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

forget it - an error

History / The strange destiny of Antoni Aleksander Iliński [32]

Des Essientes:
You have probably seen some painting of Wacław Seweryn Rzewuski (1784-1831) - an aficionado of Polish Arabian Horses, and ... anything related to Arab culture. All articles about history of Polish Arabian Horses refer to him - just google Polish Arabian or see the bottom of the page. By the end of his life he settled in his estate Sawrań in Podolia, always dressed as a desert Arab, surrounded by servants dressed like him - among his beloved horses.

In 1831, during the November Uprising, he founded and commanded a squad of cavalry riding his Arabian horses. He died at the lost battle of Daszów in unexplained circumstances on 14 May 1831.

One painting, by Aleksander Orlowski, shown in Polish Wikipedia here: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wacław_Seweryn_Rzewuski shows him wearing some kind of oriental cup. But that is not a turban.

There is a water-colour by Juliusz Kossak, 1877, "Farys" - representing Rzewuski as Beduin. A. Mickiewicz wrote his famous poem "Farys" with him in mind:

Pędź, latawcze białonogi!
Góry z drogi, lasy z drogi!

He was also painted by January Suchodolski. One of Piotr Michałowski's paintings is entitled "Emir Rzewuski na koniu". Remember this was a time of Polish Romanticism, and Rzewuski was an exemplification of Polish fascination with Orient. Juliusz Słowacki wrote a poem "Duma o Wacławie Rzewuskim", Wincenty Pol wrote "Hetman Zotobrody", Ukrainian Tymko Zadura - "Zołotaja Boroda", Michał Budzyński - "Wacław Rzewuski".

In other words Wacław Sewryn Rzewuski was a Polish version of Lawrence of Arabia, only one century before the latter.

See: The Polish Quest for Arabian Horses, Peter Harrigan or here saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200106/the.polish.quest.for.arab ian.horses.htm

(At the left upper corner of that page there is a miniature of possibly Rzewuski, in turban I guess, possibly one of the paintings by Kossak, Suchodolski or Michałowski).

Travel / Edith Piaf and her sculpture in Kielce, Poland? [6]

Kielce used to be a black hole of Universe - with beautiful surroundings but unfortunately with rotten downtown. I hear a lot about big transformation taking place in Kielce in the past decade or so: new infrastructure, clean streets and parks, new cultural institutions, new international centres, etc. One of such initiatives there is so-called "Avenue of Stars" - with busts of famous people - both Polish and international.

The "Avenue of Stars" includes the following busts: Andy Warhol (artist), Czeslaw Niemen (musician), Edith Piaf (singer), Franz Kafka (writer), Galina Lancers (dancer), George Gershwin (pianist, composer), Ignatius Paderewski (pianist, composer), Igor Stravinsky (Composer), James Joyce (writer), Jimi Hendrix (musician), Joseph Conrad (writer), Karol Szymanowski (Composer), Krzysztof Kieslowski (director), Marc Chagall (painter), Mark Grechuta (musician, composer, singer, poet), Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (writer) Mikhail Bulgakov (writer), Olga Boznanska (painter) Pablo Picasso (painter), Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (painter, poet), Tadeusz Kantor (director ), Tamara de Lempicka (painter), Witold Gombrowicz (Author), Witold Lutoslawski (Composer), Zbigniew Herbert (poet), Dmitri Shostakovich (Composer), Stanislaw Lem (writer), Ingmar Bergman (film director), Krzysztof Kamil Baczynski (poet ), Salvador Dali (painter), Bulat Okudzhava (poet, writer).

So Edith Piaf is one of many stars celebrated there - but there is no particular relation between her and Kielce.

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

gumishu


Well gumishu, I am not that naive. Of course they are - as everyone else is. As old saying go "you have your friends and I have mine" and "friends of mine friends are not necessary my friends." You were never hiding your political affiliations on this forum, neither were I. But worry not - I will not vote in incoming elections - all I want to hear on this forum is some form of civilized set of arguments, when someone - unfortunately - decides to bring one of those political topics here. But sorry - "prick, cyngiel, hitman" do not belong to that category, so stop please. Commenting on family past - daddy in communist party or grandfather in Wehrmacht, as already used here many times (I am not saying that it was you saying this) also does not belong to a bon tone.

Of course I tried reading various papers other that "Polityka", "TVN24" or "Gazeta Wyborcza" in the past. I started with Rzeczpospolita few years back but I quickly found it really biased - although I believe that the proportions are much better nowadays - as you rightfully say - so this is a good sign. So I go there for some news or comments sometimes.

Rafał Ziemkiewicz and "niezależna.pl" - with their conspiracy theories, Macierewicz with his Smoleńsk, Rymkiewicz with his "rymy częstochowskie" and all of this - just make me laugh. I am sorry gumishu, there is nothing "independent" in their political agenda and their motto "We inform they lie" is just, well, laughable. No, this one is not for me either. And that's my biased opinion - I am just responding to your recommendation - and I have a full right to disagree with you.

"Dziennik" is just a tabloid, with the worst possible bunch of readers and their adolescent idiotic comments. No, this is also not for me. Such a loss of time.

