Life / What it means to be Polish or How to be Polish? [14]

So...I'm Polish(-American). From what I could gather, my great-great-grandparents and great-grandfather came from Poland, also I'm apparently part of the Odrowąż clan (may do a separate post inquiring about that). Being third generational American, however, has robbed me of my sense of connection to Poland. I also married into a Filipino family recently, who carry with them a rich culture, which is just fantastic; however I also want to integrate and learn more about Polish tradition and customs, so I can pass down my heritage as well (which I didn't get to grow up with). So where do I start? How do I proceed? At age 30, learning the Polish language is probably out of the question, being apparently one of the most difficult languages for a native English speaker to learn. What customs can I learn and adopt? Wifey already has in mind making a sauerkraut recipe of hers a household staple, but what other Polish cuisines can I introduce (she doesn't eat beef or pork)? As Filipinos adopted El Dia de los Muertos from Spain and Mexico, does Poland also have it's own "Day of the Dead" customs? Anything and Everything, What is it and What does it mean,et cetera.

Genealogy / What it means to be Odrowąż? [14]

In a similar thread, I was asking about how to be Polish, how to reclaim my ancestry, and not let it fall into obscurity. But what about my clan (or ród/ródy) of Odrowąż? I could be breaking my own sense of privacy, by my last name is a (Americanized) variant of Pękalski, apparently adopted into Odrowąż 1302. So what should that mean to me? Should I feel a deeper connection to figures such as Saint Hyacinth (or Jacek Odrowąż)? I could read up more on such notable members of the ródy, but what else? My only other idea is embracing the Odrowąż coat of arms/herb. Perhaps one or two wall art hang ups, especially in the baby room (if any). Little Polish flag flapping outside our home (with or without herb) might be a bit much or embarrassing for Wifey (fair enough, lol). With all that said, I turn it to all of you now: How do I make Odrowąż relevant to my life and the life of my new family?

(reminder: wife is Filipina)

Genealogy / Double last names? - Zabawa, Czermak, & Zabawa Czermak? [10]

So I was building up my genealogy, bit by bit, and recently looked into my paternal Grandpa's mother's family. Thank heaven for newspapers, LOL! I was able to find her six siblings, mother, and short mention of her father Joseph. Find a grave helped me further to find her mother's grave with her father's name as well:

DROGI MAŻ I OJCIEC
JOZEF F.

Here is my new conundrum. My great-great grandmother's name is Mary Zabawa Czermak, naturally her husband's name is Josef F. Czermak. Using familysearch.com next, I found immigration record of Jozef, but with a second person's name: "Jan Zabawa",described as "uncle" (seems from jis mother's side) The Jozef I'm looking at was 15 at the time, by the way.

So would my great-great-grandmother have received Zabawa as a middle or last name in addition to Czermak by marrying my great-great-grandfather? Or is this a matter of coincidence that her middle name is the same as Jan's last name, regardless whether related, marriage or otherwise?

Life / "Weird" "Strange" "Unique" Polish Customs [36]

Near the beginning I signed up, I posted a thread inquiring on "How to be Polish", but it did not get a lot of responses. I'm going to try again, using a new title, and a new format, to better explain what I'm looking for. What things do people in Poland do which are considered unique to, say, the West? Bear with me. Maybe not specifically in Poland, but Eastern Europe maybe. And my Filipina wife's culture, there's this traditional idea that unmarried couples should not flip cooked fish, otherwise they will never get married (don't mind the superstition). In Siberia, I hear that people tie ribbons to lower branches of trees as an act of prayer. Just recently, I was asking my grandfather where he got holding onto Silver for on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight came from, and he not only told me the origin being from his father, but also informed me of the importance of bread, butter, and whiskey/vodka as traditional elements an Eastern European tradition.

What other customs and traditions are common among Polish people and their neighboring countries?

Genealogy / Zofia Bekasz (Pękalska) [3]

I am reaching out to living relatives of a Zofia Bekasz, nee Pękalska, who may be the older sister of my Great-great-grandfather (Austria/Poland). I'd love to find her grave, proven to be a challenge, as well as that of her parents and other immediate relatives. Old photos and more information would be amazing!

Zofia Bekasz (Pękalska)
Birthdate: 1879
Death: 1924 (44-45)
Immediate Family:
Daughter of Jan Pękalski and Katarzyna Pękalska
Wife of Antoni Bekasz and Filip Biały
Mother of Paulina Głuc and Jan Jakub Biały