Wow, how to sum up the three days I spent with Kaska’s family in Czarny Bor. I guess hospitality, hospitality, food, and christmas movies! It was, first of all, an amazing trip, as I thought it might be, and worth the whole trip just to see and experience that feeling. I felt a profound sense of belonging. Part of that was how welcoming Kaska’s whole family was. They gave me a place to sleep, meals, conversation, even showed me around some of the sights. It felt very natural and like I belonged there. My whole time in Poland I felt very comfortable actually. No offense to Germany, but as I sit here and type this in Hauptbahnhof in Berlin as I wait for my train, I find that I can’t wait to get back into Poland. Everyone there was friendly and kind.

The town of Czarny Bor, or Black Forest, is small but very nice, quite polished and clean. All the houses would have fit in fine in a nice upscale New England forest town. We took a trip to the local castle, called Zamek Ksiaz, where we walked through a cool light show and I had hot chocolate. Everything just felt very casual and friendly; even the ancient castle didn’t feel stuffy at all, it just felt like friends hanging out in the central square. Kaska has two brothers, Sylvester and Voitek, and Sylvester and I went on a walk/hike around the town and he showed me the place. One of the highlights was this world class biathlon track which is designed for year round use (using skis with wheels). I honestly would love to come back just to try that out.

We also watched a bunch of dubbed American christmas movies. For some reason they are huge fans of Home Alone. We watched both the first and second one, which I was only barely aware existed.

A brief note about the food; there was a ton of it. For christmas eve dinner, we had 12 separate dishes which is ceremonial; there were several soups, including a beet borscht, mushroom borscht, a fish soup, and then various potato and cabbage dishes. (No meat for Christmas Eve). We sang christmas carols, and recited a bit from the Bible. The next few days switched more to meat and desserts; there was sausage, of course, and a mayo based salad that was particularly delicious. I still have some cookies in a little box. And plenty of wine, though drinking wasn’t the focus, which was actually kind of nice.

I will be forever grateful to Kaska for letting me see her town and hang out with her family. Being around so many generations who were all getting together for Christmas brought a tear to my eye, because it’s something I can’t do anymore. Grandma was there, and mom, and Kaska, and two nieces; the whole spectrum.

In general, Poland really impressed me. Everyone is nice, it’s a very modern and clean country, and they are very grateful for where they are and what’s going on there. We talked a lot about Ukraine, obviously, and the past of the division of Poland by Russia and the Austrian Empire, not to mention the Germans and Ukrainians and basically everyone else. I think for the people my age, the existence of modern Poland as a vibrant European economy is not at all something they take for granted. Voitek and his family for example were big board game and Star Wars fans, and the room I stayed in had a ton of board games and computer equipment.

The world is smaller sometimes, and while there are downsides, in this case, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Thanks, Kaska!