Poland, a bit of Germany, and a lot of mail!

You can imagine, how lazy I have been, if I tell you it has taken me 2 weeks to upload the pictures from my latest trip to my FB! But I knew I had to do it before I start traveling again, otherwise they'd stay on my camera forever. But let me tell you about this secret trip a bit ;) Why do I call it a secret trip? Because almost nobody knew that I went to Poland, I just wasn't in the right mood to post anything and felt powerless for most of the time. Still, that was great to meet Søren and hopefully I managed to show him some nice places in the country of my origin. And one place in Germany :) We were traveling together between 10th and 17th of April and then I stayed in Poland for two more days with my mum.

On the beach in Gdańsk

One interesting thing that I've noticed while uploading my photos yesterday is that basically they're all from Gdańsk and from Görlitz/Zgorzelec, although we've visited many more places. As far as it's kind of understandable that I haven't taken a lot of pictures in the towns, where my relatives live, as I've been there for hundreds of time, lack of pictures from places like Warsaw is a bit weird. Probably they just weren't inspiring enough to make me look for my camera in my bag! :P I'm generally not the biggest fan of Poland, you know? ;)

Gdańsk

But I must admit I really loved Gdańsk. I had been there before, but that was ages ago, so I couldn't really remember much and therefore it felt like visiting a completely new place. I've noticed that I can actually have a very positive attitude to those places in Poland that aren't related to any negative events from my past. I'm glad about it, because it would be a pity to feel bad towards the whole country, whose passport I still have and which I'm going to keep, even if just for practical reasons. An even bigger surprise was that I actually liked the Baltic Sea, which I used to hate as a child, because the seaside holidays were always too long and way too boring. But going there for a couple of days in April felt completely different! We obviously went swimming and perhaps have already became famous, because there was someone taking a video of us :D

Gdańsk

To Søren Gdańsk looked a bit like Copenhagen. To me it looked more like some German city (which actually is partly true if you consider Gdańsk's history), but in any case it's a truly beautiful place. We also went to Sopot, which is a famous Polish seaside resort just next to Gdańsk, but, to be completely honest and direct, it just looked kitsch to me. I hope I haven't offended any Polish people, if they're reading my blog ;)

Later we spent 2 days with my grandfather, who lives just a bit more than 100 km away from Gdańsk and who was celebrating his 85th birthday. Well, in fact he wasn't celebrating - I'm just like him in this matter ;) But we had a really nice time together and I'm glad I could be there on his special day.

View from the railway bridge in Görlitz/Zgorzelec

The next stop during our trip was supposed to be Wrocław, the city where I was born (but I don't call it my home city), but I'm a totally disorganized (or you can call it spontaneous!) ;) person also when it comes to traveling, so we changed our plans in the last minute and went to Görlitz/Zgorzelec, which is a town at the Polish-German border. The bigger part of it, including the historic center, is in Germany and is called Görlitz. The Polish part, which is smaller and has two totally demolished railway stations, is called Zgorzelec. Normal people can cross the border through a pedestrian bridge in the town center, but we're far from being normal people, so we decided to run to Germany through the railway bridge! :D I don't know, whether it's actually allowed or not, but we felt almost like illegal immigrants and I was afraid that a train would suddenly come ;) Oh yes, why do things the normal way, if you can get so many extra emotions instead?!

On the normal, boring bridge

But, as you can see, we've also been on the pedestrian bridge and have even taken a border photo ;) I've always had a really soft spot for borders and therefore I also have good childhood memories from this place. I went there for the first time with my dad back in 2002, when there was still an actual border crossing. Nowadays the border is obviously open, but it still looks a bit like a boundary between the East and West.

Görlitz

Apart from being an international town, Görlitz is also just a very nice and historic place, so I think it was the right decision to go there instead of Wrocław. Of course, we might have seen much more of Poland if I only hadn't been so lazy and tired all the time, but there always should be some reason to come back right? And I'm glad that we actually also had a lot of time for long conversations, which are much more important than sightseeing.

