News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


I thought you would enjoy this moving moment.

Language / Help me understand Polish imperfective vs perfective verbs? [64]

There is no such form. Będziemy jadać, będziemy jeść is OK, będziemy zjadać - acceptable.

Language / Help me understand Polish imperfective vs perfective verbs? [64]

Lyzko:
Aside from that ("We will be having"), do you agree with my corrections of your explanation?

Language / Help me understand Polish imperfective vs perfective verbs? [64]


I am sorry Lyzko, but I have few problems with your explanation here. The #1 is not complete because the verb "jemy" may mean two things: the action in the present tense, as well as in the future.

Poczekaj, jemy właśnie obiad, zadzwonię później.
Wait, we are having dinner now, I'll call you later. (Current action, "present continuous")

Jemy obiad w tej restauracji każdego dnia.
We take dinner in this restaurant every day. (Repetitive action)

But being at it, I'll add few more "imperfective" forms, outside your example #1:

Jadamy u Havelka od czasu do czasu.
We take dinnner at Havelek's restaurant from time to time. (Occasional, yet still repetitive action.)

Dzisiaj będziemy jeść obiad raczej późno.
We will have our dinner rather late tonight. (One time future action - but no promise to finish the dinner)

Od dzisiaj będziemy jadać w tej stołówce.
From now on we will be having meals in this cantina. (Repetetive, future)

Your second example cannot be interpreted as something taking place in in the present. The "perfective" (dokonane) actions can only refer either to the past or to the future.

So your #2 example, has two problems - both Polish and English.

Polish: Zjemy (zaraz, wkrótce) bigos, kiełbasę oraz pierogi z serem i ziemniakami.

You could use "zaraz" or "wkrótce" but - strictly speaking - not "teraz". "Teraz" (now) signifies present, "wkrótce" and "zaraz" (soon) are in the future. I guess you could use "teraz" to signify very near future, but such form is not 100% correct.

I am not sure about English translation of this sentence, but this will probably do:
English: We will (soon) have hunter's stew, sausage and dumplings with cheese and potatoes.
So it is definitely a future action, not present.

However, I am not sure how to stress its perfective aspect in English, without adding some supportive sentence, like this:
"After having dinner we will go to the movies." Here the aspect is obvious, since we declare our intention of finishing the dinner first.

Genealogy / Shuski-Zewski-Chuski [5]


She already inquired about it in February last year, under another Lilly's nick, and was given a probable name Szuski by Polonius3.

Lilly1953:
I would say, short names like this, sounding Polish, but with no particular meaning attached, are very likely Jewish. The Prussian and Austrian administration followed some strange patterns when assigning names to Jews in 19 c. Other typical examples of Jewish short names are: Orski, Zorski.

There are hundreds of references related to this topic, do your own work, Lilly. Here are just two, randomly chosen.
See also: Jewish Genealogy - Origin of Jewish Surnames in Poland, nancy.polishsite.us/art24jagafr.htm

JEWISH SURNAMES and a few words about given names, genealoj.org/ENtexte/page15.html

I found these two names, randomly googling for: szuski jewish
Jewish Records Indexing - Poland, Surname List: Ciechanów (Plock Gubernia), as of 28 July 2001
jewishgen.org/jri-pl/surnames/ciechano.htm
SZUMSKI
SZUSKI

But frankly, I am not sure what you are hoping to find if you do not even know for sure what name you are looking for.

News / 300 art treasures found in Polish garden shed! [11]


Like a pair of 19th century paintings by Polish Impressionist Julian Fałat, looted by the Nazis nearly seven decades ago, that were returned to Polish authorities last Thursday in a ceremony in New York? Seized by U.S. officials after Poland's government learned in 2006 that the works were being offered for sale by two auction houses (including Christie's)? Identity of a thief, or a receiver of stolen goods, has not been revealed for whatever reason.

History / Resettlement after ww2 (old German houses and buildings still in Poland) [28]


Please just pay attention for a while and stop talking nonsense. I described the state of one of those houses. It was worth nothing, you could not preserve it as such, it was just a mud wall - one had to rebuild it. I know, I was there helping. But yet, the new owner preserved the overall look. Some beams are still there. Yes, the new village has different look, because it has become part of the "second Zakopane", so to speak, due to its excellent skiing conditions and long winter season. You might cry your eyes out as much as you want for the missing rural architecture but such is the reality. And as I said - the village is pretty in its new ways, objectively prettier than any of the three original houses - as I remember them.

