 And my slides up, they are. Hi, so I come from a very small family. It's basically all my life. It's been me, my mom, my dad, and my sister. We do occasional grandparents in the picture, one grandmother in particular. So it feels very weird every time I head to work camp Europe, because I feel like I'm heading to the most of the biggest family reunion on Earth. It's almost like it's overwhelming and terrifying and nice at the same time. It's pretty awesome. And my favorite thing is how I can't seem to go for the first three hours without being hugged every 15 seconds. It's so, so awesome. And then my other favorite thing is how my name gets pronounced incorrectly and super enthusiastically and lovingly every 15 seconds as well. I love it. It's really, really great. It's great to be having my coffee in Paris with you. Simon said that that was the last slide of my presentation in last year's work camp Europe. Last year, we were 60 people from 68 countries to work camp Europe. This year, I think we're even more. If I'm not mistaken, there are people from 82 different countries this year. That's such a growth. So I'm going to repeat myself and say hello, world, and welcome to Paris. And more or less, everyone that's here speaks two languages. We speak English, to some extent, and we speak WordPress. And I started learning English quite late and the WordPress even later. But this particular story is about languages, and I learned that from my grandmother that I mentioned before. Because I was born in communist Bulgaria, like to tell me biblical stories as bedtime stories. And she didn't really tell me they were from the Bible, because that wasn't really, you know, that was quite frowned upon back at that time. So the story is about how people once spoke one language, everyone spoke the same language, and how languages were created by vengeful gods that wanted to separate people because they were beginning to get to close to heaven, building this amazing tower that would get them closer to the heavens. So the vengeful god kind of separated them and scattered them across the world and made them speak different languages so they can't understand each other. And the moral of the story, Granny would say, while also like asking me, how are your English and German and Russian lessons going, was that the power to listen here and understand each other makes us do things that otherwise seem impossible. And languages are really our ticket to a different show, to the world of somebody else, to something different than what we are used to. And people spend years, centuries, because I chose to believe in that story, even though it was biblical. But people spend centuries learning languages to be able to regain that power. And in the meantime, though, religion, traditions, politics, all of this evolved and took deep proof within all of us. And on top of that, we got the internet. And communication started being a little bit more complex just because we got that new level on top of already having to communicate in a language that was foreign for most of us, communicating without seeing each other. Luckily, other languages came to be like programming languages. And that's how we got WordPress. Today WordPress is created by thousands of people everywhere. And since its inception, it was quite an international project. It has a global community these days. And people translated in more than 160 languages. So in theory, WordPress has kind of gone beyond borders. There is a passionate global community, a slice of which we have today. And why I'm here today is to talk to you a little bit about how can we understand each other better. And a bit of the lessons that I've learned in these past several years since I got involved with the WordPress community. Because I had no idea before. I had zero idea before. The first time I came to France, I was petrified to open my mouth. Because the only thing I knew was that the French won't speak English to you. And they're going to frown at you when you try speaking English to them. Even if they understand you, they're not going to respond. I don't even remember who told me this. But for two days, all I did was this. And then somebody from my country, a clever, sarcastic designer called Tianko Tsvetkov, started mapping the world stereotypes. And I kind of got why I was so petrified to come to France. And some of these maps, you should look them up. They're quite amazing. Some of these maps are quite hilarious. There's quite a bit of a lot of offensive stuff about that as well. Some are hilarious. Some are a bit exaggerated. But some hit right where it hurts, especially if you're watching the map of your own stereotypes. And all the insecurities and the limitations that came from the fact that I grew up in a small Eastern European country that had no self-respect whatsoever. There is a Chinese curse that says, may you live in interesting times. There is a little controversy if it's really a Chinese curse. But I looked it up, and there's enough evidence that it's like a Chinese curse. Literal translation is quite different, but yeah. And we are quite cursed. Our world is super complicated, especially today. Division forces that was a huge question mark in democracy these days. And there are conflicts everywhere and all that. And all that kind of pushes people back into their own shells. And we've witnessed walls being built around us for centuries, some physical, some mental. Walls used to divide us. The position is different. To determine our different social statuses, as far back as history goes, there were walls being built, but also torn down. Compared to the chaos of the reality, our