Anna, Warsaw, Poland
When Anna was a child and at the playground, she loved to climb up into the roof of playhouse and listen to the passing airplanes and guess which airline was flying over!
Philosophy of this adventurous, super-friendly girl who has the greatest (black) sense of humor, airline scheduler, world-traveler - “life the live that you love and don’t worry about what others think!” - might be inherited from the past-generations: her grandmother was a glider and aircraft pilot in Poland before World War II.
Meet Anna and read the heartwarming story about the true friendship.
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Meet Anna, 31, originally from Warsaw, Poland and today living in Vantaa, Finland. Or as she says, living “mostly” in Vantaa because travelling a lot between Warsaw and Vantaa. Feeling like at home in both cities: she hasn’t always been a huge fan of Warsaw, but today she certainly is. Warsaw has changed a lot during the last 10 years and moved from chain restaurants and shops with mass production into smaller businesses created by local people with passion. And Vantaa she finds to be a great place to slow down after running through everyday life for years.
In Finland Anna lives with her dog, Luna. But when talking about the family in Poland, she laughs and says: “Patchwork family is not enough to describe complexity of the family I was brought up in!”. Her family consists of her parents and brothers from her parent’s previous marriages: a lot of different live paths, decisions and connections.
Anna is scheduler at Finnair’s Traffic Planning. She has always worked for airlines (previously at LOT), in different roles and with very different colleagues. Anna and Tiina have worked together since 2018.
EVERYDAY LIFE
How is Anna’s normal Tuesday? First of all, she is a evening & night person, so she always struggles to get up early enough. But once done, the morning starts with a nice walk with Luna. Normal Tuesday at the office means productive day as for some mysterious reason on Tuesdays there is always more time to focus. After she comes back home, she gets Luna for a long walk and then they have dinner together. In the evening it’s time for reading or watching a movie and just chilling at home.
In absolute the worst in everyday life is to get up early in the morning and rush to start working at reasonable time! Our world is designed for early birds, not for those who love to stay up late in the evening and who find the late hours as the most creative and exciting ones! As the most stressful Anna mentions the situations when things are out of her control – like her family’s health or accidents. Every day she gives a call to check if her family is ok and laughs: “they probably think that I’m lonely and just want to talk! Nope, it’s a check-up call”.
The very best moments in her everyday life are the walks with her dog when they have time for each other; to think and talk. It it’s Luna who chooses the route she would like to take. And it does not really matter if it is the end of a warm summer day or chilly winter morning full of snow.
Food brings a lot of joy into her life, so it is the best treat at any time and anywhere: having a nice dinner in a restaurant, trying something new and interesting and then going for stroll around the city. What could be better! Reading books, especially something about life in different parts of the world, and listening to music helps her to keep her mind in balance and not to think too much about problems or work. Travelling is one of her most important hobbies: it might be with friends or alone. Meeting new people, visiting new places, and of course, trying new food.
Check Anna’s hidden gem in Poland - Wroclaw. The city has a beautiful old town, lots of cultural options and about 130 bridges over the rivers. Wroclaw’s signature attraction are little dwarfs all over the city – each of them is different. You can find them marked on google maps or find sites dedicated to them. As there are multiple drafts, Anna recommends you have a look on the internet which ones you would like to see. Her favorite are two dwarfs stealing sweets from coffee shop https://goo.gl/maps/Ah2fK52Pmwvwvyq8A
DREAMS & FEARS, PAST & FUTURE
What are your dreams?
“Ability to travel wherever I want and whenever I want. Just packing my suitcase and jumping into plane or train right away. Or throwing a dart at a world map to choose destination! I would also love to move to Canada or USA to see how it is to live there as I am always gravitating in that direction.”
What is your worst fear?
“Losing freedom to decide about what I do with my life, where I live, who I invite into my life. And freedom to make decisions based on my own will instead of people’s expectations or social norms.”
What is the most important advice you have received?
“To not feel responsible for things which are not our fault.”
What has been the greatest global invention of your time?
“Internet – I have been online since a young teenager: with an old PC and phone connection making friends all around the world. Do you remember “skype me” option? I have met some great people from around the world by randomly starting chats and some of them have stayed for years in my life.”