Yes, I agree with you on the point of collecting information mostly from internet. I do not know how you do it, but I do not mean "salon.pl" or other such media. I used to mostly read foreign comments via google - until recently when I noticed that foreign media are slowly becoming polluted by views of Polish journalists - who are being more and more employable by serious major agencies, such as "Wall Street Journal", "The Economist", "Financial Post", "Washington Post" and such others. On one hand this is a good sign to see young Poles making inroads to international journalism, due to their evident progress in English. On the other hand - there is no escape here, biased Poles are everywhere. :-)

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

Too much propaganda, dirty tricks and personal attacks in this thread - on either side. Cool down and read this article (in Polish). Here are some paragraphs I translated to English:

Translated from: "Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his miracle of creation... of dissatisfied", by Robert Krasowski,
polityka.pl/wybory2011/1519032,1,jaroslaw-kaczynski-i-jego-cud-tworzenia-niezadowolonych.read

Virtuoso of others' emotions

For many years, Jarosław Kaczynski have been collecting the votes of dissatisfied people. However, this observation is only half the truth because, in parallel, he runs the second, much more interesting game - he actually creates disgruntled people. And in this he is a virtuoso.

...

Before anyone jumps up in anger, pointing out how anti-PIS this article must be by definition - because it is was published in Polityka and written by Krasowski (whatever it might mean) - I suggest to read it first and to appreciate the cool analysis it presents.

Nowhere the author attacks Kaczyński ad persona, nowhere he calls him stupid or paranoiac. In contrary, he uses such words as: "intelligent, progressive opposition activist, young wolf, unusual talent, having intellectual creativity or being a keen observer".

Yet his analysis of methods used by Jaroslaw Kaczyński is devastating.

Travel / Jakubkowo-found 3 villages with this name, close to each. [3]

Here is an explanation regarding one of the Jakubkowo villages:

Jakubkowo - a village in Poland located in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship, Grudziądz district, £asin municipality.

In 1298, the Country Master of the Teutonic Order, Meinhard von Querfurt, granted 12 "łans" (fields (*)) of land, on the basis of Chełmno (German: Kulm) law [a modification of Magdeburg rights], formerly belonging to the Polish people - brothers Maciej and Jakub, to the founder of £asin, Jan de Nemore. According to the privilege the Teutonic Knights allowed for building a mill on £asinka River and free fishing in this river.

Translated from Polish version of Wikipedia, pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakubkowo_(powiat_grudziądzki)

(*) łan = a unit of land, measured between 3 to 50 hectares, depending on locality. However, the so-called "lesser łan", or "Chełmno (Kulm) łan", a.k.a. "włóka" is precisely equal to 30 "morga(s)" or 17.955 hectares.

I should add that ending "-owo" signifies one form of possessiveness.

Jakubowy dom : masculine order, house of Jakub
Jakubowa górka :feminine order, Jakub's hill
Jakubowo : neutral order, this implicitly means "Jakub's hamlet/village"

The postfix "-owo" is almost always related to village/hamlet names formed from proper names. For example, my friend's last name is Kowalik: he jocularly named his cottage located in Bracebridge, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada - guess what? - Kowalikowo of course. In 19th century, the city of Munich - officially Monachium in Polish, would be given jocular Polish sounding names by Polish artsy people (flocking to Munich to study arts) such as "Mniszkowo" - from the proper name Mniszek. The trend continues: contemporary Polish newspapers in London or Dublin would be named "Londynek" and "Dublinek" - diminutive of London and Dublin, respectively.

On the other hand Jakubek is a diminutive form of Jakub and that may mean many of the things: his small posture, being dear to somebody's heart or it may also simply mean "a son of Jakub". Jakub-kowo would be therefore a diminutive version of Jakub-owo.

Life / Attending my first Polish Wedding and Celebrations [18]

Yes, our young Irish friend here, of hard to remember alias, is right about the watermelon custom. I guess most Poles here did not recognize that custom (with the exception of gumishu) because of the English translation of the word, "watermelon", which carries no cultural association for most Poles. In Polish it is known as "arbuz", and most Poles are familiar with the phrase "dostać arbuza" (to be rejected), even though some did not recognize its source in an ancient courtship customs.

Etymology: Polish arbuz, (Russian, Ukrainian: harbuz) , from Persian cherbuze, Turkish harpuz.

When a suitor was treated to a piece of watermelon (a courtship took place mostly in autumn) this implied a refusal. Hence the source of the expression "dostać arbuza", "dostać odprawę" ("to get a watermelon," or to be rejected). The same meaning had "czarna polewka", a.k.a. "czernina" - the black soup made of duck's blood [with cream and prunes added to taste, boletus] - or a wreath made of dry pea stems, suspended in the chamber, where the suitor was to spend the night.

The custom of serving watermelon comes from the Ruthenian folk, where an unwilling wench "mistakenly" serves to a young man and his matchmaker a "harbuz", rather than a loaf of bread, as a snack to be taken after a drink of vodka brought by them.

Aleks. Kremer says that in Podolia a watermelon is put into carriage of a suitor whom a girl does not want - hence "harbuza dać" means the same as refuse the girl's hand. Krzysztof Kluk, Polish botanist of eighteenth century, writes about watermelon as a fruit, "they are white and green, elongated and round, rich in Podolia and the Ukraine."

