About Poland: Article 6

When discussing with my mother what I should or should not share next in these articles, she mentioned I haven’t talked much about the Polish culture. That simply will not do, so guess what this article’s about!
As a little warning to you, the readers who may have gotten used to my style of writing, I will probably change my flow quite a lot in the next 1000 words. In all frankness this will be more or less a list of things I took notice of while in Poland concerning the Polish people. I also feel I must preface all that will be said with the understanding that not everything stated here is fact, but will be doused with a lot of my perspective.

The first thing I noticed about Poland was that it is very similar to Minnesota. The weather, the greenness, the lakes, some of the trees, and all of the natural sounds reminded me of being home. I do know that there are mountains in the southern portion of Poland, but as I was mostly in the northern part I never saw them. Where I was is slightly hilly, slightly flat, woodsy in some areas, and a lot of fields and space in between some big cities.

There was definitely more of a European “feel” in the bigger dwelling areas. Though, that is an obvious observation, it’s what it is. A mixture between old fancy buildings and blocky mass housing dressed in beiges, muted reds, and highlights of teals, blues, greens, and yellows, lined the streets that made no sense to me. Many of these streets and almost all the parking lots were paved with cobblestone (older areas) or these interesting puzzle like bricks. One of the translators told me that things were paved this way because it was more work, but less damaging/destructive to pull up a few “puzzle” pieces than tear up a whole road if maintenance or below surface work needed to be done.

Speaking of roads, Polish driving can be quite scary. Speeding seems to be the norm everywhere, but in Poland there were more than a couple times where a driver would be going twice the speed limit easily. The speeding isn’t the thing that scares me though. It’s the passing of cars that does. It’s not unusual to pass someone when there’s oncoming traffic. Supposedly the rule is that the passer drives down the middle while the other vehicles cradle the shoulder. I got used to this driving by the end of the month, but my first few experiences on the road made me want to piddle my pants.

As mentioned in a previous writing, parks are a part of every city I visited. They were usually situated near some sort of water. Each had an amphitheater. Some were dirty and unkempt; while others were gorgeous, spacious, and obviously well kept.
One of my favorite parts of Bydgoszcz is a bridge that crosses either the Brda or Vistula river (I forget which one). It is a tradition that couples that have gotten married bring a lock with their name or initials plus a date etched into it. They then lock it on the gate like sides of the bridge and throw their keys into the river below. There is a great mixture of typical and specially made locks crowding the gates. It’s beautiful.

A few articles ago, I mentioned a typical breakfast (one with bread, cheese, sandwich spreads, meats, tomatoes and cucumbers). Well, during breakfasts I got to use to eating slightly big, because lunches never came until about 2pm. Lunches are their biggest meal of the day. It is usually a hot meal with either meat, rice or potatoes, and some sort of veggie, or a soup followed by some sort of hot dish/casserole. Most of the food was a variation of something I would have in America, but were certain meals that were really different for me. One of the first lunches I was given was hot rice covered in applesauce and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It wasn’t my favorite thing in the world, but it wasn’t too bad. Besides having more cabbage and coleslaw than I’ve ever had before, the only other odd meal to me was their enjoyment of fruit/berry soups (usually blueberry) and fruit/berry sauces that they put over rice.

I don’t think there was one day with the Siech family where there wasn’t at least one or two other people joining us for a meal or tea. Eating together as family and friends was evidently important. I do not know if this is a truth across the board for the Polish people or if it just was for the Polish Christians I met. There were usually people over for a tea/coffee break that happens between lunch and supper (which is either left-overs or the same as breakfast). A menagerie of treats usually accompanied tea and coffee. There could be little chocolates, different types of cakes, wafers with jam inside, these sugar puff things (really sweet), and hard cookies… I never had a soft cookie there.
Here are some other thoughts concerning Poland.

I dislike their bathrooms… especially old ones. There are windows in almost all of the doors, even ones to the shower. Even though they have a film on them or are rippled to conceal, it is still disconcerting considering that someone can tell you’re in there . Some of their toilets would only flush only once in a while, while others, from the war eras, had a “shelf” that would catch your waste, so you could look for worms in it. Gross.

 In dress, they are not that unusual from America… though I may say that they are less modest than we are… at least we as in the Midwest. I saw more guys in speedos, underwear, and short shorts than I ever have in my life. See through shirts weren’t that uncommon either. I was pleasantly surprised, though, that going sans makeup was quite normal.

They are a pretty patriotic people; flags and the Polish blue and white colors were everywhere. I never heard any of the people disrespect Poland like I hear Americans do concerning the U.S. all the time.

Their language is difficult, especially since each word has a few different ending depending on the gender, tense, and quantity of what you are talking about. It is similar to Greek in that aspect. I am actually hoping to learn this language, mostly because I am ever hopeful and excited to go back.

There’s so much more to say about Poland, but there are many things I don’t know how to describe. Overall, Poland is filled with wonderful, friendly people, and I love them. I hope this helps put a little perspective to your thoughts of Poland.