Brody Says Hi

Hello to all my good friends that are staying in the good old U.S.A. I'm very excited about coming back to Dallas next year in January. I hope to see all of you guys. Today I went to Grandma's Kitchen to have some of the best roasted perogei ruskie in all Poland. I'm speeking the truth if you don't believe me. Also today we had an end of the 2007 part of the schoolyear, party.

Sincerely...Brody

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

ISK produced its annual all school play last week, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. Brody got to play the role of Edmond, one of the 4 main children in the play. All the rehearsals during school and on Saturdays really paid off as all the actors did a great job. The music teacher, Ms. Wadiak, put words to the music of Igor Stravinsky so the play had a wonderful musical accompaniment. Ariana, our singer, did a great job in the chorus.

Hanukah and Skiing

Our latest update includes Hanukah in Krakow and Skiing at a small Polish resort called Bialka. Our pictures of both are posted below.


HANUKAH was simple but enjoyable. This is the first Hanukah since I was a kid that the kids actually opened presents almost every night. Something small, like a video, book, or a pen that says Krakow. Chris got me a traditional Polish sweater (kind of like a zip up cardigan like from dads in the old movies in the US). Chris received a beautiful Amber (common local stone) bracelet that Ariana and I selected at the Christmas market in the open air market in the Rynek (city center). Yes, it may be cold and snowing, but the market is large and open air! The kids are enjoying their new legos (nothing Polish about that) too.

Chris also made homemade potato latkes (see pictures below) with her new food processor. But as with so many things in a foreign country, nothing is as simple as it sounds. She went to the store and bought a food processor, only to find out when she got the box home that the processor was missing, only the attachments were inside. Oh...the signficance of the "red dot!" She returned it a couple of days later and found out that the red dot meant that it was a floor model, so the merchandise was actually on the floor, not in the box. Apparently, the check out lady should have noticed that and informed her, not that we would have understood a word she was saying. Ultimately, the latkes were fantastic, and made for a great 3rd night of Hanukah, and a fun memory.

We also went to the old Jewish district called Kazimierz for a lighting of a large Menorah in the main plaza there. Maybe about 300 people there. As you can imagine, there are not a lot of Jews left here, and more than 95% of the population is Catholic. It was an interesting experience though hearing this Israeli rabbi singing the Hanukah prayers in Poland.



SKIING was a fun day. We drove less then 100 kilometers away, and it took about 1 hour 45 minutes. The roads were clear of ice and snow, but they were small and kind of winding. The resort is quite small with really only one run open this time of year. The lifts were new and even had some features that I have not seen in Vail. For example there are gates that automatically open to let you in to the final chair entry point. And there is a "moving sidewalk" that you get on just before you sit on the chairlift, and that sidewalk deposits you exactly where you need to be standing.

Both kids skied well, picking up where they left off last year. This was a school sponsored trip so there were about 20-30 other kids there as well. Ariana got to ski with a couple of her buddies, but mostly we skied together as a family. It snowed most of the day and was just below freezing, but the conditions were totally comfortable.

And finally, on the bus home, after a fun day on the slopes, Ariana informs me that she has to go potty (this is why parents should always ask about that right before we leave on roadtrips...but whatever). So, the bus driver informs us, through an interpreter of course, that it would be about 15 minutes before he could stop. Well, about 5 min into that 15 min period, Ariana could not hold it any more. So, Mom, Dad and Ariana jump off the bus and stumble down the snowy slope beside the road while the bus closes the door and pulls away to our surprise. Luckily he just pulled around the corner at the stop light ahead. So, all's well that ends well!

Movies in Polish

Last night, a warm (35 degree Fahrenheit) and drizzly night, we decided to get out of the house at about 4:30 or 5:00 in complete darkness of course since we are so far latitudinally north, practically in the North Pole it seems! We decided to walk up to the Rynek (our usual 10 minute walk to the market centre) to check out the Christmas market in the square, and to see if the movie we noticed online was in English or Polish. So, we decided to go to the movie theater first and check it out so we could know how to plan our evening. We went in and asked if Mr. McGorium's Emporium was in English or Polish. In spite of extensive Polish classes for me and Chris, we are still not worthy of watching a movie in Polish.

The woman spoke very good English, so she clearly understood our request. She said "English." I said, "Like the words are heard in English when they speak?" and she replied "Yes, English with Polish Subtitles." So, we said great and asked to purchase tickets. This is a high tech place, so they had a seating chart and we selected our seats, 2 in the front row and 2 in the back row. More later about the theater.

We then headed back to the Rynek and did some browsing in the market. The market is really buzzing with both locals and tourists. They were stringing up lights and have a new stage and a large lighted tree also. We didn't buy anything, but my shopping habits (or lack there of) are well known in these parts of the world.

Then we decided to go to the Babcia Maliny (Gramma's Kitchen) for some of our favorite local cuisine. The kids always get the roasted Russian Perogi's and Chris and I get a selection of salads (all cabbage salads like slaw) and a boiled beef with horseradish and mashed potatoes. That was great and we headed back to the theater a block away.

We got there in plenty of time to find our seats. Not hard. There were 3 rows of 5 or 6 seats each, and the screen was hung above the door. Our "rich" friends in Lakewood and Southlake have bigger home theaters than this place. It was pretty funny, but the movie was good quality. So, I sat there, somewhat optimistic that English would actually prevail. The credits passed and all the music was English at first, but no dialogue. Then, a guy snoring (universal language). Then the narrator began...in POLISH of course, because we are in Poland you knuckleheads! I had some lingering hope that actual dialogue (not the narrator) would be English...yeah, right.

So, what would you do after paying 60 zl (about 25 bucks) for the movie? You would sit there and watch it too. Chris and I did our best to pick out words and phrases that we knew, about 5% of the total dialogue. The kids just enjoyed the funny actions taking place.

Then, with the best Sylvia Cohen imitation I could come up with, I went to the counter after the movie, with my tail between my legs, and said..."you know the movie is dubbed in Polish, right? Can I get my money back or a coupon for future use?" She got a very distraught look on her face, apologized and gave us our 60zl back. Just like Nordstrom's return policy!

Welcome to Poland! The end.

Brody Celebrates 11th Birthday!

Today was Brody's 11th birthday party at the Krakow Plaza Fantasy Park. He invited his whole class of 6 other kids and the 3 of the 4 boys in the class all came. This is the first birthday ever where he had Happy Birthday sung to him in 3 languages (French, Polish and of course the queen's English). It was a fun event followed by Mama Mia's pizza (his favorite) back at the house with Mom, Dad, and Ariana.

Ladd Travel Log

Keeping a log of our travels, we have now been to Rome and Vienna, with a lot of touring also done in Krakow itself. Our first visitor to Europe was my brother Brent, his wife Eileen, and kids Shannon and Ryan. We met them in Rome after they came off a 2 week cruise. Corey made a business trip out of it while Chris and the kids also went to Pompeii (the express train there, and oops, the non-express train back). Our first visitor was Grammy and Malkey in late October. They stayed in Krakow for a week and we all went to Vienna for a week too during the kids Fall Break.