We can hear a lot of times that it’s important to be surrounded by people who have a good influence on us and even though it’s a well-known life truth it’s still necessary to talk about it. Maybe you already had a situation in which you felt so nice with a person who you just met , like if you had known each other for ages. Or the inverse, there is something you don’t really like in the person you just met but you can’t explain that feeling. Everybody has their own energy and either we match together or not at all. There’s no sense in creating something by force.

Our mood depends mostly on us but people around us can have an influence too. Their energy can build or destroy. If it destroys then we need to ask ourselves how this relationship looks like. Sometimes it’s better to leave a relationship before it starts to be toxic and unhealthy. When you’re surrounded by amazing people who never let you down, support us and encourage us to be better people, it’s a life changer.

Nasze samopoczucie zależy głównie od nas, ale mimo wszystko otaczający nas ludzie też mają na nie wpływ. Ich energia może budować albo burzyć. Jeśli burzy to może warto zadać sobie pytanie, czy ta relacja jest dla nas dobra, czy jest toksyczna. Otaczanie się osobami, które dają nam wsparcie, podnoszą na duchu, cieszą się naszym szczęściem i dodają odwagi ma czasem zbawienne skutki, naprawdę!

To be honest I’m very lucky with people who I have met in my life. Lots of relationships started in primary school or middle school and they still exist till today. Every time I realize how long I know those people, I’m shocked. After this Wednesday meeting with my best friend I smiled for the rest of the day. This happens when you spend time with a person who is like a sunbeam on your cloudy day and whose energy is a positivity booster.

Nie ukrywam, że mam ogromne szczęście do osób, które spotykam w życiu. Wiele relacji zaczęło się w czasach podstawówki czy gimnazjum i trwa praktycznie do dzisiaj, i za każdym razem, gdy uświadamiam sobie ile one trwają to otwieram oczy z wrażenia. Po środowym spotkaniu z przyjaciółką uśmiech nie schodził mi z twarzy do końca dnia. Tak to jest, jak spędzacie czas z osobą, która jest jak promyk słońca i której energia jest niczym zastrzyk pozytywności.

Is there a recipe for such a relationship? Well I don’t know the answer but based on my experience I can say that they are created by themselves when we care about them. I also noticed that when we express gratitude and appreciation for those relationships, it makes it even closer. IT gives this feeling of being important to each other.

Czy istnieje przepis na taką relację? Trudno stwierdzić. Na bazie własnego doświadczenia mogę powiedzieć, że one praktycznie same się tworzą, gdy o nie dbamy. Zauważyłam też, że wyrażanie wdzięczności za obecność bliskiej osoby w naszym życiu jeszcze bardziej zacieśnia więzi. Tworzy takie poczucie, że jesteśmy dla siebie ważni.

What about making the rest of November a time to be grateful for relationships? Or whatever you want to feel grateful for. Maybe it will light up this grey month and will add a pinch of sunshine to our days :)

The story of my Erasmus was mentioned a couple of times and I already told you about the impact it had on me, how it was organized and all that stuff. I also talked about international friendships and relationships in general, and today I would like to go deeply into this topic.

To be honest, I was afraid that after Erasmus was over, my friendships would be over too because of the lack of things to talk about. I was afraid that after all I wouldn’t have lots of international relationships. In the end it turned out that my fear was unnecessary, but it doesn’t mean that it is easy to keep the contact, it needs our energy and effort to exist. Is it more difficult to stay in touch with people from abroad than with people from the same country/city? I can’t answer this question, because keeping in touch is in general a thing that needs our effort and we can’t take it for granted.

When it comes to international friendships, it happens that there are thousands of kilometers between us or even time zones but it doesn’t interfere in keeping in touch, it just makes it a little bit more complicated than usual. First of all, we need phone calls. If there's a difference in time zone between you and your foreign friend, make a special appointment for that and precise hours. Spontaneous phone calls aren't a good thing because then we can call somebody… at 2AM by accident.

Second thing is the fact that it’s not easy to go out together, especially when your friend lives in another country. But it doesn’t mean it’s impossible! For example, I go to Berlin for a weekend or three-four days to meet my German friend, who lives in a city near to Berlin, so this kind of trip helps us to meet and spend some time together.

Another aspect is staying in touch. The things I mentioned before are bigger and need to be planned earlier, but you always have a simple chat with your friend. For example, I write to people and ask them what’s up, what are their plans for next days, how they are feeling and all that stuff. It works not only with foreign friends but also with people who we don’t see very often like friends from childhood.

Coworking is the key. Putting energy and taking effort in a relationship in which only one side works for this can become very difficult and too hard. There’s no point in forcing ourselves to keep a relationship that doesn’t work well. Once I heard from my friend that there are people who leave our life to make space for another person who will have a better influence on us and who we create a beautiful relationship with.

I decided to talk about this because recently I met Tina, my German friend and I have to say that for a long time I hadn’t been as happy as I was during our trip! Those meetings and trips are even more exciting when you haven’t seen somebody for a year or more, even though you stayed in touch with this person by chatting. I came up with an idea for this post and then decided to write it to share my thoughts with you hoping it would be helpful for you, no matter if you have foreign friends or not.

with love

Basia