We've also spent two days in Opole with my mother and the other grandpa and then we've done something really scary... or exciting... It all depends on your attitude ;)

Ryanaring!

Yeah, flying! Believe it or not, nowadays the domestic flights in Poland are cheaper than trains or buses, so we've taken them twice: first from Warsaw to Gdańsk and then from Wrocław to Warsaw. We've also taken my mum on the 2nd flight with us, because she's always very excited about taking a plane and it's great when you can please someone so much for just 2 euros! :D And for me... it was the cheapest aviaphobia therapy ever! :D During the first flight I got scared of the landing. During the 2nd one I thought we were falling, because the descend started right after we reached the right altitude. Nevermind, that the whole flight was supposed to last 30 minutes, I thought we were going to crash anyway... I wonder, if I'll ever get rid of this stupid aviaphobia totally?

I got back to Ukraine on 20th April at night, just hours before my first exam, which is just usual for me ;) I fortunately feel better now, although there are still a lot of things making me feel nervous and insecure... But at least now I can see some light and my thoughts are much brighter. This has also had a positive effect on my letter writing, but let's start with the incoming mail:

From Brigitta in Hungary

A lovely letter from my Hungarian friend Brigitta :) She's one of those amazing and precious people, who keep on writing to me despite having seen me in real life! I think this time I'll have to write her a page in Hungarian... ;)

From Bahanur in Turkey

My previous letter to Bahanur got lost, but she was kind enough to write me a great extra letter in a wonderful handmade envelope! One thing I know for sure is that I'll never send her a letter from Poland again ;) The Ukrainian postal service may be slower, but seems to be more reliable and has prettier stamps! :D

From Jennifer in UK

Finally, a really cool letter came from Jennifer today and will (probably) be the last piece of my incoming mail in April, unless I find something unexpected in my mailbox tomorrow :)

And here comes the outgoing mail:

For Tessa in the Netherlands

This letter to Tessa started traveling on Sunday. Or on Monday. But I did what I could to send it out before 15:00 on Sunday ;)

For Tündi in UK

An extreme letter for my extreme penpal Tündi started traveling on Tuesday :) I managed to type 30 pages for her within just 2 days, I wish I was writing my MA thesis so quickly! ;)

For Maude in France

Today I've been writing very effectively (in the office... that's what happens, when I don't get enough work) and have sent two letters. The first one goes to Maude in France :)

For Anastasia in Ukraine

And the 2nd one goes to Anastasia in Ukraine, so I've had some linguistic diversity, which is very important in translator's work! :P Okay, just kidding. But I really enjoy writing in the office, and I don't even know why. As you can see, I've sent more letters than I've received, so let's keep on believing in the legend... One day I'll catch up! I promise! ;)

One year older... And maybe a bit wiser?

I think there's no point in beginning my blog entries for apologies for being rather inactive both on Internet and in the penpalling world... It just is the way it is now and I can only hope that I'll be back to my normal routine soon. Some say that the period around one's birthday isn't brilliant for most of people, so let's try to use it as an excuse for now, even if I don't believe in this sort of things ;)

Yes, yesterday was my birthday and it was quite nice, even if I didn't celebrate it. I went to one of my favourite cafe's in Lviv, had chai latte and wrote a letter, which was really relaxing. I also got a really great news from my Dad - this year we'll most likely travel together to 3 countries that I've never been to! :) I think it's going to happen in July, but we haven't decided yet and I'm already excited nevertheless! :) Usually I travel somewhere on my birthday as well, but this weekend I didn't feel like going anywhere and didn't want to force myself. And anyway, there's no point in escaping, I'm already old enough to realise it. I had the argument with my Mum in the evening anyway. She's the only one, who makes a big deal out of my birthday and then she's really the only one to spoil my mood... No, I don't want to blame her or to rant here. Who knows, maybe it's partly my fault that I don't share her emotions and so she feels neglected... It's not a problem that can be solved easily, but my birthdays are one of those occasions, when this problem becomes sharp, and that's why I dislike them. Other than that I have no problem with people wishing me a happy birthday, so don't worry about that.

