Last month, the PCMI Poland team had the opportunity to gather outside of work and spend some quality time together while COO – Greg Kasprzycki was in town visiting their office. Since the Poland team is mainly made up of men, choosing an activity that would satisfy all was a real challenge. The team was trying to decide between biking, go karting, and a company dinner night, and eventually they decided to do all three!
The “PCMI Day” started bright and early at 9 AM on Saturday, September 10th with biking in Ojców – a beautiful Polish National Park famous for its panoramic landscape, beautiful limestone rocks, and impressive wildlife. Getting up was a true test of self-determination for most of the team members, especially for Greg who had arrived in town from Chicago the day before. Because of the time difference, he felt as if he was embarking on an adventure in the middle of the night!
After returning from the bike ride to Ojców, the team went straight to the next adventure – go karting! As soon as everyone entered the building, the competitive spirits started buzzing. Not even 5 minutes had passed and the first group of racers were already wearing their helmets.
Initially, the team divided into 3 male groups and 1 female group, until Olena Sydorak’s displayed her need for speed and ended up qualifying for the race against the men. Olena had just recently received her driver’s license, so no one expected her to go as fast as she did, but she proved everyone wrong!
Olena stated, “It was great. I realized I absolutely love speed. That is something I could not have discovered while getting my driver’s license because to pass the test you need to follow all the rules and you cannot speed. Here there were no rules and I loved it!”
The whole two hours of go karting were filled with laughter and overall it was a great bonding experience. The champion of the night was Pete Hudziak, who was unbeatable in terms of both speed and technique. Congratulations, Pete!
To end the night, the team went out for a company dinner at a modern restaurant, Kazimierz, in Kraków’s Bohemian District. The team had an entire loft space reserved, which enabled everyone to join tables to include all 24 members. The menu was very diverse, allowing everyone to find something they enjoyed and Greg was especially happy to eat traditional Polish pork chops again.
The rest of the evening was spent talking, laughing, and simply having a great time together. Pete Hudziak noted, “It was a great time we spent together – I had lots of fun and hope everyone can say the same! I am looking forward to doing this again soon.”
