Bad Connection.

Here is what I have to say about the new regime of Germans: NEIN FUN PIGS.

I should have known from the beginning that it was not going to work out between us. I left our first lunch together feeling depleted and bored (that being the lunch where no one spoke but me).

Today--after a weekend alone--I thought I would try again. After classes, I approached one of them and asked if anyone was going to lunch. She shrugged and said she had work to do, but there was another group who was going and walked me over to them.

"Do you mind if I join you for lunch?" I asked. The girls looked at me blankly and shrugged.

"Sure," one of them said.

And then they turned to each other and continued speaking German as if I were not standing there. Maybe they were just finishing a thought. I pretended to be interested--hoping they would notice that a non-German speaking person was amongst them--but it didn't do anything. They ignored me even more, continued speaking German, even turning their backs to me to exclude me from their circle.

I finally plopped down in a chair and watched them talk for a while, feeling invisible and getting madder by the second.

Finally, I stood up and tried to involve myself. Where do you want to go to eat? How do we get there?

"Kazmierz," was the only reply.

I finally realized that I did not want to spend the next few hours of my life with these people.

"Okay," I said, looking at my watch. "Well, I have to meet someone in an hour so Kazmierz might be too far for me, so maybe some other time."

They girls looked at me blankly and shrugged. I hurried out the door and onto the tram.

It occurred to me that perhaps this group of Germans do not speak English that well, and it is possible that they just don't understand me. But still, why would they be so cold to me? Why wouldn't they even try? I have heard some of them speak English, and they aren't so terrible. If you were going to study a foreign language in a foreign country, why would you only want to stay with your own kind? Why wouldn't you be open to others?

The other day, when I was at the Wyspianski Museum, I was speaking with another German student, an older woman with a deep voice who smokes hand-rolled cigarettes. A boy from my class walked up and suddenly the three of us were standing together awkwardly.

Gesturing at the two of them, I asked, "Have you met each other yet?"

The woman smirked at me. "Oh, you Americans. Always trying to be friendly and making sure that everyone is at ease. I have never learned such manners."

There was an awkward silence.

"Would you like to do the honors of an introduction?" she finally asked. I could see she was mocking me. And quite frankly, I had forgotten her name.

"No, that is okay," I said.

And so we just stood there and no one said anything, and they never introduced themselves. Who are these people?

Today, I went to lunch by myself and I sulked, but then I realized that I was just too smart and good-looking to let this bother me. And so I spent the day doing things I like to do, like walk around Krakow and study Polish and eat ice cream.

On the way home, two men stopped me in road, asking in broken Polish if I spoke English.

"Yes," I answered, "I am American." And they hollered laughing, happy to have met someone that spoke English. They were from Holland and were looking for their hostel. I took their map from them and actually directed them where to go. (Who would have thought I would come so far as to know where things are in Krakow?) And then another man ran up to us and started speaking to us in rapid Polish but then stopped when the other two said that I spoke English.

We parted ways, and the guy who had ran to us started walking in my direction instead of with the other two.

"Oh, you are not with them?" I asked. He wasn't. He was a student at the university and today was his first day in Krakow. He was trying to help them out, too, but he doesn't know the city either. For the next five blocks, we walked together and talked. We told each other where we lived and compared the difficulties of the Polish and English languages. It was a very nice discussion. When it came to my street, I told him that I had to go but it was nice meeting him.

"Good luck! Enjoy your time in Krakow!" he yelled to me and continued on his way.

Even though it was only for three minutes, I was happy to have met him. I didn't need his phone number. I didn't need to see him again. I was just happy to know that I had my mojo back.

Things that made me happy today: Horses with horns...

...the teddy bear store...



...learning that High School Musical 2 is the #2 album in Poland...



...and finding one of my favorite magazines written in Polish.