Archive for the ‘day by day’ Category

I don’t like flying

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

In not too distant past once more I’ve embarked on the journey between the UK and Poland. As usual (well usual since budget airlines started flying to Poland) I took the plane. This time it was not just a quick visit so I was going with a proper suitcase.

Wizzair plane

I must confess that the journey did not start well – I was made to pay for extra luggage – 2kg in hand luggage by Wizzair! I though it was unfair and ridiculous but agreed to pay as I thought it will be less hassle – far from it. Go there, wait in the queue, go back, wait in the queue. It did not start well. And it did not continued any better – unpack the hand luggage at security, go back and forth through the metal detector. Once on the other side I could buy a completely overpriced coffee, which wasn’t very good but was the only coffee on offer. Then the usual long wait, slight delay. Fortunately this time we didn’t miss our slot on the runway. Then the usual wait for the immigration questions, wait to collect baggage and finally out of the airport.

As I was going through the experience I have noticed that in the whole process of air-travel I did not enjoy any of it! And in fact I started seeing all the things put around the airport ‘experience’ to make us hate all of it less – shopping, special treatment in first class, food. The bottom line, at least for me is this: the only good thing about air travel is that I can move from A to B quickly*, nearly everything that surrounds it is either negative or superfluous.

I don’t like flying. Ship me in a train.

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* Quickly is sometimes arguable here. Taken door-to-door time Paris – London is quicker by train (I think) and much more enjoyable.

thin red light

Wednesday, July 4th, 2007

a micLast month for various reasons (mostly as I am somewhat of a curiosity coming from the UK to Poland, when most people travel in the opposite direction) I had few opportunities to be speaking on local radio shows. One was live, others pre-recorded. Before you accuse me of become ever-so-concerned with popularity let me explain that my main motivation was to gain some publicity for the school I am working for.

I have noticed a strange dose of bravery when speaking to a microphone. You see, you don’t see the crowds (well, OK all three people) you are addressing. All you see and hear is a friendly journalist who is asking you questions. It is very easy to forget that you are heard by anonymous (that is until they quote your words back to you on the street or at a party) multitudes. And while it is fine to express not fully precise opinions in a private conversation, it is a dangerous to do so on air. And apart from a small red light in the studio not much reminds you of it.

difficulty in a video shop

Monday, June 18th, 2007

Ian, Madeleine, Rioja and StitlonWhen Ian and Madeleine came to visit last weekend we had lovely few days of relaxing, catching up and generally leaving the madly rushing world behind us. With a help of stilton and a wonderful bottle of Rioja (hand imported by Nick to the UK, then brought to Poland) we remembered things past. And in the mood of laziness we got a video out. And here was a small hic-up. We went to the video shop and were faced with the task of choosing a film. On top of the usual problem of having three people with six different views of what to watch between them, we also faced the problem of actually finding the films – of course they are listed under their translated titles. For Ian and Madeleine to be confused it is understandable. But I was confused too! I felt I didn’t know any of the titles. But in the tragedy of the situation there were moments of comedy, when one tried to reverse engineer translation of a given title.

flowers 24/7 … continued

Thursday, June 14th, 2007

Kwiaciarnia Roza LogoSo last time I mentioned the 24/7 flower shop. I think I now know why it is open 24/7.

When Bella and I were going to my sister’s house for a dinner we thought we would stop there and buy some flowers. To give them justice they had a superb choice and let Bella choose the flowers for the bouquet, which made her very happy. And then the problem started. We handed the chosen flowers to be made into a bouquet … and we waited … and waited …. and waited.

pan1.jpgTrue, the result was beautiful, but it made us rather late for the dinner and it made our wallets significantly lighter. Advice given to us later by my sister was to phone in advance and order the flowers.

Indeed if it takes them so long to make the bouquets they better be open 24/7. But as they say, you cannot hurry artists.