(written on 23rd August)
"oh shit!" it was raining with cats and dogs this morning while my mum was coregously driving through the only real highway we have in poland (connecting wrocław and kraków). ironically, even this one is permamently under construction. the poles are somewhat not able to build roads. so remember, never hire a pole to build your road. but this is a different issue. the worthwhile thing of that journey was the car in front, which of us suddenly broke on a slippery surface, turned around and on its full speed smashed into the fence. we stopped, but the driver (rather embarassed than hurt) told us he was all right. hoping for the limit of accidents to be over for today, we drove on...
"what? bloody 20 kilos and no handluggage!?" now, is it called security or ripping the poor students off? i could not afford paying more than a hundred dollars just for the overweight. so i went to the british airways office. i smiled and explained my situation. i got kicked out. then i went there again. the attendant, though remained cold, started questioning my case, asked for the university papers etc. then i went to the office for the third time. this time with a rose. a juicy red rose. that must have worked. the woman finally agreed. "you won't pay" she said. "but never do that again" when i gave her that rose she even smiled. for a moment. anyhow, i got away with 40 kg of luggage. paying nothing!
"push the button and wait for signal opposite" funny? no. british. that is what one is supposed to do in order to safely proceed through the pedestrian crossing. well, at least here where i am currently, in the tiny but beautiful town of crawley. i have taken a walk from ibis hotel (tm) to the queen square, which is practically the center of crawley. narrow old streets, peaceful atmosphere, fish&chips in all the bars around - just like in my first english book. practically i did nothing there. i ate pizza handmade by a whole pakistani family, had a look around and bought some good old guiness for today's champions league qualification game ajax vs. fc copenhagen. yes, i smuggled it into the hotel room. room number 221. every staff member i met in this hotel is eastern european, so they understand. ;-) although i had good time there, i haven't seen a british who actually pressed the button...
oh, before watching the game one more thing i'd like to touch upon. the left-hand driving thing. the british and only british thing. well, fuck the fact that i got almost driven by a bicycle on a pavement, just because i was strolling on its right side. fuck the fact that i was running through each pedestrian crossing, afraid that i was watching the wrong way. fuck the thing that it seems completely unnatural. what concerned me is how the heck did the briritsh convince the continetal europeans' car companies like bmw, volksvagen, skoda, seat, volvo to produce such a mistaken cars with a driving wheel on the right side. what made me confused was how did they manage to convince the americans (chevrolet, ford etc.) what stroke me down completely was how did they convince citroen, peugot and renault to do the same thing. buissness? yeah. yeah?
tommorow i shall meet daina at south terminal at 8:00 am. no worries, i have changed the time.
