Hobbies
I have always found it difficult to focus on just one area of interest (as may also be visible from my education!), so the list of my hobbies is long and never exhaustive, as I keep picking up new ones and dropping old ones (at least for the time being...).
Role-Playing Games
Informally, I have started playing RPGs as a kid - and more properly (with rulebooks and character sheets) around 2012. Through this hobby I have met a ton of great people, including some of my best friends! Although currently I have little time to pursue this hobby with as much zeal as I wish I could, I still play Drakar och Demoner somewhat regularly. I also have very fond memories of New World of Darkness / Chronicles of Darkness, Numenera, or BattleTech. I enjoy sitting on either side of the GM screen.
Turtles
I have been interested in turtles and tortoises since early childhood, perhaps as an extension of my fascination with dinosaurs. A proud turtle mom of Chudan, a 7yo Greek tortoise, I love collecting all sorts of turtle-related things (figurines, plushies, items of clothing) and seeing various species in zoos. Lucky for me, a nearby zoo has recently opened a whole new turtle section! I also owe my two nicknames - Żółw (fandom) and Turtilla (online) - to these amazing creatures.
Video Games
Although I started playing them relatively late, video games have become a huge part of my life. I play them mostly for the plot rather than for the challenge (and I am not ashamed of playing on easy!). I mostly enjoy RPGs and MMORPGs - including the more challenging group content - as well as some action or turn-based games. I am a faithful fan and player of The Elder Scrolls Online, where I have also met many great people. Recently I have fallen in love with Baldur's Gate 3. Come talk to me about BG3!
Knitting & Crochet
Though I have learned the basics as a child from my mother and grandmother, I have only recently experienced a true renaissance of my interest in working with yarn. Even though I am by no means an expert, I enjoy the creative freedom and control over what I am making, especially that what I make can be useful in everyday life. And yarn comes in so many amazing color combinations!
J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit is one of the first books that I remember my parents reading to me, and I have been fascinated by both the literary and cinematic universes of Tolkien's works ever since. One pet project of mine is to read Tolkien in as many languages as I can manage - Polish, English, and Swedish can be crossed off by now. I have read bits and pieces in German, Latin, and Silesian too.
Foreign Languages
As is probably clear by now, I love languages. Aside from my native Polish, I have been surrounded by English all my life; despite nine unfortunate years of German at school, I have later changed my mind concerning that language - it really is beautiful! My most recent obsession is Swedish - which feels much easier to me than German, but still retains that Germanic feel that I love. I have also taken three years of Latin, and dabbled on my own in Dutch. I would love to give Scottish Gaelic, Czech, and Icelandic a try, but for now that's just in the realm of wishful thinking.
Board games
Traditional board games often go hand in hand with tabletop RPGs - and my enjoyment of them is no exception to that. I prefer games with rules that are not overly intricate and with a theme or visual design that is rather appealing to me. My current obsession is Wingspan, though I still thoroughly enjoy Dixit, Splendor, or Pędzące Żółwie.
Birdwatching & animal photography
Animals have been my lifelong passion (had it not been for languages, you might have been looking at the webpage of Maria the Zoologist instead!), and out of the multitude of species birds hold a special place in my heart. They're fascinating and beautiful, and, simultaneously, everpresent even in large cities. Though I appreciate every opportunity to take a snap of a wild mammal or reptile, it is most often birds that end up getting photographed.
SF & Fantasy
Being a fan of SF and fantasy in general goes well in pair with many of my other hobbies. I adore good literature and cinema of these genres (and other ones too, but these are my favorites!). Since early 2010s I have been attending various fan conventions and even helping with the program, and although I have taken a break from that during and a bit after the pandemic, I am slowly getting back into it.
Cooking
Some people eat to live, others live to eat. I am definitely the latter kind, and I love preparing my own dishes, sometimes with a fair bit of improvising. I thoroughly enjoy keeping the tradition of various Polish dishes going, even abroad. I also enjoy Tex-Mex style food, and recently I am obsessed with Ethiopian cuisine. Of course there are many other influences in what I make, and many of my favorite recipes have a lot of sentimental value to me (such as the zucchini and blue cheese sauce, veggie pancakes, or uncle Konrad's apple cake).
Zoos
I know that people can have very strong and conflicting opinions on zoos - and I do get a lot of their arguments. I do, however, think that many modern zoos perform a vital role in the preservation of species and education. Wherever I travel, I try to go see the zoos, as long as they have a good reputation in terms of the conditions for the animals. I have recently been asked for what my favorite zoo is - and it is so difficult to just pick one! My top 5, in random order, would be ZOO Dvůr Králové in the Czech republic, Nordens Ark in Sweden, Zoo Wrocław in Poland, Tierpark Hagenbeck and Zoo Heidelberg in Germany. Looking at that list it seems that I have been lucky to live very close to three of those, and the other two were not far either... The next one on my list is Zoo København.
Travelling
While I have not travelled much abroad as a kid, I have gotten to see a lot of my native country. Since I started studying, I have travelled much more - even if the trips were for just a few days, I remember most of them very fondly. While for now I am trying to visit as many European countries as I can, I would love to, one day, go to the Galapagos Islands, as well as see where the Lord of the Rings movies were shot in New Zealand. It is hard to rate the places that I have already been to, but Slovenia was definitely an underdog - not a very famous, but stunningly beautiful place with wonderfully friendly people!