It is impossible to know what real life is like in another country unless you live there. Even then, you only really know your own life. The problem quite simply is that there is nothing interesting for the writer or reader in describing uneventful, non-stimulating, routine parts of your life. Hence, automatic media bias. So, if anyone asks what I do in Poland, my general response starts 'well, nothing much ..." while I try to think what they might like to know. However, what does nothing mean?
My school day morning routine varies little. Today the highlights were:
1. Woke up when Basia's alarm went off at 6:00am. I am usually up before this to prepare for No. 3.
2. Given my morning instructions and got up.
3. Made tea for Basia and myself. This is normally followed by massaging Basia's feet, but I was late - see 1.
4. Prepared Basia's lunch. This was cottage cheese mixed with yoghurt, adding thyme and basil from the garden plus a few other things.
5. Collected cakes from the garage fridge - it is Basia's Name Day on Wednesday and she is celebrating today at the main school where she works.
6. Made Basia coffee for the journey.
7. Put lunch, cakes, coffee and other things she wanted to take to school in her car.
8. Waved goodbye about 7:00.
9. Made Basia's mum tea and coffee for myself.
10. Woke up Misia 7:20 and then soon after made sure she had actually got up.
11. Made Misia's breakfast/mid-morning snack: ham roll.
12. Took Basia's phonecall and reassured her that Misia was awake.
13. Drove Misia to school, 7:45 and then returned.
14. Since it was raining, decided to turn on the computer and check email, news and various Polish English language blogs, sometimes making minor comments.
15. Part way through this took Mika the dog for her walk - normally timed about 10:00.
16. Writing this, half thinking what to write to my cousin Pam in Australia, with whom I haven't communicated for years, but who sent me a nice reply email this morning.
Scintillating stuff - and that's just the highlights.
Here ends the campaign.
Monday, 6 September 2010
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Great Pictures of Warsaw
See AngloPolish Blog Warsaw Pictures for some really good pictures of Warsaw.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Dealing with Polish Flooding
With two extremely wet years in Poland, flooding has been a continuous news item. Whilst this is an appalling experience to go through, there are times when I can't help feel that some people have just ignored the obvious - building a house in a small hollow in a garden that turns out to act like a pond, for instance. However, what seems like good planning can go wrong. What do you do then?
I was considered silly when we first looked at our house in 2008. It was a normal, hot and dry summer, but I checked that the land sloped away from the house before taking any decision. There were two big thunderstorms after we had put down our deposit, which confirmed that the water ran away from us, down to houses near the road.
Through to May, 2009 we occupied the house and work in the garden proceeded. This is a view at the time.
Then the rain started in June. Despite all my forethought, the garden was flooding.
The problem was simply that when the fences were put in and the ground levelled, we were in a dip. The effect of the changed ground slope and its impact on water flow was not an issue I considered. I had already dealt with it and taken it off my mental checklist.
What to do? We don't want a regularly flooded garden. On the other hand, why automatically try and get rid of water when most summers we would want it. Indeed, since the house itself never seemed threatened, why be scared of water. So I decided to make a feature of the water - to create a layout which, when wet, would give us a water garden, but yet could cope with dry weather as well. I started to dig in spring this year.
In the photo below, there is a pond in the bottom right, designed as a water feature whatever the weather. The rest of the dug area is designed to fill with water during heavy rains. There is some further extension planned and we have a pump that can get of excess water. My theory that this will normally only be used a few times a year seems a bit of a joke at the moment.
2010 has also been extremely wet and this night picture shows the lawn flooded with water when the pump stopped working one night.
We recently got some plants for the 'stream' adding to the ones we had in the pond and you can now start to see what the water garden will look like when wet (after 36 hours of incessant rain and quite a bit of pumping).
Of course, having been a thought a bit crazy about worrying about flooding back in 2009, I am now thought to be a bit crazy about expecting Polish summers to be normally dry: my city ignorance, meteorologists and global warming being quoted at me. I wonder...
That's one part of waterlogging in the garden on the way to being sorted ...
I was considered silly when we first looked at our house in 2008. It was a normal, hot and dry summer, but I checked that the land sloped away from the house before taking any decision. There were two big thunderstorms after we had put down our deposit, which confirmed that the water ran away from us, down to houses near the road.
Through to May, 2009 we occupied the house and work in the garden proceeded. This is a view at the time.
Then the rain started in June. Despite all my forethought, the garden was flooding.
The problem was simply that when the fences were put in and the ground levelled, we were in a dip. The effect of the changed ground slope and its impact on water flow was not an issue I considered. I had already dealt with it and taken it off my mental checklist.
What to do? We don't want a regularly flooded garden. On the other hand, why automatically try and get rid of water when most summers we would want it. Indeed, since the house itself never seemed threatened, why be scared of water. So I decided to make a feature of the water - to create a layout which, when wet, would give us a water garden, but yet could cope with dry weather as well. I started to dig in spring this year.
In the photo below, there is a pond in the bottom right, designed as a water feature whatever the weather. The rest of the dug area is designed to fill with water during heavy rains. There is some further extension planned and we have a pump that can get of excess water. My theory that this will normally only be used a few times a year seems a bit of a joke at the moment.
2010 has also been extremely wet and this night picture shows the lawn flooded with water when the pump stopped working one night.
We recently got some plants for the 'stream' adding to the ones we had in the pond and you can now start to see what the water garden will look like when wet (after 36 hours of incessant rain and quite a bit of pumping).
 |
| From 2010 09 |
Of course, having been a thought a bit crazy about worrying about flooding back in 2009, I am now thought to be a bit crazy about expecting Polish summers to be normally dry: my city ignorance, meteorologists and global warming being quoted at me. I wonder...
That's one part of waterlogging in the garden on the way to being sorted ...
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Happy New School Year
1 September: the first day of a new year at school, so its time to get soppy and think how quickly children grow up and sentimentalise over old pictures. So here goes.
Misia this morning, now (aged 12) a young lady - she must be, she has her first proper bra for school.
So slip back: 1999, 1 year old.
In 2004:
2005, with Babcia Stella (my mother) in Necton, Norfolk
2006: in Jelonki, Warsaw, dressed for a wedding:
2007: modelling her first communion dress:
2009, in Gdansk:
Misia this morning, now (aged 12) a young lady - she must be, she has her first proper bra for school.
So slip back: 1999, 1 year old.
In 2004:
2005, with Babcia Stella (my mother) in Necton, Norfolk
2006: in Jelonki, Warsaw, dressed for a wedding:
2007: modelling her first communion dress:
2009, in Gdansk:
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Kabanos- Polish Manipulation of Wikipedia
Kabanos is in the news today, which started me thinking about writing something on my difficulty in knowing if I will like the ones on the supermarket shelf - sometimes excellent, but usually not. It was due to say something about them being "pork, fowl or just foul tasting" - salmon kabanosy are rather disappointing too - and the extent to which they are dry and/or smoked or not. I wasn't sure whether smoking was a standard feature, however, so I looked on Polish Wikipedia. However, this seemed to be incorrect and surprisingly short. I figured it was just my ignorance, but then I noticed that it was updated yesterday at the time when there are arguments about the Polish origin of Kabanosy. So I looked at the English version to see what it said: the difference was so extreme that I then looked at other languages (with the help of Google Translate).
The background is the attempt to make Kabanosy an EU registered Polish product, which helps protect producers from competition. I now strongly suspect that several Wikipedia versions, including Polish, have been rewritten in line with this application, omitting anything that might conflict with it. Google Translate gives the Polish version to be:
Kabanos - thin, long sausage, prepared with cured pork , carefully dried and smoked. The name comes from the Turkish word Kaban (commonly used also in the region of Białystok ), a hog.
