My cultural portfolio of
People
Character
Key national characteristics
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adaptable
able to make the best of what is available
devoted to style
self-critical - they know themselves inside-out
argumentative
undisciplined, not follow-through
mad romantics
famed as magnificent fighters
Geopolitics is the chief architect of the polish character!
Map of Poland
Borders
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There are 7 nations bordering on Poland:
Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia,
the Czech Republic and Germany.
Add two more neighbors across the Baltic:
Denmark and Sweden.
That makes a total of 9 neighboring countries.
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Geography teachers are rumored to have a special
salary supplement for the extra preparation they have
in order to teach Poland's history of shifting borders at
given times and which rivers are in and out.
Poland in Europe
Most famous people in Poland
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Lech Walesa
Marshal Poniatowski
Frederic Chopin
Pope John Paul II
Czeslaw Milosz
Nicolas Copernicus
and the most famous of all
Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Stamps of Poland
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The history of a country can be found on its
stamps. National icons, historical persons or
events are commemorated on stamps.
Virtually every stamp has a story to tell.
The stamps of Poland have particularly
interesting stories to tell.
Media
TVP broadcasts two general TV channels
(TVP 1 and TVP 2), a network of regional
channels (TVP 3) and one international
channel TVP Polonia. A new cultural channel
TVP Kultura started in 2005 and a new sport
channel TVP Sport was launched in 2006.
TVP 3, TVP Polonia, TVP Kultura are
available free across Europe,
Poland has more than 5,000 press titles
including national and regional dailies,
weeklies, monthly agazines, and the
specialized press.
Quotes about the Poles
‘There are few virtues that the Poles do not posses and
few mistakes they have ever avoided’
Winston Churchill
‘Not a nation, but an unsound state of mind’
Quentin Crisp
Polish Cuisine
"Jedzcie, pijcie i popuszczajcie pasa"...
"Eat, drink and loosen your belt".
Poles boast that their two basic products are bread and sausages.
Bigos, Pierogi, Zrazy, gołąbki, kotlet schabowy
Sernik, szarlotka, makowiec
Vodka, the national drink, helps you to digest the food.
A good Polish cook can make gourmet soup
from a rusty nail.
Polish products
Polish Traditions and Customs
Smingus Dyngus on "Easter Monday“ is also called Wet Monday"
On this holiday, it is a tradition to try and pour water on friends and
family. It's thought that those who got thoroughly drenched were
those who would be blessed with good fortune. They would be
cleaned of all evil and illnesses.
Barbórka, St. Barbara Feast - Miner's Day
December 4th
One of the most celebrated days St. Barbara is a patron of coal miners.
Marzanna 20/21 March
Drowning or burning of Marzanna is a traditional folk fest in Poland. To invite and
welcome Spring – and at the same time to arrange proper farewell for Winter – the
Slavs would celebrate ‘Drowning of Marzanna’ custom that survived till now.
Smingus Dyngus
Barbórka
Drowning Marzanna
Dances
Góralski
Krakowiak
Kujawiak
Mazur
Oberek
Polka
Polonaise
Zbójnicki
Polish Sportsmen & Women at Athens Olympic Games 2004
Polish Golden & Silver Medallists
Otylia Jedrzejczak, swimmer,
She won 2 silver medals (100-m butterfly, and 400-m
freestyle) and one gold medal in her big race with a
wonderful finish - the 200-m butterfly.
Robert Korzeniowski won Men's 50 km walk finishing
in 3:38.46..
Poles also won a gold medal in rowing - Tomasz Kucharski and Robert Sycz won
Men's Lightweight Dbl Sculls.
Important places
Architecture
Monuments
Memorial to the Poles murdered
in the Russian gulags.
Bolesaw I the Brave, first King of Poland
Sigismund III Vasa Column
UNESCO World Heritage sites of Poland
Cultural
Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) (1979)
Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork (1997)
Centennial Hall in Wrocław (2006)
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica (2001)
Cracow's Historic Centre (1978)
Historic Centre of Warsaw (1980)
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park
Medieval Town of Toruń (1997)
Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski (2004)
Old City of Zamość (1992)
Wieliczka Salt Mine (1978)
Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland (2003)
NEAR KRAKOW, WIELICZKA SALT
MINES
RELIGIOUS FIGURES CARVED OUT OF
SALT, SAINT KINGA CHAPEL (1896)
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The Pianist a 2002 film is an adaptation of
the autobiography of the Jewish-Polish
musician Władysław Szpilman. The film is a
co-production between Polish, French,
German, and British film companies.
The story had deep connections with director
Roman Polanski because he escaped from the
Krakow Ghetto as a child after the death of
his mother. He ended up living in a Polish
farmer's barn until the war's end. His father
almost died in the camps, but they reunited
after the end of World War II.
The majority of the piano music heard at the
film is Chopin’s music.
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Zbigniew Preisner
SONG FOR THE UNIFICATION OF EUROPE
I Corinthians 13
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Εαν ταις γλώσσαις των ανθρώπων λαλώ και των αγγέλων,
Tho the languages of men I-speak, and of angels,
αγάπην δε μη έχω, γέγονα χαλκός ηχων η κύμβαλον αλαλάζον.
love not I have, noisy gong I-sound and cymbal clanging
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και εαν έχω προφητείαν και ειδώ τα μυστήρια πάντα
and tho I-have prophecy, and understand the mysteries all
ώστε όρη μεθιστάναι, αγάπην δε μη έχω, ουδέν ειμί.
so-as mountains move, love not I have, nothing I-am
4.
Η αγάπη μακροθυμεί, χρηστεύεται
the love suffers, behaves-with-decency,
η αγάπη ου ζήλοι, ου περπερεύεται, ου φυσιούται,
the love not jealous, not boastful, not full of pride
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πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει, πάντα ελπίζει, πάντα υπομένει.
all bears, all believes, all hopes, all endures
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Η αγάπη ουδέποτε πίπτει. είτε δε προφητείαι, καταργηθήσονται.
the love never ends. or though prophecies, deconsecrate
είτε γλώσσαι, παύσονται. είτε γνώσις, καταργηθήσεται.
or languages, cease. or knowledge, deconsecrate
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νυνι δε μένει πίστις, ελπίς, αγάπη, τα τρία ταύτα.
now then remain faith, hope, love, the three these
μείζων δε τούτων η αγάπη.
greatest of those the love (x3)
European Football Championship 2012 Poland/Ukraine
Polish EU presidency
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On the 1st July 2011 Poland will assume the rotating
six-month presidency of the European Council.
Consisting of six arrow heads directed upwards
(perhaps symbolic for growth / progress), the logo
was designed by the Polish graphic artist Jerzy
Janiszewski, who created the recognisable
Solidarność/Solidarity logo which can be seen in the
Polish flag flying leftwards above the red arrow.
Polish money
Frederic Chopin on Polish banknotes
Warsaw after the German destruction
‘The City of Ruins’
‘The City of Ruins’
An animated reconstruction produced by the Warsaw
Rising Museum, which shows a bird’s eye view of Warsaw
after the German destruction. The whole city, with all its
circulating life, is a compelling symbol of the will of the
Polish people.
Today, the picturesque old town of Warsaw is a
formidable reconstruction made by the Polish Communist
government in the 50s of the last century, mainly based on
paintings by the Venetian Bernardo Bellotto, Polish court
painter since 1764, who drew it rather for the sake of
aesthetics than urban fidelity.
‘The City of Ruins’