Krakow Kraziness

In Krakow, Poland, the center of old town has a large central market called Cloth Hall. This is a large, high-ceilinged building with around one hundred booths on either side of the hall. I think that it resembles a horse barn with stalls for each merchant selling items.

Just as in any place you go, some people were extremely friendly while others would rather collect your money and have you moved away from their booth quickly after. Some merchants were on their cell phones, and others would call you over to grab your attention. It was obvious that the interactive merchants are more successful than those who were on the phone the whole time. Logically this makes a lot of sense, but it still surprised me how much business the non-interactive merchants were doing. I compared this to America and wondered how these vendors would fair in one of our big cities. I compared it to my visit to China Town in New York, were only the active and talkative vendors seemed to be doing business. I think this was an example of the cultural differences. Citizens of Poland seem to live a more relaxed life style which was reflected in the market square.

While I was shopping through the market, my attention was grabbed by very interactive women. She was showing my everything she had in a variety of colors and sizes. In this case, she initiated the interaction opposed to how some vendors it was the shoppers responsibility to alert the vendor if you wanted to buy something. I was able to negotiate my price down a little bit because I did not want to break a large bill, and the shop owner was very open to this. I appreciated that she did not hesitate and just accepted the money I had handed her. As I left, I said dziekuje (thank you).

I soon learned that we could also use an abbreviated form of dzieki, which simply means thanks. At first, I was unaware that this was an informal way to speak, which would only be said to close friends and family. I soon realized after many giggles from waiters that this is not exactly the proper way to speak to a stranger… Opps! In the end I do not think we offended anyone, but they did think it was funny to see a group of Americans attempting to speak in Polish! Now it’s time to learn new key phrases in Budapest… This will definitely get some laughs!