Translated from: Zygmunt Gloger, Encyklopedia staropolska/Arbuz, pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Encyklopedia_staropolska/Arbuz

Nozzferrahhtoo: Playing the "arbuz" joke at the wedding party? It all depends: it is probably quite OK for a close family friend, but it might draw strange reaction if it is coming from a stranger - even if you are a close friend of the groom. I would follow Teffle's advices if I were you.

Love / What are the most popular wedding songs in Polish? [13]

I do not know what does the phrase "the most popular wedding songs" actually mean. Who is supposed to measure it up, according to what method and why? But all this social-cultural anthropology mumbo-jumbo aside I will say this:

There must be many folk wedding songs in Poland - very much all are regions related. For example, a quick googling points to a page "Gliwickie Metamorfozy", with all sorts of Gliwice regional songs,

gliwiczanie.pl/Biblioteka/Roger/spis.html
Chapter 9 here, gliwiczanie.pl/Biblioteka/Roger/piesniweselne.html
brings the words of nine wedding songs from counties: Rybnickiego, Lublinieckiego, Oleskiego, and Kozielskiego, such as this one:


Google shows 12,000 entries to "pieśni weselne" - too many to analyze them of. You definitely should narrow the field somehow, otherwise you end up with too many "dance polo", redneck stuff.

Wedding toasts are another matter. And again, some are short, some long and boring, some are poetic, and some are plain stupid. But then who cares when all are drunk, anyway?

Language / Oblatanym - word usage [13]


Gumishu suggested the other meaning of "oblatany" but has not delivered it yet. This word has many meanings, Chaza. Here are some most obvious:

oblatywacz = test pilot
oblatywać samolot = testing an airplane
oblatany samolot, szybowiec = an airplane, a glider, that has been well tested

oblecieć coś dookoła (pies obleciał budę dookoła) = to run around something (a dog ran around the doghouse)
oblecieć trasę = to fly around a route

"Warunki na wschodzie okazały się na tyle dobre, że większość pilotów obleciała swoje trasy jeszcze wczesnym popołudniem i postanowiła je przedłużyć."

"Conditions in the east turned out to be good enough that most pilots still flew around their routes in the early afternoon and decided to extend them"

======
On the other hand "they have flown across" translates as "przelecieć" not "oblecieć".
And there are of course:
"odlecieć" - fly away,
"dolecieć" - fly into, arrive,
etc.


Ooops!
I meant "have flown around", not "still flew around". (perfect, not imperfect)
I have let the Google to translate the phrase and I did not check it carefully enough, sorry.

USA, Canada / TOP 500 Young Polish Innovators program - short internships in USA [14]


Then why should I even bother to talk to illogical adolescents - who ignore any logical arguments presented to them. It seems that you just know everything by your own definitions - based on your own declaration of "trust me". This strange logic is not what is ever to convince me as an argument in any civilized discussion. It seems I am wasting my time posting here. Good luck with your childish arguments.

USA, Canada / TOP 500 Young Polish Innovators program - short internships in USA [14]

The link provided in the opening post explains the purpose of the internship quite clearly. This program has nothing to do with acquiring extra professional knowledge or stealing bright Polish scientists by "sneaky Americans". This is all about learning how American scientists deal with the transfer of knowledge and research to the economy.

This phrase, highly touted in Poland for decades, remains just at it was at the very beginning - the empty meaningless phrase. It has never worked the way it supposed to work. It was quite often used as a cover up for using industry coffers to earn extra money - either by individual academics or by their academic institutions.

One pathetic university I used to work for a short period of time have been producing generations of pathetic "engineers" in exchange for generous donations from one rich state factory. All candidates were being drawn from workers of that factory - aging between 20 and 55.

The so-called "commissioned works" (prace zlecone) come to mind as extra source of income for scientists of all levels - with almost zero transfer of knowledge to the industry. Most of such projects were routine works - having nothing to do with innovations. The original solutions, benefitting the industry on the long run, were indeed rare.

I took part in many such projects - some, no doubt, interesting and challenging - but only two such projects would qualify as innovative projects ending up in technology transfer to industries - one regarding mechanical design of power hammers used in construction industry and one regarding a controlled aluminum oxidation process of parts produced for aviation industry. But, with few exceptions, none of us was really interested in pursuing further any of those fields, because they lied outside our "real" professional interests.



Summarizing: I think, this program is a very good idea. I do not expect that every single internship will be beneficial for both the internee and the Polish industry, but even with the failure rate of 50% this could be considered a success.


This is one of the trumped up charges that have nothing to do with reality. Let us see how it works in practice by examining the list of EECS faculty members at MIT, eecs.mit.edu/faculty/index.html.

If you know anything about modern computer science you will find on this list the familiar names of the CS giants, such as Gerald J. Susman and Hal Abelson (See for example their famous classical textbook "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs". The real eye opener, which should be a required reading for any young programmer.) Sure, any young Polish scientist would give anything for a chance of working in any project lead by any of the two. But do you think they would even give a second glance to some little unknown intern from Poland? Why, they have thousands of Americans to choose from - all bright and eager to join.

