Poland Day 7-10: Golf, Rain, and cray cray neighbors, etc

(btw, this is my 100th blog post! Hooray for not abandoning my blog yet!)

Day 7-8: Golf

In the weekend, the family went golfing.

To be quite honest, I didn't really want to play golf. I'm not a big sports person to begin with (the only sports I even like playing is Tennis and Kendo), and walking under the burning heat to follow around a tiny ball wasn't really my idea of fun.

But I was also aware that complaining about not wanting to play golf is a First World Problem. ESPECIALLY for Korean people, because only the uber-rich are able to play golf in a proper golf course in South Korea. (My family would not be able to afford going to a golf course if they lived in Korea):

Spoiled as fuuuuuuuck.

So I went and stayed quiet.

Because I never really played golf before, I took an hour-long lesson on Saturday. After that, I tagged along my parents and brother (who learned it last year and therefore can play) playing actual golf and acted as a caddie.

Fresh-squeezed orange juice! It was delicious.

OH HAI.

This part of the course looked pretty. The other parts... ehh.

I saw a cat in the golf course.

AND A FOX!

All in all, it was a very okay experience. It didn't rock, it didn't suck, it was OKAY.
Seems like this will be happening every weekend, so I might as well as get used to it.

Day 9-10: Rain

If last week was the week of hellish road-melting heat, this week seems to be the week of cold and rain. How can the weather be so drastically different this week?! One moment I was slathering sunscreen in T-shirts and shorts, next I'm wearing long pants and a raincoat!

Here's a video I took from dad's car, to show you how much it's raining:

More photos of rain:

Day 8-9: Cray cray neighbors

So... we live on the second floor of an apartment.
And the neighbors living on the first floor are a bit crazy.

Apparently it all started last year, my parents explained, when the cleaning lady accidentally broke the plumbing (exactly how, I'm not sure), resulting in water leaking downstairs.

Explanations were attempted, but failed due to language barrier. The downstairs neighbor (a father and daughter; the father owns this building) then proceeded to just cut off water in dad's apartment. The plumbing was fixed and the water restored, but apparently they held a grudge from that incident.

After golf, we came back to the house and was greeted by this taped on the door:

We have not left the front door of the apartment building open (it gets left open sometimes), but after the water leaking, apparently they thought we were responsible for any sort of mishaps in the apartment, because we were the only house with this sign taped on the door.

And yesterday, after the family came back from eating dinner out, we were greeted with this taped on the door.

Dude, what the fuck?!

May I emphasize that this year, we haven't done anything to the neighbors, even accidentally? The only thing we even say to other residents is a "hello" and nothing more.

(Also, if the water leakage happened a year ago, why put passive-aggressive signs on the door now? Doesn't make sense.)

We're just living our lives and not interacting with anyone else in the entire building, and we get stuff like this posted on our door?!

My brother was quite annoyed and tried to do something about it, but mom had advised him to not do anything - "It's best to leave crazy people alone and not provoke them," she said. "Who knows, they might even call the police if we try to argue with them."


Day 10: Shady cleaning lady, part 2

Today (Tuesday), I was supposed to have another golf lesson, but was cancelled due to the rain. Mom and I went to Starbucks again to read and chat.

Coffee and reading is nice.

We had lunch afterwards and made our way back home earlier than usual.

And when we got back home, the cleaning lady was still there.

With her boyfriend. Who was sitting on our chair and watching television.

The cleaning lady looked kind of flustered, muttered something under her breath, and the two of them left without cleaning dad's bedroom. Mom later found that some of her coffee mix was missing. And there were cigarette ashes in the toilet bowl, and bath towels were washed with the bathroom foot rugs. Again.

Shady as fuck, confirmed.

We did tell dad to find another hired help already, but he's not really that quick in handling matters sometimes. We shall see.

Day 10: Choco

Okay, here's trying to end this blog on a more cheerful note.

We went to the Korean store today, and guess who's back in the store?

The Korean store.

Choco!

PLZ LOOK AT CAMERA CHOCO.

The store owner didn't want to leave Choco alone at home, so she brought Choco and her puppies in the second floor of the store, away from the first floor area but still close to her. Granted, Choco didn't/couldn't come down from the stairs, but I was glad to see her again. We even heard the puppies squealing upstairs!

Sleepy dog.

I hope I can see the puppies too before I leave. The puppies would be okay with outside exposure after a month, I believe.

Poland: Day 3 - 6: The Heat, shady cleaners, bad luck, and good luck

Day 3-6 The Heat

So, for most of the week it was a long battle against the heat.

Just how hot was it? A dog got stuck into a melting road in Poland.

So yeah. And if the heat wasn't enough to drive people mad already, it was made worse by the burning sunlight shining from all directions of everywhere.

Highly relevant picture from Hyperbole and a Half.

It was so bad that the heat would suffocate us in the small apartment, starting from around 10 AM until sunset. We bought a fan to keep cool, but once the house got hot, the only way to stay cool was to sit right next to the fan for the rest of the day.

