the POLSKI blog

When I started this blog, I wanted people to change their view of Poland. Out with the old, in with the new.

Glad things are changing. There are more and more Polish cultural events in the UK, I see more and more people who come to London just to visit – not to work – and 2010 also looks promising for the Polish economy.

Out of all European Union states, Poland was the only country which actually enjoyed a positive economic growth in 2009. And people are beginning (at last!) to look at Poland in a different way:

Outsiders often have fixed ideas of Poland: a big, poor country with shambolic governments, dreadful roads and eccentric habits. Old stereotypes die hard, but the facts paint an increasingly different picture. By the grim standards of recent centuries, Poland has never been more secure, richer or better-run.

This is the beginning of a great article I found in The Economist last week. Horse power to horsepower is a must-read for anyone interested in economy, politics and, er, Poland, of course. I’m not going to quote from it extensively here, just wanted to share the link with you.

But I’ll repeat myself: glad things are changing!

Image of Warsaw © jesuscm via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

If your commute takes ages – like mine – and if you keep complaining about not having enough time to digest your dinner, consider Cittaslow.

It would seem north-eastern Poland, with its lakes and forests and endless green fields, is hoping to attract people who want to live their lives in the slow lane. Hence the idea to join Cittaslow – a growing international network of small towns in 18 countries that have adopted a common set of rules and principles to improve the quality of life for those who live there. And for their visitors too.

The idea is to grow the local community, encourage people to support local food producers, attract visitors an make them feel welcome. A few British cities have already joined Cittaslow UK, but today I came across a mini gallery put together by the Huffington Post and featuring some Polish cities.

According to the site, Lidzbark Warmiński, Reszel, Biskupiec, and Bisztynek have joined the network and it would seem they are the first Polish cities to introduce the movement in Poland. As the Huffington Post says:

Decisions to adopt this philosophy were reached by the councils of the four cities together, to create a Polish network.

Not sure how many people are really willing to give up their cozy urban pads for this life in the slow lane, but it’s great news anyway, at least for the four communities.

But I also have to say it surprised me to learn that four different towns managed to agree on something together.

Is this the beginning of the end for the (in)famous Polish saying: “Where you have two Poles, you’ll have three different points of view”?

Image of Lidzbark Warminski (top) © JerzyW, and Reszel © jophan, both via Flickr and used under Creative Commons licence

Remember my Chopin post from a few weeks ago? Looks like London is getting ready for some Chopin celebrations too this year – just saw this in this week’s Time Out.

So glad there are more and more Polish events in London every year.

However, if you don’t want to splash out on Time Out, try the Polish Cultural Institute. They’ve created a guide to all the Chopin-related events taking place in the UK this year – you can download a free copy here.

I just want one CD for Christmas. I know it’s almost a year old, but I’ve only just been told about it. (Yeah, thanks, ‘friends’ for keeping me up to date). And I instantly fell in love with it.

Mieczyslaw Fogg was a very famous Polish crooner, whose career spanned half a century. He first started singing before the war and kept performing well into the 1980s. Always well-groomed, well-mannered, he appealed to the melancholic middle-aged ladies, who always dreamed of having a husband like him.

Needless to say, when I was a teenager it wasn’t particularly cool to listen to him. Actually, it wasn’t cool at all.

Fast forward twenty-odd years to 2008 and Fogg is back in fashion, but this time among the hip, twenty-something crowd.

Several young Polish artists re-recorded or remixed some of his old songs and released an album called Cafe Fogg. If you’re familiar with the Verve Remixed series, Cafe Fogg is in many ways very similar to that.

Here’s my absolute favourite, Bo to sie tak zwykle zaczyna (That’s the way it usually begins). The original song was remixed by The Bumelants and I love it:

Here’s another one I like – a song called Kiedy będziesz zakochany (When you’re in love), re-recorded by Novika:

Dear Santa! Got it?!

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This one is for music lovers planning a trip to Warsaw.

To mark the bicentennial of Frederic Chopin’s birth (yes, he was Polish), the Polish capital has published a Chopin audio city guide.

Available in eight languages, the guide will take tourists to some key locations related to the great pianist.

You can download the audio guide from Warsaw City Hall’s website (in English and other languages) or you can get in while walking through the capital as there will be several ‘music banks’ with special codes, which you can scan using your mobile – and get the audio files this way.

If you are a Chopin fan, you’ll be pleased to know that next year over 2,000 evens are planned across the globe to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth – and over half of them will take place various cities across Poland.

Just remember that – as Chopin was born to a French father and Polish mother – his name will often be spelt in two different ways in Poland. Frederic Chopin is the internationally recognised spelling of course, but Poles will refer to him as Fryderyk Szopen. The pronunciation is similar, just swap the French accent for a Polish one

So, if you haven’t been yet, it looks like 2010 might be a good year to visit Poland at last!

Frederic Chopin Statue in Warsaw – image © Patrick F via Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence

I should perhaps dedicate this post to everyone who still complains about the Royal Mail in Britain.

Have you ever tried its Polish equivalent, Poczta Polska? No?

I’ve just read a post on one of the Wall Street Journal blogs dedicated to Central and Eastern Europe about the weird experience that is Poczta Polska. And I couldn’t agree more.

Malgorzata Halaba describes her frustrating experience of using Polish post offices, which somehow have failed to notice that the Communism collapsed some 20+ years ago.

Just to clarify, I think that Poland has largely made massive progress when it comes to customer services, something we all thought would never happen.

Every time I go back I am mostly positively surprised by how some places – even within the public sector – have changed and improved their services. There’s still a long way to go, but, unlike even 15 years ago, it’s not unusual to be greeted by a polite smile and served in a nicely lit, clean office.

However, it would seem the Polish Post Office is till trying to catch up. Quite often the service is still bad, and many post offices – presumably to improve their income – have turned into part-time markets, selling everything from stockings to board games and washing powder.

The author of the WSJ post compares her experience of using post offices in Warsaw to a journey in time – back to the 1960s:

It warms my heart every time I have to pick up a registered letter. Usually, after waiting the required 20 minutes, I approach the window and hear an angry bark: “What the does the letter look like? Is it large?”
How am I supposed to know? I wasn’t the one who sent it. I watch the nervous clerk produce three cartons of letters and start to shuffle through them in search of mine – sometimes without success. “Come back in an hour, or better tomorrow,” is what you might hear in the case of misplaced letters.

Yep, sounds like the post office I remember. Although I have to say, I found the post offices in Warsaw particularly bad, so hopefully things have in fact improved elsewhere.

But just like the Royal Mail lost its monopoly in 2006, its Polish equivalent will go through a similar process in 2013. So expect some changes there.

Until then, don’t be surprised if instead of stamps and envelopes your local branch will try to sell you some lovely stockings.

Image of Polish stamps © Florence Craye, Flickr, used under Creative Commons licence