Back Home... And ready for future adventures :)

Even a person like me, who's totally crazy about traveling, feels like coming back home once in a while. Discovering new lands is fascinating, but I believe we need to have a place to call our home if we really want to enjoy traveling. Who knows, maybe there are vagabonds, who enjoy just moving from one place to another and not having any permanent place to come back to. But I need to relax (and spend a whole week behaving like a total hermit) from time to time. 

Home... I'm not even sure what it means. The place where I'm living now is temporary and I'm still not sure, whether I'd like to have my own flat exactly in this city. For now my home is where my mailbox is! ;) But I also feel that Ukraine is my home and I'm glad that in less than 3 months from now I should officialy be recognised as a citizen of this country. Later I might have some legal trouble concerning keeping 2 citizenships (I want to keep the Polish, so I'm able to travel around Europe without visas), but later will be later, right? Now I'm just looking forward to the day when I'll get the document saying that I'm officially Ukrainian. To be honest, I don't think the national identity depends on your passport. You are who you feel you are, your country is the country you identify with the most. But there are some reasons why I still find it important to have the Ukrainian citizenship and not just the permanent residence permit, which would give me basically almost the same rights. I don't want people to question my national identity based on my passport. I realise they can still say that I'm Polish based on my birthplace and the fact that I don't want to renounce my previous citizenship. And I have no bad feelings about it. But if I'm Polish then I'll also be equally Ukrainian, right? :) The second reason is a sad one... With the war going on, I can't be sure what the future would bring me. I hope that my area will stay safe just as it is now. But in case things go really messed up and I'd be forced to leave the country, I want to be officially Ukrainian. If I go abroad now, I'm technically Polish only and have no connection to Ukraine. That hurts, because I want to have this connection not only while I'm here. As you can see, I've applied for the citizenship mostly for emotional reasons, rather than for practical ones. I've even had the immigration officers asking me, why wouldn't I take the permanent residence permit. But I'm doing what I feel is right for me at the moment. It's better to regret what you've done than what you haven't done, right? 

My way back to Lviv from Iceland was long and I stopped at my grandfather's place in Northern Poland for a few days before continuing my journey. He was really glad to see me and kept on telling me long stories from his life ;) I also managed to write two letters in Poland and sent them just minutes before crossing the Ukrainian border. The one for Essi has arrived in just 2 days, so this time it was worth sending it from Poland :) The one for Bahanur is still traveling, but I hope this time we'll be more lucky than the previous time when I sent a letter to her from Poland and it got returned to me.

For Essi in Finland and Bahanur in Turkey

When I got back to Lviv, I immediately went to the main post office to check my mailbox and, of course, I've found a lot of letters there. They also kept on coming during the whole week! So yes, I feel a bit overwhelmed with mail and "guilty" of having taken the interview for Penpal of The Week website, which led to a sudden increase in the number of my penpals, but I'm really trying to do my best and I never regret giving chances to new friendships. Having 12 years of experience in the penpalling world I must realise that not all of my penpals will become my close friends and stay in my life for a long time. But as I find myself in costant need of meaningful communication, meeting new people through letters can be very refreshing. The first incoming letter of February didn't actually go through the mail system ;)

From Søren in Iceland

Søren gave me his letter just before I left Iceland and I've read it on my way back home. :) The mysterious Greenlandic word on the envelope means "See you"... and I really want to believe that we'll have a chance to meet again.

From Tündi in England

The longest letter came from my "extreme" friend Tündi, of course! :) She's a crazy traveler just like me, so she's also sent me a lot of postcards from England, Hungary, Germany and Belgium! :)

From Jennifer in England

There've been more letters from UK in my mailbox! :) Jennifer has answered my letter (which I've sent from Poland in the beginning of February) very quickly and here's another great mail from her!

From Tasha in England

Tasha is one of my new penpals, whom I've met thanks to my interview. I wrote her an intro while I was in Belgium and she sent me first a card from London and then a letter. But as I was away for quite a long time, both pieces of mail from Tasha reached me the same day. :)

From Hannah in England

This beautiful envelope contains a lovely intro from Hannah, who also lives in England and has also found me through my interview. :)

From Kim in Belgium

Then there've been two letters from Belgium :) It's interesting, because until recently I had no Belgian friends and then, after my interview, I got messages from two Belgian girls. Kim has answered my intro, which was sent from... Belgium.

From Arjen in Belgium

One more piece of Belgian mail came from Arjen, a girl with one of the most beautiful handwritings I've ever seen (you can't really see it on the envelope, but reading the letter was a pleasure, because it was both pretty and interesting!).

From Nikki in the USA

And one more girl, who decided to become my penpal after reading my interview was Nikki. I'm currently answering her intro :) Oh yes, I've been flooded with letters, but I'm glad about having given chances to 5 new friendships, because they all seem to be promising!

From Taši in Slovenia

Taši has also received a letter from me, while I was in Poland, and has sent me another nice and long letter very quickly. :)

From Bahanur in Turkey

A new letter from Bahanur, who's one of my closest penpals and the best person to discuss most controversial topics with! She has also sent me a really nice notebook, which I'll definitely use for writing one of my letters :)

From Kathrin in Germany

This pretty envelope came from Kathrin in Germany :) Apart from a wonderful letter, she has also sent me pictures from medieval festivals, in which she's been participating together with her husband. That was really interesting to see!

From Antonina in Ukraine

I've also received from one of my "oldest" (by the time of our correspondence) and most regular penpals - Antonina. She's one of my friends, whom I really admire, because she's able to keep her positive attitude to life despite all the problems. I hope that this year I'll finally be able to see her in person. :)

From Vita in Ukraine

And one more Ukrainian letter from Vita. The story of us becoming penpals is quite complicated, but I hope our correspondence will be long-lasting, because I really need more like-minded people here in Ukraine :)

From Sandra in Germany

Last but not least, I've received a card from Sandra, which she has sent from her holidays in Bavarian Forest. And now I'm waiting for her letter :)

I've also been able to send some letters from Ukraine. I' like to explain that now I'm forced to use some standard stamps due to our currency's devaluation and the postage for international mail growing each day :( It's just not possible to send letters with just special stamps anymore, because the envelopes aren't big enough :( I'm sorry about that! So here's my outgoing mail:

For Marina in Russia

For Brigitta in Hungary

For Antonina in Ukraine

Oh yes, that's a lot of mail! :) You may laugh at me, but I feel kind of ashamed when I have to share such a huge amount of letters with you and admit that I'm behind with my pile of mail. But I'll catch up, because I'm back to my normal life now. Studying, working and writing letters! :) I really need a normal schedule sometimes and that's what I need at the moment. The only thing that bothers me and spoils my mood currently are my family issues... But they're not anything new to me and I'm really thankful to my friends for supporting me, even if they're far away...

Soon I'll start traveling again, but no, this time I'm not going abroad for several weeks and won't find a huge pile of mail waiting for me when I come back. :) My Czech friend has decided spontaneously to come for a few days to Ukraine and I'm looking forward to meeting her on Thursday! It'll happen in just 3 days from now, but we don't even know where will we travel to. No plans, no worries! ;) But you can be sure I'll tell you about our Training adventures. :)