18/09/2010 - a week's roundup

Attempting to sum up the last week is proving to be difficult, I am currently saying 'yes' to as much as possible and keeping on top of so many things has left the blog a bit empty for a few days.

Pitorkowska Street

Monday (13th) saw the start of my time at the school, called 'gymnasium' in Polish as it caters for 13-16 year olds before they start high school, which is from 16-18. Education is compulsory until the age of 18 in Poland. Anyhows, the majority of the day was spent introducing myself to 6 classes of varying ages and abilities. I am now practicing trying as much as possible to speak without a northern accent and to speak slowly, I've told many teachers that grammar in certain parts of the UK doesn't seem to matter at times, "I were going," , "I ain't done nowt," etc etc but I can maybe save this for an advanced English survival course. After my introduction I was asked questions like, "do you like football?", "do you like hamburgers?", "do you have any pets?", "do you like Polish women?" etc. In all, the staff have been friendly and my co-ordiantor has been extremley helpful, and not to forget the curious and energetic pupils.

Later, I met Maciek, who I'd contacted through Couchsurfing, a fellow Vegan Anarchist type, we talked predictiably, about politics, food and music and filled our faces with falafel and middle eastern tea. Explaining to Poles that the British put milk in their tea still brings reactions of shock and horror.

Piotrkowska Street

Tuesday (14th) back in school and again introduced myself to more classes, I'm just waiting for the pupils to get used to me, as I recieve wide-eyed looks of confusion. The evening led me to meet Ania, who I'd be emailing through Couchsurfing and had a spare room in her flat on Piotrkowska Street  - safe to say I've been incredibly lucky, again! The meeting went well and I'm now a Lodz resident on Piotrkowska Street. We later went to Cafe Foto - and the Kaliska , two rather awesome venues.

Wednesday (15th) consisted of schooling, saying goodbye to my lovely hosts, Michal and Magda and settling in into the new flat.

Section of the Manufaktura

Thursday (16th) I was lucky to be invited to a Polish history lesson at the school, the lesson was on the early creation of the Polish state. As I understand, pre-966 AD, Poland was a collection of tribes, primarly Pagan, with the divides between the eastern, western and southern districts. There are several myths and legends about the creation of the state, and who was responsible, in particular Lechu, Czechu and Rusie were the guilty culprits. Plus interesting fables about rat infested Kings, long hair and a Prince being blind until the age of 7 due to an age old curse... New word! - Plemię (tribe). Wikipedia type info malarky - History of Poland

Manufaktura

Later, I was given a tour of the Manufaktura, by some of the pupils of the school. Apart from the endless amount of shops in this building, it is actually quite a nice area! The building was a huge factory during the Industrial Revolution, but as it is a listed building it had to be used for other purposes. As well as expensive shops, there is also cafes, children's play areas, a science museum, cinema and art gallery. We visited the MS2 Gallery, the temporary exhibition Robert Morris, was in my mind, slightly pretentious and boring, though a second visit may change my mind. I still feel like a tourist in this vast city, but to me everything here is new, exciting, different and worth a second glance.

Friday (17th) was my first day off and trying to collect and arrange all that's happened, still discovering the architecture of this city, though I really haven't ventured too far off Pitorkowska Street. I returned to the Manufaktura to finish off the final floor of the MS2 gallery and this proved to be fruitful. The 3rd floor was based upon; illusions, deceptions and tricks of the eye. In particular, Piotr Wyrzykowski's 'Runner' was a highlight. Had my first meal in Green Way, which is a chain of Vegetarian Restaurants and Health Food stores in Poland, the food is cheap but a good deal. It is a saviour to know that you can be guaranteed Vegan food in these places, but I've heard from Vegans and Vegetarians in Poland that Green Way treat their workers badly and unfairly, thus is the cruel hand of capitalism. More info from Libcom is here - http://libcom.org/news/green-way-vegetarian-restaurant-doesnt-pay-workers-10022010

Socteau Cirque

I met Michal again and went to my first Punk/Hardcore gig in Lodz. Safe to say, it was nice to seen such a large turnout, with a lot of younger folk there too, which is always a welcoming sign as more bands, distros, labels and noise freaks are often formed from this early intiations to the noisier side of life.... most of the bands I wasn't too keen on, but the atmosphere was nice and I was happy to be back at a gig again. Socteau Cirque though, was rather sweet, playing a solo set of Ambient Noise, rhythmical at times and using synths and a laptop, melodies sparkled through the dirge and made a satisying set. We traded and have plans to collab.

Gig Dudes