No doubt, the list contains many foreign-sounding names, but how many of those have been born outside USA? Many of such names sound Jewish to me, so they are probably Americans. There are also some Chinese sounding names (Lang, Lu, Li, Lim, Kong, Hu, Han) - actually very few on the list. And how do you know whether they were born outside USA and when they immigrated to USA? But carry on, check each one of them (each is linked to faculty page or personal web page) and I guarantee that you would be disappointed after learning the truth. Same goes with Hindu, Russian or Greek sounding names.

Hey, there is even one that sounds Polish, Leslie A. Kolodziejski. But for what we know she was probably born in USA. Her bio here says (rle.mit.edu/rleatmit/2003february_article02.htm) that she received her PhD from Purdue University in 1986. Nationality aside - her lab is very impressive and it seems exactly to fit the bill for "Top 500 Polish Innovators program".


Do you see the pattern in this one sentence? Two industrial companies involved in scientific project!

Oh, wait - there is another Polish name: Wojciech Matusik. Stolen from Poland? But no - he was educated in Berkeley and MIT and works for CSAIL, which cooperates with Disney Research, Zürich. He also used to work for Adobe and Mitsubishi. Do you see another pattern? That's the industrial experience he has.

As someone else said in this forum - if Poland offered decent conditions at its scientific institutions, the foreign scientists would come to Poland in groves. So no need to worry about brains' drain. All scientists follow their own interest in personal development, first of all.

Take for example Scott Aaronson - at the top of the mentioned faculty list. He has moved from Clarkson Uni (G.E.D), to Cornell Uni (B.Sc), to Berkeley (PhD), to Princeton (Fellowship, School of Mathematics), to Waterloo Canada (fellowship, quantum Computing), to MIT. He currently takes care of three PhD students. Do you think he would attempt to steal a Polish internee? I had read enough of his blogs in the past to guarantee you that the answer would be "definitely no". The man thinks so highly of himself that he would not stand any competition. (I am only half joking.)

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


Never did I claim that Polish cookery is original. In contrary, in my first post in this thread I was very careful to stress the influences of many other cuisines on Polish cooking traditions. Such influences go every each way - the menus are refined, changed, transformed and borrowed by other peoples.

But my main point was to show that Polish cookery is far from bland, as long as one looks beyond his own nose, experience and his close family tradition, or beyond fast food facilities. I am not going to write any essay about Polish foods that qualify as haute cuisine, or to write a guide to good restaurants in Poland that serve such dishes. There are plenty such guides and gastronauci.pl could help to identify facilities serving Old Polish "dworska" cuisine. Some of those are located in renovated manors and carefully serve only those dishes that have been recorded and discovered in that particular area. I have no time for listing all of this, but I can point you to few eye openers.

Take for example "Hunter's cookery". They list about 400 various game dishes in these categories: venison, boar, hare, red deer (known as elk in CEE), fowl.

Of the fowl category, I know only precious few recipes, but such entries as "duck with oranges, raisons and walnuts" was served in my house. We could not afford pheasant dishes, but "wild duck in black currants sauce" was occasionally served. Woodcocks would be served in sauce made of morello cherry confiture, cream and horseradish, and occasionally partridges would be brought by some friendly hunter.

I will translate ingredients of one partridge recipe: "Roast partridges with lingonberries", just to demonstrate the fallacy of saying that Polish spices are reduced to just salt an pepper.

2 partridges,
salt,
marjoram
tarragon,
basil,
15 grams of pork fat,
5 grams of lard.
sauce:
4 - 5 tablespoons fried lingonberries,
1 - 2 cloves,
cinnamon
1 teaspoon of flour,
cup of boiled water,
a few tablespoons of dry white wine (you can only add a glass of dry white wine).

Hare dishes used to be very popular in Poland, and the art of making hare pate is still probably known to many families in Poland. The site presents long list of pages of the main dishes made of hare, with the spices, fruits an vegetables ranging from: sour cherries, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, herbs, cream, grey sauce, jellies, horseradish, mushrooms, beer and so on. There are hare dishes referring to Polish provinces, regions and professions (a'la burgher, king, hetman, advocate) ; and yes - to international recipes (Milan, Dalmatia) as well. Of all those, I only tried the few - but they were all delicious.

For any serious discussion of Polish evolving culinary traditions I refer you to "Food and Drink in Medieval Poland. Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past - Maria Dembińska, Translated by Magdalena Thomas, Revised and Adapted by William Woys Weaver". I downloaded it from some French site (sorry I forgot which one). It has 123 double site plates. Fascinating read.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]

FUZZYWICKETS



I will tell you right now that you sound very ridiculous defending your un-defendable positions, because you seem never to cook anything yourself.

I can cook this particular meal even over a campfire. Let me see... I do not need any sophisticated stuff at all. Sorry but you seem just clueless. Just give me a chance and maybe ten minutes and I will deliver a good dinner just described. I'll put the smoked trout inside of an aluminum foil. Then I will add plenty of Italian parsley - only because I like this taste for this particular meal (you can experiment with some other 10 or so herbs if you wish: basil, menthe, oregano, thyme, whatever) plus the basic salt and black pepper, and so on. Five minutes later it is all done. Horseradish? Anyone in Poland (but apparently not you) knows exactly at least three or four recipes how to make a good horseradish side dish. Plain. Creamy. Eggy. Beat-root based. Grilled potato? You must be kidding - you can easily bake it in a clay, or just in hot ashes.