So I'm 24 now and perhaps I'm entering that age when you start comparing your past expectations with what you've achieved in reality. I used to think that at this age I'd already be quite mature and that maybe I'd already have my own family! Yeah, I find it so funny to think of now, because now it doesn't seem very likely that I'd ever want to have children ;) At least not anytime soon... But I guess it's normal that as a teenager I used to think of my future life using some standard schemes and trying to fit into them. It takes time to leave the comfort zone and to start living the way that feels the best for you, without any ready guidelines. I still don't feel I'm 100% ready for that, some part of me still compares herself to the social expectations, but hopefully I'll be getting there one day. I'm also starting to feel "old", which I know will sound ridiculous to my friends, as most of them are older than me ;) I suppose "old" isn't the right word. It's more that... I feel that I'm already grown up and there's no time to wait for my "real life" to start. It's here and now... For this reason, I've made a decision, which will probably be surprising for most of my readers.

I'll live there. Well, maybe not exactly on the beach :P

I'm going to move to Kyiv. Yes, this person, who's well-known for hating capital cities and for mocking people from capitals, is going to move to Kyiv. I've made the decision a week ago, during my lovely weekend in Sviatohirsk. Of course, I have some doubts and am afraid of changes, but I want to believe that it's my final decisions. I've always had problems making serious decisions, I'd procrastinate them until the last minute, then become hysterical... and yeah... that's not the way I want to do it now. I'm not moving today or tomorrow, it will still take a few months. But I'm sure I want to do it. And you know what? I'm really thankful to my Dad for pressurising me a bit to choose the city where I want to live, even if this pressure felt uncomfortable in the beginning. I've just realised one thing...

Even though I felt uncomfortable living in Lviv since day one (which was in 2010), I made my peace with living here, wasn't desperate to leave anymore and was ready to stay here for 3 more years to do my PhD. It was only the conversation about buying the flat that switched the red light in my head on and made me realise that I don't want to have a flat in Lviv, because it would bond me to a city, which I don't really like. Just a few days later I realised that even if there had been no conversation about buying property here, staying in Lviv wouldn't have been a good option anyway. Not even for 3 years. Doesn't our whole life consist of such short periods of 1, 2 or 3 years? You can go on like this forever, living in a place or situation that is uncomfortable for you, telling yourself that it's "just one more year to go"! That's what I told myself last year, when I decided to do my MA in Lviv. Just one more year to go. But a few months later I was already thinking of "3 more years to go"... No, it's not the way I want to live my life. I have no bad feelings neither for Lviv, nor for people living here. I just don't share their mentality and won't ever belong here. I'm already grown up and I have no time to waste dreaming of a better place, where people would be more tolerant and understanding, while in fact I can just move and try something new.

Why Kyiv? Because there are always more perspectives in the capital city and because the capital is a mix of everything. There are people from different regions, the city is perfectly bilingual and nobody cares who are you and where are you from. It's easier to be a freak in Kyiv. I don't know, if I'll stay there for a long time. I must admit I still hope to come back to D. when the war is over, even if it becomes a capital of unrecognised state (it seems that I can't avoid living in the capital, it's destiny!) :P But having a property in Kyiv is always a good option, because all the other cities are cheaper and therefore it becomes easier to move. I never dreamed of living in the capital and it's not like I'm enthusiastic about this idea. Not at all. But it seems to be the most sensible solution at the moment and I'm looking forward to discovering new paths in my life. I'm scared, but we have to take the risk sometimes. I just hope I didn't realise those of you, who have known me as a convinced capital city hater :P We all break our own principles sometimes...

That's it when it comes to my news. I hope you're not too shocked, and even if you are, you can still take a look at the wonderful pieces of mail that I've received last week :)

Fom Maude in France, sent from Germany :)

After a long break, it was so nice to receive a letter from Maude! :) She still lives in France, but very close to the German border, so she sends her letters from Germany - you see, I'm not the only one to send letters from different countries ;)

From Martina in Slovenia

A very nice letter from Martina in Slovenia with  alot of different stamps on the envelope :)

From Anastasia in Ukraine

I've also received two Ukrainian letters. One from Anastasia, with whom I've been corresponding for almost 5 years...

From Vita in Ukraine

And a second letter from my new Ukrainian penpal Vita, with whom I can already feel some connection, as we seem to have much in common!

From Tündi in UK

A birthday card and very yummy chocolate from my dear Tündi :)

From Tasha in UK

Another nice birthday card from Tasha in UK :) It actually reminds me of a town named "Щастя" (meaning "Happiness") in Ukraine. I've been there once, so I think I can say that I've found my way to Happiness :D

From Antonina in Ukraine

My dear friend Antonina has send me birthday cards and a lot of stickers :) I hope my letter will reach her soon... Probably it wasn't a good idea to send it from D. region?

From Essi

And finally a great surprise from my Finnish friend Essi! :) She's on her Asian trip now and has sent me a postcard from Vietnam!!! That's so nice of her and that's my first piece of Vietnamese mail ;)

I've also sent two letters in Kyiv themed envelopes ;)

For Søren in Iceland

For Arjen in Belgium

Speaking of any balance in my mail is pointless at the moment, but please remember that there were also long periods of time, when I was totally caught up with my letters... I'm not such a terrible penpal as I seem to be at the moment. And now I'm gone to write another letter... ;)

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. :)

What happens when I go to Poland?

What happens when I go to Poland? I turn into a zombie! :D

I'm such a nice zombie!

Okay, I'm just kidding. But sometimes doing stupid things is the best way of coping with difficult emotions. This wonderful photo was taken yesterday by my mum after we bought those funny teeth candies. ;) It took me quite a long time to decide, whether I should go to Poland or not (or, to be more precise, should I go just to the Katowice airport when the time of my flight comes, or whether I should go a bit earlier and visit my relatives) and I made the decision in the last minute, which is typical for me. I decided to go just in order not to regret not going later. I realise it's probably not the best motivation - ideally I should just feel like coming here, just like most of my groupmates, who have come to Lviv to study, feel happy whenever they can go to their hometown. A few years ago I'd still feel guilty because of not having such feelings, but things just are the way they are and I have to accept it. I don't ever go to my hometown (Wrocław) anymore, unless it's because of some paperwork, because I don't have any relatives living there anymore. Therefore I usually come to Opole, which is the hometown of my mum and where she's been living with my grandfather lately. It's been difficult. We've had some really emotional conversations, which weren't easy for any of us, but perhaps we needed them. I don't know, whether that's going to change anything or not, but it's good to know that at least we're able to discuss certain issues. I must admit that my mum has been trying to be nice for me. Maybe it's just me, who's not appreciating it as much as I should?

A book, paper and envelopes from my Mum.

She knows how much I'm into penpalling, so she's bought me 250 colourful sheets and 200 envelopes, as well as a book of a Polish writer, who's very much into East Europe and Central Asia and who has signed this book for me. I'm really thankful, although at the same time I get distressed, as fitting it all into my small WizzAir luggage (this airline only lets you take a small backpack on board for free) is a bit of a challenge. And I wouldn't like to hurt her by leaving anything here. Our relationship is very complicated, but sometimes I think that one of the main problems is basically a very simple one: we have completely different ways of expressing our feelings and, as a result, we both feel there's something missing. 

Another reason why I felt quite nervous about coming to Poland is that yesterday there was a court trial for official separation between my grandparents. They've been living separately for almost 2 years, but the thing is that somehow my grandfather didn't receive a letter from court (I don't know how it's possible) and I was supposed not to tell him anything... And I hate lying, I can't really do that. Yesterday I've met my grandmother only for 15 minutes in the court, she looked quite overwhelmed by the whole situation, but I really hope we're going to spend some more time together today. I'll take a train to Kluczbork, the town where she lives with my grandaunt, in a couple of hours.

