips out of town. With the promise of warmer days soon to come people are realizing that soon we'll be going our separate ways before we know it and we've decided we all kind of like each other and aren't sure if we want that day to come so soon or not. It's a weird feeling.

So some more Polish observations: tram etiquette. Every Polish student I've seen respects their elders through always offering a seat on the tram. I have never seen a grandma or grandpa have to stand. I gave up mine for the first time the other day. It felt really nice to do it. I know that's super cheesy but it did. I hope I said the right things in Polish but she said "dzenkuje" none the less and sat down. 

So Kathy, to  change direction, when exactly is our trip into Russia? The 9th and 8th are both on this blog. I have a plane ticket for the 7th into Riga, I just have to figure out bus schedules which Kelsey has been a big help with.

Le Convenience d'Wroclaw

Le Convenience d'Wroclaw

Being of a simple nature and rather easily pleased, I must admit to finding Wroclaw far superior in terms of convenience to that of UNC Greensboro. With all due respect to my colleague's remarks in an earlier post, I have found this city simpler than Greensboro. However, as the disclaimers say, "Actual product may vary." In this case, Wroclawian experiences may (and do) vary. From the moment I landed in Wroclaw's Copernicus Airport, it has simply been one convenience after another with just a few exceptions.

After acquiring my suitcase from baggage claim, the very first thing I did was walk over to the Bankomat, or ATM, in order to withdraw some Polish money to handle initial Wroclawian expenses. I slid my debit card in the slot, and was immediately presented with Polish, English, and German language choices on the screen, thereby beginning to evidence convenience. I will readily admit that in the last month or so I have used ATMs in Deutsch multiple times simply because it is enjoyable to use my second language. The last two ATM transactions, though, I have actually completed in Polish. 

As mentioned in my original post, the first full day I was in Poland I went to the international office at the main university building in order to check-in, get my student ID, and various other small details. Well, this trip to the international office took less than ten minutes, and that included my wait time. In fact, the four or five times I've been to the office when I had any sort of question, including when I took Leigha and Kelsey there to get them some help, I have always received attention above and beyond the call of duty in such an expedient manner that I have spent only ten minutes or so of my time on the entire thing. I have my doubts as to whether many schools in the United States would be able to match such administrative efficiency. 

This next point is perhaps the most significant one that would fall under the header of varied Wroclawian experiences. For me, the slate of classes I have wound up taking are all located in the same room of the same building of the Rynek, making it absurdly easy to attend my classes and make it to the next one on time. However, from what I have found out, that sort of luck is rare here, so take it with a grain of salt. 

In line with that element of convenience, the prawo, or Law, building that my classes are situated in also has a small cafeteria-like restaurant on the first floor with decently cheap prices. Granted, the Bryan School of Business at UNCG is possessed of its own cafeteria-like area, but last I checked, nothing that I termed 'real food' was to be found there. However, the food in this small restaurant is quite sufficient at passing my inspection and includes traditional Polish food in addition to more mainstream dishes such as French fries and lasagne. I have eaten many a meal at this place so far this semester and will continue my patronage.

Another convenience would be Hala Targowa, the one-stop-shop that is the tram stop closest to the main university building and subsequently my prawo building. Hala Targowa means 'covered market' and within its distinctive doors are many vendors selling meats, produce, flowers, baked goods, clothes, alcohol, souvenirs, kitchen products, et al. I actually bought my wrist watch there whilst showing Kelsey and Leigha around town. This market provides a location right at my stop to go back to Olowek, allowing me to shop without going out of my way at all. Moreover, the market is decidedly Polish, certainly a benefit in terms of my learning the culture. 

Decidedly in the realm of conveience lies the proximity of the Rynek to Hala Targowa and my classes - the Rynek being where many of Wroclaw's most famous churches and buildings reside. Additionally, housed within the Rynek are dozens and dozens of eateries along with shops of all sorts. There was a Polish bookstore I walked into where I used my German with the proprietor in order to search for a book, which alas was not there. Quick access to the largest mall in the city, Galeria Dominikanska, can also be had at this locale. Right by the Rynek, incidentally, is the Cathedral of St. Mary Magedelene, from high atop which the picture accompanying this post is taken. On the left hand side of the photo you can see two skyscrapers in the clouds, the one on the right of those is Olowek. 

