Read Day 7 here.

I spent a week completing a cultural exchange programme facilitated by the company Angloville, where I provided conversation practice to Polish adults near Bialystok

We did not have a fun morning. At all. Ricardo had pissed off a lot of people on the previous night. Despite him realising his mistake and going around apologising to everyone, there was still a lot of bad blood in the air. I rarely spoke to him. Whatever. I’m not going to see him again.

Today was my last full day in Poland and then it was straight back to reality. it was very sad. We had one breakfast and it was time for our final conversation sessions. I was supposed to have my first session with the older Voytek, but he was leaving so I had free time. Naturally, I played chess with the younger Voytek. It’s amazing how we’ve connected so much over chess. It was very funny. There was also a running joke that he looked like Matt Damon. He even referenced it in his presentation. What do you think?

My second conversation session was with Agata where I taught her some helpful vocabulary and idioms around management like “micro-manager” and “breathing down your neck.” I have had micro-managers like that before. Have you?

Just like that it was midday, so we had our final meal together – some codfish and mash in a lemony sauce. Kal and I also talked about or plans for the future. He is a freelance graphic designer who is looking for a change in life. And that’s why he was doing Angloville. For the moment, he just wants to travel before finally settling in France. I also checked in on Jess who was feeling a little better than last night. It helped that Ricky had apologised to her.

And then it was time to leave. We said goodbye to my chess-playing friend Voytek, Piotr and Elvira, but, most sadly, Elvia’s adorable little doggy. The rest of us boarded the coach at half twelve for the long journey back to Warsaw.

Three and a half hour later, we arrived back at the Palace of Culture and Science. After saying goodbye to everyone, I headed to my hostel where I would be staying the night. The hostel was called the AB hostel and it was located at the top of eight flights of stairs in a rather dilapidated building. Although the hotel itself was relatively modern with electronic locks. And it also had a nice view of the city.

I stayed here until six which is when I went to meet Lydia for dinner. And it was bloody cold at this point. Near enough freezing.

When I arrived at our meeting point, near the palace, who should I meet, but Bridget? After exchanging some small-talk in French, Lydia arrived and we went for dinner. Alas, Jess wasn’t feeling well enough to join us and Kat would be joining us later for a drink, but Lydia and I went into the local shopping centre where we ate at this buffet with an interesting concept.

You would pick up a massive plate, choose the food you want at the buffer, weigh it and then pay. The heavier the plate, the more you pay. It was a clever concept because it relied on your greed to make money. I was very greedy and bought 70 zloty with of food.

It was a mixture of meat, dumplings, salad and even some lasagne. Good, but heavy, probably due to all the protein. Afterwards, Lydia brought us some ice cream.

Now we were going to meet Kat for drinks. She had been seeing a friend in Bilaystok, earlier on, so she couldn’t join us for dinner, but she would be meeting us at a bar. The plan was to meet her at nine at the palace, so Lydia and I killed some time walking around the labyrinthesque shopping centre, before we went to meet Kat. But there was an awful miscommunication meaning that Katerina was dreadfully late and poor Lydia and I almost froze to death. But at quarter to ten, Kat found us and we went to a nearby bar.

Being a Friday night, the bar was packed and noisy with the Poles constantly shoving past us. But as Kat pointed out to us, Slavs are quite light on the social niceties. They tend to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. But Kat brought a round and I tried this Czech beer which tasted the same as every other beer. Kat also bought some nachos which were very disappointed. Rather than being smothered with cheese salsa and guacamole, we were just given two small tubs of sauce. They also tried charging us 24 zloty instead of the 19 that was on the menu, because it was an old menu…apparently.

Anyway, we finished up at eleven and we went our separate ways. It was a lovely evening even if I had spent 70 zloty on dinner. At £15, that is the most expensive thing I have bought in Poland. But I didn’t pay for my ice cream or beer so I can’t complain about that. And it was lovely seeing Kat and Lydia for one final time. They’re the two people I became the closest to during the programme – and Jess and Kal to a lesser extent – but we’ll all stay in touch, so I look forward to seeing them again. And that’s the end of my final full day in Poland. A day of long coach journeys, goodbyes and one final meal.