This article reflects my personal vision of the situation in Eastern Europe as regards the translation and localisation business. As the result of an exchange between universities I arrived in Poland in 1987 to continue my studies of Astronomy at the Cracow University. Afterwards I worked in Hungary and for the last four years I have lived and worked in the Czech Republic.

Until the end of the nineteen-eighties life in all these countries was almost the same. Eastern Europeans were discouraged and even prevented from travelling to the West through strong visa restrictions and low salaries, and few people were motivated to learn Western languages. But since then the situation has dramatically changed. The Eastern European of today is a sophisticated user of the computer. Highly educated professionals are now ready to route the Information Highway to the East. The emerging markets of yesteryear are now becoming mature.