Archive for June, 2009
Polish Possessive Pronouns – are they really that difficult? Posted by Anna on Jun 30, 2009
Are Polish possessive pronouns really that difficult? I need an honest opinion here. I have always thought they were one of those relatively straightforward bits in our convoluted language. But it turns out I might have been either mistaken or overly optimistic. Yesterday I was asked this very complicated question: Ok, so you say “moja…
Seen in Poland – Picture Post Posted by Anna on Jun 27, 2009
As you know I’ve traveling around Poland a bit lately. It’s been fun. I got to see all sorts of very interesting things. Or not so interesting things, which for some reason stuck in my head anyway. And I dutifully took pictures of it all. Actually, speaking of pictures, I realized that we’ve never had…
Midsummer – Polish Style Posted by Anna on Jun 24, 2009
This celebration technically took place yesterday, but I’ve been so busy celebrating Midsummer in all its many incarnations since last week, that the fact that I mentioned absolutely nothing about it on the blog has simply escaped my attention. I beg your forgiveness, and I promise we’ll do better next year, OK? In the meantime…
When a Free Sample Isn’t Free Posted by Anna on Jun 22, 2009
There are many things that I love about Poland, but there are also many others that irritate me to no end (post office – Poczta Polska is just one of them). Another one of those things that get me really cranky are free samples that aren’t free. But let’s start from the beginning. I was…
Namedays Posted by Anna on Jun 18, 2009
Imieniny. I’m sure that anyone who has spent more than five minutes (ok, five days) in Poland is familiar, even if only vaguely, with this glorious occasion. The custom of celebrating namedays (imieniny) is not unique to Poland (some other countries do it, too), but I think only in Poland imieniny are taken so seriously…
Deadly Weekend on the Roads Posted by Anna on Jun 15, 2009
Much can be said about Polish roads and Polish drivers and none of good, unfortunately. Until last weekend I had thought those were nasty exaggerations, at least for the most part. I drive from time to time in Gdańsk and while it can be scary, it’s certainly not suicidal. Last weekend, however, has totally changed…
Concise Polish Grammar – A Handbook for Foreigners – book review Posted by Anna on Jun 12, 2009
I finally managed to get my hands on “Concise Polish Grammar – A Handbook for Foreigners” by Magdalena Foland-Kugler (ISBN 978-83-89913-51-7) published by Exlibris. I haven’t read this book from cover to cover yet, just briefly paged through the sections that interested me the most. What immediately jumped out at me is the fact that…