I made note of my potential plans yesterday. The weather took a turn for the better and so we did indeed head to the aforementioned festival.
Before we left, I meant to eat dinner but upon opening the fridge was struck by the realization that I had only a tall can of beer. A fitting prelude to the evening ahead.
The bus ride was reminiscent of a train in India. As we approached the city centre the bus became more and more saturated with young and boisterous party goers until it was too full to let people on and the stops became a mere formality. Once we arrived at the festival it quickly vomited it's contents onto the street.
The music festival was like Bluesfest, or any other outdoor music festival I've attended, with a few differences worthy of note:
-It was free, because of the Zlaty Bazant sponsorship.
-There were no tickets or defined festival grounds, presumably because it was free.
-We were able to bring our own liquor, when it did eventually run out the beer was very cheap.
-The stage had a shower, which I would later learn was to facilitate a wet t-shirt contest.
Aside: When you go to a party and meet a motley crew of new people, it's often hard to remember all their names. It's a lot harder when the people you are meeting have names that you have never heard before/couldn't dream up, and for the most part, can't figure out how to spell.
After the music went off at the festival I ended up, fittingly, at a place called Nonsense Bar. My boss and a few other colleagues were sitting around bottles of Sky vodka and Redbull.
My night ended relatively early, I got home around 4am.
To the uninitiated reader: I usually attempt to make my ramblings a little more flowery than this. The majority of my mental faculties however, are being used to "not kill myself." Off to watch Oz to convince myself my life ain't so bad.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
In the News
Slovakia is on the way up.
The mafioso remain untouchable.
Wonder if they will get their golf course now?
Swine flu ain't a thing.
No wonder it's so tough for me to get a visa, I'm stealing a badly needed job.
Off to a festival at one of the colleges sponsored by Zlaty Bazant (Golden Pheasant) beer.
The mafioso remain untouchable.
Wonder if they will get their golf course now?
Swine flu ain't a thing.
No wonder it's so tough for me to get a visa, I'm stealing a badly needed job.
Off to a festival at one of the colleges sponsored by Zlaty Bazant (Golden Pheasant) beer.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Walking with [Undue] Confidence
It was a little bit colder today so I decided to stroll to work. I use the term "colder" quite generously, I mean it was windy and 20 degrees by 7am. It took about 10 minutes longer than the usual "walk to bus stop-wait for bus-ride bus-walk from bus stop to work" method that I've been employing since my arrival.
At the office things continued to improve. While I'm not yet a master of my trade I've improved leaps and bounds since a week ago when I first started. I still have a long way to go though and the only way I'll get there is by continuing to push harder everyday. My buddy Zig Ziglar says "The first step to getting great, is getting started." Amen.
Work went a little bit longer than usual, throwing off my schedule in the process. As a result I would have had to wait longer for a bus. It didn't occur to me that walking to work was easy because all of the streets converge towards the city centre. Conversely, the roads out of the city centre are analogous to arteries leading away from the heart, slowly bifurcating and channeling their contents to farther and farther extremes. One wrong turn early on is very difficult to recover from, as I learned. The city isn't big but the skyline away from the city centre is monotonous at best. The hundreds of tower block housing units make the interconnecting residential streets labyrinthical in nature, if I may be so bold. The buildings are packed tight and stretch upwards allowing you to see only what is directly in front and directly behind. This fact alone postponed my arrival home by a significant amount of time.
I ended stumbling upon a Slovak flee market. I was certainly the only one with an iPod. It was weird and had a higher percentage of gypsies than other areas of town. Things were closing up for the day but suffice it to say that there was an impressive array of sub-par merchandise being offered for the price of "cheap as shit."
Today I also learned that their are "convenience" stores located in most of the Panelaks (tower block housing units). And I have been walking to the gas station like a sucker. In reality though, the only thing that these stores sell is wine. I don't know if it's convenient or another testament to the lack of public health protocol.
The Champions League final is tonight, if football is your thing. I'm not that much of a soccer fan myself, but it's an opportunity to go out with people from work and be in-the-know tomorrow when everyone will undoubtedly talk about it. If it weren't for the consistent ache in my right knee that comes with rising humidity (46%, still nothing like Ottawa) I would think it was football anticipation and excitement that made me feel a little sticky (cute, I know).
At the office things continued to improve. While I'm not yet a master of my trade I've improved leaps and bounds since a week ago when I first started. I still have a long way to go though and the only way I'll get there is by continuing to push harder everyday. My buddy Zig Ziglar says "The first step to getting great, is getting started." Amen.
