The official part of our visit takes a lot of time, which makes this entry greately resemble a short report about past events. On the traditional IBM TechTrek we got traditionally bored. Somebody was sleeping, somebody was playing an IPad, and somebody listened to the performance against his will. Overall, the message was about entering into some new era in the evolution of programs and devices. Something along the lines of 'Everything is about to become self-learning and nearly intelligent'.

Then we had an excursion to Copernicus Science Centre. Things were much more interesting there. Lots of exhibits served as actual illustrations of different laws and principles of physics. I cannot say that I remembered something better than the rest of them, thought. Antonina Gavrilovna and Tatiana Vladimirovna visited the planetarium and we just stalked around the place.

The opening took place in the Palace of Culture and Science. That is a high building, its style resembles the style of Moscow State University. (traslator's note: The style is a hallmark of Stalin’s rule as he was fascinated with high ceilings and spacious rooms that made an individual feel humbled and insignificant). Many poles hate the building as a symbol of communism époque and even suggest to demolish it, nevertheless, that's where the championship finals were held.

I don't want to sound too choosy, but I'd like to complain about the food at this point. We were delivered to this Palace two hours before the opening as there was supposed to be dinner. We were offered some vegetarian risotto, pasta, meat soup and some bean broth. And a couple of salads on top of it. I'd be happy to eat that at home, but when I get to the World championship finals, I expect something more than that. As a result, we ate in 15 minutes and yawned the rest of the time. Moreover, in about 30 minutes there was no more food:)

IBM TechTrek scared everybody in the end, saying that the Polish president will come to the opening, so no electronic devices will be allowed. I believed it and didn't take the camera, so I beg your pardon for the absence of photos. The teams and the spectators were seated in one great hall on pre-designated seats. As it happens, the ceremony began with numerous officials giving speeches. The president didn't come and sent some government member to read the greeting speech instead. The teams were presented like this: A team's name is called, the team stands up, the projector and the camera move to it and the team is shown on a large screen. Which is in fact quick and comfortable. Not to tire us out too much, there were breaks in introducing the teams. During the breaks we were entertained by a wonderful mime Irek Krasny. In the end, we were all suggested to put the 3D-glasses on and enjoy the light and dance show, which was beautiful, sometimes charming but tiresome: In the middle I didn't enjoy it already.

And today we had two testing tours. The teams sit in the big hall of the Warsaw University Management Department (see the photo). The spectators can sit in a large classroom with screens or on small podiums which are installed in the hall balcony. There is little room but everybody could see everything perfectly. There is Wifi, but its performance is unstable, so tomorrow all rumors about passing problems when frozen, will go straight to the few blogs.

The ICPC Challenge was gloomy as usual. Well, if they can't do it, they shouldn't even try. You can download description from the official site if you want. Our quarterfinals had a completely different level. You know it if you've been there:)

And I can't help but paste some photos here:

The baloons are awaiting their turn (traditionally each solved problem brings the team a baloon. The number of problems determines the number of different colors of the baloons)

Even at the testing round the problems require all team members to put their best efforts.

And that's what the contest hall looks like (the spectator's places are at the top to the right)