Spoiled Tuesday: The Lion King!

                Goodness me, today was quite the spoiled Tuesday, I’d say. I mean, in work, I still had nothing to do, so I worked on my ASB Site Leader application instead. It’s actually going to be really nice to have that time to focus on a little bit at a time and edit through the week before the deadline. (: After work, I headed straight to… the movies!!! Since I work literally right beside the cinema, I walked over and bought my movie ticket for THE LION KING!!!! If… you can’t tell. I was quite excited. And, I ended up getting the perfect seat. You see, in Poland, you pick your seats. Yes, you are assigned a seat for the show. I like it this way, to be honest. But yeah, it worked out great for me, because most of the first row was still left open. However, the one seat left open in the back was a single, on the very side. Like, it was right before the last row, and just on the edge, which honestly, was perfect for me, since I’m all alone and it’s just more comfortable that way.

                Anyways, I’ll give you more details about my movie going experience in a bit. First off, though, I was hungry, so I went to go get my dinner/lunch at the restaurant in front of Fredro, called “Pod Fredra,” accordingly. My waiter was very nice and explained how in that restaurant you literally pick everything. You don’t order a dish and it comes with random sides. You pick the main part of the dish, a meat or fish, and then add whatever sides you want. So I ended up ordering kiełbasa and kopytka. And honestly, it was wonderful. Really really good. The kiełbasa was that thick heavy, somewhat oily taste, while the kopytka were that good kind of bland to even out the kiełbasa. I think I’ll go there again; great service, great Polish traditional music, and good food. Plus, pretty interior… And I’d like to try some of their other dishes… Perhaps… maybe even rabbit. Or duck. I know, guys. Way out in left field for me, haha. I just recently came to like pork and beef. It sucks eating alone now, though… It’s so much more pleasant to have someone to chat with while waiting for food, and over dinner, and afterwards, instead of just being like… I’m… leaving immediately, haha. I was going to order their szarlotka, but… I was quite full, actually. Which surprised me, because my order came out on this enormous dish, and it looked so… empty. So when I came towards the end of my meal I was like, huh… I’m actually full. Damnit, the szarlotka sounded good too! Argh! Perhaps an afternoon treat later in the week. Although, I really did go all out today…

                Because after dinner/lunch (I call it that because I again didn’t have lunch at work, but with reason; I had leftover pizza for breakfast and that really held me over well), but yes, afterwards, I headed to Empik! Ahhhh! Awesome Polish book store. Seriously, so awesome. I don’t know what about it I love, but I just do. I ended up finally buying some postcards (shhhh…) and… andandand. Seriously, guys, super excited about this. I bought… get ready for it, ready… A POLISH ACADEMIC PLANNER! :DDD Ahhh! … I know I’m really lame for getting as excited as I am about it, but I really have wanted one since last year when I was in Poland, and it’s just going to help me further confirm my Polish months and days. Although, I’m surprised; within this past year I’ve actually gotten a good handle on the months and days, and last year I was struggling! Still. It’s really awesome, because in the back, it has colored maps of all sorts of European countries and their divisions! And then a time table! And and and… All sorts of awesome things. And it’s a day by day sort of planner, so I don’t have to squeeze everything I need to do into one third of a page. Which is GREAT! Since I tend to ramble. A lot. (As you have most certainly noticed through these blog entries.) I was really tempted to buy some Polish magazine as well for more leisure reading… That or the European flag, again…

                I also spent my time in Rynek looking at all the souvenir shops, comparing post card prices and looking for flags. At one shop, I saw these awesome Polish bracelets! I mean, a legit sort of thread-on-metal bracelet which wouldn’t really lose its colors or words, like my rubber Polish ones did. I have a good feeling I’ll end up buying one… I might also buy a Polish magnet for my mini fridge… Well, a Wrocław one, since I have a Polish one… I asked one shop what kind of flags they had, and she only had the older Wrocław flag. Dx Much sadness. And since I was running out of time, I couldn’t go search more. But I will end up getting a Wrocław flag. Maybe an EU flag. It would certainly be appropriate. Though, I’d prefer a Solidarność flag first. Although, to be honest, I have no clue where in the hell I would buy that. Oh! In this same shop, I saw this adorable pepper and salt shaker set. It was a heart, one half red, the other white, one being salt, the other pepper, one saying Polska (or Poland?) and the other having I think the Polish eagle on it. … I’m going back and buying it tomorrow. I mean, it’s not one of those things where it’s like, oh that’s cool. I genuinely fell in love with it. It’s just so me, and I mean, I’m going to need it wherever I live now! What better way than to further express my pride obnoxiously to all of my guests?!? :D (Oh gosh, I have a feeling everyone’s going to get super annoyed with all my bursting pride and constant comparisons whenever I come back.)

                That actually reminds me. I signed up on Couch Surfing today! Which should be super interesting… Because maybe I’ll meet some people that way more easily. And it seems like fun, considering that people who travel usually click together well. So hopefully something comes from that.

