Exponea Winter Summit 2018
More than 150 people. Five full days of pure fun. Tons of sports activities and laughter. New faces, new life stories, new experiences. That is how I could sum up the last week of my life. Exponea has organized another Exponea Summit event — an all-company event to introduce new members to our team and to have fun together. It was also the first ski trip I’ve been to. I have been a part of Exponea for almost two years now and I can safely say that this was the best Exponea Summit ever.
In this article, I want to share my stories (and a couple of pictures) from the event so that you, my fellow reader, can have a sneak peek into our company culture and how we have fun.
Wednesday — The Start to a Great Event
After two workdays, we found ourselves in the Tuli Cinema in Šamorín. We had a quick breakfast and then we jumped into presentations about the company goals and statistics from the previous year. Our CEO and management shared a lot of information and smart tips and tricks with us. We also had a Q&A session with the management and had a couple of interesting conversations.
While I was listening, I managed to try a few different positions in the bean bag. I was trying to find the most comfortable and healthy position to sit in. I found out that the standard position — laying down on my back — was making me sleepy while laying on my stomach was not very comfortable but it kept me the most awake.
We had a lunch, too. It was in a huge canteen and we could eat as much as we wanted. When I had a plate in my hand, I remembered all the times when I got more food than I could eat. A sudden feeling of guilt convinced me to be a little modest this time. The food was tasty!
In the evening we moved to Ružinovská Klubovňa. We had dinner and drinks and a ton of fun together. I also met some new people here. We talked about a lot of things, ranging from high school memories to the meaning of relationships. The atmosphere was amazing (and loud)! My final quest for the day was to find a bus that could take me back home.
I couldn’t fall asleep that night. You know that feeling when you lay in bed, you know that you have to fall asleep now to get enough sleep for tomorrow, and yet your eyes are wide open, your body is shaking from adrenaline, and you cannot stop thinking about tomorrow…
Thursday — Backflips and Crashes
On Thursday, we went to the most amazing gymnasium in Bratislava — Hangair. This large building is the single reason why I couldn’t find asleep last night. My plan was to train backflips and front flips, jump on the trampolines, and try the jump. I arrived earlier so I had time to jump so many backflips until my head was spinning. Then I left for a while to borrow snowboard and I returned in about an hour. By that time, the rest of the Exponea colleagues were arriving and jumping around the space. Despite not sleeping much, I was full of energy and I could not wait to try everything until I would be so tired that couldn’t feel my body anymore.
Unfortunately, I pushed myself a little too much and I managed to hurt my neck in the morning. That made my day slightly worse because I couldn’t enjoy the day to the fullest anymore. Fortunately, there was a physiotherapy session where I learned a lot about the injury and my spine. There was also a yoga class. This was my first yoga class in my life! I wanted to try it for a long time and I enjoyed it a lot.
I ended the day with great food and meeting yet more new colleagues. I went home almost just as I wanted — my body hurt from the exercise but I had injured my neck. There was no time for rest, though.
Friday to Sunday — Ski Trip and Improving my Snowboarding Skills
We left Bratislava early on Friday — 6 a. m. I put my snowboard on the bus and fell asleep on the way. I couldn’t wait — this was my third time on the snowboard and I was very hyped to try to go down a proper slope. This time I also had a helmet — thank God! After all the ways that my colleague described to me that I could kill myself on the snowboard, I had to get one.
When we arrived at Chopok, I was very eager to quickly get on the cabin lift and run down the slope. Unfortunately, it was foggy that day and I was slightly scared. You know, standing in the middle of a cliff on the snowboard, and not being able to see the top nor the bottom of the slope. And it was Friday so there was nobody I could see most of the time.
Still, I had plenty of fun that day. I went down the slope multiple times, each time slightly faster than before. I spent the whole day just snowboarding, not even stopping for lunch or for water — not a smart decision. Later I joined a few friends who were also snowboarding. We went to the top of the mountain and snowboarded all the way down. It is much more fun to ride in a group. The others also waited for me and gave me tips about the snowboard and my beginner riding skills.
In the evening, we played Cards Against Humanity. I laughed so hard that my abs were sore. The sheer amount of fun this game provides in a group of friends is priceless.
On Saturday, I found a slope which was long and not very steep, exactly proportional to my snowboarding skills. I spend the whole day going down that slope. For the first time, I saw what it feels like to speed down a snowy slope on a small and colorful piece of wood. It was amazing! I also fell more and because I was going faster than ever, it hurt more. I crushed on my tailbone so hard once that I had to keep lying down in the snow for a couple of minutes and get over the pain. I made a mental note to myself — the first thing that I’ll buy when I get back home is some protection for my knees and my tailbone. Also, I took a picture almost every time I fell down.
Sunday was very similar. I teamed up with Marek, one of my colleagues and friends, who is also a beginner skier. We went directly to our favorite track and spend the whole day there. It was amazing but I could barely stand on the snowboard anymore, I was so exhausted from the past days. In the afternoon, we got back to the bus and traveled back to Bratislava. My head was full of great experiences from the past days. I made new friends, forged new relationships with my colleagues, learned snowboarding, made a few backflips, had tons of fun, and had a great time.
I would like to thank Exponea for organizing such a great event. And I would like to thank my dear colleagues for being so awesome!
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