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Don’t get fooled tomorrow – Prima Aprilis is coming! Posted by on Mar 31, 2016 in Culture

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There’s this special day once in a year when you need to watch yourself and constantly be making sure you don’t get pranged. Who knows, maybe in some cases you can’t even trust yourself as during this particular day almost anything is possible. You probably already know what I’m talking about – April Fools’ Day! What does it look like in Poland? April Fools’ Day is called as Prima Aprillis in Poland. It is celebrated on April 1st. Once in Poland the government changed their decision to arrange the anti-Turkish alliance with Leopid I that was signed on April 1st, 1693 was pre-poned to 31st of March because they though on the Fools’ Day things would take a different turn. 

April-Fools-wishes

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The traditions and the customs (tradycje i zwyczaje) are followed as same as other countries. It is a day full of jokes and fun (jest to dzień pełen żartów i zabawy) for the people of Poland. They plan for huge hoax stories to fool the media, public institutions and government by fooling them until the situation gets more serious. People love to play pranks on their friends, relatives and also on strangers.

So…what to expect? Forget about newspapers, news on the Internet, on TV, in radio etc. – most of the headlines are fake (fałszywe).  If given something to eat, examine it closely. If you have a chance, make your friend eat it first:). That rule applies to drink also! If you have roommates – check twice every single thing you normally use without hesitation, poking them with broom or other objects might look weird, but it might save your life. Have Fun! Even if you’re tricked, don’t be mad for too long and appreciate your friends’ jokes.

And then…take revenge (zemścij się/zemsta)! You can make your own plan in advance or right after you get pranged (don’t forget about your smile, right after the joke is made on you – visible signs of revenge can make your friends careful!)

Happy Prima Aprilis!!!

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About the Author: Kasia

My name is Kasia Scontsas. I grew near Lublin, Poland and moved to Warsaw to study International Business. I have passion for languages: any languages! Currently I live in New Hampshire. I enjoy skiing, kayaking, biking and paddle boarding. My husband speaks a little Polish, but our daughters are fluent in it! I wanted to make sure that they can communicate with their Polish relatives in our native language. Teaching them Polish since they were born was the best thing I could have given them! I have been writing about learning Polish language and culture for Transparent Language’s Polish Blog since 2010.