Good and bad news

Ireland: "Gardai has a new suspect in Dublin murder case"
South Korea: "Kim Han-Neul to tie the knot with Lee Seo-Jun next month"
Finland: The government planning a rise in income tax percentage during the next reign"
Poland: Probably something similar to Finland
Australia: Something very similar to Ireland

Some things really cause the blood to boil

As you may have guessed, these are some examples of news headlines in different countries. When I first moved to Ireland I started to suspect that the country is full of madmen and an Irish mafia hit man is waiting for fresh victims around every corner. I left the office only after reading the news and making sure there wasn't major mayhem happening in our neighborhood. Then my roommate told me it's not so much about Ireland being a dangerous country than about media attention. In Ireland murders are the most interesting thing. And actually, that seems to be right. Statistically Ireland is even a safer place than Finland but still the Finnish media is much more focused on suggested changes in taxation, proposed cuts in salaries, etc. Who cares about a human life or two when there is a potential financial crisis lurking in the shadows. And maybe Finnish murders are too boring to hit the headlines because we're still a country where it's more likely to be stabbed to death by your family members than by a random guy on the street. Probably that's the origin of the common question "is this a family fight or can everybody participate?" (to be asked when you see a group fighting) By the way the Irish murders were usually connected to gang fights or drunkards taking it outside with fatal consequences. (Well, we have enough of that latter kind of shit in Finland, too).

So, all in all, in Ireland half of the area of the country is permanently isolated with crime scene tape and in Finland people are debating about a 0,00001% change in income tax rate, unemployment benefit or student aid. In South Korea people are always interested not only in the newest installments of the neighboring country but also in who are dating and who is about to settle down and be married with whom and live happily ever after, of course.

In Poland I never watched or read the news but I assume it's all about politics just like in Finland. And in Australia it's Ireland all over again. Murders, weather forecast and MasterChef. I think I'm going to move to Sweden. Their news are the most versatile.

Doctoral studies

The title doesn't refer to a university degree. This is a short empirical research on health care in Finland, South Korea, Poland, Ireland and Australia. Yeah, I've been sick all over the world. Not sure if it's something to be proud of. So anyway, here's how I got the idea for the story: I went to see a doctor yesterday because my ear was aching. It's nothing to be worried about so basically it was waste of time to go there, but at least I got the inspiration for this post.

Let's start from the beginning, namely South Korea. Korea is a paradise for the ones suffering from minor ailments. Koreans are in the habit of going to see a specialist no matter what kind of health problem they seek advise for. If your ear is aching, you go to see a doctor who specializes in ear related problems. You can make an appointment by walking into the health center, there are at least two of them in every block. The only problem in this approach is that you can't be sure if your doctor speaks English. But in general that's nothing to be afraid of. I didn't want to pay the international rate for the services provided by an international hospital and I never had any problems finding an English speaking doctor who had studies in the States.

So you don't necessarily need to book the appointment beforehand, just waltz into the health center when you need the services. I often did just that to get a prescription for whatever medicine it was that I needed. Usually I had to wait 15 minutes or so. How this is made possible- well I don't know but the system is working from the consumer's point of view. In my experience you'll lose 10,000-20,000 won in the process, roughly speaking 7-14 euros. You'll get your neatly packed medicine from any of the billion pharmacies. See example below. We couldn't read Korean fluently so we had no idea what kind of medicine they gave us. We used to joke that it was powdered dragon tail mixed with powdered clay pot but it sure as hell kicks in fast. Makes one wonder if there's something slightly opiatic involved.

In Finland I need to book an appointment beforehand, and I still need to wait 15 minutes, because at least 2 people are going to have parallel appointments with the same doctor (well at least you don't need to go into the examination room with that other 11:15 person.. yet), and the standard fee for seeing a GP is 20 something euros. To be fair to Finland, at least you get your prescription renewals for free (most of the time).

In Poland I had a private health insurance sponsored by the company I was working for. That means I got my sick leave certificate for free. The doctors spoke English and I didn't have any negative experiences with health care in Poland except maybe for the fact that once I had to sit 3 hours in a bus to get to the health center because an English speaking doctor wasn't available in the nearby health center. A big plus for Luxmed was their online booking system. By registering you were able to browse the available appointment times and even select your preferred doctor. Information technology makes being an introvert so much easier. Say goodbye forever to calling the customer service. "You are number 56 on the line".

Well then, hello Ireland. I went to get my sick leave certificate and asked if I can travel to Amsterdam when I've got a flu. The doctor said that there's no problem, just go for it but avoid taking too much drugs while you are not feeling well. What the heck? A doctor is supposed to advise against using drugs in any circumstances. Feeling a bit worried about the state of the Irish nation I left the place, being 30 euros poorer for this excellent piece of advise. Luckily I got to claim half of it back form the company sponsored health insurance.

And what about the price of consultation here in Australia where all the prices are inflated by default? Consulting the GP didn't cost me anything. Nada. Nix. I'm covered (limited coverage but still a coverage) by the national Medicare scheme so I didn't need to pay for the consultation. The bill goes to Australian government or whatever authority is providing the service. By all means, I'm not sad about that. It saves me the trouble of claiming the money back from my travel insurance. I guess I don't even try to claim back the 6 bucks I used for painkillers.

Peace with the past

It's -7c, freezing cold as I stand at the airport in Gdansk. The air is thick with acrid smell of smoke, most likely caused by burning coal for heating. It's early in the morning and I'm asking myself why did I return, I had sworn not to return for at least ten years or so. Oh yes, the bank account that must be closed. No time like present, so I make my way to Polski Bank at the airport and kindly ask the lady there to close my account that has been generating loss since I transferred all the zlotys to my Finnish bank account. I've got all the documents prepared, everything anyone might want to see but in the end they only need my passport and voila, mu account has been closed and I've got a new document with a bright red stamp to make it official. I don't even need to pay the outstanding fees on the account. No kurwa, I can assure you life wasn't this easy when I was actually living in the country.

Poland has developed a lot in the past decade but Soviet past is still never far 

 I left Poland in August, being stressed, tired and fed up with my life and myself. I only felt an enormous amount of relief to be on my way. I felt like nothing in Poland had worked, it had been a struggle to get anything done. Being back in Poland for holidays I came to notice that most of that unhappiness must have been a direct result of the problems we had at work. I won't deny Poland is a challenging country to live in, but I would still claim that the stress I was experiencing at the office made me think, act and eventually be a person I am not and that affected every aspect of life making me unsatisfied with everything I had or did not have. So, back to the holiday story. The holiday opened my eyes to see Gdansk in a light I had never seen it before, or hadn't wanted to see it before. I decided to write a holiday post about Poland.

My journey back to my formed home city continued from the airport to Wrzeszcz (and I cannot guarantee the spelling), nowadays a fashionable district but where- the rumor has it- cars were being burnt in the night not so many years ago. Today Wrzeszcz offers e.g. an extremely lovely vegan restaurant called Avocado, where you can eat a healthy and tasty meal for 5 euros. Vegan ingredients might be a bit difficult to find and the selection is not that wide but in my opinion in Gdansk it is quite easy to find vegan restaurants. At least easier than in my present home country Ireland :D
In addition to Avocado, there's also shopping mall Galeria Baltycka in Wrzeszcz where you can burn money or kill time, depending on which one you happen to have at your disposal. Galeria Baltycka has everything starting with H&M and finishing with Tommy Hilfiger, so it's entirely up to you to decide the price level. I won't even try to guess if good old Tom is any cheaper here since being chronically poor, I did not dare to go that close to temptation.

Stuffed eggplant at Avocado 

And then of course we have the Baltic Sea about which I have been continuously writing back when I was living in Gdansk. Baltic Sea was one of the things I wanted to see during my short holiday and I spent one day walking from Sopot to Gdanks. The "beach boulevard" felt very familiar, I had been walking the same route time after time with my friend. We used to go there for evening walks, after all we were living very close to the beach.

From Sopot to Gdansk

The beach used to be our sanctuary here in Gdansk, we were living very close to it. In this former home city of mine I used to walk and exercise a lot more than in Ireland and I was a really thin girl when I left. WAS.