Okay, so the convenience of downtown/the Rynek has been covered, but what about at our place of residence? How convenient IS Olowek? For the answer to that question, the best place to start is simply with the dorm rooms themselves. As a former Moore-Strong resident, one of UNCG's fairly newer dorms, I have to say I would much rather pit my living conditions here in Olowek against those of Moore-Strong, with no hard feelings towards fellow MSers. In Olowek, we are given two-bedroom one-bath (shower) kitchenette flats with a small foyer. These two bedrooms house two people to a room, for a total of four people sharing the rooms. Just a quick visual guess puts the room to be larger than Moore-Strong rooms. Not only are the rooms a bit more robust, but each bedroom has its own balcony, unlike the few communal balconies at Moore-Strong that are locked most of the time due to the immaturity of some residents. These balconies prove invaluable for contacting people while your roommate is asleep, or for merely enjoying the silent fall of snow or the distinctly mute fall of rain. 

Another advantage to having these kitchenettes per flat is that they are much easier to maintain - Moore-Strong has a single communal kitchen for over 300 residents, and as such, I always ignored the fact we had a kitchen, since when I went near it I needed a gas mask connected to a tank of pure oxygen stolen from an intergalactic Molly Maid just to be able to survive. If anyone has ever read War of the Worlds or seen the Tom Cruise movie of the same name but not the same quality, one will know that the aliens could not survive in our atmosphere/environs - all we needed to do was send those aliens to Moore-Strong's kitchen, and much loss of life (and a bad movie) could have been averted. 

But I digress from the point of convenience, it is true. Therefore, I shall return to discussing my thesis. The foyer is perfect for leaving those shoes and coats covered with snow or rain. In Moore-Strong, those items just have to be brought in the room regardless of their overall condition. Even the bathroom is also rather convenient, as in Moore-Strong you either share communal restrooms or lives in a suite with people who do not clean up after themselves, speaking only from my personal experience and the experiences of those I know who resided within said suites. 

Following that, we now have a place for classes, a place for exploring, a place to sleep and live, but I have yet to discuss intrinsic and inherent functions of life - eating and drinking - not that kind, the kind that actually hydrates and replenishes. Situated within a 30-second walk from Olowek, if even that, are a gas station convenience store, a McDonald's, a bakery, a grocery store, a Pizzeria that serves the so-far best pizza in the city, a smaller, more specialized market, and two tram/bus stops. If I left Moore-Strong and walked for 30 seconds I would reach absolutely nothing of value to replenishing my vitality. Perhaps in 90 seconds or so, one would reach The Caf, but as we veterans of said establishment know, how much does The Caf really do towards replenishing vitality? 

If that is not enough convenience to you, within the breadth of one song on your mp3 player, Sony PSP, or any other kind of audio device, you can arrive at Pasaz Grunwaldzski, my favorite mall in Wroclaw. This mall even has a larger grocery store on the bottom floor if you cannot find what you are looking for in the two right next to Olowek. The mall also has a movie theatre for entertainment purposes. Lastly, if one cared to listen to just over one song, perhaps long enough to hear one's favorite introductory pattern to a song, one would arrive at Biedronka, which is right across the street from the Pasaz. Biedronka is essentially a budget grocery store, providing many products at less than half the price of the markets right next to Olowek. Indeed, the first time I perused the aisles there, I bought 20 zloty worth of food and drink - at the market next to Olowek I had spent 47 zloty on the same amount of food and the same type of food. For me, Wroclaw has been a city that has proven to cater to the majority of the whims I have thought of since arriving. 

Hey from NC!!

I'm loving your posts! I've been on that hike in the Karpacz mountains in the snow--amazing! and I loved reading about the students' visit from Tartu to Poland. You were hosts!! You showed them around your town! YAY!

I'm finalizing the plans for our trip. We will be meeting in Estonia and taking a bus on May 9 (step one). Robert and Gabriel should be getting their visa support/instructions from Gordon Stearns very soon--onwards from there!

I can't wait to hang out with you and show you St. Petersburg--
Keep posting!