The last few months

Hi all.

I realise this post has been rather a long time in coming. I got distracted by a whole range of things. Work mostly, but some fun too.

There have been several significant events during the year. There was a period of mourning after the plane crash. The centre of Torun had memorial comprising a mass of candles, photos and names ...

The other major event this year was the floods a few months ago. The river rose by several metres and many homes were flooded. Torun escaped the worst of it but still had to close a road.

There's always something going on in the centre of town. This was a musical event mainly but a load of bikers were in town as well, presumably to give the musicians some competition. Prior to coming here I wasn't aware of the fact that Poland didn't exist as a nation for about a hundred years. It's fallen victim to its neighbours many times but now that Poland exists they celebrate it proudly - flags are out most of the time. The Solidarity memorial is decorated with flowers several times a year too.

At the beginning of June I got together with a few buddies and went to Gizycko in the Polish lake district for a few days RnR (not rock & roll). My idea of rest & relaxation is doing things so we went canoeing, cycling, played badminton and table tennis and generally had a good time.

In May I went to Poznan for the weekend - a very nice city. My pal Alex had come home from Manchester and so I was given a guided tour of the city with her brother and mum. In the evening the city's museum's were open for free. This would have been a wonderful opportunity if it hadn't been for the fact that Poznan had just won the football league. There were thousnads of supporters out that night. You couldn't move. Apart from that, we had a great time.

I have been introduced to the game of Ricochet. It's like squash, but is played in a smaller court with a low ceiling and so the game is faster. It's popular in these parts but hasn't reached Britain yet. My second try at the game was as part of a tournament that I was invited to by a jolly good chap called Woytek. Single-handedly, I turned the tournament into an international event. I played two games and was knocked out but had a lot of fun trying. Wojtek went on to win it - I think I'll be asking for lessons.

As it's the end of the year I went out for a drink with my Proficiency Class a couple of weekends ago (see pic). I really enjoyed teaching them; you couldn't ask to meet a more hard-working and motivated bunch.

I have now finished at International House for this year. It's been a great year and everybody was sad to leave. I've decided to do another year though so I'll be back here in September.

I leave Torun for the summer tomorrow though. I'm heading south, via Wroclaw, Prague, Vienna and finally Ljubljana in Slovenia. From there I have to make my way to the Soca river somehow and then I'll be camping for the following twelve days and paddling, climbing ... all the usual stuff. Can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes in my next post.

Have a great summer. Enjoy the sunshine!