(es) - Adam Jędrzejko and New Zealand: a man and a country that fit together. The Polish athlete started his time on the southern hemisphere as coach of the local luge team in “European summer” and is now traveling around the whole country. It seems as if New Zealand had really become his second home. “I like the people there. They are very kind and friendly. Many of them invited me for dinner or even to stay with them for some time”, Jędrzejko explains why he likes the country so much. And he has not yet enough of it. “I’m going to stay on the southern island until November 2nd and then I will stay on the northern island for three more weeks. I want to enjoy New Zealand for a while.” And he obviously does. Adam Jędrzejko made the best of the fact that “it had been the mildest winter in nearly 100 years”. Geoff Balme, president of the New Zealand Olympic Luge Association, is quite unhappy about that, because “We could only luge for three weeks. We started the season right at the beginning of the camps but the ice was not that good. Apart from that we couldn’t hold any races and one week after the camps the season was already over.” Despite of missing the chance to compete in Naseby Cup, because of the lack of ice Jędrzejko enjoyed the camps. But it was also a challenge for him: “There was a lot of snow on the track and we didn’t have much ice so it was quite difficult to do proper training. The children even had to luge on tourist sleds for the first days.” What he remembers best about the camps? “There was a thirteen-year-old girl named Lucy. She was very good and she was trying very hard to do all the things I had told her. I think she can become a very good luger one day. And of course there were Jack and Josh. They have already been in Europe for some World Cup races and their technique is already very good.” Despite the problems with the weather conditions, Geoff Balme was satisfied with Adam’s performance: “He was a very good choice. The athletes liked him and his way of teaching was very good and easy to understand. Maybe he can come back again next year.”