GETTING TO THE VENUE
As I crossed the Polish border on a train heading to Brzesko Okocim, I could feel the environment change in a way. Different culture, different rules.
It was a freezing December Tuesday the 5th. All the countryside was covered in snow, and the temperature went as low as to -9 degrees Celsius.
Brzesko Okocim was a tiny train station in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly I disembarked the České dráhy train and was left to the inhabitable outside. The air smelt bad so I headed to the station building. My data connection still was not working, and I forgot to check where exactly the venue address was. I kept trusting that Bogumilowice is the right destination. The train of Polrail finally arrived, very nice and modern carriage, I thought to myself.
I finally caught some mobile signal a couple of moments after getting off at my final destination. The thing was, my roaming was set to off since my Indonesian trip. With the last 3 % of the battery, I was able to launch Google maps and search for the Cultural centre Wierzschoslawice, only five minutes away on foot. I treaded in the deep snow till I finally opened the door to a spacious entrance hall.
I quickly checked in and was given room 21. Two guys from Hungary walked me in. However they spoke Ukrainan. As I later found out, they truly were Ukrainans. The whole thing brought me back to high school. On the bedside table, there was an open bottle of vodka. Some unknown liquid, hopefully only vodka itself, made a huge circular mark on the floor. In bed, a guy that had had quite too much to drink.
The two Ukrainan guys showed me where to get food. Everything had been eaten as I arrived late. However, I was able to get one more portion of delicious lasagna. And also, I was able to switch rooms with a Slovak guy, and so I ened up in a much more pleasant environment with roommates from the Czech Republic, Pakistan and Hungary.
At 9 pm, the first common activity was held, a simple ice-breaker with the goal of remembering each other’s names.
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