Everything You ever wanted to know about Poland (part 1)







Everything You ever wanted to know about Poland - (part 6)
DID YOU KNOW THAT ... ?
By  Robert Strybel,   Warsaw Correspondent



 




 

 
















*    Contrary to prevailing Western stereotypes that consign Poland to 'Eastern Europe', our
ancestral homeland is actually situated in the very heart of Europe. The town of Suchowola in northeastern Podlasie (Bia3ystok) voivodship (province) is located
at the very geographic center of the European continent.

*  Some Pol-Ams were surprised when Pope John Paul II canonized St Jadwiga (Hedwig) during his June '99 trip to Poland, saying things like 'we've had a St.
Hedwig's Parish in our town for years.' But that Hedwig (1174-1243) was a Silesian princess. The recently canonized Jadwiga (1373-1399) was Queen of Poland at the
side of King Wladyslaw Jagiello.

*  Many Poles dab themselves with a cotton ball saturated with vanilla extract to keep mosquitoes away.

*  According to Polish folk belief, it is unlucky to get married in any month that does not have the letter 'r in its name. In Polish such unlucky months
are: styczen (January), luty (February), kwiecien (April), maj (May), lipiec (July) and listopad (November). As of January 1999, foreign companies had invested at
least $30.6 billion in direct investments in Poland - more than in any other country of Central or Eastern Europe.

*  Thirty-six Polonian folk-dance ensembles from 12 different countries took part in the 1999 edition of the World Festival of Polonian Folk Ensembles, held
in the southern city of Rzeszów in July. The festival was launched in 1969 and has been held every three years ever since.

*  This year's St Patrick's Day festivities in Warsaw included the traditional parade and an Irish Ball at the Sheraton Hotel, featuring a steak dinner,
followed by Irish coffee and 'all the booze you can drink' for $100.

 

*  In Polish, 'Asia' is not a continent. It is pronounced AH-shah and is the endearing form of the name
'Joanna' (yo-AHN-nah). The continent is known as 'Azja' (AHZ-yah).

*  Polish is now being used as much as Spanish in the liturgy of Chicagoland's Roman Catholic parishes. That information was brought to light at the
Polish-American Priests Association's April 1999 convention in Washington, DC.

*  Icchak Cukierman, one of the leaders of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, wrote: 'There are Poles we have ruined. We disrupted their lives when their
houses were burned down and their possessions lost. What magnificent people! Whoever harbors general hatred towards the Polish nation is committing a grave wrong.
In Warsaw alone some 40,000 people helped in one way or another to alleviate the plight of Jews.'




 

*    Poland's nearly two-century-long Golden Age coincided with the rule of the Jagiellonian
Dynasty (1385-1573), when Poland was the biggest country in Europe. This multinational commonwealth of Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Jews, Armenians, Tartars,
etc. straddled the continent from the Baltic to the Black Sea and witnessed the dynamic growth of trade, the arts, crafts and learning.

*  Morgan's Pub is a genuine Irish saloon operated in Warsaw (ul. Okólnik 1, phone: [phone]) by Irishman Ollie Morgan and his sons: Tom, Maurice and Sean.
n More than 62% of all Poles now live in cities and towns. Of the 38% living in rural areas, about one-half are gainfully employed in agriculture.

*  Things that set Poland apart include the four-cornered hat ('rogatywka') of soldiers and other uniformed services, the two-finger salute, the two-finger
raised-hand oath and the chivalrous custom of kissing women's hands. Under the influence of Hollywood and MTV, the latter (hand-kissing) will probably not survive
long into the 21st century.
 
*  Kielbasa is indeed a widespread Polish specialty, but Polish Americans visiting Poland for the first
time are surprised to find that it is rarely served hot as a main course. Poles mainly regard it as a cold cut and eat cold smoked kie3basa for breakfast, supper
and trips (in sandwiches).

*  Contrary to widespread Polonian practice, Chester, Mitchell, Walter, Stanley, Stella and Bernice are not the correct translations of the Polish names
Czeslaw, Mieczyslaw, Wladyslaw, Stanislaw, Stanislawa and Bronislawa respectively.Linguistically speaking, the true equivalents are Ceslaus, Miecislaus,
Ladislaus, Stanislaus, Stanislava and Bronislava.

*  Since the exchange rate during summer '99 was from 3.89 to 3.98 zlotys to the dollar, Polish Americans visiting Poland this year found it easy to roughly
calculate prices by regarding each zloty as a US quarter.

*  Poland has a population density of 320 people per square mile, compared with 606 for Germany and 276 for France. The most sparsely populated area are
Bieszczady Mountains in the southeast, a rugged wilder-ness where wolves and bears are still encountered.
 
*  Polish women over 85 who were named after the Blessed Virgin have had to change the spelling of their
names three times. Before World War I it was spelled 'Marya', between the two World Wars it became 'Marja', and since the Second World War it has been 'Maria'.

*  The August 1999 solar eclipse, which could be seen in its entirety in neighboring Germany and other countries, was only from 80% to 95% visible in Poland,
wherever cloud cover did not obscure it from view. Kraków had its last total solar eclipse in 1415, when King Wladyslaw Jagiello sat on the throne. The next one
is due in the year 2135.
 
part 7 - Christmas






















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