True confessions of a blogging slacker . . .

It's been a busy summer, full of fun and travel. Back to the states for about 4 weeks and then to Spain for a couple weeks. Finally back in the comfort of my flat here in Poland and feeling a bit more motivated to write some random anecdotes about life. For those that have the Chronicle tucked away in their bookmarks and check in on me from time to time, I offer my most heartfelt apology for how damn lazy I've been. In a couple days, it will have been two full months since my last entry. The fact that I haven't written is pure bollocks! You can tell I've been spending an inordinate amount of time with Brits. For those not familiar with the word, it roughly translates to the quintessentially American term "bullshit".

I've blocked out Sunday for an all out writing marathon. My typing teacher back in high school, Mrs. Burritt would be quite proud. You can look forward to details about my first Polish wedding (not my own)and a death defying journey driving the Polish highways towards Belarus.

Anyway, lots to write about. Hope I didn't lose any readers because of my lack of ambition in the last few weeks. If I can't entertain you, maybe these two guys who are staying at my place this weekend can. Check out their website, www.tuxedotravels.com They are traveling from Hong Kong to London clad in tuxedos and found a place to stay with me through couchsurfing.com Enjoy the campy vids of them journeying through Asia. And as always, hello to Nate's mom in Spokane!

Thanks for reading!

In a fog, I will blog, on the city of Prague . . .

Dzien dobry everybody and happy Monday. The last few days have really felt like summer as the end of the year culminating activities take place. (that's good educratic jargon) Last Friday, we took the kids on a walk to nearby Powsin Park and played games all day long. The afternoon ended in an all-out water balloon fight with me on the ground fearing for the life of my camera as the kids mercilessly pelted me. Fortunately, the camera survived and I escaped with minor bruises and grass stains.

Notice, how my blog has become extra super duper fancy with the addition of slide shows. Here's a few pics from our two spring field trips.

After finishing such a tough day of work, it was on to a culminating activity of a different sort. A friend of mine here at ASW is getting married in a couple weeks, so we flew to Prague for a bachelor weekend. It was considered quite tame by the standards of other "stag" parties, as the Brits refer to them. We didn't dress up the guest of honor in a Flash superhero costume, floral print dress, or sherrif outfit with requisite posse. But these were a few of the characters we encountered as we wandered through the square. As anyone who knows me can attest, I love a good costume as much, if not more, than anybody else. But the supposedly dignified and refined subjects of the Queen take drunken debauchery to new lows in Eastern Europe.

Most of our waking hours were spent eating giant plates of hearty Czech food (think Minnesota State Fair, i.e. fried cheese and all kinds of meat) and quaffing what some claim is the finest tasting beer in the world. Who am I to disagree with them given the beauty of the surroundings in which the suds were consumed? You could sit me in the middle of Prague square on a sunny day in June with a can of Old Style and I would declare its superiority over any other suds. The beauty of both the city and ecclectic mix of people are unrivaled.

This coming weekend I've been invited to a wedding in the Eastern Polish town of Białystok. I will be the token foreigner and I've heard traditional celebrations of matrimony are legendary in this country. Wish me luck on making it past the first couple courses!

Enjoying the long weekend?

To all my American friends out there, I hope you are enjoying your three day weekend. Take the time to remember all those that have given their lives in the service of our country. Just like we have to remind kids every year what the true meaning of Christmas is, don't forget why we observe Memorial Day. I'm not one of those "USA, USA!" patriots but take some time to cue the Lee Greenwood, please.

Speaking of the good ol' US of A. Your president will be making a 3 hour stop in Poland to hang out with "the ducks", Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. They'll no doubt be talking about a way to get me to pay federal income tax back in the states. The U.S. Treasury needs that money to fund visits like this, which according to one Embassy parent, requires 200 people for security and 10 armored Cadillacs for transportation.

It's been "hotter than blue blazes" here, as my grandma would say. What does that mean, anyway? A blue flame is a relatively cool burning flame. Shouldn't it be hotter than orange or even red blazes? Nevertheless, it's been almost 90 the last few days and air conditioning is a luxury few can afford.

The seniors at ASW have graduated and Saturday night one of the more affluent families had a big party for their son. I should've dressed up and crashed it since they flew in British pop star, Jamie Cullum, to play at the celebration. I don't know how much it cost, but I'm betting he didn't have to fly to Warsaw aboard RyanAir.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes last week. Turning 33 was quite uneventful. Some friends from work organized a bike ride from tent to tent on the way home from school. There are a lot of these outdoor patios between ASW and my place. Despite spending quality time at quite a few of them, my bike and I remain in one piece after the journey.

Only 19 more day until I'm back in Boise. Does anybody have a cruiser I can comandeer for transportation while I'm there? I'm jonesing for some quality time at Parilla Grill or Opa. Hope some of you folks back there have a few days off.

Is it time to grow up?

Next weekend, I'm spending a couple days in Prague. A friend at work is getting married this summer to a nice Polish girl. It was his last wish as a single man to have his bachelor party in this beautiful city. My question for you is this: I'll be turning 33 in a couple days. At what age does your mom stop telling you things like, "Have a good time in Prague, but be sensible."?

Shootin' down the days . . .

After today, we've hit the sweet 16 at ASW. Yes, only 16 more days of school. The kids are distracted as well as the adults. The bike racks around school have filled up as everybody chooses the mode of transportation that makes it much easier to hit the beer tents after work.

Since spring break, everybody has shifted into summer mode during the last few weeks of school. Lots of parents have decided to make it an early summer or take an extended spring vacation. This frustrated me at first, but it's just one of those things about teaching in an international school that you have to deal with. When the private jet or the yacht is gassed up and ready to head for some exotic locale, do you really blink an eye when taking your kids out a week early? It's a nice problem to have, I would guess.

