Chronicles of Cracow 11 - Auschwitz Addition

This one is tough for me. I recently went on a tour of Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp in the world.

The one thing that really was something I didnt know was how everything designed in the camp was meant to weaken or kill the occupants. I knew there were gas chamber killings and torturous living conditions, but I did not really think about how all the work they had to do, food they were given, and procedures, was meant to over time kill them.

I can't really say to much else. It's an experience I will never forget.

An another note, I just wanted to get this out of the way for my final blog on my trip to poland, and yes i am going to get around to it.

(pictures of my trip to Auschwitz can be seen on my facebook)

Chronicles of Cracow 10

Ok my newest installment in awhile, and yea this one doesn't have a theme or any deep analysis. It's very random because I haven't had too much going on lately so no stories of my adventures here.

You could never guess the title I saw for a polish animated film, it was ridiculous, I'm still in shock.
I believe the brainstorming for this movie went something like this,
"OK pull the random word generator."
Machine: beepbeepbeepcuplamphingechristianpowerencyclopediarangerbeep Disco
"Ok, Disco! So a throwback like thing, but it needs a second word pull it again!"
Machine: beepbeepbeepteenagepizzadoormutantninjaclocktouchdownwaterturtlesbeep Worms
"I was really hoping for disco ninja but this works, Disco Worms! Brilliant! I love it! Now tell our animators to write a story about these worms!"

I mean seriously, Disco Worms, I really don't want to know the plot of this film, and all the commercial is show the worms singing "I will Survive" (strange but oddly appropriate)

Money here is 3 times the U.S. dollar, so 5 dollars is 15 Zolates, which might seem awesome but it really evens out, for example a soda would be 3 zolatees so its basically the same, some things are much cheaper like bus tickets but then a few things are more expensive like CD's.

The Comedy Central channel here is terrible, it might as well be ABC Family with out the Whose Line. All they ever show is shows like According to Jim, 8 Simple Rules, and Yes, Dear.

The Cartoon Network here is truly the devil, they play some of the best cartoons EVER, like the really old Scooby-Doos, all the time, But it's always in Polish!(obviously) It makes sense but its like its taunting me.

OK I have found my Quote of the Trip, it comes from Maggy,
"The Germans are an ugly people"
We were talking about something and I mentioned something about Germany (I cant remember) and she, out of nowhere, threw that out there. Just the simplicity and the way she said it continues to crack me up

OK that's all I got for now, unless anything CRAZY happens to me in the next two days my next blog should be MUCH more serious considering I will probably be talking about my trip to Auschwitz.

Chronicles of Cracow 9

An interesting difference in how people think here and is being opinionated, in America it seems like everyone has an opinion on an issue, and usually feels very strong on certain issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc.) Here they have their own opinions but don't feel as strong on things, that doesnt mean they would change sides, I just mean there seems more respect for the other persons point of view.

Here they don't have as many stereotypes on people as we do. Really in America you can take any nationality and put a stereotype we have on them, Irish=drinking, French=quitters, British=Stuck up, that sort of thing. Here not so much, they think most Americans are fat and lazy and wasteful, but that's only because they only get information on Americans from movies and the news (thanks for all those "They're fat" reports BBC) outside of that they don't really relate people's nature to their country. And I'd like to point out the only stereotype they have, of Americans, is really quite true.

OK now we are going to play a little game called guess the third! I will be playing as myself (K) and the audience (A)
First question: What is the third main sport in Poland? The first two are Soccer (duh) and Volleyball.
A: ummmm.... Basketball?
K:NOPE!
A: Rugby?
K: Wrong Again, think more random
A: Croquet?
K: Man you suck at this game, more random!
A: Calvinball?
K: I wish
A: An increasingly dangerous form of Rollerball?
K: NO! this isn't a bad 1975 film staring James Caan, think boring
A: Golf? NASCAR?????
K: Close, but you have to be mildly athletic for this! think Olympics.
A: Snowboarding
K: Ok, you suck, and this joke is getting old so you lose! it's..... drumroll please........ SKI JUMPING!
A: How was I close with Nascar?
K: Quiet loser! ...That's right, Ski Jumping! I don't understand why but it's the truth, I mean, I can understand volleyball because it is a decent sport but ski jumping? Well I guess the Polish have to be good at something.