My buddy's house is one of the smallest in the village and it retained some of its original look. I am attaching the picture for you to judge. Small windows on the first and the second floor are exactly as they were size-wise. The roof was raised and a small apartment at the top was added. There is also a new addition and the house serves as a small guest house with two guest apartments.

Now, pay attention to the slope shown on the right and to all that snow that have accumulated. Now imagine all that white stuff melting in Springtime. That was what I was talking about before - that wall was completely soaked through.

I was frank with everyone here describing how the village was destroyed by neglect of the first settlers from the East. So there is no need to express your shock here about lack of preserved rural architecture. The story is such as it is. C'est la vie.

Below are some tourist opinions about my buddy's place (edited to remove direct clues), just so you will have some feelings about the village.

I just came back from S. Guest house of "W" - hmm, just brilliant! Excellent conditions, freedom, accommodating hosts, also some attractions (football, hockey), comfortably. A grub is a poetry! Delicious and in such quantities that one can not eat it all. There were ten of us and everyone was delighted. I hope to go back there sometime. The XXX Mountain is a revelation. Super route, quiet, calm. Your dream vacation! Mr. W., Stargard sends you the greetings!

Four of us were there in July. The hosts were very nice and polite. Mrs. A. was likable and obliging, W. - a type of a scientist. The food was delicious. Beautiful surroundings at the foothill of XXX Mountain, not far from former Soviet uranium mine (worthy to see - the guide speaks with great passion, has a lot of knowledge). The Bear Cave - lovely, and the Museum of Earth with the only Polish dinosaur's nest with eggs. Nearby - a museum with interesting minerals.

• 
  wojciecowka.jpg
  

History / Resettlement after ww2 (old German houses and buildings still in Poland) [28]


No man, this particular house had no foundation and no cellar. It was set on a slope and was exposed to elements, mostly to spring water from the melting snow. Years of such exposure made both the stone and the brick (part of the walls was made of brick) so soft you could poke your finger through or made "brick balls" out of it. The stone was, what we call, the "field stone" - containing some lime. So no, he did not destroy it - he rebuilt it and more. It is a nice house.


You sound like a man with an agenda. This particular village is much prettier than it has ever been.

History / Resettlement after ww2 (old German houses and buildings still in Poland) [28]

There was also another factor - neglect, related to fear of Germans returning, lack of material culture, lack of respect to common property, perpetual drunkenness. I could give you quite few good stories from two regions of Poland. Toruń/Bydgoszcz area had quite a mixed German/Polish population before the WWII and all the households of former German Colonists - as they were called - were given to "Zabugaje", the people from beyond the Bug river. This included Wilniuks, Polesiuks, Poles, Belarusians and Ukrainians pretending to be Poles and all that mix with the names, such as Homziuk, Drobysz, £ojkuć, Kapsa, itp.

There was a clash of culture powered by scythe and horse with that using machinery: steam powered, cable driven ploughs; threshers; mowers, cultivators and even tractors. Many conveniences, such as water pumps in kitchens, potato steamers, etc. Spotless barns and cowsheds. It took only few years for burlaps and rags to start appearing in place of broken windows, caving cowshed roofs, dung mountains at the middle of the yards. In 1960s, former owners would come and visit the places clandestinely - taking photos, crying their eyes out and cajoling the new owners to do some repairs with provided dollars and German marks. It took one-two generations for everything to return to normal. Yes, the movie "Sami swoi" shows a funny side of that reality, but there were many sad aspects of that resettlement process.

I know a village in Kłodzko Cirque that has become a tourist attraction. Long time ago my buddy bought one of three surviving houses there, and with the help of his friends rebuilt it from the ground zero - laying the foundations, digging the cellar (original 19c. house did not have them), replacing two-feet thick stone walls by brick walls, installing sewage and waterworks, etc. There were plenty of reusable material around, buried underground - that former German village used to have 60 houses, an aqueduct, an electric power station (plenty of white water there), a school and a post office. My first impression was that the devastation was due to war since the "graves" of former houses reminded me those in former villages in Bieszczady Mountains. No, not at all. This was a "handiwork" of the settlers. Broken window? No problem, get one from the neighboring house. The same way one would "borrow" everything, including roofing material. And the house without a roof collapses in no time. And then the settlers, still unsure of their future, moved somewhere else.