WordPress world seems quite amazing. WordPress managed to gather a global community behind it, and people somehow work together, often not knowing where everyone is coming from. I'm not saying there are no problems, because there are. But our virtual world seems relatively safe. I got involved in WordPress. I always wanted to put that on a slide, by the way, really, really, since the first WordCamp Europe. I got involved with WordPress in 2011, but really got involved in WordPress in 2013 in Leiden. I had barely been to a local WordCamp before I landed in Leiden. And I have no idea how to begin to describe to you how insignificant I felt when I first called the glimpse of the global WordPress community. I was somebody that nobody knew. I was not a developer. It wasn't my place there. I didn't speak the language very well. And I didn't understand any of the programmatic talks. I had only used the platform to build a couple of small sites. And the WordPress community and the Polyglot community somehow happened to me at Contributor Day. And naturally, there was trouble with the Wi-Fi. So I was like browsing around the tables and looking for where to sit. And reaching out the Polyglots table, I found myself staring at Zay and the Polyglots team. This is a picture of the Polyglots team from last year in Vienna. We were quite a smaller table with Leiden. But still, there were people from Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, Georgia, Romania, all over Europe. Countries that I couldn't back then even put on a map. And I sat on the same table with them. And I don't think I ever left that table after. The person leading the Polyglots team, the true Polyglot master of five languages, somebody that someone once described as the most interesting person in the world, was there at that table. And I asked, can I sit at your table? Sure, he said. He was just looking through his glasses. And I had never had a good understanding of people. I think Zay told me a couple of very valuable lessons at the beginning that seemed very vague, but somehow worked out. I was never patient. I didn't have a good understanding of different cultures. I only spoke English. I never even had a grasp of any other language. One thing I had was commitment to learn, though. And I had really good teachers. I picked up the role of leading the community part of the Polyglots team, I think by chance, and from this guy, from Zay. And I never thought that I would be able to fill his shoes. I don't think I ever will. But I was super terrified about how to talk to people. I didn't know anyone. And I didn't know if I wasn't going to unconsciously offend anyone by saying something. And then he said this. People just need someone to really listen to them. I said, really, it can't be that simple. He said, no, it's not. You have to find a reasonable one when there are conflicts. There's always one. Don't jump into conversations without doing your research without knowing who you're talking to. There is a lot of back history. You just ask me. But most of all, be kind, respectful, and graceful. I am as graceful as an elephant in a glass door. And I'm never going to be as graceful as my mentor. But I'm trying to face my demons the best way I can. And I have a lot of challenges. There are a lot of challenges in communicating and cross cultures. And that begins with me not being a native English speaker, like a lot of the polyglot community. For non-English speakers, it's sometimes hard to understand. Sorry, for native English speakers, it's sometimes hard to understand how much it takes out of you to try and express yourself in a language different than the one you grew up with. Kind of adds a layer that puts a restraint on your vocabulary and ability to express yourself. And it's sometimes really frustrating. People face that in one of two ways. They either decide that they're going to be the people that are going to ask all the questions, like when you don't understand something you ask and you kind of risk looking as if you have no idea what's going on. Or they decide to not ask and risk not understanding. And that's where our background cultural differences, national stereotypes and personal issues come into play because it takes something really strong to make you overcome the fear of getting there. One of my favorite people researchers, Dr. Brennan Brown, says that courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen. And in the WordPress community, we also have a phrase for this. It's decisions are made by those who show up. However, if you're a non-native English speaker of the WordPress community, you also know that ending of this phrase that is unspoken, decisions are made by those who show up and they are to speak up. Speaking up takes a lot out of you, especially the first time, especially the first couple of times. Most of you, mostly because every community has rules and when you first get involved in one, you don't know it. There are boundaries, borders, walls, unspoken rules, things that you don't know how to handle. And I want to talk a little bit about boundaries, which is what's OK and what's not OK. And every community has some, but also every culture has some and every person has some. And when there are boundaries, that's actually OK. Because when we don't set boundaries, we let people do whatever they want and end up like kind of resentful and hateful and we don't appreciate their choices. We get mad at them. And for the first kind of 20 years of my life, because I'm very passionate and people get me mad, for the first 20 years of my life, I just assumed people were stucking to piss me off. And then I