Krakow/Berlin/Thanksgiving

Thursdays are our gateway to the weekend. What better way to start off the weekend than a wrap up post? The answer is no other way. But first:

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94781376/v523054683/textor-gm5-bautista-hammers-goahead-threerun-shot

Yeah right eh? Stayed up till 2am watching it with a fellow Canadian while another Canadian decided sleep was a better option. We are deciding what to do with her passport. I don’t normally miss being at home too often but right now I’m very envious of anyone in the GTA. These late night games are going to be cutting into my sleep and productivity with my classes. I hope they understand it’s part of my culture. They need to learn about cultural sensitivity in my opinion and I’m their teacher so I obviously know best.

Quick thoughts on Krakow:

I dig it. I don’t take tons of pictures because my phone has a scratched lens and I’m not a big real camera person, making people wait around so I can take a few pictures of some chapels. Here’s what I would have taken pictures of:

Just a reminder, when you are in a new country, understand the exchange rate and decimal numbers on atm/card machines. Just a reminder. I'd tell you it was my friend but you wouldn't believe me.

Nothing crazy happened in Krakow but it was my first train ride in Europe that was cheap and an enjoyable time with a few other teachers from my school. Also hit up my first brewery which was a win, laughed a few times and ate a cinnabon. Only a three hour train ride so I anticipate returning once or twice in the near future.

Berlin:

Also a good spot. Shocking? Aren’t you glad you tune into for this wise and sage like advice? Want another shocker? It was expensive! Gasp! I went to meet up with a friend from university and it was definitely worth it. Obviously we saw a Berlin polar bear hockey game. Saw a little thing called the Berlin wall; maybe you’ve heard about it. It’s quite the wall. Did my first bike tour of a city that covered a lot of ground which is great because of my Bertness, I got lost twice (twice) on the Sunday for a walking tour so I didn’t see a few famous places, most notably checkpoint Charlie. I had a few hours but it would have cost me a few euros to get there and I don’t like gambling with flight times however I do love gambling in almost any other scenario. Instead of the walking tour, I took part in my first boat tour that was beautiful and informational. If I took pictures, this is what they would sort of look like:

While I was poorly navigating Berlin’s complex metro system, I started wondering why I wanted to see these landmarks on that walking tour and if I didn’t, would my trip have been a waste? Did I really care or did I just not want to tell people that I went to Berlin and I didn’t see ________. How often have I or yourself seen a sight or taken part in an activity that you weren’t 100% jacked up about but did it in large part to say that you did it? I’m guessing more than I imagine. Is there a lesson to be learned here? Oh, I think so.

I feel like before going to a new place, researching it a bit, talking with people who have been and coming up with a rough idea of how I want to spend my days/hours in that particular spot will give me an outline of the things that catch my interest but if I go to Moscow and don’t see the Kremlin or visit Nigeria and don’t see Zuma rock, is that a big deal? I feel like it isn’t. I go to a new place to chill out, not be rushed and just see what happens. One reason I’m not super down to visit India any time soon is because I hear that even though it’s wild, different and unlike any other place on the planet, going there doesn’t seem like it would help me unwind. I need to unwind from a class filled with students who thinks that me showing them pictures of a forest being destroyed to make products is fake. “Teacher! Not real! From a computer!” Sigh.

So if you go somewhere new or old, don’t let people bully you into doing must see things. Take a random bus somewhere with a new friend, grab a beer and wander around, sleep in your air bnb all day, do whatever that is you want to do at that time. You do you.

Thanksgiving was great. I’m quite thankful for many things. Being Canadian, having a crazy, great amount of friends and family that I love very much, being able to travel, having luscious long eyelashes and being able to go to work and instantly be put into a better mood by a student saying that a tomato and a potato are the same thing or asking me if I have a girlfriend, me asking her what she thinks and her reply is “of courrrrse not”. She knows. Enjoy your weekend.

Thursdays. Are. Sexy. Sexy Thursday.

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” 

John D. Rockefeller