UK, Ireland / Culture shock (my neighbours in the UK are Polish and Slovak) [88]


A Dutch elderly couple next door to us - somewhere in Ontario, Canada - argued a lot ... or at least such was our impression, because we did not know the language. We were neighbours for 12 years, but that impression have never gone away.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles [3134]


Possibly a caterpillar?

Language / Help me understand Polish imperfective vs perfective verbs? [64]


I am going to be splitting hair a bit here but for me there is definitely big difference between the two: napiszę i będę pisać.

Napiszę - napiszę list, napiszę książkę - is a promise that I am going to make it and the result will be a finished product - no matter how long it will take: one hour, 10 years, or all my life. And it does not need to be done during one session. So all the theories about timings are not that important here. The important part is "dokonanie" - the act of finishing of the action of writing. No one expects me to write a book in one hour, but "słowo się rzekło, kobyłka u płota" and my listeners assume that I really intend to finish the thing up, and I will finish it - unless I am a perpetual liar.

Using the perfective in past tense is even easier, because your audience may demand a verification from you. "Napisałeś wreszcie tę książkę? Pokaż!" Show us a copy or prove that it is available in bookstores or libraries. Yeah, yeah - we know that "ty ją pisałeś, ale tak naprawdę nigdy jej nie napisałeś i nigdy nie zamierzałeś jej napisać."

In "będę pisać", however, there is no such promise of "dokonanie". "Będę pisać książkę o Ameryce" - does not contain any qualification about the final result. It is vague; I may never even intend to finish it up. This might be my way of dealing with boredom.

"Będę pis
ał listy do ciebie" - contains a promise of writing, but it is an open promise, with no definite end.

"Przyrzeknij mi, że będziesz do mnie pisał jeden list dziennie." This sentence is vague, because it may well mean a process of writing, abandoning it in the middle - never mind posting it out. The correct form would be "Przyrzeknij mi, że napiszesz do mnie jeden list dziennie." However, such form is never used because a rational supplicant cannot actually expect "dokonanie" in every circumstances. So she begs to at least try writing to her (Sorry, Mom).

The past form "pisałem", again has no promise of "dokonanie". As someone already say here: "Pisałem list, gdy Jurek wszedł do pokoju." The letter writing was interrupted and there is no promise that it was ever finished.

"Pisałem tę książkę przez wiele lat, aż mi się to znudziło". Again, no final product, but the implication is that the process was repetitive, routine - maybe one page a day, or one page a month.

I do not remember how is it formally defined but there is one more form for all three tenses:
pisywałem
pisuję
będę pisywać

In all this cases the act of writing is sporadic, maybe random, from time to time.

"Pisywałem także do gazet sportowych – 'Barwy sportu', 'Gem, set, mecz', itp.
"Będę pisywał do ciebie od czasu do czasu."
"Gdzie ludzie listy pisują?"
"Jestem staroświecka jak Jan III Sobieski, pisuję słodkie listy miłosne."

Try to substitute "pisuję" by "piszę" in the last sentence and you should intuitively see that the effect is not quite the same. The lady here is not in a habit of writing love letters routinely; she does it from time to time.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]

On Monday, a trailer of a documentary movie "The Leader", about Jarosław Kaczyński, has been shown. Prof. Jadwiga Staniszkis has this to say about the hero of the the movie: " He is a true fighter".

Fair enough. I dedicate this translation of an old ballad to the "Fighter" and all his court of PF-evangelists who had been valiantly bombarding us with their pro-PIS propaganda for the last two weeks. I wish the elections were already over.

A ballad of a terrible carnage
by Andrzej Waligórski, from a repertoire of Tadeusz Chyła
("Ballada o straszliwej rzezi")

Prince Toddler bent the grating,
Cut the curtains with sword,
Entered the chamber of mating,
And found a lover aboard.