spent quite a bit of time act channeling, talking to people privately, people that were kind of misbehaving, public channels. And there was one thing I kind of realized. What if people were doing the best they can? So I decided to try a new strategy, a new basic principle when communicating online and trying to resolve issues across cultures and language barriers. And the principle was the following. I never know if somebody is doing the best they can or not. But when I assume they are, my life gets better. The generosity to assume the best about people is a selfish act, because the life that changes first is yours, is your own. But it also lets you be a lot more compassionate when you communicate to people. And they feel that. And they bring that back. So boundaries are important. Boundaries are they're not fake walls. They're not separation. They're not division or respect. It's saying, here's what's OK and what's not OK for me. And we can't ever know what the boundaries of people are, all of them. Because there is no way to know all the cultures. There's no way to study everything that happened to people in particular locations since they were born. You can never know what it is to be someone else. But not knowing is never going to be a problem in our community as long as you don't assume or force your opinion, but ask. There is another thing Brunette Brown taught me. Just imperfections are not inadequacies. They're reminders that we're all in this together. And the Japanese have a beautiful, untranslatable phrase for this, which is wabi-sabi. It's finding beauty and imperfections, the acceptance of the cycle of growth and decay. I find that curiosity is the key. When you approach people with curiosity, even if you don't understand anything about their culture, asking questions is always good. They'll never turn you away. They'll be happy to share. They'll love to share. And you always make mistakes. You will bring white flowers to a Chinese person, not knowing that white flowers are only brought to funerals in China. Stats and boys, you're going to show the victory side to a British person and get slapped in the face. Because this means something else in Great Britain. You're going to say, OK, to a Spanish person and get a really, really deep frown. Because that's kind of a way to tell someone they're an asshole in Spain. And that's OK. As long as you're prepared to kind of own this, and then ask, how should I do it? Sympathy, empathy, and compassion are three words I did not know before I got involved with the WordPress community. So this is like something I kind of had to study. With sympathy being when you feel for someone, empathy when you feel with them, and compassion, the urge to step in when somebody is struggling and do something about it. And compassion is not a virtue. It's a choice. It's something we choose to practice. I decided that. And all of a sudden, everything got a lot easier when communicating to anyone from any different culture. Kindness is a universal language. And people feel it even across chat rooms. And caring. Caring is the coolest thing I've ever seen anyone do. Somebody taught me that last year, sitting over there and speaking after me. So make sure you sit around and wait for his story as well. So let's go back to where we are today. Paris has a small slice of the WordPress world today, where Camp Europe has grown so much in the past four years that it has started feeling overwhelming for people. I hear more and more the phrase, it's not the same when I talk to the people that came to the first one, to the second one. And that's scary. Mostly means it's so big that you don't really have enough time to form meaningful connections with the new people that you meet. But that doesn't mean we can't try. So as WordPress goes beyond borders, we can try and go beyond WordPress. In the next two days, you don't only have to talk WordPress. Try and form meaningful connections by sharing something personal. I'm not saying networking is not all right, of course it is. But try to share something real about yourself, something unique. Like, tell someone a personal story or share something that's uniquely yours. And or teach them an intranslatable word from your language, like the word that I cannot pronounce in German that means grief bacon. What's that word, Kasper? It's that thing that you do when your grief's stricken and just overeat yourself out of grief. There is a unique word for this. There you go. Or my favorite, most favorite, intranslatable word in the world, wubuntu, which means I find my word in you and you find your word in me. And because we have time, I think we still have time, right? I'm going to finish with by starting to share something personal. I bought my first poetry book in maybe 15 years in Boston this March. I kind of thought that I had grown up to be too cynical for poetry, so I stopped reading poetry at some point. But I got into a Barnes and Noble to warm up. And it was just a book that was sitting next to the coffee table that I sat at. And it caught me off guard. It's by a 20-something-year-old Tara K. And if you allow me, I'll read my favorite poem from that book to you. When they bombed Hiroshima, the explosion formed a mini-supernova so that every living animal, human, or plant that received direct contact with the race from that sun was instantly turned to ash. What was left of the city soon followed. The long-lasting damage from nuclear radiation caused an entire city and its population to turn into powder. When I was born, my mom says I looked around the hospital room with a stair that said this. I've done this before. And still, for someone