I grew up in the small village of Skawce in south Poland, in the very beautiful and interesting but less well known countryside that has many attractions to offer. Skiers can easily find places to enjoy the snow in the Tatra mountains. Historic Cracow is the major culture centre and tourists from all over the world come to visit the city as well as Warsaw and other cities. Since 1989 Poland is a free market country under democracy. The economy is growing very fast and the country is developing quickly and becoming the leader among former eastern block countries waiting to join the European Community. I lived in Skawce with my large family consisting of two sisters and one brother. After graduating from secondary school I went to the Netherlands to study English and lived in a town called Almere. Almere is very modern and situated below the sea level on what was formerly the sea bed. The Dutch are famous for reclaiming ground from the sea, they just pump the sea water out and build the houses on the new ground. This desire to increase the land area of Holland is easier to understand when we discover that this small country has almost fifteen million people in an area of only 33 811 square kilometres. In 1999 I moved to Spain to study Spanish and photography, living on the island of Majorca in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital, Palma de Mallorca, is a wonderful city full of attractions, culture and people from all over the world. Here I was able to improve my English and learn Spanish. Later I did a photography course. At present I live and study in Vienna.