Back on the Island!

I still don't understand why the Union flag was a necessity for this picture.

It was so good to be back in Oxford for a few days. When I arrived at the train station it just felt like being at home again. Strolling down the Cornmarket has never been so pleasurable, even in pouring rain and with crowds of tourists flooding around.

I managed to catch up with more people than I've actually expected and I had a wonderful time. I'm glad that I've actually went in the end, because I honestly didn't feel like it for quite a while. But it was fantastic. I feel like I'm repeating myself. Yes, I had loads of fun. There was a trip to the college bar, brunch in the dinning hall (best meal of the week), Tuesday breakfast with blueberry pancakes and a morning coffee in a Jericho cafe. Thanks to everyone who made my time in Oxford so special (you know who you are)!
And I even managed to go to the cinema and see 'The Imitation Game', such a good film (although I suspect that a small part of the reason I have enjoyed it so much is that I went by myself with only a bag of toffee popcorn to accompany me that afternoon).

I came back to Leiden with a suitcase full of crumpets and breakfast muffins dutifully bought for Captain America and three jars of mincemeat to make a stack of Christmas pies next month. It seems that I got my dose of Englishness to carry me through the next few months. Hooray!

Handful of time. At last!

Exam week is finally over!

Let's put it this way, I know finals next year will be worse, but I'm still glad I survived those exams. My brain feels drained, especially that last time I had to take exams was in the middle of my first year at uni, which was quite a while ago. So I guess I've just had some practice now (with more to follow next semester, fun times).

As I walked out of the exam this afternoon I thought 'gosh, what do I do with all this time now?' I'm done for the semester, so assuming I haven't failed any exam, I need to fill in the next over two months somehow. In sight I have a trip to Oxford, a potential trip to Munich at some point too, lots and lots of baking, arts and crafts and proper sleep. And of course I need to continue directing the play (premiere on Dec 8!). And do some revision for finals. But this is not fun at all, so I'd rather omit that one.

There is a stack of books in my room that wait to be read, so hopefully I get round to these. I expect prolonged tea times, with relaxing music in the background, stacks of biscuits and comfy pillows behind my back. At last!

Fluffy jumpers time.

If I was to choose between hot summer or a freezing cold winter, I'd go for the latter, mostly because it is a fluffy jumpers time.

I've written a short account on my feelings towards Christmas, but really I just wanted to share my new jumper, so I'll spare you reading of that terrible piece.

Doei!

Who am I?

11th November. It's Independence Day in Poland: the ultimate celebration of Polishness.

I'm reading The English. A Portrait of the People by Paxman at the moment. I was desperate for a book with no 'law' or 'legal' in a title to read in those scarce free moments and only this in the entire English bookstore seemed at all entertaining, so I bought it for 5 euros.

One of the chapter is entitled Funny Foreigners and it basically talks about the English dislike for other nations. The book is from 1999, so in the context of current deliberations as to the immigration policy and the EU treaty renegotiation, it acquires a new dimension, but anyway, I thought of me being a foreigner in the UK. As much as I assimilated with the culture, I still hold a Polish passport. But despite this passport I'ma foreigner in Poland too, because my mentality has changed a lot and I probably feel more foreign to Poland than England at this stage.

So today, as the entire Poland celebrates the independence regained after 123 years of annexation, I wonder who I am actually? I can wear a patriotic white and red pin on Nov 11th, but I'm equally enthusiastic about the Queen's jubilee (or the Royal wedding or the birth of another prince). This is a strange feeling of being neither here not there. Though I'm not entirely sure how important it is to identify yourself with a specific country nowadays. I mean we live in a global world and the mobility is so widespread that it's sometimes a matter of pure chance where you end up being born.

So if I got asked "who are you?" (kto Ty jesteś?), being Polish would probably not be the first thing that came to my mind. Maybe 6th or 7th, that's definitely more like it. And there's nothing wrong with it. It took me ages to deal with a feeling of some bizarre patriotic guilt. But what seems important to me now is not how much of a Pole I feel or are perceived as by other people. What is important is that if I wish I can go back to Poland that is free.

The biggest sign of dedication of a Polish girl.

Making pierogi for Captain American seemed a bit risky for me at first, but it was inevitable that he would be totally immersed in my Polishness at some point, so I gave it a shot. The problem with Polish food is that it is really eastern-European and I'm quite anxious about serving such things to people: not everyone is a fan of potatoes, cabbage and other things of that sort.

My mum makes pierogi in no time, but I decided not to risk my guest sitting around very hungry, so I allowed sufficient time for making this (it turned out not to be that time-consuming, but  anything could go wrong, especially that I've made them by self only once). Especially that I also had to coordinate making tiramisu at the same time. It was actually quite fun to do and to some extent even relaxing.

