Posts by Anna

Wigilia

Tomorrow is Wigilia (Christmas Eve) and it’s one day that most Polish families take very seriously. I said “most” because some celebrate it in a less traditional way – like at an all-inclusive resort in Madeira or Tenerife, for example.
But for most Poles, Wigilia means getting together with their extended family, eating huge amounts of [...]

Almost Christmas!

How’s your Christmas shopping coming along? I haven’t even started mine, to be honest. And if someone asks me why, I’m going to tell them that I’m turning Greek orthodox this year. Speaking of which, these guys have it so easy – everything is on sale for THEIR xmas. Not fair, so not fair…
And everybody [...]

Good Relationships

Relationships are hard. In any language. But in Polish they are even harder.
Take the word “relationship,” for example. We all know what it means in English. It’s a fairly straightforward word, even if relationships themselves are not. But such is life…
I have relationships with many people. Some are personal, some are less personal, and some [...]

Friends Will Be Friends

Basia’s comment about the whole przyjaciółka/koleżanka/relationship thing made me think. And she’s right, it IS a very nuanced thing, indeed.
In English I refer to approximately 1395 people as my “friends.” Yet, when talking to a Pole, about 1390 of those people are not “friends” (przyjaciółki) but “koleżanki/koledzy” or “znajome/znajomi” or “kumpelki/kumple” and so on. People [...]

The Story Of NIP

This post is not a rant, even though it may sound like one. I am simply attempting to explain the issue in a slightly irritated manner. Because I am slightly irritated right now. Numbers always do that to me.
Yes, we’ll talk about numbers today. Numbers of the official kind. In most civilized countries, and [...]