Work went a little bit longer than usual, throwing off my schedule in the process. As a result I would have had to wait longer for a bus. It didn't occur to me that walking to work was easy because all of the streets converge towards the city centre. Conversely, the roads out of the city centre are analogous to arteries leading away from the heart, slowly bifurcating and channeling their contents to farther and farther extremes. One wrong turn early on is very difficult to recover from, as I learned. The city isn't big but the skyline away from the city centre is monotonous at best. The hundreds of tower block housing units make the interconnecting residential streets labyrinthical in nature, if I may be so bold. The buildings are packed tight and stretch upwards allowing you to see only what is directly in front and directly behind. This fact alone postponed my arrival home by a significant amount of time.
I ended stumbling upon a Slovak flee market. I was certainly the only one with an iPod. It was weird and had a higher percentage of gypsies than other areas of town. Things were closing up for the day but suffice it to say that there was an impressive array of sub-par merchandise being offered for the price of "cheap as shit."
Today I also learned that their are "convenience" stores located in most of the Panelaks (tower block housing units). And I have been walking to the gas station like a sucker. In reality though, the only thing that these stores sell is wine. I don't know if it's convenient or another testament to the lack of public health protocol.
The Champions League final is tonight, if football is your thing. I'm not that much of a soccer fan myself, but it's an opportunity to go out with people from work and be in-the-know tomorrow when everyone will undoubtedly talk about it. If it weren't for the consistent ache in my right knee that comes with rising humidity (46%, still nothing like Ottawa) I would think it was football anticipation and excitement that made me feel a little sticky (cute, I know).
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Photoblogging: The Way to Work
I don't know what any of these buildings are. I just tried to take pictures quickly so as to not look like too much of an idiot tourist.
This is a pretty good idea of what the downtown looks like though...They are in order as I see them on the way to work.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Some Racist Thoughts
One of the token expressions among the expat community is that Slovakia makes you racist.
The thinking behind such an expression is that people from all over the world come here to work, and when they see, day in, day out, the stereotypical Slovak (lazy and drunk), and have to wait in extremely long lines, and have to endure absolutely atrocious service (I use the term service liberally) they start to harbor a certain disdain. I was talking to Sarp about it and he said something I found to be extremely intriguing -everyone is just a product of their society. When I get on the bus and older Slovak men stare at me with what feels like ire, it's probably for a reason. These old men have seen things that I cannot imagine, including the exportation of over 12,000 jews, struggles with the perpetually unemployed and uneducated Roma people, coups for power by nazi germany, and communist USSR and corruption of the highest order. No wonder trust doesn't come easy and newcomers aren't always welcomed with open arms.
It's not racism, it's rationality.
For select parts of the last four years I felt extremely uncomfortable for being a white male (there, I finally said it.) It's also worth noting that for two years I worked beside the Social Issues Commission. Ignore the fact that my three best friends were brown and I have a William Ayers quote on my Facebook profile; if I wasn't out spending my day crusading against phobics of all sorts, I was just as bad as the aforementioned quasi-KKK members. That is racism, it's not rational.
Sorry but I honestly had other priorities, like passing school and trying to develop myself as a person.
After four years on a campus that was obsessed with the idea of "isms," ('oh wait those doesn't include "phobias" and might exclude another form of prejudice we haven't deemed important yet, better find a new umbrella to group all the haters under') then "sensitivity" ('hold up a minute, we can't call it being sensitive, that's offensive because it implies select groups will be offended if we aren't sensitive all the time') then finally "anti-oppression" ('I think we can call it anti-oppression, we certainly don't want to oppress anyone, I think that covers all our bases') I refute the idea of white privilege ruining the lives of so many at Queen's even more. Such obsession and need to persecute, rather than educate, served only to polarize the population further.
In the last few weeks I've met and seen people that have endured experiences anyone privileged enough to have made it to Queen's could not imagine. I do not mean to trivialize the negativity that some Queen's students may have experienced but honestly, you have no perspective (and I will be the first to admit I'm only just starting to gain some). After four years of being accused of enjoying my "white privilege" I finally come to a place where I meet people from all over the world that could very legitimately hold my CANADIAN privilege against me. And yet they don't. Everyone I have met here, no matter what they have inured has accepted me first as a person and taken me at face value, for that I feel more respect than a (insert your favourite type of) issues commissioner could ever demand out of me. They have not judged me but tried to learn from me and tried to teach me what values they hold as important. They could blame me and the Western world that I represent for innumerable things and make hundreds of excuses for themselves but they haven't. I'm embracing the idea of the global citizen, we're all people first.
I find it quite refreshing.
This is only a few thoughts and reflections on my past experiences. I have not articulated it as well as I had hoped, which probably means the thoughts aren't completely formed. I hope they don't ever completely form, as then they will atrophy. I don't seek to alienate, comments and discussion are always welcome and I'm sure I'll blog more about this topic when the mood strikes me or I feel like I've compiled a little more insight. I'm just getting started.
UPDATE: I hope nowhere in this blog does it sound like I'm hating on Slovakia. This place has been great so far.
