After a few hours of trip we had to make a change. The time to change the trains was just 15 minutes. We were quite surprised when we found out that our train was lagging behind for another 7 minutes. So here we were...somewhere on the little train station in Poland with no idea where to find our another train, no comprehensible signs of where we should find it and 7 minutes till the departure of the train. Without thinking a lot we rushed to different aisles and jumped into the only train someone of us suddenly discovered. We had no idea whether it was our train or not, but it already departed. As lucky as we were that was that exact train we needed. So travelling by trains in Poland is quite adventurous and challenges your ability to run fast. Actually, back in Lublin we always used to run after the buses. We got out of the train and found ourselves in a beautiful train station building.
One of the first things we saw after coming to Gdansk were those few cute goats. That was quite unexpected, but , nevertheless, amusing. The city itself was quite different from Lublin from the first sight.
Since we came to Gdansk quite ine the evening we decided to have a rest and because of that "rest" we barely woke up in the morning. So, we had only one day to explore so much. We decided not to waste any minute.
We started our tour from the city centre, where we found out that Gdansk used to be a German city named Danzig and it was the first city to be attacked in the World War II.
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| We (girls) got engaged to each other :) |
We met a lot of tourists on the main street and it was the first city to prove that Polish people are very helpful.
Walking round the streets and popping into all the possible souvenir shops we forgot a purse in one of them and how immensely pleasantly surprised we were when the shop assistant found it and gave it back after a half an hour after it was lost!
The main landmark and a symbol of the city - the statue of Neptun.
The city itself is very colourful and bright. It is very authentic and has its special marine charm that you can feel inhaling its air.
Since there were a lot of tourists all over the world we could easely find all the signs in 4 languages: Polish, English, German and even Russian.
Gdansk was also the city, where I first tried the best Belgian waffles, which couldn't be excelled in any other city.
Going back to Lublin was also long, but fun. We made a lot of pictures of us sleeping , distributed the sequence of those who would prepare the next national dish.
I wish we could spend more time in this marvellous city, though I know that in Poland they call it Trojmiasto together with Sopot and Gdynia and we should have visited all the 3 cities in order to fully appreciate this Polish marine kingdom.
As to my internship itself I was very lucky, indeed. I enjoyed conducting language lessons to the full extent. I also enjoyed Polish society and local AIESECers, who took care of all of us. I didn't experience any cultural shock, because I understood almost 70% of what they were talking about. Very soon I started to find funny coincidences and deviations in meanings of my and Polish languages. Such were: "Dywan" which meant a "carpet" in Polish, but "a sofa" in Ukrainian, "Dworzec" which denoted a train/bus station in Polish, but a palace in Russian and one of the trickiest - "won' " that meant to smell in Polish, but to stink in Russian.
In Gdansk we also met some very interesting guys from Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and Azerbaijan. They were also interns in the local AIESEC and it was cool to meet new people. I truly enjoyed the feeling of freedom and sometimes adrenaline that always accompanied me during our journeys.
The song of the city was:
