You know what? This week, little blog is ONE YEAR OLD! Happy Birthday Polish Blog! Well, technically, my first post appeared on May 11, 2008, but I just can’t wait till tomorrow!

I must say this has been an interesting year. Sometimes challenging, sometimes lost in translation, sometimes controversial, but never boring. At least it hasn’t been boring for me, because you, as my readers, might have a different opinion.

What surprised me was that even with the proliferation of Polish- and Poland-themed blogs on the internet, this one still managed to find a more or less dedicated following. And as you all know, the competition is fierce, there are some truly excellent “Polish” blogs out there. And here Anna bows towards Polandian.

So, we are one year old and I’m sitting here (no cake, and no candles) realizing that I haven’t covered even one measly percent of all those topics I set out to write about. Maybe 0.5% and that’s still a very generous estimate. Which means we have a lot of work ahead of us still. And a lot of new blog posts. Which hopefully, you will have as much fun reading as I will have writing.

So, Happy 1st Birthday Polish Blog! Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji pierwszych urodzin!

Sto lat, sto lat, niech żyje, żyje nam!!!
Sto lat, sto lat, niech żyje, żyje nam!!!
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech żyje, żyje nam,
Niech żyje nam!!!

You know what this is, right? It’s a traditional Polish song sung at birthdays and other joyous occasions. A bit like “Happy Birthday” but more neutral in meaning, because birthdays aren’t actually mentioned in it. And as such, you can sing it whenever the circumstances demand a bit of happy, drunken cheer.

Here’s what it sounds like, courtesy of the Polish-American Cultural Center in Philadelphia.

And to all my readers who are mothers and live in countries that celebrate Mother’s Day today – Najlepsze życzenia z okazji Dnia Matki!

We’ll celebrate Mother’s Day again the Polish way in a few weeks. We do it on May 26th over here.

🙂