So mom and I went outside (into cooler buildings) often.

There is a gigantic mall/eateries area not too far away. (kind of like how many American neighborhoods are set up - a separate residential area and consumer area) Normally you'd need a car to go from A to B, but luckily there was a "short cut" we can go on foot, which takes about 15 minutes.

The shortcut to the malls. 

Corn fields on the side.

You can spot KFC!

The walk takes about 15 minutes. This is how 15 minutes of walking under the burning sun feels like.

Highly relevant picture from Hyperbole and a Half #2.

And then we go to a Starbucks and read a book or something while we take shelter from the heat.

There's a nice grocery store around the area!

Shady cleaning lady

Because my dad usually lives alone in Poland part-time and he's a sort of person who can't be bothered to do anything that isn't his money-making job, he has an old lady come clean the apartment every Tuesdays and Thursdays.

And she is kinda shady, to put it mildly.

Google image search result for "shady people".

I have not actually seen her face to face, as mom and I are out before she comes to clean the house. However, the evidence she leaves behind have indicates major shadiness.

When we came back to the apartment in the evening, there were: 

1) Cigarette ashes floating in the toilet bowl.

2) Signs suggesting that she and/or her boyfriend (who drives her around) used the shower.

3) A significant reduce in laundry detergent.

4) Foot rugs and bath towels put in the washing machine together.

5) Signs suggesting plates have been used to eat something.

6) And overall, not that spotlessly clean house.

I don't think any of you wanted photos of that anyway.

So yeah.

Bad luck

So nothing horrendous happened, but a series of very minor bad luck, especially when suffering from the heat and all that, just kind of wears you down.

First, Choco the dog gave birth on Tuesday. Talk about a wildly off expected date. And since she has to tend to her puppies, I may not be able to see her again during my stay in Poland this month. Aww. The Korean store lady showed us pictures of her three puppies.

Secondly, I dropped my watch and a part of it broke.

Third, my laptop charger also broke... somewhat. Fuck.

It's a paper-thin charger for a paper-thin laptop, and the fragile charger design leads to easy breakage. Damn you Samsung!

After frantic attempts to resuscitate the charger and not be left laptop-less, I found that the charger works if I bend a certain part of the charger at a certain angle. So far I've been able to re-charge my laptop several times, but I don't know how long it will last.

And Good luck

After months and months of broken promises and angry phone calls, my Czech visa is finally ready.

Christ. It was high time the freaking thing came out.

Which means 1) I am able to leave Czech Republic and go to the USA for grad school, and 2) If lucky, I can temporarily go back to Prague during this month-long stay to fetch my visa.

Woot!

Poland, Day 1 and 2

The family is going to Poland for a month!

My dad is going there because he works there (and has a small apartment which he currently lives part-time), my brother to do an internship, and my mom to take care of the family. 

And I'm just tagging along because my family can't just leave me in Czech Republic alone for a month. Hahahahaha lazy freeloader (I'll be helping out my mom a bit).

Initially, I was not looking forward to this trip at all - I've never been to dad's place while my mom and brother did last year, and they kept telling me that the stay there was "nothing much to do and it was kind of dull, but tolerable", and that we would be playing a lot of golf.

That was not really my idea of a fun trip, BUT this "trip" is mostly for my brother, and as a freeloading tagalong I have no right to complain. So follow along I did.

Day 1:

On Sunday morning we took a LOT of luggage, and hopped onto dad's car from Prague to Wrocław, Poland. (pronounced "vrots-waf"), a city located in southwest Poland.

Blue star: Prague, Orange star: Wrocław

The entire trip took somewhere around 4-5 hours.

Random shot of Czech Republic.

Random shot of Poland. There were nice buildings below but it didn't come out well.

In the middle of the trip, we stopped by a McDonalds that we often go when taking car trips to other European countries. Some people might think that a McDonalds is not the best place to stop and have a little something, but Czech McDonalds tastes a lot better than American McDonalds.  so don't judge okay aaaa

This McDonalds also has nice interior.

The "McCafe" section. Some of their pastries are decent.
We got hot chocolate and cheesecake.

After a few more hours of driving, we were near dad's place in Wrocław. Before arriving, we stopped at a Korean store nearby to buy some extra groceries for food.

The store owner had a Yorkshire terrier named Choco! Choco was pregnant and the store owner said she was expecting puppies in about two weeks. I think I'll enjoy going to the Korean store.

Sorry no photos of Choco (yet!)  Soon...

(Also, my dad was cooing over Choco the entire time. He's an old-fashioned dad who's too shy/doesn't bother to say anything affectionate to his children, but then he turns around and melts into a puddle of goo over a tiny dog. I've seen him like that before but it's still quite jarring when it happens.)

After unloading our bags, we grocery shopped some more, bought a fan (because it's hot here right now and dad doesn't have one), had dinner and unpacked.