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


There are rather stupid and uninformed generalizations on both sides of the dispute. There are these Polish foods and those Polish foods - a peasant diet and refined diet. A blant, boring and repetetive one vs. "a heaven in a mouth". The one that you only eat on certain days because the tradition or rituals say so, but avoid it for the remaining days of the year. A lack of imagination vs. inspirational creativity.

For centuries the Polish cuisine was being inspired by culinary traditions of West, South and East. From Italy came various vegetables: pomidory (tomatoes), włoszczyzna (a bundle of herbs a'la Italian), kalafiory (califlowers), kalarepy (kohlrabis), selery (celeries), sałaty (salads), tymianek (thyme), bazylia (basil), koper (dill), etc.

Spices came from the East: szafran (saffron), goździki (cloves), cynamon (cinnamon), gałka muszkatołowa (nutmeg), ziele angielskie (allspice), etc.
From France - the art of making various sauces.
From Germany - the heavy food, sausages, the art of bread making.

So whoever said that Polish food was bland he must have been exposed only to a peasant cuisine. Actually, the old Polish cuisine was known for heavy uses of spices. This was partially justified by lack of refrigeration and slightly ranked smell of meats. I sometimes have an impression that heavy use of hot peppers in Mexican dishes serves exactly the same purpose: with your taste buds burning you cannot smell nor taste anything.

But I agree that most Polish restaurants in North America is of the peasant type (no offense given, just an expression) and for three reasons:

+ The owners usually employ cooks (as opposed to the real chefs) that have emigrated from some sub-carpathian villages and who only know one type of food - the peasant food: schabowy (schnitzel), surówki (raw grated vegetables), barszcz (borcht), bigos (hunter's stew), gołąbki (stuffed cabbage), grochówka (pea soup), etc.

+ Restaurant guests, especially those of the Polish or CEE background, like to occasionally sample this type of food, because it reminds them the old country. But if they cook at home at all they usually cook something more refined than the Vienna Schnitzel - the stuff they have learned from their mother or granny: zrazy zawijane (beef roulades fill with various stuffing), bitki wołowe (stewed beef slices in spiced sauces), kaczka pieczona nadziewana ... (roast duck stuffed with ...). Believe me or not, some people still exchange old recipes. My mother's home menu had very little in common with stuff they serve in Toronto restaurants, and was was probably four times their menu choices. Just to mention her vegetables soups, the best I ever eaten :-), or ten or so fruit cold summer soups with croutons and clouds of beaten egg whites or cream.

+ Notwithstanding the menu choice the "peasant cooks" do their job rather well. But I have also eaten in places whether a cook had only an approximate idea how a particular dish supposed to taste, or she made an unforgivable decision to save herself some work. For example, in one of the Polish restaurants in Toronto they reheat the "czysty barszcz z uszkami" (clear borsch with tiny dumplings stuffed with mushrooms or meat) every time another customer requests it. The dumplings should be cooked separately for each guest in clear water, then added to reheated barszcz - otherwise the dumplings become soggy and unappetizing. Polish clear chicken soup should be served with thin spaghetti noodles cooked afresh, sprinkled with freshly cut herbs of their choice (italian parsley, menthe, basil..) and not with reheated thick tube-like macaroni and soggy vegetables.

If you google "kuchnia staropolska" or something of this sort you will find hundreds of local village restaurants in Poland, offering menus which are 10 times more interesting than any best known Polish restaurants in any big city in North America - with various fish (grilled, broiled, with or without sauces), fowl, game, beef, pork, various salads and vegetable dishes. This is a sad fact, but there is no motivation to improve menus of Polish restaurants in USA or Canada. But thing like "staropolska zupa piwna" (Old Polish beer soup) are definitely easy to make and sound like a good magnet for new customers.

Here are some examples of dishes, which I found on menus of some country inns in Poland:

Exquisite fish soup with salmon and crayfish, saffron and parsley. A Polish soup? Definitely. I was told that during three stages of cooking of such soup a lesser quality fish plus vegetables are first boiled for some time and then removed to produce a thick and tasty broth. Only in the last stage the fish and crayfish are added and cooked just right.

Boneless trout, smoked over the beech wood smoke, served with horseradish and baked apple, with cranberries and grilled potato. A Polish dish? Definitely.

Pickled lamb's leg, marinated with herbs. Specifically Polish? No, but what makes it Polish are choice of local herbs and the side dishes: buckwheat, hunter's sauce, red cabbage in wine with raisons. Yes, the buckwheat groats. Not everyone likes it since it is an acquired taste, but you should try it sometime.

Pickled doe's ham - an old Polish recipe.

Whole baked young boar - a hunter's recipe.

Shrimps fresh from the frying pan, thyme scented, served on a bed of crisp lettuce

Veal marinated in herbs, served with chanterelles, green asparagus and garlic butter. Polish? Yes. Most of you do not even know and appreciate "kurki" (chanterelles).

Language / Snow white (cartoon) in Polish [3]

^^ Nice. In the comments to the "youtube" someone explained that this is the 1938/1939 dubbing of the original American rendition. But here is something strange I noticed - the Polish Seven Dwarfs, Krasnoludki, actually sing "Hej ho, hej ho, do domu by się szło" (Heigh-ho, heigh-ho - it would be good to go home), while somehow, after the WWII, this refrain was sung as: "Hej ho, hej ho, do pracy by się szło" (Heigh-ho, heigh-ho - it would be good to go to work).