who has apparently done this before, I still haven't figured anything out yet. My knees still buckle every time I get on stage. My self-confidence can be measured out in teaspoons, mixed into my poetry. And it still tastes funny in my mouth. So no matter that I have inhibitations to fill all my pockets, I keep trying, hoping that one day I'll create something that I'll be proud to let sit in a museum exhibit as the only proof I existed. My parents named me Sarah, which is a biblical name. In the original story, God told Sarah she could do something impossible. And she laughed, because the first Sarah, she didn't know what to do with impossible. And me, well, neither do I. But I see the impossible every day. Impossible is trying to connect in this world, trying to hold on to others while things are blowing up around you, knowing that while you are speaking, they aren't just waiting for their turn to talk. They hear you. They feel exactly what you feel at that same time that you feel it. It's what I strive for every time I open my mouth, that impossible connection. There is a piece of wall in Hiroshima that was burned black by the fire. But on the first step, a person blocked the rays from hitting the stone. The only thing left is a permanent shadow of positive light. When I meet you, in that moment, I am no longer a part of your future. I quickly become a part of your past. But in that instant, I get to share a part of your present. And you get to share a part of mine. And that is the greatest gift of all. So if you tell me I can do the impossible, I will probably laugh at you. I don't know if I can change the world yet, because I don't know that much about it. And I don't know that much about reincarnation either. But sometimes, if you make me laugh hard enough, I forget where I am and where I came from. This isn't my first time here. This isn't my last time here. And these aren't the last words that I'll share. But just in case, I'm trying my hardest to do it right this time around. Thank you. Petja, thank you. It always inspires me when I see people getting up and giving a presentation like that in a second language. I come here very aware of my own advantage in having English as a first language and yet to see speaker after speaker getting up and overcoming that first fear of the language and then that second fear of opening up always gladdens my heart. Would like to take any questions if anyone wants to ask Petja something? I'd like to start with one. Petja, you kind of hinted there that there was a political dimension to the kind of community that WordPress is and has become. We don't talk about that very much. No, we don't. Why? I don't know. People feel uncomfortable bringing it up or just talk about it not publicly with each other to each other. Not entirely sure. I kind of have this feeling like there's the American community and the others. And there's a feeling of separation that is just little pieces that happen that kind of separate those worlds. I kind of hope that that goes away soon. I don't think that there should be anything like this. Yeah, I mean, WordPress was, after all, founded on both sides of the world. So, yeah, I kind of really feel that if kind of the global community, non-native English-speaking global community, finds its voices, kind of steps up, being a little bit bolder, maybe those things will disappear. Because there's no lack of people wanting to hear each other out. I don't think. I think you really need to look around an event like this to see people wanting to engage. And if you want to call that politics, maybe you can. I don't see anything wrong in talking politics. It's just one way to learn more about each other. I mean, last year, we all hugged you guys after what happened. It was basically the same day of World Camp Europe that the results were coming out, right? I still want to hug a Brit, I'm sorry. Hug a Brit, please. Yes, they're not over it yet. So if you see a British person, there's like about 200 of them giving them a hug. They have one more World Camp Europe left in them. Do we have a question up at the top? No? Oh, yeah? We have a question down below, sorry. Hello. Hi. For your talk. Just a little question. You say you can't say something to a French, a Frenchie. I knew that was going to come back and bite me in the ass. And you can say to other... And what is it? I'm curious. No, I was just terrified to speak English, you know? People told me that if I speak English to French people, they will be offended when they will not respond. And it's like a common stereotype about French people. Sorry, guys, yeah. That you don't really like speaking a language other than yours, which is... I mean, I find that stereotypes can be overcome, definitely. But this was like I was, I don't know, I was 18. I didn't even speak English that well. And somebody told me like, yeah, they will frown at you if you speak anything other than French at them. I have so many French friends right now. I don't speak French, so they all speak English to me. So I have no trouble speaking English to French people. As long as I keep brining, you know? I've been coming to France now for about 20 years and I genuinely feel it's got better. Yeah. But maybe it's just you guys. Oh, but you know that as well, right? But no more, no more. So, any more questions? I don't see any hands raised. So what we'll do, Petra, you will be around all through the event. We'll be here. Everyone's Petra's friend, please come up and talk to her. And if you've been watching the slides, she wants to talk back to you. So can I ask for one more round of applause, please, for Petra Rakovska? Thank you.