For Stav in Israel.

On a more positive note, I've been taking a lot of effort to catch up with my huge pile of mail. :) I've written a long letter for my dear Stav in Israel partly in Ukraine, but mostly on a Polish train from Przemyśl to Opole. That was a very effective Training session! ;)

For Mihaela in Romania

In Opole I've started using the envelopes that I have from my mum and I've decided to answer my new penpals first, because I believe new friendships require regularity to develop. This envelope went to Mihaela from Romania, who's totally new to penpalling, but has written me a really lovely letter. :)

For Taši in Slovenia

This letter went to Taši in Slovenia and I hope it'll reach her before her birthday! :) In case you've been wondering why I'm posting the pictures of my letters without stamps now, I'll explain you: once I give my letters to the lady at the post office in Poland, I never get to see them again! ;) And I don't have any Polish stamps with me.

For Jennifer in UK

Finally, I've answered Jennifer's (who's also known as Hunter) great intro letter and this envelope will start traveling today. I still have 8 letters left to answer, but I believe I'll manage not to delay my answers too much, because I've been in a very productive writing mood, as you can see above. :)

Tomorrow I'll start a great journey again and I'll be even more of a zombie, because I'll have to spend the night on a train, bus and then the Katowice airport, so I won't really get to sleep anywhere. But I'm really excited about the adventure, which is about to begin! Hopefully I'll survive both the flight and my aviaphobia (I'm not sure which one of them is actually more dangerous) and will be able to share my experiences with you! ;)

Crazy Five Days at Home

Today I can finally tell you about all the things that have happened to me in the last 5 days, since I've come to Ukraine. It's been a short time, but really full of events - some of them really unexpected!

1. The way back home was already crazy enough! :) I flew to Budapest, then took a train to Záhony (the border station in Hungary) and thought I'd wait 1.5 hour for a train to Chop (the border station in Ukraine) and then spend the whole night waiting for the train to Lviv there. But my plan was too European! In Ukraine things are much more spontaneous. ;) In Záhony an Ukrainian taxi driver came to me and started convincing me to use his services.

- I'll take you to Chop for 5 euros!

- Well, it's a good price, but it won't help me - I'll have to wait for my train until the morning anyway. So I'll better take the train to Chop.

- But maybe you can catch the earlier train to Lviv?

- It departs from Chop in 8 minutes, at 23:10, so I don't think so... But... Do you think we could make it to Uzhgorod before 23:50? 

Uzhgorod is the next station after Chop. Ukrainian trains are quite slow, so even though I obviously couldn't catch this one in Chop, we got to Uzhgorod much quicker than it did. I paid just 10 euro for this crazy international illegal taxi service and went to the ticket office at the Uzhgorod railway station just to learn that there were no tickets left to Lviv! I should have guessed that, it's hard to get them on Sunday evening! I still had 10 minutes until the departure, so I came to the 3rd class carriage and decided to solve this problem Ukrainian way. We have an expression: "їхати зайцем", which means "to travel as a bunny" literally. It stands for travelling without a ticket. ;)

- Will you take one "bunny" to Lviv?

- Sure!

That wasn't hard at all. ;) For 2.5 euro I was on a night train to Lviv and didn't have to spend the night at a railway station. I just realize I'm probably not the best person to fight or criticize corruption in Ukraine, am I? :D Just to justify myself, I can tell you that I only give bribes in extraordinary situations like this one.