My old home, Jagiellonska 10

Grey, the fashionable color of the era- these days these grey monsters are painted with cheerful colors, there are renovations going on everywhere in the city

I felt melancholic walking by my old home. The building was built during Soviet era and it doesn't really look all that tempting and home-like but the location was very convenient at the rent relatively cheap. In the past these massive buildings were mushrooming everywhere partly because "big" and "massive" where the operating words of the ideology and partly because the apartments were badly needed to accommodate people flooding from the countryside to the cities to find work. I don't know if this tale is true, that's what I've been told by a friend. My apartment was a concrete box inside of which most things were a bit or a lot worn but it had a certain charm of the bygone days and I liked it.

Even if the concrete boxes offer a relatively cheap accommodation, these beach villas in Sopot cannot be rented with a kid's weekly allowance. 

We went to see the Christmas Fair in Old Town and happened to witness a demonstration against some legislative changes. I don't know anything about Poland's politics so I won't write more about it, It will suffice to say that people participated with enthusiasm.

The demonstration 

I never thought I would miss the crowded Polish supermarkets where you have to fight your way to the cashier as people don't seem to know how to queue. As my friend once said, in Poland the queue is actually a row and the fastest goes first. First come, first served. Despite this small inconvenience I found myself wandering in Biedronka and E-Leclerc. When I used to do my grocery shopping here I felt annoyed because I was unable to read the labes but now I notied that actually, I was not. I can still remember the most common things I used to buy in Polish. And there's always the package and pictures on it to help you to find what you're looking for. Well, all in all my holiday was a great experience and I had also time to relax and meet my friends, In the end, you miss the people you've left behind most. And surely I am going to return to Poland for holidays if I stop getting poor in the future.

It's not recommended to jump to the sea

Old Town dressed for Christmas

Last minute sight-seeing

Unbelievable but true, the last weekend in Gdansk! We started celebrating the weekend by going to cinema and restaurant. I must say the Indian restaurant we chose for the occasion was more than worth the money. They had vegan dishes and they allowed the customers to pay separately, which is quite rare. Usually you'll get one bill for the entire group and then you'll have to count yourself who ate what and how much was it, unless one of you is stinking rich and pays for everyone..

Thai meal in the Indian restaurant

Saturday was- of course- rainy but still we decided to visit the old lighthouse. I've been planning to go there for weeks now and I'm quite sure I'd have skipped it if my friends didn't arrange the trip for me. It's not that the lighthouse is far but I guess everyone knows how easy it is to postpone things that require some effort. Anyway, Latarnia morska is located in port of Gdansk and it was built in 1893. It is also known for being the place where the first shots of World War II were shot towards Westerplatte.

Latarnia morska retired 1984

Westerplatte seen from the lighthouse window

We thought we'll take the water tram to Westerplatte but the price of the service was 10 zloty (2,5 euros?) and decided against it. Just to let you know, the normal tram is only 3 zloty. Luckily I visited Westerplatte last year, so I didn't need to leave the city without seeing one of its most famous attractions. Instead of Westerplatte and its monuments we decided to go to Old Town and check out St. Dominic's Fair. This year's fair is said to be the 755th! All kind of things from sausages to knitwear were available. I bought earrings for 10 zloty, thus spending the money spared earlier when we skipped the water tram.

Vanity fair

Good food and coffee are an important part of any sighs-seeing day, so we ate sushi and later on continued our food tour to a cozy little coffee house where we could rest after 14 km of walking.

Gdansk is full of unique, cozy coffee houses

Bread and circuses

There's  a sky wheel here in Gdansk during summer months but I have never been inspired by it because I'm scared of heights. This summer, however, I was feeling quite brave and invigorated and decided to beat my fear 6-0 and climb into that scary thing in order to see the city from above. My colleague (who is definitely as acrophobic as I am) came along to hold my hand in case I panic during the journey upwards.

Before any important and life-changing event it is always best to seek refreshments, like waffles and coffee. BTW waffles are sold in every second food stall and they cost 2-3 euros. I can heartily recommend them to anyone whose sweet tooth is aching. It'll be the best investment of your life.

Eating so much that your belly hurts before the sky wheel experience was probably not a wise decision, but then again we are not necessarily known for wise decisions. No excuses left, we just had to buy the ticket and board the thing:

Unfortunately enough I wasn't able to take nice photos because there's always a tourist or two to bock the view but maybe this helps you to get the picture:

In the end the ride wasn't so bad but I don't think I will try it again this summer. Maybe next year.. Live and learn, cheers to the experience!

How to keep (fit) fed?