Poles seek applicants for a determination Traditional Speciality Guaranteed for Kabanos.
Only pork? "Carefully dried and smoked"? Pull the other one ...
The English and Italian versions were last amended in April and are virtually identical to each other. The former is:
Kabanos (plural: kabanosy), also known as Kabana in Australia is an Eastern European sausage made of pork. They are most commonly dry to very dry in texture and smoky in flavour. Typically they are quite long - 30-60 cm (12-24 in) but very thin, with a diameter of around 2 centimetres (0.79 in), giving them a very characteristic appearance.
The name comes from the Turkish term (later on also used in Ukraine and some parts of Eastern Europe) "kaban", which means hog (male pig). A similar product is known as cabanossi elsewhere in Europe.
Kabanos is often seasoned only with pepper. Currently, kabanos (the type sold in many delis) is made of pork. Up until recently kabanos was made of different meats, including horse, beef and lamb. Although these kabanos variants can be found in rural parts of Poland, the majority of kabanos remain a pork product. Kabanos, unlike other meats such as sausage, are typically eaten alone as an appetizer, and often served with cheese.
Versions made of turkey are a staple in kosher meat markets and delicatessens.
Kabanos are commonly used as hiking food because they do not spoil as quickly as many other sausages.
The German version was also updated this month and has kabanos as a solely Polish product, but is more informative than the Polish version. The Germans oppose the Polish traditional product proposal as they also claim it as one of their sausages, but there is no reference to a German product. A reference to Pan Tadeusz suggests a Polish source. It is difficult not to suspect judicious editing here too.
Kabanos (plural: Kabanosy) is the name of a traditional Polish sausage , from the marinated pork and prepared hot smoked is. A Kabanos is relatively thin and usually has a length of about 70-80 cm. For smoking it is in the middle hanging on a pole, so there are two approximately 35-40 cm long sections with adjacent ends which are connected by an arch.
The meat for Kabanosy is from specially fattened Polish pigs. Kabanosy stand out among others by their brittleness at the same time, relatively high fat content. In its current form, the sausages were in the 1920s in Poland developed. In the EU request, is to register as a TSG before.
The name "Kabanosy" refers to the much older, in northeastern Poland and Lithuania expressed kaban use for mainly with potatoes fattened pig, which is particularly lean meat mixed. The term is also found in Adam Mickiewicz - such as in Pan Tadeusz (1834) - and is probably South East origin.
You can check the Israeli and Swedish versions for yourselves.
The English version much more reflects reality in Polish shops, but may need updating if the EU decides that it is a Polish traditional product made of pork. If that happens, it will also be interesting to see if the Polish authorities start legal proceedings against the Polish kabanosy producers who will not then be making kabanosy. Getting them "carefully dried and smoked" will presumably be beyond anyone's powers though.
The background is the attempt to make Kabanosy an EU registered Polish product, which helps protect producers from competition. I now strongly suspect that several Wikipedia versions, including Polish, have been rewritten in line with this application, omitting anything that might conflict with it. Google Translate gives the Polish version to be:
Kabanos - thin, long sausage, prepared with cured pork , carefully dried and smoked. The name comes from the Turkish word Kaban (commonly used also in the region of Białystok ), a hog.
Poles seek applicants for a determination Traditional Speciality Guaranteed for Kabanos.
Only pork? "Carefully dried and smoked"? Pull the other one ...
The English and Italian versions were last amended in April and are virtually identical to each other. The former is:
Kabanos (plural: kabanosy), also known as Kabana in Australia is an Eastern European sausage made of pork. They are most commonly dry to very dry in texture and smoky in flavour. Typically they are quite long - 30-60 cm (12-24 in) but very thin, with a diameter of around 2 centimetres (0.79 in), giving them a very characteristic appearance.
The name comes from the Turkish term (later on also used in Ukraine and some parts of Eastern Europe) "kaban", which means hog (male pig). A similar product is known as cabanossi elsewhere in Europe.
Kabanos is often seasoned only with pepper. Currently, kabanos (the type sold in many delis) is made of pork. Up until recently kabanos was made of different meats, including horse, beef and lamb. Although these kabanos variants can be found in rural parts of Poland, the majority of kabanos remain a pork product. Kabanos, unlike other meats such as sausage, are typically eaten alone as an appetizer, and often served with cheese.
Versions made of turkey are a staple in kosher meat markets and delicatessens.
Kabanos are commonly used as hiking food because they do not spoil as quickly as many other sausages.
The German version was also updated this month and has kabanos as a solely Polish product, but is more informative than the Polish version. The Germans oppose the Polish traditional product proposal as they also claim it as one of their sausages, but there is no reference to a German product. A reference to Pan Tadeusz suggests a Polish source. It is difficult not to suspect judicious editing here too.
Kabanos (plural: Kabanosy) is the name of a traditional Polish sausage , from the marinated pork and prepared hot smoked is. A Kabanos is relatively thin and usually has a length of about 70-80 cm. For smoking it is in the middle hanging on a pole, so there are two approximately 35-40 cm long sections with adjacent ends which are connected by an arch.
The meat for Kabanosy is from specially fattened Polish pigs. Kabanosy stand out among others by their brittleness at the same time, relatively high fat content. In its current form, the sausages were in the 1920s in Poland developed. In the EU request, is to register as a TSG before.
The name "Kabanosy" refers to the much older, in northeastern Poland and Lithuania expressed kaban use for mainly with potatoes fattened pig, which is particularly lean meat mixed. The term is also found in Adam Mickiewicz - such as in Pan Tadeusz (1834) - and is probably South East origin.
You can check the Israeli and Swedish versions for yourselves.
The English version much more reflects reality in Polish shops, but may need updating if the EU decides that it is a Polish traditional product made of pork. If that happens, it will also be interesting to see if the Polish authorities start legal proceedings against the Polish kabanosy producers who will not then be making kabanosy. Getting them "carefully dried and smoked" will presumably be beyond anyone's powers though.
Monday, 30 August 2010
Polish Building Sites in Bloom
At the end of July, the colour of the season was white. The local pair of white storks can just be seen in the top right hand corner of the photo.
Perhaps it doesn't look like a building site, but the ground is part of the Belina Estate in Młochów (see www.belina.pl). However, building has been in abeyance after completion of the first phase of development at the end of 2008, just in time to miss the housing boom and get caught by its collapse. Houses can be seen below.
.
Last year, the earth from building work piled to the left were more obvious and host to a bright display of red poppies.
To be honest, the colour of the season over the last few days has been closer to grey, but when the sun shone earlier last week it was glorious yellow.
I think the predominant flower is called goldenrod, but I could be quite wrong. There are other yellow flowers in abundance, though.
These pictures were taken when walking down Middle Road (ul. Środkowa) in Rusieć, pronounced Rooshets. Calling this a 'building site' is a slight exaggeration, although it all seems to be land ready and waiting for private house building. There are already a scattering of houses built and in the process of being built. Some are visible below.
 |
| From 2010 07 |
Perhaps it doesn't look like a building site, but the ground is part of the Belina Estate in Młochów (see www.belina.pl). However, building has been in abeyance after completion of the first phase of development at the end of 2008, just in time to miss the housing boom and get caught by its collapse. Houses can be seen below.
.Last year, the earth from building work piled to the left were more obvious and host to a bright display of red poppies.
 |
| From 2009 06 Mlochow |
To be honest, the colour of the season over the last few days has been closer to grey, but when the sun shone earlier last week it was glorious yellow.
 |
| From 2010 08 |
I think the predominant flower is called goldenrod, but I could be quite wrong. There are other yellow flowers in abundance, though.
These pictures were taken when walking down Middle Road (ul. Środkowa) in Rusieć, pronounced Rooshets. Calling this a 'building site' is a slight exaggeration, although it all seems to be land ready and waiting for private house building. There are already a scattering of houses built and in the process of being built. Some are visible below.
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Smolensk Plane Crash Fiasco
I don't want to get involved in political comment: I have never had the sympathy or understanding to be able to decide on other people's heartfelt responses. However, strong elements of farce are starting to emerge.
I don't trust opinion polls. They are often wrong for a very wide range of reasons, not least respondent unreliability and the difficulty of getting simple unbiased questions. This is made worse by what we see in the news. The polling company produces a press notice and summary designed to be interesting: they want clients to pay for the company's output. The press notice is then edited by journalists, if only for space reasons, who exaggerate the interest element, whilst often failing to understand what the results mean and with no idea how to present it. Finally headline writers come in with the task of making the whole item worth reading or listening to.
thenews.pl - smolensk-cross -the president should decide is an example of this. The headline says the Polish president should decide/have the final say (70% of people polled), with this as the headline and put in bold in the first paragraph. The following text has about 67% for the Warsaw President, 55% for the families and 53% for the church. Since this gives us 247% of pollsters' having an opinion, it is clear that something has gone wrong.
My guess is that individual people polled have chosen several options out of a list they are given in the poll. The question may well have been about which one should make the final choice, but the result shows clearly that there should not be one person, but there should be a representative group ie that the Polish President, etc should not be allowed to decide on his own. The article should really about who should be represented in the group deciding on the fate of the cross. I don't know whether it was the polling company or the journalists who did not expect this or who simply did not think it interesting enough. However, competent journalism should tell us this, rather than leaving us to figure out what they are talking about. The headline is one of those that completely fails to tell the truth, whilst not telling a single lie: the sign of a great headline writer, but the article creates it in this case.
Those of you used to translations of Polish into English might have expected me to add the incompetence of translation into the list of reasons for resulting inanities. However, thenews.pl is exceptional in normally having excellent English. The author of the English version has his initials at the bottom so you can trace the competent translators. Although I only looked when a short period of low competence - holidays? - was followed by good English, I think it was pg who particularly impressed me:, indeed, sufficient to wonder if he was English.
I don't trust opinion polls. They are often wrong for a very wide range of reasons, not least respondent unreliability and the difficulty of getting simple unbiased questions. This is made worse by what we see in the news. The polling company produces a press notice and summary designed to be interesting: they want clients to pay for the company's output. The press notice is then edited by journalists, if only for space reasons, who exaggerate the interest element, whilst often failing to understand what the results mean and with no idea how to present it. Finally headline writers come in with the task of making the whole item worth reading or listening to.
thenews.pl - smolensk-cross -the president should decide is an example of this. The headline says the Polish president should decide/have the final say (70% of people polled), with this as the headline and put in bold in the first paragraph. The following text has about 67% for the Warsaw President, 55% for the families and 53% for the church. Since this gives us 247% of pollsters' having an opinion, it is clear that something has gone wrong.
My guess is that individual people polled have chosen several options out of a list they are given in the poll. The question may well have been about which one should make the final choice, but the result shows clearly that there should not be one person, but there should be a representative group ie that the Polish President, etc should not be allowed to decide on his own. The article should really about who should be represented in the group deciding on the fate of the cross. I don't know whether it was the polling company or the journalists who did not expect this or who simply did not think it interesting enough. However, competent journalism should tell us this, rather than leaving us to figure out what they are talking about. The headline is one of those that completely fails to tell the truth, whilst not telling a single lie: the sign of a great headline writer, but the article creates it in this case.
Those of you used to translations of Polish into English might have expected me to add the incompetence of translation into the list of reasons for resulting inanities. However, thenews.pl is exceptional in normally having excellent English. The author of the English version has his initials at the bottom so you can trace the competent translators. Although I only looked when a short period of low competence - holidays? - was followed by good English, I think it was pg who particularly impressed me:, indeed, sufficient to wonder if he was English.
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