a musing julius…

poland is less than 300 kilometers from where i’m sitting right now, and its the land of my ancestors, and my entire family outside of my parents. i haven’t been there in 15 years. so being in germany, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the close proximity and visit for a short period of time. so i bit the bullet, bought a $500 ticket from munich to poznan, and will be flying there tomorrow morning.

i haven’t seen my grandfather in about 7 years. maybe longer. i haven’t seen grandma in nearly a year. i haven’t seen my aunt and uncle in 15 years, and i haven’t seen my cousins in nearly 18 years. its been forever. so tomorrow, i’ll wake up nice and early, drive 2 hours to munich, jump onto a prop plane that has 18 seats total, and land in my dad’s hometown at lunch time, when my grandmother (who drives a mean stick shift btw) will pick me up to take me to a home she built almost 10 years ago, but i have yet to see in person.

allegedly poland has changed immensely since i’ve been there last, and i’m interested in seeing some of the changes (though it has been so long, i probably won’t notice.) this time around, i’ll have a camera, so i can document my adventures.

aspiring radass and i agreed that 2008 was going to be a year of travel adventures. here’s another to add to my list.

here are some helpful fashion tips for men and women coming from america to germany to help with cultural acclimation.

• men’s shorts should be no longer than 3 inches above the knee.
• sandals and socks: not only accepted, but preferred!
• capri pants are generally not worn by women, but usually by men (in case they want longer shorts)
• dress shirt, tie, and spandex bike shorts are considered casual “going out” attire
• popped collar rules are still considered a large negative indicative of a “tool”
• walking with a german flag anywhere on your body at any time is acceptable and usually greeted with enthusiastic shouts of nationalism.
• shirts that have the name of an american city or university that are usually considered “the sign of a tourist” are actually cool in germany cause it means you’ve been to or spent time in america.
• short sleeve button up shifts are the sign of a very sporting and active person.
• north face here means what it means everywhere else: you rarely spend time in the sub-arctic circle, but you’d like to think that if you somehow found yourself there, you’d be well prepared with your matching north face shirt, backpack and fleece.

hopefully these tips will help you out on your next adventure to……spaaaaaaaaaaaace (or germany)