WOODSTOCK Love, Friendship and Music

Did I mention that I love music? I’m happy that I can share this passion with my friends. Every summer, in August, we go to Woodstock Festival, known as a Woodstock Station that is located in Kostrzyn. It’s a ticket-free festival in Poland that is regarded as “the biggest open-air festival in Europe” because it gathers over half a million music lovers each year. It lasts three days so you need a medium-sized tent, sleeping bag and, most importantly, a lot of positive energy! The festival is organised by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity which is a non-profit and non-governmental charity organisation founded by Jerzy Owsiak. Basically, the festival is dedicated to all the volunteers that take part in The Grand Orchestra of Christmas Charity events over the following year. There are two big stages and a lot of interesting events and social activities like The Academy Of The Finest Arts where you can meet musicians, actors, journalists, politicians and many others. It’s a great opportunity to ask them any question you might have. What makes the Woodstock Festival very special is its motto “"Love, Friendship, and Music". You can feel it during the whole festival since all people are very nice and friendly with positive attitude who are always ready to help you. I met a lot of wonderful people there! I can’t wait to dance and sing with all of them this summer!

travel with music

Whenever I'm in a bad mood, music helps me to overcome and it always brings positive feelings. Sometimes it drives me to take my backpack, book a flight ticket and go far away!

E M A N C I P A T O R  made my day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wPtHy7EP0g

New Nostalgia

The last couple of months were quite crazy for me. I had to face the challenge: mixing final university assignments with work and social obligations. It wasn’t an easy task. Even though November is regarded as the one that brings nostalgia, January is the time of a year which gets me super nostalgic, always. Also, I feel like I’m getting old faster than ever. Does it sound weird? I called this state as a “new nostalgia”.

Perhaps, it is the month of the year when I have to be aware about my New Year’s resolutions that I made in last December. Also, I have to prepare a new schedule that will match with my university’s classes and my job. Additionally, I can’t forget about meetings with my friends. I have to decide what would be the best time to visit my host family in Funes, Spain, where I worked as an au pair last year. In a nutshell: January is the beginning of everything which puts sort of pressure on me.

Travelling is my passion. New and exciting thoughts are constantly flowing into me when I’m somewhere in the world. All the places where I’ve gone to have a special place in my memory. I know, looking at the old pictures might make the things worst but not in my case. It always brings me positive feelings and, surprisingly, overcomes nostalgic mood.

Here are a couple of ways that get me nostalgic very easily but in a positive way:

• Have a solo dance party with your favourite 90’s or early 00’s hits. Don’t be ashamed! Feel free to sing out as loud as you can.

• Gather your best friends for a films marathon or you favourite TV shows or maybe karaoke session with microwave popcorn and pizza.(and maybe glass of wine or your favourite drink)

• Try to remake one of your mom’s specialties for dinner!

• Change your laptop wallpaper to your favourite actor or musician for just one day (or more)

The secret of networking

Nowadays, travelling is easier than ever before. Globalisation has opened several opportunities, especially for young people. Whithout shame of doubt, a valuable work experience is the one that you gained abroad. Internship seems to the easiest way to do it. 

Have you ever heard about six degrees of separation? This interesting theory says that anyone on the planet is around six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world. They say that the majority of jobs are found through networking. The modern world is not about who you know … but who knows you. 

To simply put, networking is about making connections by building mutually useful and beneficial relationships. In today’s social media saturated world, led by the Big Four (Facebook, Intagram, Twitter, LinkedIn), networking is one of the most challenging skills you may have to learn. Sometimes even a good CV is not enough if you don’t know anyone who knows someone…and that creates the“net” of personal contacts.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a career advisor about networking. He shared his secrets to networking success. The top one has turned out to be the most obvious of all: Be Nice.

You might think it’s quite naive and simple, am I right? Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best ones. Many of us don’t think about it, but being nice is the easiest way to network.

First of all, always thank your contacts for their help! A nice thank you note might be a good idea.It’s important to be nice to everyone – from VIP and the postman to interns (don’t forget, all of us were once an intern). You never know who you’re speaking with and who they will become in the near future.

With age comes not only the wisdom but also confidence. Never try to be someone else since the reason people are successful is they are unique.

Always hold your business card. No, it’s not old-fashioned. Bear in mind that details are the key, but creative business card might help you to stand out. Don't forget, that the people around you can feel your energy. When you’re positive and nice to them, they might reciprocate. Meet as many people as you can. And be patient. Results aren’t always immediate.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I wish you all a prosperous New Year, full of joy, health, success and faith. Hope this year will be the year when all your dreams come true. Happy New Year 2015 everyone! 2014  bye, bye!

Welcome to The Big Apple! This is the New York City's nickname.

This place is one of those cities that I could go back to year after year. A journey to New York has been on my bucket list since I watched a popular movie called Home Alone 2: Lost in New York with a legendary boy, Kevin, that probably all people from my generation recognise. This amazing city is also regarded as the Great American Melting Pot. Whether you believe me or not, it was pretty hard to find a real New Yorker there! New York is a really multicultural city. In Manhattan you can visit Little Italy and taste a real Italian cuisine or China Town where I had difficulties speaking in English with people living there since their accent has asignificant Chinese influence and it wasn't easy to understand tchem clearly. They opened there a lot of Chinese shops, hotels, banks, restaurants and even a hospital. In Little Brazil you can visit Brazilian restaurant and practise your Portuguese! In Brooklyn, I visited Green point, where you can find a place called Little Poland! Even though there are a lot of Polish shops,restaurants and cafes, this place looks, unfortunately, like Poland 20 years ago... 

Manhattan is absolutely my favourite borough of New York City. The skyscrapers are breath-taking. Time Square is the heart of Broadway and the busiest place of the city. It's also regarded as the main centre ofworld's entertainment. There are countless large, attention-grabbing and bright billboards. On of the best experience during my visit in New York was Rockefeller Centre where I went to Top of the Rock Observation Deck. Ir was a fabulous sightseeing attraction! I enjoyed the panoramic view of New York from the 70th floor! It was such more to talk about The Big Apple... but let's leave it for next time!

Schwitzerland wonderland

Switzerland, I was always corious about this place. A country where are four national languages has to be special. It turned out I wasn't wrong. Together with my friends we spend a week under the canvas. It was the first time on a trip I slept in a tent and for sure I will keep this experience in my mind for a long time. We wanted to visit the whole country with a car, but unfortunetely we haven't enough time for it. However we saw still many amazing places. This country became one of my favorite! It's unbelievable because whreever you go in Switzerland, it is beautiful. You can't be bored there.

My favorite place there was the Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee). The color of the Lake is just amazing (like on the Caribbean islands!) and the best way to see these all beautiful places there is to do a voyage through the lake. Other charming place in Switzerland is without doubt the biggest city there- Zurich. But be careful! It's good to take some food and drink on one's own, because the prices there are extremly high, unless you want to pay 12 euro for a cup of coffee. However, the mountains there are worth the trouble and I will go back there again.