Where would you donate your time/money to?
“Organizations helping animals, especially helping elderly animals or homeless dogs. They melt my heart being so vulnerable. And the way they act, wise but often funny at the same time.”
Has the position of girls/women changed during your lifetime?
“I think it has. I do not think it is personally touching me, as my family has always let everyone to freely decide what to do with their own lives. They say I am just like my grandmother, who was a glider and an aircraft pilot before World War II, so as you can see, no gender boundaries were ever set in my family! When I started to study Air Traffic Engineering at Warsaw University of Technology, professors were always confused whether they had entered right classroom, as there were so many girls in the group! I think the change is seen more by the older generations looking at people at my age. My generation simply lives the life we want.”
Which advice you would give today to yourself on your 20th birthday?
“Have more courage to change your life. Do not wait with decisions until you reach the extreme point where you just cannot stand the things as they are any more, but proactively seek for what makes you happy.”
Where will you be in 10 years
“I do not know yet. But I think not anchored to a certain place or work.”
What would you say to a woman of your age who lives across the world?
“Go and see how life looks in different corners of the world! Choose the parts that you like to most and include them into your own everyday life!”.
How about Christmas? Anna says that key of her family’s Christmas tradition is that everyone can be themselves and having a good time. The most important part is Christmas Eve dinner. Traditionally in Poland the dinner would start with the first star in the sky, but at Anna’s home dinner is served always quite late as they first visit all the members of their patchwork family! The dinner starts with sharing a sacred wafer and greetings. Meat is not served on Christmas Eve but there is a lot of fish, pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, borsch. Eating and talking for hours! After dinner one of her brothers might fall asleep on the sofa and others just chitchat until late evening. And by the way – in Poland there is a legend that on Christmas night animals can talk! Anna however talks with Luna everyday 😊
STORY
“When I was 15, I went to a camp and on the first day I started to talk with one of the girls. The only thing that I remember from that first talk is that we both played piano and we had played the same piece for final exam that year. At that point I did not know yet that it was a beginning of a friendship through the years! We have spent a beautiful summer together, rebelling against many rules and sleeping under the sky outside of our tent.
When summer ended, we started to travel between our home cities, 5 hours by train, as much as possible, just to spend some time together. We have also spent numerous nights talking on the phone until sunrise. We have travelled the world separately and lived in many different places, but we have always tried to stay as much in contact as possible. Beside visiting each other’s homes in different cities, and later in different countries, we have travelled together just a few times. That is quite surprising if you look at the amount of travelling, we both have done during the past years.
We are completely different from each other with very distinct opinions on many topics. Our differences are an important part of our strength: we celebrate them and laugh at them. We know each other like no one else. We encourage each other and stand by each other no matter what.
Even our voices tune in automatically when we are together! Some people say that when we talk to each other, it sounds as if we are singing. When we are together nobody, even our families, can recognize and be 100% sure which one of us is talking.
This year we have crossed the point when the part of our lives we have known each other is longer than the part before our first meeting. I believe that we still have a long way to go together with many plot twists. To me, she is a sister I have never had. This Christmas Eve morning her plane lands in Warsaw, my home city. I cannot wait.”
QUICK ONES
Drink: chai tea latte
Favorite food: spicy
Delicacy: churros with chocolate
Restaurant/Café: Le Petit Café, Warsaw, Poland – they serve the best meringue cake
Spice: garlic
Feeling: freedom
Music: meaningful
Scent: rose
Travel destination: Montreal, Canada
Book: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Movie: The Visitor by Thomas McCarthy
Favorite public holiday: Christmas
Artist/band: If I must choose one, Sara Bareilles. But I also love Paolo Nutini, Passenger, Yann Tiersen, Tom Rosenthal, Kate Melua. And so many Polish artists.
Plant: trees in bloom
Evening routine: cuddle with my dog
Favorite piece of clothing: scarf
Animal: dog
Scenery: city lights – skyscrapers skylines or places full of neon lights (like Times Square or Shibuya)
Sport: ice skating
Motto: “Live the life you love and don’t worry what others think.”