He cried in anger: - Holly fart!
Then pounded the rival in bed,
And cut off the offending part,
But first of all his head.

Hey, he cut it off - hear, hear!
But first of all his head...

Then he took a cruel view,
Of his unfaithful wife,
And yelled: - I will cut yours too!
And he cut short her life.

But seeing him going nuts,
They were all in dread,
That he was after more cuts,
So they all had fled.

Hey, they all had fled - hear, hear!
So they all had fled ...

Lord Steward crawled under the table,
Lord Cupbearer ran to the cellars,
Lord Equerry hid in stables,
They were all scared fellows.

Great Hetman hid in the basin
Pretending to be a pike,
But after them the Prince hastened,
Still angry and eager to strike.

Hey, angry and eager - hear, hear!
Still angry and eager to strike...

He growled: - What, are you afraid?
(He thought of all their vices),
And as he waved his blade,
He had them minced to slices.

He stood up, rested his thud,
Wiped the sweat with his cloak,
He sees - there's so much blood,
He could have swum breaststroke.

Hey, he could have - hear, hear!
He could have swum breaststroke...

Here comes the end of the ballad,
All is razed down to the stump,
But one still needs to add,
A punch line - the singer's trump.

No! No punch line will be given,
You ask for it in vain,
Because - by being so hate driven,
He cut it too, insane.

Hey, he cut it too - hear, hear!
He cut it too, insane...

Law / Poland Carpentry Certification question .. ! [5]

Guilds and trade chambers are the socio-professional organizations, bringing together artisans working in the industry or several related occupations. They organize courses to raise the level of professional skills, they teach professional ethics, and they represent interests of members of the guild or the chamber.

Those are the regional organizations; each voivodship and/or district has its own one. You may wish to contact one of those regional organizations. [Guild=Cech, Chamber of Crafts = Izba Rzemieślnicza.]

The Polish keywords, corresponding to "carpentry" are: ciesielstwo or ciesiołka, and related one is stolarstwo - furniture making. These two professions often overlap in Poland. Cieśla is a worker who does carpentry and stolarz makes "stoły and stołki, etc" - tables and stools, etc.

Referring to LwowskaKrakow: Here is one add from Zakopane:

(name and address elided)


LwowskaKrakow post may have exaggerated a little bit, but Polish Górals (Highlanders) - being born carpenters - have no problems of finding jobs as carpenters in Canada. I happen to know two brothers that run a very successful carpentry business in Toronto. At one point they were employed by ROM museum in Toronto to prepare an exhibition of various kinds of wooden houses - ranging from native habitations to ecologically efficient modern houses.

News / Poles are able to forgive their enemies - how noble. [68]

Translated from TVN24:

News / Poles are able to forgive their enemies - how noble. [68]

pawian:
Did you really mean to quote me again? I said nothing to contrary of what you had said. :-)

I understand that Wałęsa went to the hospital to visit his son (maimed in a road accident) and, since this is the same hospital where Jaruzelski is being treated, he spontaneously decided to pay him a visit as well. One scenario could be that - since Wałęsa is still very much in a public eye - the photo-journalists followed him there and took the pictures of opportunity. Another scenario could be that he was talked into a staged photo session. But for me the fact that the photos were taken is actually immaterial.

In either case, fame becomes a curse - and more so in 21st century - where more and more is being expected from the "actors" and the media pushes the envelope to the extremes. [Off topics: The current affair of supposedly staged and exaggerated report from 2007 climbing expedition to Greenland by Dawid (David) Kaszlikowski and Eliza Kubarska - ending with the "Jedynka" prize being taken away from them - may serve as an example, where normal fame and heroics do not count any more - public and media expect the super-heroics instead.]

Genealogy / Origins of ruttkofsky or ruttkofska last names [11]



ZERO!

With all due respect - you are all wrong on few fronts. First of all, why do you think anyone with a "pure Prussian heritage" would ever assume a name ending with -ski or -ska to start with? The reverse is more probable: someone of Polish heritage has become germanized and changed his name for various reasons: being ashamed of his family past, convenience, opportunism, etc.

