Sunday, June 3, 2007

Poland in the News

I'm a little stunned that it's already June, which means that winter and spring are officially over, though you wouldn't know that by the weather we've had lately. Today I stepped out of the flat wearing a scarf and the sweet Afghani hat that Aunt Noreen was kind enough to buy me when I was in Turkey. Admittedly, my wearing the hat had a little to do with the weather and more to do with the fact that I just wanted to wear it.

Unfortunately, here in Poland June does not signify a month of recovery from the school year or time at the beach or even temporary employment and the ENDI. I'm gearing up for exams, and a semester full of taking it easy may be catching up to me. Which means my blog posts from Turkey and Berlin are put on hold, for at least a little while.

But be not afraid, my loyal readers, because Poland been making headlines in the US news media as of late. While I'm sure there have been some articles about President Bush's upcoming visit following the G8 Summit, that seems a bit dry. So instead, I share with you an article from the NyTimes about Krakow as one of the new centers of young, hip culture in (Central-Eastern) Europe. I spent 4 weeks in Krakow last summer, and absolutely loved it. I've heard different opinions about whether Prague or Krakow is a nice city to visit, and while I'm not objective enough to share my own opinion on that, I think that Krakow is certainly in the same league. It's exciting to see that others are getting the same impression. Last semester, when I told people I was stuyding in Poland, I got a lot of "...Poland, huh? That's...interesting. Why?" Which is silly because Poland is cool!

My friend Alex was kind enough to share this second article with me. It's a pretty crazy story, sort of like the film Goodbye Lenin. Worth the read.

1 comment:

Shoshana said...

Did you see Goodbye Lenin? Did you like it? I really wanted to see it when it came out but I couldn't find anyone to go with me - would you be up for a repeat viewing next semester? Also, I have the soundtrack and it is mad good. Its by Yan Tiersen, the same guy who did the Amelie score.

P.S. I quite liked Krakow, at least the eight hours I spent there, so I can see your point. It was gorgeous and charming and historical but also had a young vibe, which is essentially what Prague is as well.