Ok the second question, I'll let the actual audience guess this one, What are three candy bars that are American that are commonly in stores here? The first two are Twix and Snickers.

Time to think of a guess! answer is below, While you thinking enjoy this!




If you guess Mars Bars, you would be a liar! because no one would of guessed that. But it's the truth! Mars Bars, Twix and Snickers are all over, and I don't just mean the candy, they have different forms of ice cream with the three and things like that.


So that's it for now, I wanted to keep this one pretty simple, so your not reading 8 paragraphs or something like that. I'll be back for more later! Also if you get that Calvinball refernce, your awesome.

Considering I wanted just a lol cats picture in there when I went to look for one I got a little distracted, I'll show you the fruits of my labor.











Kaymazing

Chronicles of Cracow 8

Ok here's my next installment, with a few things but first, there is something important I need to cover, IT IS 7 HOURS AHEAD HERE. ok? 7 hours, so before you ask for the millionth time "what time is it there?" just take the time ur at and add 7! its not that hard!!!!!
I finally had some good food here in Poland!..... it was Italian. I had Maggy make me some lasagna and it was amazing!

The tram/bus system is actually pretty sweet here as in, u buy tickets before hand and then check them in when you get on, however no one watches you check them, so if you don't have a ticket or don't feel like using one, you can just get on and hope you dont get caught. Who catches you? Tram Police!!! These guys are awesome because they don't just walk on in uniform and check everyones tickets, they get on dressed in peoples clothes and when the bus is inbetween stops they (usually 2 of them) stand up put on an I.D. tag and pull out these scanners, its fricken awesome! Yea it sucks, but to see these guys stand up I'm always thinking "Their about to yell please take out your tickets.' or 'This is a hold up!'" Just how they blend in all casual like is so cool. I also like the system because if you want to risk it you can, but if your caught you have to pay an equivalent to a 40 dollar fine.

On another note the chocolate here is great! very rich and so tasty, however, they alwasys seem to add something extra to it, like raisins or pieces of cherries, that screw it up! A great example of this is when Maggy gave me some candy that was chocolate in simple balls about an inch high, and I had seen the same kindof candy before so I popped two in two to eat. The chocolate was as good as usual but to my surprise in the middle was hollow and a liquid came out that definitely not taste right with chocolate, I asked Maggy what it was and she goes, "O those, they have rum in the middle." RUM.... WITH CHOCOLATE.... I just don't understand who came up with that and why???? It definitely doesn't taste good. What was the idea? "hey wouldn't it be awesome if we could get buzzed off of candy."

So this is a short one, and thats all I got for now, just a small update, check out my other blog of reviews where I review Prince of Persia.

Chronicles of Cracow 7

Today was a day to myself, and I went adventuring to the center of Cracow! After getting off the tram I was in front of a movie theater that was showing an odd combination of films, one was Robin Hood, the other was some small indie film and finally, (yea only three) was.....Men who Stare at Goats? Wait what? didn't that movie come out like a year ago, that was definitely strange. So 2 hours later, after seeing Men Who Stare at Goats, I left the theater to check out some monuments and Church's and such that you can see on my facebook page.
Anyway for a culture insight, what I noticed and will kindof miss when I leave is the idea of manliness and coolness here. It seems that overall practicality is taken more into effect over what makes you look or feel seemingly cool or a man. An easy example is the cars here, none are big or even close to scale to our huge cars, and sure you'll see a damn nice car once and awhile but it won't be as unpractical as the 55 year old driving the 40k sports car to boost his ego. Another example is the fact that it is raining season around here and everyone carries umbrellas, now if you picture 4 guys walking over to a park to play some basketball, I doubt you would picture them all with their umbrellas because there are some dark clouds on the horizon. In America, it would be more like, "Pssh I'm a Man! I'm not afraid of some rain! Bring it on rain! Rain won't mess with my 12 gage!". Speaking of guns, no one needs that dumb masculinity boost or should I say "safety and self defense" that automatic weapons legally carried in the open provide, or any guns for that matter, not even cops carry them here.
This guy had an umbrella and it kicked ass!


