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Journeys during the last month where one of the most wonderful of my life and one of those which may be labelled as life-changing experiences. My bag is full of email addresses written on small pieces of paper and of small leaflets and notes that are sunk with coded memories that make my own secrets.
There were moments when I thought that it would be the last journey of my life (in Beijing when I got into a car with unknown man ) and there were moments when I was really happy and hoped to stay in some places forever (in St. Petersburg when walking along Nave river).
No shower for few days on the Trans-Siberian Train (during a sand storm frowsty train air mixed with dust and sweat gave very unpleasant smell), beautiful Orthodox Churches in Moscow, apartment on 11th floor with huge window with a view over sunset each evening, a night on a drunk train with Olga and a bottle of beer in hands, eating reindeers in Helsinki and spending evening in sauna in a basement of a block of flats...
It was marvellous.

Hong Kong jest jak jezioro od kilkunastu dni – wiele szkol zostalo zamnknietych z powodu deszczy, odjazdy pociagow i samolotow odwolane a wychodzenie na zewnatrz stalo sie prawdziwa przygoda i jest odpowiednikime wchodzenia pod prysznic, nawet parasolka nie pomoze. Przynajmniej jest duzo czasu na ogladanie filmow i czytanie.

Obejrzalam ‘Matadora‘ Almodovara. Jest naprawde niesamowity.
Czy nie wszyscy mamy obsesje na punkcie smierci?

Diego, byly matador, masturbuje sie podczas ogladania krwawych horrorow. Maria zabija swoich kochankow tuz przed ich orgazmem ostra, ornamentowa wpinka do wlosow w sposob w jaki matadorzy zabijaja byki.
Ci dwoje,polaczeni obsesja smierci, rzucaja sie w wir smiertelnej namietnosci, ktora bierze nad nimi kontrol w taki sposob w jaki zacmienie slonca kontroluje instynkty zwierzat.

‘Poprzez artykulowanie glebokiego polaczenia pomiedzy instynktowna agresja, Matador jest wyrazna i prowokacyjna alegoria samodystrukcji kulturalnego dziedzictwa machismo, brawury i rytualnej przemocy.‘

Hong Kong has been like a swimming pool during the last days – many school closed because of heavy rains, departures of trains and planes cancelled and going outside became a real adventure and was an equivalent of getting under shower, even umbrella wouldn‘t help. I’m a bit worried since I’ve already bought a train ticket to Beijing. Right now all of the trains are cancelled.
At least there is plenty of time for watching films and reading.

I’ve seen Almodovar’s "Matador". It’s really amazing
Aren’t we all obsessed with death?

Diego, former matador, masturbates himself while waching bloody thrillers. Maria kills her lovers just before they orgazm  with a sharp ornamental pin, in the way matadors kill bulls, .
The two, connected by obsession of death, throw themselves into a wirlwind of deadly passion which takes absolute control over them as eclipse takes control over instincts of animals.

‘By articulating profound connection through instinctual aggression, Matador serves as a bold and provocative allegory for the self-destructive cultural legacy of machismo, bravura, and ritualistic violence.‘

W koncu obejrzalam “Underground” Kusturicy. Co za fantastyczny film! – pelen tanca, alkoholu, wesel, samobojstw, komunistow, nagich grubych pup I przede wszystkim muzyki Bregovica.

Film opowiada o Jugoslawii I wojnach I jest przyprawiony duza iloscia czarnego humoru. Naprawde kocham tego faceta (Kusturice znaczy sie).

Czuje troche sentymentu do Jugoslawii poniewaz moj dziadek I czesc jego rodziny urodzil sie I wychowal w tamtych regionach.

Slodziudka pupeczka z kwiatuszkiem / A sweet bottom with a flower

At last I watched Kusturica’s “Underground”.

What a fabulous movie! -full of dance, alcohol, weddings, suicides, communists, naked fat bottoms and, most of all, Bregovic’s music!

The film talks about Yugoslavia and wars and is spiced with lots of black humour.

I really love this guy! (Kusturica, I mean).

And I feel a bit of sentiment to Yugoslavia since my grandfather together with part of his family were born and grew up there.

"Kiedy nie bombarduja nas Niemcy to robia to Alianci..."Marco

"When it is not the German who bombard us, the allies do it..." Marco

"I find myself a little like Chagall, in the way that I use the same scale of colors and topics: people who marry, who divorce... There is something which belongs to the orthodox culture of the East, something I know very well. It is a culture which does not establish any separation between the human emotions... " Kusturica

Nowa ziemia i nowe nadzieje. / New land and new hopes.

Today I spent almost the whole evening with Karen.

We decided to meet for a dinner in Mong Kok after she was done with her work. We met in the MTR station and her first words were: First let’s go shopping!

Well… typically hongkongish.

I’ve never been shopping with a local person, it was fun especially because of the shops we visited – Westerners would have probably never bought a single thing there (to me most of the clothes look like pajamas). I found all of that amusing and kept taking pictures of Karen walking around until I was told that it was forbidden to do that there. No one could answer why.

We ate the dinner in Yoshinoya and  kept talking about Tokyo, she just came from there - I received a nice pen, a postcard and some Japanese sweets. It surprised me a lot that in Japan the second most popular language is Mandarin instead of English, at least Karen thinks so.

Late in the evening we loaded a cart with her books and transported them from the hall to her locker near the lecture theatres.

And that was all; few hugs, promises of keeping in touch and wishes of good luck. I’ll miss her a lot, after all that was the best roommate I’ve ever had.

The roommate with whom I’ve been living during the last two weeks is leaving tomorrow and I’m staying alone again. Or maybe someone else is coming? At times all of the changes – places and people – make me feel a bit sick and I’m almost forgetting whom I really am. Perhaps everyone needs some roots to stick to when a whirlwind comes.

I’ve seen Pialat’s ‘Van Gogh’ (1991), it’s an amazing film and I recommend it a lot! It gives an impression of being real – that was the first thought that came to my mind. It feels like if Pialat wanted to show the essence of the artist’s life and focuse on building the atmosphere – dance, village life and jokes play very important role there. The spectator may feel as if she was seeing Van Gogh’s life through her own eyes; it seems to be real and psychologically probable. I really loved it!