2. I'm going to visit Iceland in less than a week, even though I thought it wouldn't be possible in the next several years. Not until I start earning good money or until low-cost airlines conquer Iceland! ;) I was going to meet a close friend of mine, who lives in Iceland, during a trip to Sweden to Denmark. Due to some problems, he unfortunately wouldn't be able to come. First I thought we should just cancel this trip and do it later... But then he would lose his plane tickets, there's no way to get a refund. So he came up with a idea which seemed completely crazy to me in the beginning - to change the dates of flights and the passenger's name (which is allowed for a fee) and then I could come to Reykjavik. First I didn't want to agree and I still feel very uncomfortable about it, because I wouldn't be able to afford this flight at the moment. But I realize it's better than just losing the ticket and even though I feel upset that we can't follow our original plan, I think I should just enjoy what the "fate" gives me! :) I remember that I've wanted to travel to Iceland since I was in primary school and my dad told me about an amazing island country in Northern Europe with few people, but full of mountains, volcanos and geysers. I really wanted to see it, but I thought I would never actually have a chance... Of course, I don't think we'll be able to travel all around Iceland, because my friend will have to work for most of the time. But even if I only get to see Reykjavik, it's still so much more than I could dream of! Oh yes, I wished for a year full of adventures, didn't I? :)

3. I've had a job interview and it went well, so I've started working for a translation agency in Lviv! For now I'll work remotely, even though they wanted me to work in the office, because I still have one semester of my studies left... and because I like the idea of working from home more, at least for now. ;) I don't expect much from this job, but it'll surely be a very useful experience. So far the only problem I can see is that I get to work only for about a hour a day, because I don't get enough requests from them. But I've calculated that if I only worked for 4 hours a day 20 days a month, it would be more than enough to live a comfortable life here (of course what is comfortable for me could be very humble for someone else!) and to save money for traveling. So I'll see how it goes and maybe I'll try to cooperate with more agencies later. Of course, at the moment I still can't work legally in Ukraine, so it's unofficial, but this could also be solved soon...

4. It's possible that I'll be able to get Ukrainian citizenship in May-June! Today I've been to the immigration office to ask which more papers should I bring to get my permanent residence permit, but it turned out that in my case it'll be much quicker and easier to get the citizenship. It seems that I've been entitled to get it since I was born (as my granny comes from Ukraine), I just wasn't aware of it. When and if I get it, I may have a small problem with my double citizenship, so I might need lawyer's help, but I think it's worth trying. I probably won't sound like a big patriot of Ukraine, but let's be realistic: it would be quite stupid of me to renounce EU citizenship under current circumstances here in Ukraine. Still, I'd be happy to have an Ukrainian passport. I know it's just a piece of paper, which doesn't define who I am, but symbolically that would mean that I have some kind of connection with this country forever and that I wouldn't have to explain why I feel Ukrainian anymore. So keep fingers crossed for my double citizenship! ;)

5. I've been having weird family issues, which are causing me a lot of stress and I don't know, whether I should even go to Poland tomorrow, but I think I will anyway. I just hope it won't be too stressful. The funny thing is that I've just been to Poland yesterday! I went to Przemyśl again to buy medicines for my landlady and to withdraw money, because for some reason nowadays the exchange rate is much better when I use an exchange point instead of withdrawing money in Ukraine. As I had to pay for the next semester of my studies, it made quite a huge difference, which means that I'm allowed to travel more! ;)

6. I've received a pile of mail! :D Yes, usually we talk about our piles of mail growing, but this time I can say that I've received one, because it suddenly went from 1 letter to 13! ;) I could see that coming, because a lot of letters were delayed during the Christmas/New Year period and I didn't manage to receive them before leaving Ukraine. Of course, now I feel overwhelmed with the amount of mail I have, because I can't write back to all the letters quickly. :( But I'll do my best! Actually, I've been trying to think of an logical explaination to a phenomenon, which many of my penpals have already experience: sometimes we have no letters at all and sometimes we have... what I have now! ;) The only explaination that comes to my mind is that usually a huge pile of mail grows (or arrives) during a period, when we're not really able to write a lot of letters (as we're busy, traveling etc.). This means that during this period of time our penpals don't receive letters from us. So when we finally manage to catch up with our mail, we find our mailboxes starving for at least a few weeks! Do you think that makes sense? But well, I think that instead of creating a new theory of hungry and overweight mailboxes, I should just show you what I've received this week (on Monday and Wednesday)! :)

From Antonina in Ukraine

This letter came from my friend Antonina from Vinnytsia region. The strange thing is that she's sent it in December, but the cancellation says "20th January". Yes, our postal service had some delay during the holiday period!