Another little example of practicality over "coolness" here is on most bicycles is a bell that you can ring to warn people walking. This is more of a necessity here where there is more people out walking but even then how many of you would be ok with a bike with a little bell on it, let alone use it.

Ok sidenote of the day, Maggy told me she likes the older Batman movies over the Dark Knight! isn't that crazy!

Let's just compare bad guys, you have this guy versus the ultimate bad ass

That's all from me for now, sorry if my views on the whole gun thing are wrong, remember I'm a uninformed 17 yr old in another country and also i don't care! So keep commenting and so on, see you next time!

Final Note: Mark Hamill as the Joker in the Animated Series tops all!

Chronicles of Cracow 6

OK had a big trip today so I figured I'd just fill you in on that and add some other random stuff.
So today we were going to go in the hot springs near a mountain, crossing the border to Slovakia! You know Slovakia, with famous people like Andy Warhol!, Paul Newmen (both just descendents of Slovaks), and ummm John Hertz of Hertz Rental Cars, and uhh that one hockey player..... yea that's about it. It was about a 2 hour drive from Cracow and I listened to my ipod with Maggy most of the way. I loved the border of Poland and Slovakia, it was just a sign. There is more in between states usually! Just a sign that said "Welcome to Slovakia, Home of Nothing Important!" Ok I added that last part. And damn it again my ipod shuffled to "Highway to Hell" when entering it like it's God's reoccurring joke or something. Anyways when we got there we went for a short hike which was nice, good weather. Poland (and Slovakia's) forests are about the same visually compared to Wisconsin (except no deer), I bet if you recognized tree's and plants you would be able to tell a difference but I can't. Out in the country they also have cows like us but the amount of them is split with sheep.
Ok now to the main story, the pool! It was being fed by a underground spring of like water with sulfur which I guess is supposed to do some good for your body. If you have ever been to Yellowstone's Old Faithful it smells like that so I assume it's the basically same kind of spring. They had a normal warm pool and an equal sized almost hot tub (almost as in it wasn't quite that hot). Now more importantly the people there made.... an impression..... as in they scarred me for life. Let me explain, so this pool is supposed to be good for you, so it's mostly older people, and by mostly I mean ALL, me and Maggy were the youngest there by 30 or 40 years. And then to top that off, you know that stereotype of the European guy walking around in just a speedo. THIS IS COMPLETELY TRUE. I mean they weren't all speedo's but it was basically really tight briefs, or very small briefs that were loose that looked like a diaper (which was fitting considering the people wearing them), or speedos (everyone should thank me for not including a picture). The water was really relaxing but you definitely had to be a "glass half-full" kind of person to enjoy yourself, either your swimming in a nice warm pool that's supposed to be healthy with a bit of a nostalgic smell (at least to me) or your swimming in the pool next to the 85 year old hairy chested old man who probably has alot of dead skin to lose. Man it was bad, don't get me confused, I had a great time and it was fun, I just couldn't look at a single other person there. It did make sense though, midday on a cloudy Monday, who else would have the time to go to this place. So after getting a lucky break and being the only in the males shower room, we left and stopped to eat on our way back. The two most common foods I have had here are pierogies which isn't a surprise because it was one of the only polish foods I knew coming here and, oddly enough, ice cream which is quite the favorite here in Poland, most of the time it's basically the same as the U.S's except sometimes.... WHO PUTS RAISINS IN ICE CREAM!?!?!? YUCK!.

