As I was on the way back to Korea, there were so many thoughts in my mind. From each journey I learn something new. It feels amazing to get to know more about the world, and myself. Especially in this trip to Poland, I have earned lots of valuable thoughts and experiences that I would not find anywhere else. I am not sure if I would be able to depict well what I thought and felt, but I will do my best.

Luggage

“It’s not that you need to do something, but it would take about two hours to move your luggage to the second plane.”

A stewardess said. Thinking back, it was weird for her to say that for I only asked “Would you send my luggage to the last destination?” Thus, I should have noticed that it was somehow ominous. I was supposed to transfer in Moscow, and had two and a half hours for all the process. Maybe she wanted to warn me that it could be a little risky. I would have sent the baggage even if I got the message right though. Anyway, for an unknown reason, my luggage didn’t come to Warsaw.

The officer at Warsaw airport was kind, but too slow at working. While I was so impatient since someone was waiting for me out there, he was typing each letter as if he was savoring the feeling of typing. And he kept saying that he needed my address in Poland, which I didn’t have at the time. At last, I could convince him that I would call him after meeting my friend outside, and received a piece of paper that had some information. One thing I learned for sure was that I should have had someone’s phone number in Poland. Anyway, it was already about two hours after the arrival when I finally got out. Fortunately Blazaj, the president of Polish Go Association, somehow knew what happened to me and was still waiting for me with his girl friend.

      Journey to Alask

Next morning, another big travel was waiting for me. From Warsaw to the camp place, Alaska. Yet, this time I was with two pleasant young brothers, Nickless and Mariusz. Three of us sat in a compartment of an old train. It was hot, sunny day. Although there was a dial, which was supposed to control the air conditioner, we couldn’t make it work. So we opened a window. With breeze and fresh air it felt way better, but we had to stand serious noisy. Thus, for about 4.5 hours, we kept bothering the small window. Meantime, we talked about Polish Go players, Poland and Korea in general. Then at some point Nickless mentioned playing Go. It was so obvious that he wanted to play me, but he wasn’t sure if it was OK to ask me. It may sound strange to you Baduk lovers, but playing Baduk is like working for me. Well, I don’t know about other players, but it has always been like that. Anyway, I was first time in Poland, appreciating wide greeny view of Polish countryside in an old train that was running in such a perfect speed for doing so. 

On one hand, I wanted to pretend not to be aware of his hope. On the other hand, however, I was afraid of feeling guilty afterward. After all, it wasn’t a big deal to play a game, but it wouldn’t be so small for him. If I can make someone happy, or give a memorable moment with relatively small effort, it would be reasonable not to miss the opportunity. Thus, I asked him if he wanted to play a game. And, guess what? I think I sort of enjoyed playing the game.

Our first destination was a small city called B something. I had no idea how to pronounce that, and forgot the name as soon as I left there. Anyway, it was an ordinary city that had neither very modern buildings nor old style buildings. We had about 1.5 hours to transfer, and it was a small station that 10 minutes’ time seemed more than enough. So we decided to walk around the downtown. Yet, less than 5 minutes after, we were sitting outside of a Kebab place, waiting for the food.

When we got on the second train, all seats were occupied, and several people were standing around. At first we stood in a small space in front of the exit, but soon sat on the floor. By the time the train was about to depart, the train was full of passengers. This train was older and slower. The air was hot, and our position was, of course, uncomfortable. I got so exhausted after a while, and fell asleep.

About 2 hours after, we arrived at the last station of the train. It wasn’t our last destination though. There, Kangur and Kamyk were waiting to give us a ride. I don’t remember what we talked about in the car, but I recall that there was an endless green and golden field along the road. Simply by seeing the view, I felt so rich and relaxed. Yes. That was my first impression on Poland. Not too developed, nor under developed; rich in nature, and natural in living.

Nickless once said in a train that he was a little worried that I would be too busy talking with other people that I wouldn’t have much time for him during the LSG (LSG is polish version of ‘Summer School of Go’ which you also may call ‘Polish Summer Go Camp’). Well, when we arrived at Alaska the situation that he described happened exactly; there were so many people to greet. A few of them were people I’ve met before, a few of them I talked to online, and the rest of them I would talk with from then on. But, it was one of the two occasions that I was busy during the whole LSG. The second one occurred when I was leaving there. 

First day in Alaska

When I first saw Alaska, it reminded me of a small square of farmers’ village. Tall wooden totem is in the center of the square with a yellow direction board and two pieces of log, on which about 3 people can sit and talk each. Beside the totem place, there is a main street that connects almost all buildings in Alaska. If you walk a little bit more along the street, you will find a big wooden table with long, flat chairs. That is a great place to do something such as playing Baduk especially under the sun. And all important buildings were around there. A shop where there are various types of beer, Kitchen, Sun house, washing places, cottages, playing and dining place, and so on. If you spend some time there, it won’t take you much time to realize that you don’t really need any other building than those.

Then I followed some people with a beer in my hand. Through a forest we walked about 5 to 10 minutes. Soon, wide and beautiful scenery of a lake unfolded before my eyes. It was just amazing. The water was so peaceful and decent, and made perfect harmony with the forest around it. On the small beach by the lake, there were tall wooden swing, raft looking piece, and also wooden road that extended to the lake for diving and sitting. I sat on the road and put my legs into the lake. It felt cold and fresh. Suddenly the beer tasted much better. Some people greeted and welcomed me. So I smiled back at them.

Dinner – or supper in Polish English – was at 7’o clock every day. They usually served lots of bread, butter, jams, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and some cheese and meats. When I was in Korea, I used to eat bread alone. I didn’t need anything else, but bread. Yet it seemed to surprise people when I did the same in the dining hall. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do or what to say. It was the time I felt that for the first time in Alaska. I couldn’t say “I eat this way in Korea,” since they didn’t say anything, yet. They merely looked at me as if they wanted to tell me something, but didn’t go further. Luckily I was aware of the upcoming campfire and sausages. So I didn’t bother staying there for a long time.

Unlike Finland, it was already getting dark at around 9’o clock. And, from some point, the campfire was on. Also there were plenty of sausages, bread, and long iron skewer that had wooden hilt. Although I wasn’t a fan of sausages, I felt excited about all this stuff. Sausages in a skewer with wild fire seemed like a fairy tale. Moreover, one guy held my skewer for me, because it was too hot to stand or sit by fire while barbecuing sausages. What a chivalry! At last when I got my sausage on a white disposable dish, I felt as though I was facing a gourmet stake on a snow white porcelain dish. Plus, cool beer made the food even greater. Ah, there was a good news during the fire. Polish Airline delivered my luggage to Alaska. Despite they said that it would take one or two days for delivery, they made it on the same day I arrive there. Later, I realized that I was lucky to lose my luggage since I didn’t have to carry that all the way to Alaska from Warsaw myself!

That night, I saw the night sky. It was indeed a breathtaking view. Millions of stars were glowing. Field, forest, lake, fire, and stars; all these things were just overwhelming to me. I was happy and sad at the same time. I was happy to feel the nature so close, but sad because I had no one to share the feeling. In fact, during the entire LSG, I had to fight this loneliness. It wasn’t about being single, but something else. That was strange feeling. Everyone was so kind to me. I don’t know. Maybe I had too much time to think and it caused me to create something emotional.