1. There are many known cases of assimilation of Poles in Austro-Hungarian Empire and the first thing they did was to change the name ending from -ski to -sky, and more specifically: from -wski to -fsky. Those people made their careers in K.K. administration, become members of local parliament of Galicia and Lodomeria, etc.

2. In Prussia the Germanization was quote different: Frederick the Great settled around 300,000 colonists in the eastern provinces of Prussia and aimed at a removal of the Polish nobility, which he treated with contempt and likened the 'slovenly Polish trash' in newly reconquered West Prussia to the Iroquois.[1] Within Bismarck's Kulturkampf policy, the Poles were purposefully presented as "foes of the empire" (German: Reichsfeinde). One can imagine therefore that many Poles bent under such pressure and tried to erase of all the traces of their shameful Slavic past.

3. Same goes for the germanization of Wielkopolska, the Great Poland. By the end of the 18th century, as a result of the Partitions of the Polish state, this territory fell under the Prussian rule. In the second half of the 19th century the German government initiated a systematic germanization of the Great Poland which was the beginning of so called Longest War of Present-Day Europe, a war for land, commerce, culture and language. Many Poles stood fast against the Germans on both economic and cultural fields: numerous Polish banks and rural organisations were established.

But many well-to-do families bent under such pressure and changed their names in process.

4. The same goes for Pomerania, or Royal Prussia. I will illustrate it with one example.
Michał Żelewski (c. 1700-1785), was a Polish nobleman; he owned villages of Milwino, Niepoczołowice and Zakrzewo in Pomerania, which still exist - you can easily find them in wikipedia. Here is a short version of his family tree, leading to his infamous descendant Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski.

Michał Żelewski + Ewa von Kętrzyńska
|
Andrzej Klemens von Zelewski + Konkordia Wilhelmina Henrietta von Grubba
|
Otton August Ludwik Rudolf von Zalewski + Antonia Fryderyka von Żelewska (apparently from another Zelewski family)
|
Otton Jan Józefat von Zelewski + Elżbieta Ewelina Szymańska
|
Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski
He legally added "von dem Bach" to the family name late in the 1933. He went on to have "Zelewski" officially removed from his name in November 1941 because of its Polish sound. And you know who was he? A butcher of Warsaw. On 2 August 1944, he took command of all troops fighting against the Warsaw Uprising as Korpsgruppe Bach. You can find the details here, if you are interested:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_dem_Bach-Zelewski

5. But I have to add that not all -sky endings are the results of voluntary/involuntary germanization. For whatever reason, as a rule, all Ukrainian names ending with -ski in Polish transliteration, are being replaced by -sky in Ukrainian-English transliteration. It has something to do with a very complex international transliteration rules between Cyrillic and Latin: they first transliterate it from Ukrainian (Russian) to French and then from French to English. Hence the names, such as Klitschko - looking quite German as a result, rather than simple Kliczko (Polish transliteration), or even simpler Klièko (Czech transliteration).

6. And last but not least. Many Jews would assume Polish sounding surnames before Partitions (voluntarily) and during Partitions (forcefully by German administration). They were only too happy to shed their Slavic sounding names off the moment they reached the Land of Plenty, United States of America. Hence many "ow" have been replaced by "off", "ski" by "sky", "sz" and "cz" by "sh" ("sch") and "tch", etc.

[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanization_of_Poles_during_Partitions

News / Poles are able to forgive their enemies - how noble. [68]

Absolutely, this is a beautiful gesture, qualified from whatever position you want to take - either from a Christian one or from purely ethical one.

But my opinion does not count much here since I am only an external observer. I usually do not pay attention to comments attached to main articles, since they are quite often immature, rude - even vulgar. But this time I was really curious what an average reader of TVN24 thinks about this event.

About 50% comments did not surprise me at all - cheap, idiotic, and making me regret of going through the process of reading them: calling Wałęsa a buddy of Jaruzelski, naming him an old commie, secret agent and so on. Well, this is a contemporary Poland - I am sorry to say this but - in my opinion - this is a country of logical illiterates - empowered by tools of Internet, having nothing to contribute, yet still loving to talk nonsense. The mob is replacing the Cartesian "Cogito ergo sum" by "I shout therefore I exist." I would not mind if they just disagreed with him and criticized him on some rational grounds. What I hate is this level of primitivism, worthy only of the behaviour of "football kibols".

