polski
A two-storeyed, angular building with grey walls, stained with mould and mildew. Sandwiched between other, similarly begrimed by torrential rains of the monsoon season, a sizzling sun of the dry period, and fumes of everyday heavy traffic. The first-floor windows extend to a view of thick black electric cables running through the entire length of the […]
Lego-like containers are piling up in a tiny port. Mini-cars speed up in webs of mini-roads. Red roofs of mini-shophouses flash between green canopies of mini-trees. With an eagle eye, we are trying to spot a familiar looking place. And there it is – ‘Kiosk’. Our weekend oasis of relaxation and good beer. Its tiny […]
We can barely squeeze through the narrow streets filled with festively dressed, colourful crowd of people. Always lively Indian shops are even more busy than usual. “No, no. Five is not enough. It must cover the whole arm”, the owner of the shop fixes her headscarf and with an apparent expertise in a topic continues […]
It is still early. Too early for the crowds gathered tightly around all available tables. It is too early to reserve a table with a packet of tissues. It’s still early, and just a few stalls are open, yet under the roof of the hall already flows a pleasant aroma of strong coffee and evaporated […]
![[English below]
Trzydniowa Japonia w pigułce rozniosła nam głowy. Kilka lat później przeprowadziliśmy się do niej na sześć miesięcy. Kraj przez pół roku konsekwentnie i nieodwracalnie przepalał nam styki. Dlatego nie zdziwiliśmy się wcale, kiedy kilka lat później w Wołgogradzie po meczu Polska-Japonia kibice naszych rywali zabrali się za porządkowanie stadionowych trybun. Co kiedyś mogłoby wywołać uśmiech politowania i wymowny gest posuwisto-zwrotny palcem wskazującym w stronę czoła, dziś było tak oczywiste, że aż trzeba się było dołączyć. Wcale nas nie zdziwiło, że przed stadionem rzesze japońskich fanów gratulowało Polakom tak żarliwie, jakbyśmy wcale nie grali o pietruszkę. Przy tym wszyscy byli tak urzekająco szczęśliwi naszym… hmm… szczęściem, jakby sami właśnie wygrali puchar. Wymianom szalików, koszulek nie było końca. Andrzej wrócił chyba z trzema. W tym jedną vintage z rozgrywek w latach dziewięćdziesiątych ubiegłego wieku. Co prawda juniorska, ale przynajmniej na jedno z nas pasuje.
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Three-day Japan, in a nutshell, blew our minds. A few years later, we moved in there for six months. The country has been consistently and irreversibly frying our brains for half a year. That's why we weren't at all surprised when, a few years later, in Volgograd, after the Poland-Japan match, our rivals' fans started cleaning up the stadium stands. What once might have caused a smile of pity and a back-and-forth gesture with the index finger towards the forehead was now so obvious that we had to join in. We were not at all surprised that in front of the stadium, crowds of Japanese fans congratulated the Poles as passionately as if we were not playing for honour at all. And everyone was so charmingly happy with our… hmm… victory as if they had just won the cup themselves. There was no end to the exchange of scarves and T-shirts. Andrzej came back with at least three, including one vintage from the 1990s. It's a junior size, but it fits at least one of us.](https://www.peryferie.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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