It looks like a communist work propaganda. There are about 47,700 results with the reference to "work" but only about 2,040 results with the reference to the original "home". I know, the phrase with "work" was often used ironically, but still - the numbers are staggering. Anyone cares to comment on this?

I did some search and came across the interview with Zygmunt Kałużyński, a famous (deceased) film critic, "Wprost" 2001,

USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]


The Muhlenberg legend, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhlenberg_legend

But this is interesting:

Travel / Przemysl and/or Rzeszow and/or Sandomierz [14]

Harry


Yes, one can easily see the influence of many cultures over the centuries...
If you like classical music check their Capella Premisliensis, conductor Marek Zazula (at least this is what it was three years back) - Bach, Baird, Twardowski, Górecki. I have one of their DVDs here. Not bad...

Life / Number of foreigners in Poland? [28]

Some useful facts about immigration in Poland can be found in the forum migracyjne pages. The materials are both in English and Polish, but - as usual in such cases - the Polish version provides much more useful information than the former one. For example, the section "Infolinia Migracyjna" contains a database of questions already asked and answered, while the English version of the corresponding section is empty. Of course you may try to ask your own questions in English and see if and when you'll get your answer.

The category "Data and statistics" is relevant to this topic and can be found here: forummigracyjne.org/pl/faq.php?kat=4

The following is my translation of some of the topics taken from that category. The emerging picture is a total information mess caused by many factors: political correctness, lack of comprehensive policies, ad hoc solutions, overlapping responsibilities. Add to it an estimated number of 500,000 illegal immigrants a year (100,000 from former Soviet Union alone). In addition, Polish Border Guard reported that, in the year 2003 alone, they stopped 5800 foreigners at the border due to lack of documents, refused entrance to 66,000 foreigners, and deported 6200 persons to their country of origin.

Travel / Przemysl and/or Rzeszow and/or Sandomierz [14]


Since you mentioned Sandomierz, check the article "Koleiny Jagiełły" (in Polish), about the Royal Trail leading from Kraków to Wilno,
polityka.pl/wakacje/wakacjewpolsce/1507240,2,koleiny-jagielly.read

The trail leads through Koprzywnica, Sandomierz and Zawichost. The article describes some places to see in these three towns.

Edit: I forgot to add that there are some lovely pictures attached to the article. One of them is a current view of the Old Trail in vicinity of Ostrów Lubelski.

Life / Things we enjoyed as kids in Poland [140]

Poland's past - holiday hits: skates, saturators, plastic trumpets

Who remembers a saturator with carbonated water or a stall with decorative replicas of a shepherd's axe, outside a railway station? And orange soda in a plastic bag? Or a group of kids from a summer camp in line for a big mac?

Gifts, toys and holiday fun. They reflect the trends of their times. Most of them disappear from kiosks, drawers, and our memory. They are being chased away by time, new inventions, subsequent fashions and tastes.

Photo gallery at polityka.pl/galerie/1517614,2,wrotki-saturator-wuwuzele---czyli-wakacyjne-hity-minionych-lat.read

With Polish captions translated to English below:

Photo: 1/18
CIUPAGAS - Decorative replicas of a shepherd's axe - an eternal reminder of your holiday in Zakopane. Krakow's Cub Scouts waiting for a train to take them home. The end of 1938 holiday.

Photo: 2/18
HULA-HOOP entered Poland in late 50s of 20th century. A girl photographed in June 1981, Biała Podlaska.

Photo: 3/18
SHOOTING GALLERY (a little risky) with prizes: plastic flowers, lollipops, cigarettes, chewing gum, photographs of stars. You could get them, shooting with air rifles. "Targ Węglowy" (Coal Market) in Gdansk, June 1979

Photo: 4/18
PLAYING POSTCARDS. A post card, which was also a single record, to be played back on the gramophone "Bambino". The Anglo-Saxon pop stars would be very surprised, knowing the volumes of sales of their records in Poland.

Photo: 5/18
Syphon with carbonated water - A summer attraction of parties at home, but also in restaurants at railway stations. Required filling in at special filling stations, such as this one in the 60s of 20th century. Later, gas cartridges were introduced.

Photo: 6/18
SODA SATURATOR - a trolley on wheels, serving sparkling water in two ways: "clean" and "with juice." Although the glass was pinkish, but the trace amount of juice did not allow any identification of its taste. Spraying the glass with cold water meant washing it.

Photo: 7/18
Orangeade - an attraction for children, drunk straight from the bottle with a ceramic cap. The other type - a tin cap - could be used to play cyclists. Festival in Przodkowo, Kashubia, May 1975

Photo: 8/18
First orange sodas in plastic bag appeared in the 80s. Not to be confused with orange powder eaten "dry." Pictured are the bottles of orangeade "retro" during festival celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 election.

Photo: 9/18
SKATES - later dethroned by rollers and skateboards. Asphalt roadway or granite sidewalk were best for the ride. Gdańsk, 1974.

Photo: 10/18
Rubik's Cube attacked us in the early 80s. During 1982 and 83 vacations one had to master the "systems" of stacking. Otherwise, the gadget has remained enchanted and disarranged forever.