On the other hand, there were quite a few samples supporting the Wałęsa visit:

Genealogy / Decipher a Polish name please: ONUFISC or ORUFRISC ? Czyzyk surname [16]


On the second thought, if it is actually Fedko (without R) and not Fredko, than it could stem from Fiodor (Russian: Фёдор), Fyodor (Like in F. Dostoyevsky). In all my amateurish, non-professional consideration, here we come again to this "TH" sound, which actually can be approximated by "F" in Slavic. So Fiodor would be a distorted "Theodore". I checked: Polish wikipedia actually redirects Fiodor to Theodor.

Paraska is actually a known, although quite archaic, Ukrainian first name. Nowadays one probably would find more Paraska surnames than the first names. But I remember it from some old story, book or comedy - as a stereotypical Ukrainian village woman. I also found this on internet: <<I heared to last name Paraska came from Hungarian word Paraszt, on Hungarian means villager.>> (sic)

Travel / Mushroom picking in spring in Poland? [35]


I was responding to two questions from a merged thread, and those were:


So I was not off topic.

But thank you for your info about season for morels.

Genealogy / Decipher a Polish name please: ONUFISC or ORUFRISC ? Czyzyk surname [16]


Cajcharus - Possibly Zachariusz, Zachary. Biblical name "Jahve remembers". English Zechariah, various variants, shortened forms: Zach, Zack, Zac

Cajitany - Cajetan, Kajetan (Latin meaning: from Caieta, now Gaeta) , popular amongst Armenian minority

Jojajczyk? - Does not look like a first name, could be a clan name (coat of arms), written in front of last name. The closest that comes to mind is Jasieńczyk. This could also be pseudo, or nome de guerre, such as Zagończyk (actual one from WWII).

Feitko - Possibly Fredko? That could be a Ukrainian name, short of Ferdinand (after Ferdinand I of Austria). One of my ancestors (Polish) was baptized Ferdynand, but family called him "Fredek", "Fredzio".


Cunnegunda - Kunegunda - German origin. Several Polish princesses wore that name in middle ages. Polish modern equivalent is Kinga - it came from Hungarian Kinga, diminutive of Kunegunda.

Gasparus - Kacper, Kasper, Kaspar, Gaspar. Kacper is still in use in Poland.

Theela - ?? There is no "Th" in Polish, but this could signify a Greek origin. In Greek-Orthodoxy there are names starting with "Theo" (From Theos - God), such as Theodore (Polish Teodor), Theophile (Polish Teofil), etc.

Pelagia - Pelagia, rarely used nowadays

Apolonia - Female form of Apoloniusz. Other forms: Apolinaria, Apolla, Apollina, Polonia. Diminutive forms: Pola, Lonia, etc.
Known: Pola Negri (born Apolonia Chałupiec), actress

Travel / Mushroom picking in spring in Poland? [35]


The mushroom harvesting season is in its high peak now (Mid September). Depending on the region it starts sometime at the middle of June and lasts till end of October.

However, many people report finding mushrooms in late November and the true experts claim that the mushroom season actually lasts year round, since there are groups of so-called "winter mushrooms", especially those growing on trees.

Example:
2005, December 10, Podkarpackie Voivodship: spotted a late colony of "rydze" (Lactarius deliciosus (L.) Pers.); some of them were half-frozen (minus two centigrades, light snow cover).

One of the latest mushrooms to be harvested belong to the genus Tricholoma (Polish "gąska" - a little goose). Most of the species are edible and some are very delicious, usually used in marinates. But watch it - some of its species are poisonous.

UK, Ireland / Grateful Polish photographer stitches up his Welsh hosts [96]


They were referring to supposedly 2,000 negative comments under the Daily Mail article. The TVN24 interviewers must have told him the number and this was his response, which I translated.

