Christmas in Poland



Carp - one of the traditional Christmas Eve's dishes



Perhaps the most important holiday in Poland is Christmas.  Many customs, ceremonies and beliefs centre around Christmas Eve (24 December), a special day in Polish homes. An important element contributing to its atmosphere are the Christmas decorations, such as Christmas tree. Traditionally, Christmas Eve dinner begins when the first star appears in the sky. First, the family wish one another all the best for the new year and, as a sign of reconciliation, love, friendship and peace, share 'opłatek' (Christmas wafer symbolising holy bread). The Christmas Eve dinner is made of twelve dishes. As it is the last day of Advent, there is no meat. This is also a day when Santa Claus is visiting Polish homes.

'opłatek'

Christmas fair





A crib in Torun (a scene presenting the Nativity of Jesus baby)



Poland does not have, as many people think, an extremely cold climate. Summers can be very hot (up to 35° C) and humid, while in winter it can be very cold, even - 20° C, but it is not very usual. The normal winter temperature is about – 5° C and usually there is a lot of snow. Unfortunately winter days are not very sunny and they are very short – at 4 o’clock in the afternoon in December it is completely dark!

Żubr – the Polish bison

English Christmas Cakes

The students of IES Alarnes with the help of the English Department organised a Christmas tasting of English cakes. It lasted a few last days before the Christmas break. The students made the cakes themselves using original English recipes in English and they shared their pies and pastries with other students and the whole school’s staff.

The English Department and its students wish you

Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year

full of surprises and unforgettable moments!

Halloween

Halloween

The tradition of Halloween does not come from the United States as most people think. It has Celtic origins - it was celebrated by Celtic tribes from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The name of the festival comes from “All Hallows” (“hallowed” = “holy” = “saint”), which was eventually contracted into “Hallow-e’en” or the modern “Halloween.” Halloween was the beginning of winter or Dark Half of the Year. Being “between” seasons it was (and is) considered a very magical time, when the dead walk among the living and the borders between the worlds are blurred. From 31 October to 2 November it was a time of no-time. Celtic society, like all early societies, was highly structured and organised, everyone knew their place. However, during the three magical days the social order was abolished. People did crazy things, men would dress as women and women as men and children would knock on neighbours’ doors for food and treats in a way that we still find today in trick-or-treating. The Druids, Celtic priests made contact with the spirits of the dead. That is why the typical images of Halloween are ghosts, skulls and skeletons.

Jack O'Lantern

The hollowed out pumpkin, popularly associated with Halloween is called Jack O´Lantern and is related to the Irish legend of the Stingy Jack. As the story goes, “Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Once the Devil climbed up the apple tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. The Devil was then unable to get down the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down. Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was too mean and too cruel, and had led a miserable and worthless life on earth. He was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out turnip, one of his favourite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his ‘Jack O'Lantern’.”

On all Hallow's eve (Halloween), the Irish hollowed out vegetables like turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns.

Have you ever been to a Halloween party?

Have you ever dressed up as a ghost or a different horrific creature?

The Polish School Year

The School Year in Poland begins on 1 September and ends on 24 June. There are 4 holiday periods: Christmas holidays, winter holidays (2 weeks in January or February depending on the region – see below), Easter holidays and summer holidays (25 June– 1 September).

Public Holidays (year 2010-2011)

25 April	Easter Monday
23 June	Corpus Christi
1 January	New Year's Day
1 May	Labour Day
3 May	Constitution Day
1 November	All Saint's Day
11 November	Independence Day
25 December	Christmas Day
26 December	Boxing Day

School holidays over the school year 2010/2011 in Poland

School holidays	Region	Date
Christmas holidays	all	23/12/2010 – 1/1/2011
Winter / Carnival	Lubelskie, Łódzkie, Podkarpackie, Pomorskie, Śląskie	17/1/2011 – 30/1/ 2011
	Podlaskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie	24/1/2011 – 6/2/2011
	Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie, Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie, Wielkopolskie	31/1/2011 – 13/2/2011
	Dolnośląskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Zachodniopomorskie	14/2/ 2011 – 27/1/2011
Easter holidays	all	21/4/2011 – 26/4/2011
Summer holiday	all	25/6/2011 – 31/ 8/2011

