Almost perfect

Three days of eating and that’s it! Christmas has ended. Like every year, my family spent those days going to church, eating a lot, drinking good wine and visiting relatives. I had time to see people which live in different places and we normally don’t have many opportunities to meet. We could talk, laugh and praise each other’s cakes. I love family gatherings, but ours consist mainly of sitting and eating. I would prefer to add some activities which would help us to feel less heavy after all this food, like going on a walk after dinner. However, some of my relatives are elderly people and they usually don’t feel like going anywhere. Convincing others to move is especially difficult during winter. Although the temperature is low and the weather is unpleasant, we should go out for a while and it will certainly help us to feel better after an abundant meal.

source: www.gloswielkopolski.pl When you’re a student, you probably don’t have your own car. This means that in order to get home for Christmas, you have to find an alternative way of commuting to your hometown. For me it’s especially hard because I live almost four hundred kilometers away and there are only two direct ways of going home: one of them is a tiny bus in which you feel as a cucumber in a jar for seven hours (never again) and the other is a bla bla car (it’s expensive and you won’t know the time of leaving after the very last hour so I don’t do it). So... what are the other options? As the majority of Polish students, I chose to go by train. Of course, it’s not the most comfortable option in the world, but the cheapest in Poland. It normally takes me about four hours (due to the modernization of tracks) to get to Warsaw, where I wait about one hour and then get in the direct train to my hometown. If I’m lucky, it reaches the destination in an hour and a half. If I’m

https://static2.s-trojmiasto.pl/zdj/c/n/9/191/620x0/191253-Swiety-Mikolaj-w-Gdansku-zarabia-ok-90-zl-za-wizyte__c_0_32_847_484.jpg   Last Thursday, the 6 th of December , children in Poland got their presents from Santa Claus. I can’t say I was among them, because you just can’t compare getting money from your parents to finding a gift under the bed in the morning. I remember writing letters to Santa and giving them to parents so they would send them to him. Of course, the letters never gone any farther, but the presents always came on time. How was it possible?!  It is a really nice tradition and I think children should be let to believe in Santa Claus. It’s a part of a childhood, just like the Tooth Fairy. Nowadays, I don’t expect my parents to give me anything. I’ve grown up and Santa only comes to the smaller ones. However, I don’t object if they want to give me a little something :) I’m still their child.

Source: https://d-pt.ppstatic.pl/kadry/k/r/1/0b/4f/5bab6e007105e_o,size,969x565,q,71,h,fab874.jpg I have always had problems with giving presents. I like making people happy, but still many times I have no idea what kind of gift would they want. The best way to find out is to ask directly, of course. However, the majority would answer: “I don’t need anything, I’m fine” or “I will be pleased with whatever you give me”.   These are not the most helpful answers in the world.  If there are some persons which do tell me what they would really like, I feel much better because I know they will be happy with what they’ll find under the Christmas Tree. It really helps a lot and makes things a lot easier. Notwithstanding, there are still many family members and friends who prefer the “I’m fine” option. In this special case I have to think of their personal preferences and hobbies. When I know someone is a coffee lover, I buy him a good quality coffee. If a friend likes fancy socks, I

Source: https://www.biznews.com/briefs/2014/02/25/harsh-weather-tests-optimism-u-s-economy There are two kinds of people – these who like snow and these who hate it. I’m somewhere in the middle of this battle. To me, snow is a nice thing in December, with all those lights, Christmas Trees and other adornments. It looks really magic when combined together. I love these lazy evenings with my decorative candles lighting in the room, a good film and snow outside. Nothing better than moments like this, with a warm blanket, of course! However, if the snow falls in April when it’s absolutely not supposed to, I rather hate it. Moreover, I’m cold almost every day so winter is especially tricky to me as I try to stay warm at home or during classes and snow doesn’t help at all. I hope it will fall at Christmas Eve, though, which isn't now as obvious in Poland as it used to be :)

Yesterday we celebrated the biggest Polish national holiday – The Independence Day. However, it wasn’t just another celebration, because it was the hundredth anniversary! For this reason, I would like to touch on the matter of manifesting our nationality and being proud of it . I think nowadays it’s so important to remember about people to whom we owe freedom, for example Józef Piłsudski. It’s quite sad that there are still so many of us who don’t hang out Polish flags on that day. Every time I’m in Spain, especially during a national holiday, I notice a lot of flags waving on balconies. I guess in the United States every single house has a flag on July 4 th , Americans always do this and I assume they can’t imagine not to. It should be important to everyone, even more for a country that fought as bitterly for its freedom as Poland and sacrificed millions of lives. Be proud!  source: https://www.mjakmama24.pl/szkola/nauka/flaga-polski-kolorowanka-do-druku,580_11005