Phones and Snow

1. I used to think the one-sided phone conversations in Ireland were dull, and in America they were loud and TMI. Then I came to Poland and because I couldn’t understand them I was sure they were having all kinds of scintillating conversations. Now I can understand them.

They say “Is it downstairs?”

Or “I’ll do it later.”

And “What did you do?” (And I know she’s talking to a man because Polish is clever that way.)

So now I know that the one-sided conversations are just as dull here as anywhere else in the world. Except that if the speaker is saying something in the past tense, I know if they’re talking to a man or woman, which is kind of cool.

2. Living in town in the winter is wonderful. The car stays parked and I can walk the ten minutes to school in falling snow. I’d much rather stomp in snow than fight to de-ice and defrost the car and drive on ice and mush. The best thing is watching children being pulled along on wooden sleds on the sidewalks instead of the prams they usually ride in. This morning my friend and I walked to a coffee shop. She looked like Muslim in her scarf and I looked like a tall astronaut in my hood, but no matter because we were warm and happy. Living in town in the winter is wonderful.