While the U.S. is engulfed in American Idol fever, Europe had it's own Superbowl of bad music last weekend. For those who've never heard of the Eurovision song contest, let me explain. Every country in the European Broadcasting Union (think T.V.'s EU) nominates a particular act from their country to send to the competition. Each song is performed on live television and citizens of each EBU nation are given the chance to vote for their favorite, excluding their home country.

You can imagine the potential for unintentional comedy when you think of each country's interpretation of what constitutes "pop music". Those that are woefully short on talent, get by on their stage-presence, using garish costumes and shocking antics. Sometimes, these groups actually win.

Last year, the Finnish heavy-metal group, Lordi, took home the prize with their performance of "Hard-Rock Hallelujah".



Now, when you go through the airport in Helsinki, this national pride is celebrated with t-shirts and other souvenirs bearing the visage of Lordi.

This year, Serbia claimed victory. It's too bad I had drawn Belarus in the pool. You can go to youtube and look up each country's performance. These videos are definitely worth a look, especially France's entry, since it is just so . . . well, "French".

Last week, we wanted the kids to get in touch with their inner soldier, so we took them on a trip to the Polish Army Museum. There is an amazing array of Soviet military hardware on display there, including missile launchers, tanks, fighter jets, and helicopters. This was definitely a microcosm of the Cold War, and how defense spending takes precedence over a nation's more critical needs, like food!

Everybody took the chance to pose with an authentic AK-47, including yours truly. I also had the time to install an "Irish missle" on one of the planes.

The next day, "Night of the Museums" was held all over Warsaw. This is a special evening when all museums are free and they hold special exhibitions. Robb Hoiseth captured this video at the Army Museum that night. I don't think they would ever allow this back home:



I know in my last entry, which seemed like a long time ago, I said I would give some details on the trip to Rome, but I will let the pictures tell the story instead. I've uploaded all the pics from Slovenia also. You can access them here:

http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g319/mgaspersich/

Copy and paste the link into your browser, then just click on Rome and Slovenia to enter the albums. These are instructions for the tech-impaired. You know who you are.

Finally, a happy belated Mother's Day to my mom back in Minnesota. This holiday isn't celebrated until next weekend here in Poland, so I will just take the opportunity to let Mr. T. tell my mom how much I love her:

Planes, trains, and automobiles.

I have returned to my previous solitary existence inside my Polish bachelor pad. My family is somewhere high above the Atlantic enjoying unlimited helpings of mini-pretzels, Sutter Home wine, and the English language. At least I think they are. Rogue cabbies in Warsaw are notorious for kidnapping American tourists, stealing all their valuables, and dumping them across the Ukranian border. Kidding Grandma, only kidding!



I never thought being responsible would be so exhausting. It was a great experience to have Mom, Dad, and Dave hop across the pond to see where I work and live. They will definitely have a newfound perspective on things when I make my weekly call over the computer. Showing them around Warsaw was the easy part. Being able to retreat to the friendly confines of 40 Wielicka #64 after a day of sightseeing was definitely really nice for them.

The last week has been the most interesting travel experience I've had over here. The four of us traveled to the motherland, Slovenia, the country my grandmother left back in 1924 at the tender age of 16. Okay, it was part of a larger country called Yugoslavia back then, but the powderkeg of warring ethnicities has since fractured it into 5 smaller nations. But I digress, since this is not a forum for the politics of Eastern Europe.


Anyhow, if you're still reading, I'll give you a little background to help you understand the history behind the visit. Back in 1977, when I was just a 3 year old little hellion, my parents went to Yugoslavia with my grandmother. My father has
cousins living in the same tiny village called Zemostac, and my grandmother hadn't been back in over 50 years. As you can see, my parents were quite the groovy couple back then.

When they said goodbye in 1977, they didn't think they would ever see each other again for some odd reason. Fortunately, I was able to make a visit in 2005 to see the family, and meet all of my second cousins. It was a journey that had a profound effect on me moving to my present location.

It was an emotional experience for all of us, but especially for my parents. Memories of their previous trip came flooding back and there wasn't a dry eye in the house, so to speak. Andreja and Tomaz translated the feelings of happiness between all of us. Dad was still pretty savvy with his knowledge of Slovenian much to the surprise of the older folks.

It was wonderful to just sit back and play trip photographer while everyone bonded over heaping plates of potica, prosciutto, and cheese. I wish I could post all of the photos here, but to save space I will get them uploaded to my Photobucket account in the near future.














Okay, so posting this entry has taken a few days. I had a severe case of writer's block / laziness but have decided to give you my musings on the craziness of the Italian capital in a later entry.

I want to thank all of you who have provided me positive feedback on the blog. It's great to hear from some old friends and family that drop by the KC site from time to time.















I'm really looking forward to coming back to the U.S. in a few weeks. Highlights include the Boise H3's 1000th hash which I'll get to be a part of if the airline gods bestow a delay-free day on me. The chance to be an "Ironfan" watching 25 friends do the race in Coeur D'Alene is going to be an epic experience as well. And getting to hold my newly arrived niece, Lauren, should give me some serenity in between play times with Griffin, my nephew. And of course, I reserved plenty of time for sitting on a boat with my Dad, fishing and speaking in Polish.

I will leave you with a few pics showing my mom experiencing the power of creative Polish advertising, my brother witnessing the artistry of one of my favorite street performers, and two guys learning about the history of the Catholic Church. Thanks for reading!

Back to work . . .

Today, I am back at work and the parents and Dave have been safely delivered to the airport. Right about now, their flight back to the relative safety of the United States should be taking off. It was an exhausting, yet rewarding, 18 day journey for all of us. I'll be happy to be able to sleep in my own bed tonight. It's been a long time. The mother of all blog entries will be posted this evening. Have a happy Monday!