                Anyways, after that, I headed toward the theatre. I walked in and was a little awed by the set up, and also reminded of the set up from the last time that I went to the movies in Poland (6 years ago in ’05!). So I started taking pictures… Little did I know you’re not supposed to take pictures… Whoops. I don’t… quite understand why not. A concession stand girl came up and asked me if I had a pass, and I quickly apologized and didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to take pictures. Still, don’t understand why… If it’s a matter of stealing the floor plan, I’ll be honest. Any professional artist could easily be hired and sketch it away quickly, or well… just remember it, or visit a lot. *shrugs* Oh well. As I said, I spoiled myself. I bought a bag of candy which I got to assort myself. I got chocolate-covered black currants! (Oh god, I thought I was dreaming; I love black currants.) And lemon, apple, pineapple, and cola jelly beans. All quite good, I’ll say. (: Apple ended up being my favorite, and the chocolate-covered black currants weren’t bad, but they weren’t necessarily something I’d buy again. Still, quite interesting and I’m glad I got them. Then I headed up to the first floor to watch the movie; I looked around on the first floor for my theatre, but I forgot briefly how in Poland, the ground floor is floor zero, and the next floor up is the first floor.

                All of the commercials were animated movie commercials, which was awesome. Because so many times you go to movies and you get an entire mix of commercials, and it’s like, really guys? Why not try and reach out to the crowd in front of you who will likely appreciate other movies in the same genre? Ah well! I noticed something, though. The theatre did not have too many kids in it. This was an 18:30 showing, so, no, it wasn’t too late. It was all couples and adults or at least teenagers, with a minimal number of kids. That made me so happy! People aren’t ashamed of reliving their childhoods! They’ll admit to liking Disney! In fact, as one group of people left, one of them said, “Can we go see it again tomorrow?!” genuinely happy from their experience.

                About the movie, though. I’ll be honest; the 3D obviously wasn’t necessary, though for some parts, it was rather nifty to see the characters sticking out against their backgrounds… But then there were some parts where it was a bit of a mess… That might just be my eye sight. I still would choose “2D” over “3D” in a heartbeat. But, this was worth every cent I paid, because it really just tied my entire life together. My love for Disney, my entire childhood, and my pride for Poland, and my Polish, and the other fact of my childhood. Just all tied together in one. I nearly started crying from happiness when the Circle of Life started playing in Polish. It’s just that important to me. It really was interesting to hear the variations of the words on the songs and how they made them fit the melodies. All of the songs were translated very well, even to tune, except for “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” Nonetheless, the music actually helped me realize just how much I still need to expand my vocab and understanding of Polish grammar, as well, which is good. God, I love the Lion King. Such an awesome experience. <3 So happy I went!

                Speaking of language, this reminded me of one topic I think I forgot to mention from yesterday! When we were in the café thing, Michał and Ania asked me how I thought, and I answered that it really depends, and that sometimes I do think in Polish. So then they asked how I dream to really get down to the main point, and honestly, I do dream in Polish occasionally. In fact, I will never forget my Kiwanis Leadership Camp experience, ’05, which occurred right after my five week trip to Poland. Well, I guess I’ll never forget the story. Apparently, in the middle of the night, Meggo woke up and heard something, and then she dismissed it by saying, “Oh, it’s just Nell sleep talking in Polish.” I mean, if at that age I was sleep talking in Polish, then I’ve probably had dreams in Polish as well since then, and it just depends. (It’s hard to tell since I can’t remember most of my dreams.) They were shocked, though. I dunno why, but they were.

Oh! And they also asked if my English was weaker since I also grew up learning Polish, and honestly, I can confidently say yes. I don’t care what Dr. Ferguson says. My mom actually told Dr. Ferguson in a conference that English has always been my weakest subject, and Dr. Ferguson dismissed it with the fact that every child has a weakness in school. Yes. Yes, they do. Except every child has something that influences that weakness, as well. My influence was having parents whose native language was not English, and listening to my parents speak in Polish and use Polish grammar. While yes, I wouldn’t notice that consciously, subconsciously, I’d bet you anything, it confused the hell out of my mind while trying to learning grammar. And also, that’s probably why I could never grasp onto the concept of accents either, despite having a good musical ear. Because in Polish, I just found out this year, that every word is accented on the second to last syllable. … And then we have English, which does whatever the hell it wants. Just some subtle things, but enough to make a difference, I’d say. I mean, when I told my uncle I always had difficult with the accents part of my vocab tests, he was appalled. He knows I have a good musical ear, so for me it should’ve been a piece of cake to pick up, but I just never could…

Sorry about those tangents! I thought they were interesting notes. So, I stayed until the very end of the credits. They rolled the English credits with Elton John’s song, of course, and at the end they had the addition of the Polish credits, since it had to be dubbed and everything. Nothing special besides that, but I really wanted to soak in the moment. AND! People clapped at the end of the movie! Thank goodness, yes! It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a theatre that clapped at the end of movie, and every time I go to the theatres and people don’t clap, it breaks my heart. It’s like you’re not acknowledging the people who put everything together. The musicians, the artists, the writers, the people who put it all together, everyone. Sure, they don’t know if you clap or not, but it’s just a little bit of appreciation.

Oh, and forever more, Mufasa = kiełbasa. At the portion when Scar is talking to the three hyenas, and Banzai makes some sort of reference to Mufasa and infuriates Scar, the hyena reassures Scar that he said kiełbasa instead of Mufasa. Freakin’ hilarious! And even you non-Polish folk can appreciate that one! But yes… I finally left the movie theatre and headed on home. I stopped at the mini grocery store down from my apartment to get something for breakfast and some snack bars for work, since I was too exhausted to go to an actual grocery store… Which… I really really should do soon… But yes, that was my glorious day, and now, time for sleep! Then off to another relaxing day at work! Haha! Life is good. (:
                P.S. Disney knows how to milk its productions and make money. Oh wellll~ I enjoyed myself! :D