The thinking behind such an expression is that people from all over the world come here to work, and when they see, day in, day out, the stereotypical Slovak (lazy and drunk), and have to wait in extremely long lines, and have to endure absolutely atrocious service (I use the term service liberally) they start to harbor a certain disdain. I was talking to Sarp about it and he said something I found to be extremely intriguing -everyone is just a product of their society. When I get on the bus and older Slovak men stare at me with what feels like ire, it's probably for a reason. These old men have seen things that I cannot imagine, including the exportation of over 12,000 jews, struggles with the perpetually unemployed and uneducated Roma people, coups for power by nazi germany, and communist USSR and corruption of the highest order. No wonder trust doesn't come easy and newcomers aren't always welcomed with open arms.
It's not racism, it's rationality.
For select parts of the last four years I felt extremely uncomfortable for being a white male (there, I finally said it.) It's also worth noting that for two years I worked beside the Social Issues Commission. Ignore the fact that my three best friends were brown and I have a William Ayers quote on my Facebook profile; if I wasn't out spending my day crusading against phobics of all sorts, I was just as bad as the aforementioned quasi-KKK members. That is racism, it's not rational.
Sorry but I honestly had other priorities, like passing school and trying to develop myself as a person.
After four years on a campus that was obsessed with the idea of "isms," ('oh wait those doesn't include "phobias" and might exclude another form of prejudice we haven't deemed important yet, better find a new umbrella to group all the haters under') then "sensitivity" ('hold up a minute, we can't call it being sensitive, that's offensive because it implies select groups will be offended if we aren't sensitive all the time') then finally "anti-oppression" ('I think we can call it anti-oppression, we certainly don't want to oppress anyone, I think that covers all our bases') I refute the idea of white privilege ruining the lives of so many at Queen's even more. Such obsession and need to persecute, rather than educate, served only to polarize the population further.
In the last few weeks I've met and seen people that have endured experiences anyone privileged enough to have made it to Queen's could not imagine. I do not mean to trivialize the negativity that some Queen's students may have experienced but honestly, you have no perspective (and I will be the first to admit I'm only just starting to gain some). After four years of being accused of enjoying my "white privilege" I finally come to a place where I meet people from all over the world that could very legitimately hold my CANADIAN privilege against me. And yet they don't. Everyone I have met here, no matter what they have inured has accepted me first as a person and taken me at face value, for that I feel more respect than a (insert your favourite type of) issues commissioner could ever demand out of me. They have not judged me but tried to learn from me and tried to teach me what values they hold as important. They could blame me and the Western world that I represent for innumerable things and make hundreds of excuses for themselves but they haven't. I'm embracing the idea of the global citizen, we're all people first.
I find it quite refreshing.
This is only a few thoughts and reflections on my past experiences. I have not articulated it as well as I had hoped, which probably means the thoughts aren't completely formed. I hope they don't ever completely form, as then they will atrophy. I don't seek to alienate, comments and discussion are always welcome and I'm sure I'll blog more about this topic when the mood strikes me or I feel like I've compiled a little more insight. I'm just getting started.
UPDATE: I hope nowhere in this blog does it sound like I'm hating on Slovakia. This place has been great so far.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sun-Days
Another day on the balcony, another parallel parking disaster observed. Awesome.
Responsible decisions last night prompted a relatively early start today. Following a fairly substantial grocery run I spent the majority of the afternoon alone . Sarp's time was committed to attending a BBQ at the Turkish embassy and later, talking his way out of a ticket for fishing without a permit.
More on my flatmate Sarp: He drinks more Coca-Cola than anyone I have ever met. It is also worth noting that such said enamel-decaying beverage is referred to as Coca-Cola here (or Pepsi-Cola, if that's your style). If you try to order a Coke all you get is a confused stare.
Reading a book about sales, loafing in the sun and making iPod playlists reminiscent of times-past were the activities that punctuated my afternoon.
There's a big football (soccer, d'uh) game tonight that Sarp is going to get riled up about so I will spend the next two and a half hours watching a veritable display of emotional angst and instability.
Responsible decisions last night prompted a relatively early start today. Following a fairly substantial grocery run I spent the majority of the afternoon alone . Sarp's time was committed to attending a BBQ at the Turkish embassy and later, talking his way out of a ticket for fishing without a permit.
More on my flatmate Sarp: He drinks more Coca-Cola than anyone I have ever met. It is also worth noting that such said enamel-decaying beverage is referred to as Coca-Cola here (or Pepsi-Cola, if that's your style). If you try to order a Coke all you get is a confused stare.
Reading a book about sales, loafing in the sun and making iPod playlists reminiscent of times-past were the activities that punctuated my afternoon.
There's a big football (soccer, d'uh) game tonight that Sarp is going to get riled up about so I will spend the next two and a half hours watching a veritable display of emotional angst and instability.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
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