From Anastasia in Ukraine

One more Ukrainian letter - this time from Anastasia in Chernihiv. She gave birth to a baby boy on 1st January, but found time to write me a letter nevertheless! :)

From Taši in Slovenia

This is one of the letters I was most worried about. Taši sent it in the beginning of December, so at the time I left Ukraine it already had been traveling for a month! Unfortunately, the letter got wet somewhere on the way, so I can't read some parts, but at least it's not lost. I love the special stamps Taši used - they show her and her husband. :)

From Marina in Russia

Marina's envelopes are always amazing and this one isn't an exception! I wish I was so creative! :) I love her chatty letters and I hope that mail between Russia and Ukraine won't ever stop arriving, no matter how complicated is the political situation.

From Mihaela in Romania

Mihaela sent a very nice answer to my intro, which was actually a continuation of our fascinating dialogue on Interpals. :) I'm so glad we've switched to snail mail!

From Katharina in Germany

Katharina has also answered my intro, which I've sent a couple of months ago. I'd like to answer her letter as soon as possible, but I know she'll be moving abroad soon, so I should probably wait for her to tell me the new address. Oh, can you see the train stamp? :D

From Sandra in Germany

One more letter from Germany - from my friend Sandra, who always writes long and thought-provoking ones. She's also sent me some samples of washi tapes, so I'll try to use them for my future letters! ;) Believe it or not, it's the first time I actually have washi tape in my hands!

From Olga in Belarus

This letter comes from my dear Olga, whom I've already met for several times and with whom I'm going to travel more this year! ;)

From Essi in Finland

And this one comes from my Finnish friend Essi, who's been missing slow Ukrainian night trains! :) She has partly written her letter during her holiday in France in Switzerland, and enclosed a yummy Swiss chocolate! :)

From Jennifer in UK

This lovely intro came from Jennifer in the UK. She was supposed to write me a letter as a part of the random exchange, but we agreed that we'd actually try to become penpals and I have a very good feeling about this correspondence already! I just hope she won't mind me being a bit slow now... 

From Bahanur in Turkey

A letter from my dear Bahanur, with whom I can discuss all the most controversial topics and whom I really hope to meet this year, before she moves halfway around the world away!

From Brigitta in Hungary

All the other letters came on Monday, but this one arrived two days later. :) It's from Brigitta, my Hungarian friend who has already hosted me twice - and each time she saw me being sick! Yes, I feel slightly embarassed about it. But I'm so happy that she keeps on answering my letters nevertheless! She has also used beautiful stamps, which are quite hard to get in Hungary, believe me!

A card from Martina in Slovenia

I've also received two Christmas cards, which didn't make it on time due to the snail mail working like a real snail. ;) This beautiful handmade one is from Martina.

A card and bookmark from Kathrin in Germany

And this one is from Kathrin! She's also made a lovely bookmark with my name, which I'm really thankful for! :)

Postcards from Tündi

These 3 postcards were sent by my dear Tündi during her trip to the Netherlands in Germany! :) The very funny thing is that I've been to all the places which you can see on these cards... And I went to Maastricht just 4 days after Tündi, which we both didn't realize! :)

From Chelsea in the USA

Last but not least, Chelsea from the USA sent me a big postcard showing the places she's been to in 2014. :) Chelsea is a friend, whom I've met thanks to Couchsurfing back in 2010, when she was traveling in Ukraine. It's so nice of her that she still remembers about me, even though several years have passed! 

I think you'll understand why I haven't been able to write much in the last days with all those things happening at the same time. I've only managed to send a small package for Antonina and her little daughter.

For Antonina in Ukraine

Now I'm working on my letter to Stav and I really hope that soon I'll be able to announce a lot of outgoing mail! I really feel bad each time my answers are delayed, but I hope not to disappoint my penpals. Tomorrow I'm most likely leaving Ukraine again and will be back on 15th or 16th February. And of course I'll keep you updated about my crazy journeys! :)