In case you missed that moment in history, it’s been over 25 years since Poland transformed quickly and successfully from a communist regime into a Democratic republic. Our parents and grandparents experienced the severe repercussions of a failed attempt to put the noble foundations of Marx and Engels into practice by violent imposition. And so, majority of Poles actually hate as little as the mention of communism.
Because there are so many ways to eat potatoes! Boiled and sprinkled with fresh dill, accompanying kotlet; baked and topped with a wild mushroom creamy sauce; made into a savory pancake and covered in goulash; pierogi, kopytka, pyzy — how could anyone ever get bored of this variety?
Poland is the ninth biggest country in Europe, both in terms of population and territory. Its area is only slightly smaller than Germany’s and bigger than the UK or Italy’s.
Polish turbulent history did affect the country’s economy, but today Poland is one of the fastest-growing countries in Central Europe, with quality education, stable markets and strong foreign investments. Relative poverty still touches about 10% of the population, but this figure is similar to relative poverty levels of any other developed nation.
There are 38 million people in Poland and Warsaw’s population is less than 2 million. So next time you meet someone from Poland, don’t just ask “Oh, from Warsaw,?” because that’s the only Polish city you’ve ever heard of. There’s a huge chance the Pole in front of you is one of those 36 million who live elsewhere.
While farmlands and forests cover 90% of Polish territory, the majority of Polish population lives in cities and towns. We don’t each own a pet donkey, but most of us have a relative with a piece of land and we love spending weekends with them surrounded by fields and forests.
We don’t start our day with a shot of vodka for breakfast. Yes, we are proud of how good Polish vodka is, especially that it’s so cheap. And yes, we drink a lot of vodka when we do drink and are proud of how much we can withstand its effects. But, seriously, we really only drink on occasion.
Almost 800 km of seashore and 3 major mountain chains (Carpathian, Sudet and Świętokrzyskie) divided into 44 ranges, exactly. Where you imagined ice-deserts, there are diverse landscapes. Moving sand dunes in the Pomerania region are a curiosity on European scale. We call Masuria “The land of one thousand lakes,” just because there are so many. Poland also has the only Central-European desert, Pustynia Błędowska. There are wetlands in Biebrzański National Park, gorges in Ojcowski, and islands in Woliński.
Polish pronunciation may not be easy overall, but this particular sentence is a tongue-twister, hard to pronounce even for native Poles. Polish language uses many consonants, but when they are grouped they correspond to a single sound, which means that you don’t have to pronounce every single letter. For example, “sz” is pronounces like “sh”, “cz” like “ch”, “rz” more or less like “j” in the French “je t’aime.” Sounds easier, doesn’t it?
Stare Miasto or Old Town, the center of every major city, is surrounded by kamienice, some of which are 700 years old. These beautiful residential buildings are painted in bright colors and decorated with fantastical carvings and sculptures — just look for images of Poznań, Wrocław, or Kraków. Polish cities are testimony to centuries of history. Toruń is full of gothic architecture; Malbork has the biggest in Europe brick-built medieval castle; Gniezno a cathedral from 1170. And all Polish cities are green with parks and riversides.
My last name is Góralska, but my father’s is Góralski. This happens with all Polish last names that end with –ski/ska or –cka/cki (and a couple others). Last names with those endings work like adjectives and adjectives in Polish need to agree in gender with the noun. So the –ski ending is for a male, and –ska for female.
Many of the famous Poles are mistakenly thought to be of other nationality. Roman Polański, the movie director, is Polish. Frederic Chopin, created music in Paris, but was born and grew up in Poland. Maria Skłodowska-Curie married a French scientist and worked in France. Joseph Conrad was a Pole (his real name was Józef Konrad Korzeniowski) and he didn’t even master English until he was in his 20s. Nicolaus Copernicus, the guy who first discovered that the sun doesn’t go around the Earth, but the other way round — Polish too! 