UK, Ireland / Grateful Polish photographer stitches up his Welsh hosts [96]

Addendum:



Here is Dench'es answer to one of "The Telegraph" questions: Which photographer would you most like to (a) work with and (b) talent spot

a. Zed Nelson b. Maciej Dacowicz

UK, Ireland / Grateful Polish photographer stitches up his Welsh hosts [96]


Let us be clear - it is not the first time that the good all Daily Mail presents the Cardiff photographs, only the comments have changed. The piece about Dakowicz's "ungratefullness" is just a recent addition. Here is the old, 2009, link:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1182373/Welcome-binge-Britain-Polish-photographer-documents-years-drunken-revelry-Cardiff.html

Welcome to binge Britain: Polish photographer documents four years of drunken revelry in Cardiff


Apparently, some of those photos are staged. Dakowicz says:

Language / Too many English words in the Polish language! [709]

mafketis:


Another very popular misuse of a Polish phrase is "dzięki + some-negative-cause", such as:
"Dzięki pomyłce lekarskiej stan zdrowia pacjenta się pogorszył" - "Thanks to doctor's mistake the patient's condition deteriorated".

There is nothing to be thankful for and the above sentence should start with "Na skutek pomyłki lekarskiej...", not with "Dzięki pomyłce..."

Life / My impressions on Poland I: The People, Politics, The Countryside and Infrastructure [39]

vdondera
Your view of contemporary Poland, reinforced by your outdated 1931 guide, and quite possibly by some anti-Polish opinions coming from some circles of old German-Chilean population, misses the fact that Poles of Great Emigration of 19th century contributed much to development of Chile, Peru and Ecuador in terms of science and engineering, and who obviously spoke many languages, including Spanish, you ignoramus observer.

I will also add that many Polish scientists, researchers, travellers and explorers make their name in South America nowadays.

This is a short refresher course, so you might be better prepared before your next visit to Poland, if ever.

Have you ever heard of Ignacy Domeyko (1802-1889)? Polish geologist, mineralogist, mining engineer, explorer of South America. Who established first mining academy and laboratory Ecole de Minas in Coquimbo, Chile and taught there physics, chemistry, mineralogy and metallurgy - in Spanish, for God's sake - and also ran analyses of samples sent there from mines all over the country? Who was appointed by Chilean Government a Head Mining Judge - with powers of irrevocable adjudication? Who travelled all over Andes and discovered deposits of copper molybdenum, and copper arsenide - later named after him "domeykite"? Who prepared geological maps of Chile? Who became a president of university Santiago de Chile (1867-1883)? Do you know that one range of Andes - the Domeyko Mountains - is named after him, as well as several species of extinct animals, such as Chilean ammonite - Ammonites Domeykanas?

How about Edward Jan Habich (1835-1909), Polish engineer and mathematician, who devoted most of his later life to development of public works in Peru, who established and directed Escuela Especial Ingenieros Construcciones Civiles y de Minas del Peru (Higher School of Engineering and Mining of Peru)? And who has also participated in development of Chilean port Arica?

How about Edward Malinowski (1818-1899), Polish road and railway engineer, the hero of defence of Peruvian port Callao (against Chile), constructor of railways in Peru and Ecuador, designer and constructor of Ferrocarril Central Andido (Central Trans-Andean Railway) - a marvel of engineering at those times - the highest ever, with many bridges, shelves, etc. Who published extensively, and who was a member-founder of many engineering, geographic and benevolent societies?

Have you heard about Władysław Folkierski (father)(1841-1904), Polish mathematician and engineer, constructor of telegraphic lines in Peru, defender of ports La Punta and Callao during war with Chile (participating in building the fortifications), who developed railway system at Southern Peru, directed steam shipping on lake Titicaca, and taught in 1876-1885 in Lima university?

How about Władysław Kluger(1849-1884) - Polish construction engineer, traveller, anthropologist - who participated in construction of Trans-Andean railway, who built Tacna-La Paz road and many canals, directed an expedition to Peruvian Andes, directed anthropologic research at ancient cemetery in Ancon? Who taught in Escuela de Ingenieres Civilas y de Minas and was its president for a short time.

Add to this few others worthy to mention, engineers: Ksawery Wakulski, Adam Miecznikowski, Aleksander Babiński; biologists and travellers: Konstanty Jelski, Józef Siemiradzki.

In modern times many Polish climbing expeditions travel to South America, and they live behind not only the names of routes - such as Polish Routes to Aconcagua - one being Ruta del Glacier de los Polacos, established in 1934, but also experience, maps, surveys and mountain guide services.

