Week 10; Cultural (16/04/12 - 22/04/12)

I spent some time outside of Poznan this week, as I was in Warsaw competing in the national finals of the Olympics. This was a great experience, as not only did I get to see the capital city, but I also got to witness how other cultures approach sport. The finals where held in a huge army base, and it was run with the upmost professionalism. I’m sorry to say, but I feel that if this event was held in Ireland, then I’m afraid it would have lacked the class and organisational skills that went into the event. There was a huge sense of pride that went into the event from all involved and I can say that it was a great honour to compete in it.

Our team was the only team made up of mixed nationalities as the other teams tended to come from the same countries. This worked to our advantage, as with the other teams, especially the Italians, Spanish and Portuguese; they were too competitive in the sense that they argued constantly with each other which had a negative effect on them. With our team, we had a great sense of teamwork. Although we had Spanish members who occasionally went ‘loco’, we had other members, such as three Romanian guys who would run through brick walls for the team. Overall, we finished 2^nd out of all the teams in Poland which we are very proud of.

Euro 2012 mascots

The trophy...... very far away

Sticking with the subject of sport, the Euro 2012 trophy was is Warsaw over the weekend and was paraded with a big festival. People had the opportunity to get a photo with the trophy; however the waiting time for this was 4 hours, so we just took photos from afar! Hopefully, the trophy will be visiting Poznan soon so I will get another opportunity. It was clear to see that the football tournament is giving the Polish people a great sense of pride and togetherness. We have been told by Polish people that you will see national flags flying from almost all houses and homes, something that hasn’t been seen since before WWII. This just shows how much of an influence sport can have, not only on a city, but on a whole nation.

Due to the event, we had very little time to see the centre of Warsaw, but for the short time we did, I was very impressed.  It is clear to see that it is much more business orientated than Poznan, with skyscrapers being erected all over the centre of the city. I knew very little of Warsaw before I went, but it was good to see some of the older buildings which held historical relevance, such as the ‘Palace of culture and science’ which was a gift to Poland from Stalin during the communist years. It was good to see that although Warsaw is a very modern city, it still has a certain sense of history surrounding it. Having said this, I got the feeling that Warsaw was less welcoming than Poznan is, which is mainly down to the sheer size of the city. On train journey home, I was asked if I would prefer to live in Warsaw or Poznan. The answer was simple; I would choose Poznan every time. It has more of a sense of togetherness and community than Warsaw, and although Warsaw can offer much more to do, I feel safer and comfortable living in Poznan.

Stalins gift