Invitation to Poland

The Republic of Poland is located in Central Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine to the east; Russia and the Baltic Sea to the north. The population is over 38.5 million strong. Poland’s landscape is very diversified. The Carpathian and the Sudety Mountains stretch in the south. Lowlands and uplands occupy the central part of the country. The northern part of Poland, comprising Pomeranian and Masurian Lakelands, is gently undulating, relatively well forested and covered by hundreds of lakes; still further to the north are the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea coast. Poland’s national emblem is a white eagle with a golden crown on a red background. The national flag is white and red. Polish capital and the largest city is Warsaw, which has a population of over 1,700,000 and is located upon the longest Polish river, the Vistula. The major Polish cities include Cracow, Gdańsk, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań, Szczecin, and Wrocław. Poland is divided administratively into voivodships (16), counties and communes. The Polish 'Złoty', literally meaning "golden", is the currency of Poland. The 'Złoty' is a traditional Polish currency unit dating back to the Middle Ages.

Language
Polish, the official language of Poland, it is the most spoken West Slavic language. It is used everyday by almost 40 million people in Poland and up to eight million Poles living outside the country.

Polish was once the lingua franca in parts of Central and Eastern Europe because of the political, cultural, scientific and military influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Today nearly 97% of Poland's citizens declare Polish as their mother tongue.

Polish is considered to be one of the most difficult languages to master by non-native speakers.

There is a lot of snow in winter

Some basic vocabulary in Polish

Yes: Tak

No: Nie  

OK: Dobrze

Excuse me: Przepraszam

Good day: Dzień dobry

Hi: Cześć

Bye: Cześć, Pa

Good bye: Do widzenia

I don't speak Polish: Nie mówię po polsku

I don't understand: Nie rozumiem

Famous Poles

Nicolaus Copernicus – the Polish astronomer

John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla (1920-2005) – the pope in 1978-2005

Frederic Chopin – one of the greatest pianists of the 19th century

Roman Polanski – film director

Robert Kubica – Formula 1 racer

Maria Sklodowska-Curie (Marie Curie), the first woman to become a doctor of physics and a professor at the Sorbonne, twice awarded the Nobel Prize

Other Polish Nobel Prize winners include: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Wladyslaw Reymont, Czeslaw Milosz, Lech Walesa and Wislawa Szymborska.

My favourite part of Poland is the mountainous south.

My favourite city is Kraków (Cracow).

Source: http://www.poland.travel/en-gb/about-poland/

Other useful links:

http://www.poland.gov.pl/index.php?document=2

http://es.polandforall.com/

http://www.poland.travel/en-us

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/poland

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/poland

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1054681.stm

http://erasmus.org.pl/index.php/ida/61/

My favourite part of Poland is the mountainous South



New Year's Day in the Gorce Mountains



The region streching between Cracow (Kraków) and Czestochowa is perfect for rock climbing



Our Comenius assistant 2010/11

Hi! My name is Joanna. I am from Poland and I am here to help you to learn foreign languages. Why is it worth doing? Because you can travel, live in a foreign country for some time, study abroad and meet people who become your friends for the whole of your life.

I lived one year in Granada and it was one of the best years in my life. Thanks to the Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme I had the opportunity to study at the University of Granada. I found a part – time job at the private language school as an English teacher, but I also devoted a lot of time to my hobbies: climbing and travelling. Every day in Granada was truly enriching for me. I enjoyed learning every new Spanish word, which was incredibly easy thanks to my Spanish friends. I learnt a lot about the Spanish culture and changed a bit my eating habits, making tostadas con tomate my breakfast option number one. After coming back home I invited my Spanish friends and I was their guide to my country. Also, I was selected as a representative of Poland to the Erasmus conference in Lund, Sweden (read here about the representatives of other European countries: http://ec.europa.eu/education/erasmus/doc1805_en.htm)



Holidays in Poland with my friends from Málaga



My Erasmus stay inspired me to take new challenges: I made a course for tour leaders (this is the influence of my Spanish friends and their stay in Poland) and I decided to come to Spain again to improve my Spanish (actually, I simply love your country and feel here at home). Fortunately, there are many opportunities within the EU Lifelong Learning Programmes. This is how I became the Comenius assistant and came to Getafe to help you to take advantage of the options that are available for you.

Introduction