"Why Poland?"

I've lost count of the number of times people have asked me, somewhat incredulously, "why Poland?!" Why did I choose Poland. It's a valid question, and my answer is that I didn't really choose Poland, it sort of happened to me, in the form of a girl named E. At this point they smile or laugh and start nodding their heads vigorously. It all makes sense now. A girl brought you to Poland! it's always the same! And it's true, I'd be being disingenuous if I said otherwise. However, there's no place I'd rather be. Poland is like a giant riddle dying to be solved, by me. I enjoy untangling Polish culture, love polish people, fell in love with Krakow, appreciate Wrocław, get a perverse enjoyment out of learning the language, and am just very happy to be here.

Sometimes when the conversation continues for a little while, it becomes clear that Australia has some sort of mythical paradise status in the eyes of some Poles, and another question arises as "why did you ever leave?" Living in Australia is like living on life support. It's a brand new country, and everything is, well, new, everything is very orderly and comfortable and familiar, and this is for some people, but I want to... expose myself to the world, if you will, experience different things, different cultures. With this said, Poland is the sort of country I would gravitate towards, and maybe I was fated to come here. In any case, I can never complain about things being too simple or straightforward again. And that is just fine.