And here comes my pierogi adventure in pictures:

Potato peel dominated the kitchen at first.

Onions and bacon: not something that my mum adds to pierogi, but I though I would give it a go.

Potato-cottage cheese filling ready.

Dough in the making...

Cutting out circles.

Nearly there!

Done! Over 40 beautiful pierogi prepared to be boiled!

And the dinner's ready!

Yes, definitely making pierogi is one of the biggest signs of dedication of a Polish girl, especially that it results in a hurting back, tired legs and aching fingers (and flour being everywhere. As a point of advice, do not make these in black clothes). In any case, Captain America loved it all, which I accepted with a great relief. Next on the list are latkes! Om nom nom.

What I've learnt so far.

After two months in Leiden I can finally say that I really DO enjoy my year abroad. The start was rough, I must admit (and you could probably tell anyway), but, well, it's good. And I'm happy here. It's been a fruitful time in term of learning, not only in an academic sphere, but also life-wise. Everywhere we I go I learn something. And here are some thing that I've learnt thus far in Leiden.

- when in Rome, do as the Romans do -

Even when you're not in Rome, but in rather grim and wet Leiden. This includes riding your bike like crazy, not paying attention to people around you, being overly direct, not expecting to get exact change in a supermarket, and all sorts of things. It saves a lot of frustration, because you somewhat blend with the crowd, but I don't really think I want to blend in so much. Saying 'pardon' gives me away anyway.

- some things don't make any sense -

Especially questions in exams and assignments. Dunglish is not great and often incomprehensible even to me (and I can make sense of almost anything, trust me). So you get the idea how bad it it. Dropping in English sentences in the middle of a Dutch conversation does not make sense either. Or insisting upon replying to my emails in Dutch when I clearly don't speak Dutch.

- people may be unhelpful - 

Or actually, they will most certainly be unhelpful, because being helpful is not in the nature of people here. Don't get me wrong, I've met some utterly lovely people, just not that many. Although cheese people are always great. I'm not surprised, they're surrounded by so much delicious cheese!

- but there are some angels down here -

See cheese people above!

- not getting bitter is difficult -

Because there is so many things that I cannot stand and its just too easy to complain. And there always seem to be someone around ready to complain with me! So staying positive is definitely an issue, though this is not the first time I encounter this problem: I did complain a lot about Oxford in the past, but now I can't wait to be back (even with the prospect of finals) and can see how great it was.

- however, little things make life beautiful -

I mean for example a relaxed evening walk. Or a croissant with fig jam. In all fairness, I don't need that much to be happy. A few days ago I was waling down the main street and felt completely delighted at the crispiness of the air. It was almost like winter time, the sun was shining and I felt so comfy in my scarf. It was simple and beautiful. I love those moments.

- my life wasn't complete -

without this hat:

Now I can legitimately pretend I'm Mary Poppins! As you do, right? 

Halloween. Museum Night. More Parties.

Coming up with an idea for a Halloween costume was a pain. I wanted something witty, not expensive and which would not require multiple trips to a variety of shops. I thought about Mary Poppins, strawberry, some pun costumes, a Pokemon and all sorts of stuff. And then it was Wednesday afternoon and there was no more time to sort it out.

So I ended up with a little red riding hood costume. The entire process involved watching a handful of youtube videos, blog posts and other diy resources, a trip to a textile shop on the other side of the town and around 2 hours of sewing (plus over another hours of making subsequent fixes). Money-wise it was definitely a more efficient option, not so much in terms of time though. But at least I had an uncontaminated leisure time while doing it, since it is impossible to sew and read or do anything else at the same time without getting seriously hurt with a needle. And I have enough bodily injuries already.

The end effect.

Let us begin...

The hood nearly ready...

My wolf has grabbed me and off we went to one party which featured lychee-black olives eyeballs and delicious punch, and then to the next one featuring video games.

My floor lamp got dressed up too.

This obviously was not enough for me, so the next night we went to a Museum Night in Amsterdam. I must say it looked more like random parties in museums rather than a sort of museum night that I'm used to from back in Krakow, but it was fun nonetheless (though waking up for a rehearsal the next morning was not so much fun). 

And tonight the party continued with a half-birthday, very chilled celebration (mulled wine, homemade cake and cards against humanity- what could be better).

Honestly, I think that party-wise I'm done for this year. The last time I've been so busy having fun was probably around the freshers' week two years ago. Good break for being stuck under the pile of books.

And I love people's faces when I tell them I do law. This is my conclusion from these three evenings.