Friday, September 2, 2011

Good Times in Souvenir Shops


            Hmm… these chocolate covered black currants seem to get better with each day! :D Oh… hi! So, today at work? Slow. No responses. Free time. BUT! I got to talk with the phenomenally amazing spectacular SAAAAAAAAM (from Florida). Oh goodness! I haven’t talked to her in forever, so it was awesome Gtalking it up! And I think we might talk more often too! :D I really really hope we are neighbors one day. No more of this 10 hour drive or hopping on a plane to visit nonsense.
            Although… now, I will surprise you all. Because. Something interesting did happen in work today. What’s that, you ask? My boss had a mini-surprise-meeting with me! Oh, it went well. (: He’s a really nice guy, and I told him how I was doing. Sent out the e-mails to so many companies, all of them, and waiting for responses, minimal responses, those that responded said no. He asked if they seemed interested, one of them, yeah. And then he said, “We’ll just have to keep trying.” And that was it. Of course, before all of this he asked about my health first. ^_^ So that was nice. It was actually reassuring to talk to him and know that it’s ok how things are going.
            Not too long after that, though, I left work and went to the square again. Where… I bought a Wrocław flag! It’s about 26 inches by whatever proportion would be that of a flag. (I just measured the short end using my laptop screen; I think I can be lazy on this one.) And for 40 złoty. I thought that was a good deal, since Empik had an EU one for 29,99 zł that was 30cm by 50 cm. Which is a considerate amount smaller. And I determined Empik is actually on the middle-cheaper side of things, I think. Or at least I found that with post cards. That and… I didn’t really see any of the Wrocław flags at this size anywhere else. So this is good. (: I also went to the “I <3 Wrocław” store (which I’ve been in about 5 times since I’ve gotten to Poland). I’ve talked to the same young woman about 3 times, asking for prices and what not, each time. So this time when I went in, she actually recognized me. xD I ended up buying the salt and pepper shaker, and it was the last one! Phew! And they don’t know when they’ll have another order! So I’ll go back from time to time to compare and see if I might get a better quality one, and she said that’d be ok. (: I also bought, drum roll please…. A present. Now… a present for who, you might ask? Well, that’s my little secret, and whoever gets it will know then, and find out what it is. >) It’s a small little gift, but it made me feel good to get it. I love making people happy!
            So, when I was buying these two things, the woman actually asked me where I’m from, and I said the states. She said, “Oh, so you must’ve lived here at some point.” !!!!! I was incredibly flattered by that. I mean, I know she asked me where I was from, so obviously I have an accent (which is a-ok), but she also assumed that I lived here at some point. I dunno what to make of that, but it’s just awesome, because perhaps that means my speech is skilled enough? At least to pull off that I at some point lived here, right? I then told her my parents are actually Polish, so she guessed that I learned by talking with them. It was a very pleasant conversation. I had to run to get change to make the purchase, but besides that, it was fun. As for my speech, I know I have an accent and obviously have my difficulties, and yes, I want to improve as much as possible, obviously, but… it won’t kill me if I still have an accent on certain words. Heck, it’s cute, if anything. And people love listening to people with accents. It’s something fresh.
            Speaking of accents. While traveling to and from work, and spending time with kids in the family, I’ve noticed certain syllables that kids have a hard time saying, and it’s adorable. Sz, ś, rz, ż, cz and ć, mostly. For example, Michał’s daughter two weekends ago pointed at a duck and said, “Kacka!” instead of “Kaczka!” (I probably spelled that wrong.) So cute. And just listening to other kids, they have difficulties with many of the same syllables too. I probably had the same issues when I was younger. If not worse. Ah, yes, just a mini lesson. Sz and ś are both “sh,” though one is harsher than the other; rz and ż are “zh” (so… “sh” with a z sound instead), same story. Cz and ć are “ch,” and I don’t know if it’s the same story here. So yes. Essentially, when kids are messing them up, they keep missing the “z” part, or in English, the “h” part.             Then I went home. Traffic was bad still, so the tram ride back took a while. I also ended up missing the bus, even though… I was standing right in front of it while it was waiting at a stop light. Oiii. But for that, I got two scoops of ice cream: kiwi and cherries in yogurt. The kiwi flavor in Galeria Dominikańska owned this one, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, and a scoop is 1 złoty cheaper at this place. I mean, the business is smart for literally setting up right in front of a slow bus stop. People go in there to get ice cream or some sort of baked good while waiting for the bus. Quick and easy business.
            Ah… so I remembered… Today is a tragic day as well. For today, I found out that… the Ship, aka my 1995 Nissan Quest, is dead… Allow me to explain the importance of this… this is the car that my childhood revolves around. While other cars came and went, this car was always there. We took multiple road trips in it, including multiple ones to Florida, we used it around town, for my birthday parties when I had a ton of my friends over to cart around. Including the one birthday where we had to put Bradley Price in the middle of the two middle seats, have him hunch down, and cover him with a blanket because we had no room for him otherwise. I slept on the back bench for god knows how many hours and miles. One trip back from Florida we carpooled the Pydas, and I remember complaining about not having the full back seat to myself, cause I had to share with Patricia. We weren’t on good terms by the end of that trip… (That was many many many years ago, so yes, we’re a-ok now!) Anyways, the Nissan was a staple to my life. 
You know how kids dream of the car they want to own when they’re older? Mine was this van. Other kids wanted Mustangs, convertibles, Porsches, and I just wanted my Nissan Quest to survive long enough so that I could drive it. Fortunately, it did, but I still feel like it’s been too short a time. Only 2 years, really… It earned the name, “The Ship,” from my high school friends (I think Kayla, actually) when they noted that it creaks and groans like a ship. While driving this vehicle, I had to put in a mini workout by pushing the acceleration pedal with all my might to encourage it up the hills of our area. It was the car in which I drove out of our driveway by myself for the first time. Now, the cost to repair it is more than the cost to sell it, and who knows how long that repair would last, anyways… If I could, I really would just gut it and renew its entire interior so that it could go another 15 years, but I don’t have that money. I honestly wanted to cry today when I found out, but… I was at work. So here’s to a wonderful van, with wonderful memories, and if you think this is pathetic, then please, acknowledge that this is my blog and move on, because this is important to me.
I hate ending on such a sad note, because it pains me as well, but… I can’t think of anything else to say about the day. Right now, I made myself some rosół, and I’ll likely have some sandwiches in a bit… Perhaps I’ll draw, and I hope to start postcards today (for real). But besides that, I bid thee, adieu! 
Note: the above was written yesterday.
So, this morning, although it was significantly warmer, the majority of people I saw were still wearing long sleeves. ... Pansies

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