Photo: 11/18
Radio-cassette recorder - the holiday basis for listening and distribution of (not just independent) music from a weekly Saturday Hit List radio program ("Lista Przebojów Trójki"). Pictured - recording a concert in Jarocin (with improvised external power supply). July 1986.

Photo: 12/18
SKATEBOARDS appeared in Poland rather sheepishly in the 80s (carried by seamen), but over time they become part of the urban subculture. Stairs under the castle in Szczecin, 2003.

Photo: 13/18

INFLATABLE TOYS return to favor every summer. Ranging from automotive inner tubes, by the twentieth century rubber "lifebuoys" for children, to today's fancy and colorful animals.

Photo: 14/18

Motorboat pulled banana ride. The basic sounds and views, to which Polish beach sunbathers are exposed since mid-90s The beach in Gdansk, 2006.

Photo: 15/18
WATER SCOOTERS and QADS showed up only in the 90s. The machines, rented by the hour, beautifully manifest the presence of our fellow countrymen on holiday. Ah, those unfashionable walkers, cyclists and kayakers!

Photo: 16/18

A PLASTIC TRUMPET was a hit of the year 2004. We forgot about it quickly, until the World Cup in South Africa, where its big brother "wuwuzela" deafened spectators - visitors from outside Africa.

Photo: 17/18
PORTABLE CONSOLE - a PSP, a former Russian "Wolf and Hare", can convert a trip - or even every stop on the tour - into an electronic battle space.

Photo: 18/18
Drawing chalk and hopscotch is a surprisingly vital gadget. We should be pleased of it, because it is the most creative toy from the today's review of the holiday toys. And after the rain you can draw again:)

Language / Unique names of cities/town/villages in Poland [58]


This is what I was suspecting and this was a reason I was still searching around. I think I found it.
Apparently "kał" formerly meant simply silt, mud or ooze, which is present in abundance in Kashubian swamps and marshes; therefore "Męcikał" would mean "mud stirring".

Similarly, Biały Kał would therefore mean White Silt. Geographically, it is one of the villages in the watershed of the river Orla, Wielkopolskie. Polish ethnographers of early 1960s claimed that that region was still settled by the ethnographic Slavic group "Hazacy" (Chazacy, Hazaki also Leśniacy). pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazacy

Few more Polish humorous place names:

Stare Niemyje (Old No-washers) - Podlaskie

Geniusze (Geniuses) - Podlaskie

Bojadła (Because she ate) - an add in daily Lubuska says: "sprzedam krowę - Bojadła" (I'll sell a cow - because she ate)

Burdelowa Góra (Bordello Hill) - Beskid Żywiecki Mountains, Polica Range

Krzywe Kolano (Crooked Knee) - Kujawsko-Pomorskie

Lenie Wielkie (Great Deadbeats) - Kujawsko-Pomorskie

Spaliny Wielkie (Great Exhaust Gases)- Mazowieckie. This probably stems from a burnt area, after the big fire.

Twarogi Ruskie (Russian White Cheeses) - Mazowieckie

Language / Unique names of cities/town/villages in Poland [58]

Leniuszki (Little Sluggards)

Kłopoty (Troubles)

Nowe Rumunki (New Romanian Women)

Męcikał (Stir feces) - (In middle ages known as Menczykał, Mendczikal and Męcikały). Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship. (Kashubian: Mãcëkôł, Mãczëkôł, Mãcykôł, Mãczikôł, German: Mentschikal). Surrounded by Tuchola Forests, many lakes, a small but very charming village. Could not find any explanation for the name so far. I will try later.

Pryszczowa Góra (Pimply Hill)

Moszna (Scrotum) - Probably from a family name of early immigrants: Mosce or Moschin

Browarek (Little Brewery) - Śląskie

Zimna Wódka (Cold Vodka) - Opolskie

Biały Kał (White feces) - changed to Białykal in 1999

Stolec (Stool) - Dolnośląskie, this Old-Polish word "stolec" means a throne.

Kałowice (Feces...) - near Wrocław

Suche-Cipki (Dry-Pussies) near Poronin (village Suche, hamlet Cipki). Request for name change was denied in 2009 because Gmina thinks that it has other pressing issues to spend money on. No one knows where the name Cipki came from, but it is possible that it came with the name of the first settlers, as in "ten Cipek", "te małe Cipki". The locals do not laugh, because they got used to it.

Tumidaj (Give it to me here). A small village on £ódź - Wrocław highway is known for its inn, where Madam Walewska and Napoleon supposedly kept their secret rendezvous. To make it more interesting there are also "Baby" (Women) and "Baby-Towarzystwo" (Women-Camaraderie) nearby.

Koniec Świata (The end of the World) - Wielkopolska (near village Głuszyna)

Koniec (The End) - (Roztocze National Park, near Narol).

Language / Unique names of cities/town/villages in Poland [58]

Swornegacie (German: Swornigatz, Kashubian: Swórnëgace), Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodship. Modern Poles like to joke about this name, because it sounds like "tight long johns" or "tight underpants". Actually the name means something else.

