polski
A man, huddled on a low stool, rhythmically beats a large leather drum. A thick, richly decorated coat flows down his shoulders. The man’s head – hidden under a pointed hat with feathers – sways steadily to the beat. From under the veil of black tassels covering the face, comes an ever faster and louder […]
After a rally crossing over the river in the Khujirt Valley, we finally drive onto a ribbon of asphalt. Initially, its condition is so bad that we dream about returning on off-road paths. In time, however, the situation improves. We can finally enjoy what extends beyond the window. The landscape begins to change significantly. Already […]
In Bishkek they told us, there is no point in going to Issyk-Kul at this time of the year. It is already long past the peak season. There is nothing there anymore. But stubborn as we are, in late October, we set off on tour around the second largest mountain and saline lake in the […]
“Is this your machine?” asks a young policeman, showing a picture of our ambulance on his phone. “Ours”, we answer completely stupefied, “What happened?” “Wrongly parked”, answers the young man and leads us to the ‘crime scene’, where he transfers us to someone of a much higher rank. A dark uniform with flaps full of […]
A loud noise wakes us up. Someone bangs mercilessly in the rear door of our camper. Andrzej grabs pepper spray. Terrified, I carefully look outside. It is as bright as during the day. The car bathed in a silvery light of the moon casts a long shadow. In its darkness, there is a contour of […]
We are waiting in the queue for tickets to the Buddhist temple of Erdene Zuu. Among the number of locals, we are one of the few foreigners. It automatically makes us the subject of semi-camouflaged glancing, pointing fingers and whispers ended with giggles. Suddenly, one of the co-queuers gathers up all his courage and tries […]
![[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.
-----
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)
Comments are closed.