As another example, Maciej Kuczyński, a member of Explorer Club - among many other daring achievements - was a leader of expedition to Andes of Peru and Chile, claiming the first ever ascent of Cerro Solo (6120 m).

Prof. Mariusz Ziółkowski led Polish-Peruvian archeological mission to Peruvian Andes, in 2007, which lasted two months and discovered most important Peruvian delphi Condesyous and Maucallacta in massive Coropuna (6425m), penetrating 2500 square kilometres to the glaciers level, localizing and describing many Inca settlements and administrative and ceremonial centres.

Polish scientists continue their work in hearts of Andes: in 2010 a Polish research centre has been opened in Cuzco, the ancient capital of Inca Empire.

As I had already reported somewhere else here, Polish astronomers conduct microlensing gravitational research in Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

I will also mention in passing the Canoandes 79 expedition of students from Kraków, who ran many virgin rivers in Andes, including Peruvian Colca River - running wild in 3000-4000 metres canyon, the deepest in the word. They have named many parts of this river - one being named Canyon de los Polacos. Twenty years later they still do occasional exploration and also white water kayaking and rafting in North America. They have their website canoandes.com, where you can find several fascinating stories of theirs and about them - including a report (run in full in National Geographic) about two of them taking part in Jacques Coustoeau expedition, in 1986 I guess, along entire stretch of Amazon River - from its tiny sources to Atlantic Ocean. The kayaker Piotr Chmielewski was the main character. Books, BBC movie, guides in Spanish and English are part of their achievements. [I had a privilege to know two of them for quite some time, when they had become part of our recreational circle.]

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]

Gumishu, ple..e..e..a..s..e. What makes you think that I lack any sophisticated sense of humour - which apparently, you think, you display in abundance? If you have in mind the one displayable by your beloved leader Jaroslaw Kaczyński than I say - oh-ho-ho-ho - and I will readily admit I have no clue what he is talking about. And that's all fine, you won. I am going to continue having no clue.

But let me take a little break on a side - I am now going to start laughing for no reason whatsoever for about next 20 seconds… Done. I am fine now..

You have assumed so much about me so far - yet you have have no knowledge whatsoever who am I and what my sense of humour is. But imagine this: one day, it may happen that you "gumishu" and I "boletus" will face each other at some indescriptible location, at some indescriptible table. What do you think, you are going to tell me at the opening of the conversation?

This is my point Gumishu - you and many of your friends are probably very nice, caring and reasonable people. But your leader actually sucks so badly that I even do not know when to stop laughing…

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]

Gumishu


I take full responsibility for translating his phrase "księżycowe ideologie" into "lunar ideologies", which is not strong at all, I think. It just corresponds to: "taken from thin air". But if I mistakenly wrote instead a phrase "loony ideologies" - that would be strong and very inappropriate language in this context. So I am fine, there was nothing abusive either in Krasowski's original text, or in my translation.

And that Kaczyński goes all over the place and takes things from the thin air - here is a tiny collection of his own words, faithfully reproduced from the internet, which prove that:

"If you think that you would ever take power you are in error" - addressed to PO opposition.
- He was arrogant here and wrong too, as history has proven

"In Poland, the political system created such a structure that is difficult to achieve a situation that the president and prime minister will not quarrel. I do not know whether this should be written in the Constitution that only the brothers should perform these functions."

- Hard to comment listening to him here


I have very little faith in intellect of Mr. Komorowski
- Well, personally I will never say such thing about my political opponent. In my view, this is a self description of somebody with very little grace.


Edward Gierek was a communist, but also a patriot
- We obviously know that he was trying to buy SLD voters here. So he lied here for political gain. "Lunar ideology" again.


I wanted to govern when I was 12 years old. I intended to become a prime minister at the age of 34, and to end my rules at 91. This would be the year 2040. This is still a lot of time.

- He declares to have incessant appetite for power - so Krasowski was right on the spot.


Look at me because you look at Lukaszenka.
- During his speech at PiS convention. No rational explanation here.

There are dozens more of such golden nuggets but paraphrasing Sienkiewicz: Enough said. Kończ Waść, wstydu oszczędź!

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]


That was my error in my response, not yours. I quickly removed it with the annotation "forget it - an error".