Various spellings found in old documents:
Swornigac - 1272
Swornigat - 1275
Swornigacz - 1303
Sworngatz - 1354, 1382
Swornegacz - 1382, 1400
Sfornegac - 1653
Swornogac - 1664

In Old-Polish the word "sworny" means "compliant", "swora" once meant "a leash", "sworka" - "a union, connection, relationship", "sworność" - "unanimity, consensus". From the Old-Polish "swora" comes "sworzeń" - a pin, used to connect rotating parts of machines, as well as "zawór" (valve), "zawartość" (content), "zwornik" (fulcrum).

"Gać" means fascine, bundles of willow twigs, and also a dam or a dike. "Gacić" also meant to pad, to dress, to winterize lower part of a hut using various materials - such as moss or straw. The name Swornegacie can be thus variously explained as "locked dikes", an inlet between two lakes, or an isthmus - but definitely not "tight long johns".

The villages of the Chojnice Region are surrounded by "Bory Tucholskie", "Tuchola Forests". Many lakes of various size traditionally supported fresh water fishing.

Language / Unique names of cities/town/villages in Poland [58]


Exactly. It is not Brudno, but Brodno. It has the same root as Brodnica, both place names stemming from a word "bród" - "a river ford".

wola, in latin "libera villa" or "libertas" - a settlement established under a foundation of "wolnizna", which means that its settlers could use the land for some number of years free of charge. Depending on the conditions in the area being settled "wolnizna" could take up to 20 years. During that time the settlers had to be built cottages, often the church, and - above all - clear the assigned area, or dry it up, so it will be suitable for agriculture.

There are 10 villages "Wola" in Poland. But there are also about 100 place names or so, with an adjective preceding or following the name "wola", such as "Żelazowa Wola" - a birthplace of Frederic Chopin. The adjective usually indicates an owner of the settlement, or a name of original village where the settlers came from - such as "Zduńska Wola" (from Zduny) - but it may also mean something else.

Among many interesting "wola" names there are:
Boża Wola
Kotowa Wola
Kozia Wola
Wola Węgierska
Żabia Wola
Check the wikipedia: pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wola

Language / Does anyone feel that they are not normal for learning Polish? No Polish girlfriend etc. [12]


People get fascinated by other cultures quite often. Listen to this:


From a book "Polonia, and the Man Who Saw God", by Ansara Ali, 1995.
Of Indian parentage, he grew up in Trinidad, but he has since lived in India, England, New York, Toronto, Florida and American Rockies. (...) He gave up journalism to see the world and spent the next ten years of his life "seeing the world" in a taxi.

"But let me say in all sincerity that of all the people I have met under the roof of my taxi, none fascinated me more than these same Poles."

So he decided to write a book about Poles.

Yes, the book has some trivial sections, and he sees Poland quite shallowly at times - although probably no shallower than some "plastic Poles" do, and the book is not a classic, and it will never be such, but the man has to be commended for his passion and courage. And for his sense of humor. Some of his scenes are full of action and are really funny.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


I often insert "translated from (...link follows)", but this time I forgot about it.

Your suggestion of using qualified quotes is a good one.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]

I did not know that translating the excerpts from Polish sources is prohibited here. I have been doing it all along - translating both fragments, as well as full articles from Polish to English. And I always provide links to the Polish sources so people can verify the text if they want to.

No, there are no links in English to the pieces I translated.

News / Poland Parliament elections in October 2011 [944]


Conspiracy theories abound:

News / Reorganization of Polish special forces. Strong deterrence forces needed in Poland? [19]

Far from being overly enthusiastic about the role and the contribution of Poles to ISAF effort in Afghanistan I think credit needs to be given where credit is due. The current, 9th, rotation of Polish Military Contingent (PKW) seems to be quite busy on many fronts.

Bases are empty most of the time; anything on wheels rolls out daily. Intelligence (SWW) and counterespionage (SKW) services are effective again (after dissolution of WSI in 2006 several first PKW rotations were left completely blind) and provide very useful information to the troops, especially to special operation forces JW Grom and JW Komandosów. Rumors of favoritism and of unhealthy ambitions seem to be thing of the past, and both formations are simply too busy doing what they suppose to do. Equipment is much better and surveillance "eye on the sky" quite effective. The core of the troops, 17th Wielkopolska Brigade, is a well trained modern unit. And last but not least - their commander, Brig. Gen. Sławomir Wojciechowski deserves good credit too.

Early this spring a commander of TF-50, made up of the soldiers from JW Komandosów and JW Formoza (I think), was awarded the American Meritorious Service Medal. They do not give medals for nothing. TF-50 participated in numerous combat operations during their deployment, including several catches from the Joint Prioritized Effects List.

Just an old random note I found somewhere:

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

komprymacja.

Re-discovered by a certain statesman, a leader of a certain opposition party in Poland.
Fantastic!
PWN dictionary: ''proces mający na celu zmniejszenie rozmiarów czegoś poprzez ścieśnienie lub redukcję elementów''.

In English the word "comprimation" seem to be very obscure. Superficial fast Google search led me only to some technical jargon. It relates to some specific - data or image - compression techniques but I am not sure what exactly is a difference between compression and comprimation. It is apparently of German origin, and in German these two words supposedly mean two different things. I would venture my guess: As in Polish - comprimation can mean reduction in size, or number of elements, but also thinning or decimation..