OK so that's my story of the day, now heres just some random things that I can't make a whole update about so I just threw them at the end here.
-I have found myself craving American food, but not junk like hot dogs, Mcdonalds, or other fast food, more as in junk like Orv's pepperoni pizza, Roundy's brand fruit snacks, pizza rolls, and some Flamen Hot Cheetos! (they dont even have normal cheetos here! The official Cheetos here are like a wierd offbrand kind of Cheetos that are terrible, but they are the Cheetos brand!)
-answering "reader mail", I think polish women here are all generally thin just by the culture of walking and biking mostly everywhere and all the time, that's kind of the idea of what you do with your free time here, just go down to the city center and walk around and thats not just being a tourist, Maggy's parents often just take the tram down to the city and walk around, kind of like what we do at summerfest, or a better example is in Milwaukee, down by the lakefront where people are walking, biking, various activities, except it's everyone here not just a few people. Also the food is so much healthier I really can't stress that enough, even unhealthy foods are made of more naturally, if that makes any sense.
-Not really missing the family or home too much yet, only truly missing is writing for Follies, and my cat, Binky!

So that's it for now, sorry if there are any mistakes, usually I take two days to write one of these but I threw this out in about an hour and a half. Please keep commenting, again it motivates me to keep writing knowing people are reading it! Any thoughts or questions or things you want to know about Poland I will gladly address at some point. And Finally I know this is alot of text to get through and I havent done what I've wanted when it comes to mixing in pictures so thanks to everyone who does read this far. And a shout out goes to all my followers, Tamar, Kathleen, Myself (yea I follow myself, so what?) and someone else.... I can't remember... o well.

Chronicles of Cracow 5

Hey I'm back! (not from poland just to my laptop)
Ok so when it comes to the Polish language, I have learned very little, mostly the basics, but this isnt completely my fault. Their language is unfairly hard, it uses odd pronunciations, it's not like spanish where you could get away just reading words, here it's impossible. Try to pronounce "wysokozmineralizowana" (Vis-o-coz-mineral-al-ziana)(high minerals). It makes a little sense but that was actually kinda easy one.
On the subject of water, probably the toughest thing here is any water I drink is sparkling or mineral water. No tap water, at all. It's just weird, i guess there tap water isnt that clean so you cant drink it. Think of gettign home from a long bike ride and your options for hydration is mineral water, lemonade, and hot tea.
So people in America would not be able to survive driving here. It is crazy, it's alot more dangerous and fast, and just less controlled in general. Throw the fact that trams are all over and its chaos. To add to that it doesnt help that Maggy's older brother drives like James Bond on speed, I'm usually ok with people driving crazily, (thanks Joey), but with Conrad my normal thought in that car is "O SHIT WE ARE GOING TO DIE".
And I knew the cars here were small but I thought it was just going to be like half small cars than lots of american sized cars, that was stupid of me. Every car here is small, a mini-cooper here would be a bigger sized car. These little machines work well in the very narrow streets here, where basically every street is the size of one lane in the U.S. with cars parking on the sidewalk.
O yea there are also traffic jams that take forever and are all over the place. It's not like there is alot of cars, it's just EVERY street is one lane with no passing.

WARNING: This next part is probably inappropiate, reader discretion advised.

So the girls here are HOT. I mean DAMN. Basically because really no one here is overweight, or at least its very uncommon. And the time Ive gotten here is the first time its been really warm so everyones showen off there new summer skimpy clothes. A big part of it is that everyone walks around outside here, people dont drive or sit in there house everyone is out and about. So if you arent the luckiest guy come to poland because most often I find myself thinking "damn that guys lucky she is with him". (obviously i dont have proof of this because im not THAT creepy that im just taking pictures of random girls). So yea, it makes any walk outside a little improved. (and if you have complaints about me writing this (mom, Tamar), I dont really care, im a 17 year old teen boy, what do u expect)

ok thats all i got for now, I'll be back with, i dont no, something at some time. Do me a favor and comment! on the material, or on my writing, I just need some kindof feedback and it motivates me to write more