Dad's place is a single-bedroom apartment and has a spacious living room. It's kinda cramped for 4 people, but would be an okay place for one or two.

After unpacking everything we watched some television, washed up, and went to bed.

Day 2:

Woke up with a swollen left eye. Blargh.

So I'm not sure why, but since a few years ago my eyes would inexplicably swell up and itch before dissipating. I have chalked up the possible causes as either stress or dusty environment. I'm still not sure which.

Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as when my eye swelled up in Korea. (Eyes swollen for weeks and had to put in two types of eye drops every day)

Dad left for work, Jin left for internship and mom and I slowly did some housework. She let me rest a bit because of my eye.

The apartment complex has a lot of swallow nests, including my dad's. 

Finally got a shot of the swallow!

It was hot out and since my eye itched I just kind of stayed here all day. Hopefully I'll actually do something in the future.

New York: Day ??? (part 2)

Typing away once more in the cooling room. Brittany Hall now banned dragging mattresses along, putting up more cots instead. 

They also said "the cooling room opens at 8 PM". 8PM my ass. When I brought my bedding at 7:45 PM the lounge was already 2/3 full.

Anyway, more mass entries!

Day 36 (July 1): French Wine Party

Elsa found out about a French Wine party where you can taste wine and eat food for free. Obviously, all of us said yes. I don’t know how Elsa keeps on finding stuff like great alcohol deals and celebrity residences. It’s like a superpower.

Elsa worried whether we were going to arrive on time for the food, saying, “The French don’t leave food laying on the table for long.” Luckily we arrived before they served food, but I found out Elsa’s words were true.

Grab and go, grab and go, grab and go!

White truffle butter (left) and black truffle butter (right). Tastiest butter ever.

Wine. I didn't keep track of what wine it was, sadly.

Okay, so it wasn't much of a party rather than a... tasting event.

 Day 37 (July 2): Interview at New Jersey

Interviewed Congressman Bill Pascrell in New Jersey. Mr. Yoo told me to be at the car rental parking lot at 9:50 by the dot, but he had trouble renting a car that we left at 10:50. Sigh. Miraculously, we arrived in NJ and was only 10 minutes late. Interview went smoothly, and we had lunch at a Korean soybean place at 7th Avenue and 35th Street.

Yup.

Day 38 (July 3): Interview at Buffalo

We had an Interview with Philip Kotler at Buffalo, NY. I woke up at 4:30, showered, dressed, left dorm at 5:45 and made a long trip to JFK Airport. The trip took 1 hour and 40 minutes. The plane ride to JFK took roughly the same amount of time. I slept the entire way.

NYC at 6AM.

Penn Station to take a train...

...that takes you to the AirTrain that takes you to JFK. Here is JFK.

 

This time, Mr. Yoo could not find his licence, so we could not rent a car, and had to take a taxi to Mr. Kotler's place, which was more than an hour away. Oh god the cost, ouch.

Mr. Kotler lived in a very nice summer house, and was very accommodating in the interview. We both brought books that he wrote, and he autographed them. The interview went well; I wish I can say the same about the taxi ride back... 

Here, have a pic of peaceful rural Buffalo. Because what happened next isn't pretty.

 

Initially, Mr. Yoo asked for a discount for the taxi fare, and the driver agreed. But after arriving at the airport again, they had an argument about the fare because Mr. Yoo didn't want to pay tip. It escalated into the two of them shouting at each other. The driver threatened, "I'm going to call the police!" Mr. Yoo retorted, "Oh, yeah? Go ahead, then!" I stood in the middle, petrified.

Perhaps I should have said something, but sadly, I was too afraid. I was having my plane ticket and meal being paid for; what if I spoke up, and he decides to ditch me in the airport in a fit of irrational anger? I have nowhere enough money to go back myself. After the driver (somehow) left, Mr. Yoo went on an angry tirade about how "Indian people always rip you off". Cringe cringe. Not to mention racist.

I got back fine.

Day 39 (July 4): Fail fireworks 

Fourth of July!

I don't have much to write here; I was having the blahs again. And then I dragged myself to see the fireworks. But I didn't get a good view because I didn't leave early enough.

Happy

Fourth

of July... *cries*

 

Somehow, missing the fireworks made my stressful week and feelings of inadequacy and resignation blow up all at once. I went on a temper tantrum (to Robert, via text) in the middle of the street. Sigh. I got better, after a few hours.

Day 41 (July 6): Lexington Avenue

Not much  to write about. Only having a month left in NYC, I made a list of places I wanted to go. I decided to cross off Lexington Avenue and Gramercy Park from the list today.

Before heading to Lexington Ave., I saw the NYU hawk ripping a pigeon apart. It was quite graphic. Every day is National Geographic Day with the NYU hawk!

Like a boss.

Gramercy Park, only private access most of the year. I took pictures from between the railings.

28th street is full of Indian restaurants. I should go to one of these sometime.

Grand Central Station market.

Now we're back on track! I should start being productive again.