How to keep fit fed? You've guessed it. We are going to talk about food! Hmmm my favourite topic! But before I'll continue with the topic, I have two confessions to make. The first one is the fact that I'm no good in kitchen. My talents, althought otherwise versatile, just don't reach that far. My usefulness begins and ends with making a sandwich.

The second confession is that I'm quite afraid that people will offer me food I just can't digest. Something that looks/smells/tastes odd/bad/weird/funny and so on. So, because of these sad facts I hope you'll not use against me, I'm constantly worried I can't find any food products I'm familiar with. I love eating but what if I can't cook anything I know how to cook?

Well, this time I've been lucky. In Poland I can find similar products that are available in Finland. Sometimes the brand is same, too so it's easy to decide what to buy. Only problem left is the gas stove that inevitably burns everything I try to cook.. But anyway, I can find minced meat, milk, yogurt, fruits and vegetables etc. The only products I really miss from Finland are salmiakki and rye bread.

 

Rye bread and ham <3

 When I as living in Korea I started missing smoked salmon, a dish I did my best to avoid back home. After smoked salmon fever had passed I started missing Karelian hot pot, another dish that never made it to top 10 in Finland. And now in Poland I missed oatmeal so much that I had to go to Berlin to buy suitable oatmeal cereal. :)

Devil's Haircut

Dear reader,

Did you ever wake up with the sinking feeling that your bad hair day is not a day anymore. It's a week. Two weeks. A month. You name it. Well, I did wake up with this feeling a month ago. And after that I've been considering a visit to hairdresser's. I was hesitating for such a long time because I wasn't sure if I could find a hairdresser who'd speak English (or Finnish, haha).

Anyways, after suffering the enormous pains of the bad hair purgatory for the better part of the summer, I finally decided to take action in oder to look less like something the cat dragged in. Well, of course it turned out that the hairdresser didn't speak much English (and if you try very hard I'm sure you can make an educated guess about her Finnish skills :) but you see, I was desperate. So, equipping myself with detailed photos of the desired result, I decided to take the risk.

Come to think of it, you can never be 100% sure that someone has understood what you've explained, even if you happen to have a common language. At least I've often heard people complain that their hairdresser/cosmetologist/doctor didn't quite get it and they were not satisfied with the result. You can't force other people to see your vision. And they can't read your mind (which is a fact to be happy about, really).

As it turns out after the scary visit is over, I couldn't be more satisfied with the result. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. And it was definitely worth the 149 zlotys I invested in this. :)))) All is well when the hair is well!

When money talks, no one is listening

Money is the thing that makes the world go round, isn't it? Nevertheless people never seem to have enough of it and it's extremely rare to hear someone complain that they have too much of it. Except if you happen to be living in Poland. In Poland even the blogger herself has come to understand the pain of having so much money that you don't know what to do with it. Unfortunately this is not because I'm sickly rich and it's impossible to deposit more into the bank account, but because the usage of large banknotes is banned, so to say.

For those who didn't already know, the currency of Poland is zloty. The smalles unit is the teeny-tiny coin of one grosz and the largest one is two hundred zloty. And two hundred zloty is good for nothing except maybe for charity.

It doesn't matter whether you are at a grocery store, cosmetics store, clothers store, restaurant (the list is endless, so I'll make a stop here), the cashier will expect the customer to have more common sense that to try and pay with hundred zloty if the price of the product is only twenty zloty. Keep your wealth a secret, please!

You will notice the aversion towards poor banknotes when you stand in front of the cashier and extract hundred zloty from your purse. The cashier will immediately step backwards in attempt to take some distance to that potentially dangerous object you are holding. They will invaribaly enquire if you have a more suitable bill hidden somewhere. My savior is my inability to understand Polish. It works miracles every time and I get my change.

Slowly even my absent minded self has understood that one cannot go to zloty war unprepared. Because of this "currency crisis" I'm indebted to someone most of the time and I'm sure my friends are sick and tired of paying me out when I fail to produce a suitable bill. So in the future I promise to carry a wider assortment of bills to be able to pay for my own food and drinks..

Next week I will start practicing what I just preached and promised by finally going to the post office. I've been postponing my visit because last week I didn't dare to go there waving my 50 zloty note, but now I have this harmless 20 zloty (see below). So let's see if I'll come out alive!