Am Elften Elften Elften um Elf Uhr Elf!

Craving some rogale świętomarcińskie right now. Happy Dni Świętomarcińskie (Poznań), Veteran's Day (U.S.), Remembrance Day (Canada), Karneval (Germany- Koelle Alaaf!), Super Singles Day (China), Narodowe Święto Niepodległości (Poland), and 11/11/11. What a day.

Poland released this interesting video last year to mark their Independence Day and show an animated history of the nation. It would be interesting to analyze this video in terms of what historical events are depicted and how they are portrayed, thus given insights into the national psyche (or at least, the PR that the Polish government wants to present to the world). Note the stress on the glorious medieval and Renaissance years, the darkness of the 200 years of occupation, and the glorious EU banner to mark a happy ending. Still, a great summary of the national story, and with accurate depictions of many of the great Polish cities.

EuroCup is coming to Poznań!

Do widzenia

Unbelievably, I leave Poland later today. It's quite surreal. I've said my goodbyes to the city, packed my bags, met with friends, and eaten my last plate of pierogi. Yet it still hasn't quite sunk in that I'm about to leave the place that has been my home for more than a year now.

I have been traveling all summer, and one of these days I will update more thoroughly with stories and suggestions. For now, suffice to say, I'm really going to miss Poland and Slavic Europe. But I'll be back soon.

Do zobaczenia!

Poznań on CNN

CNN featured Poznań and her lanterns; apparently the count is up to 11K: Celebrating summer with 11,000 lanterns

Noc Kupały Lanterns

Here's my video of the lanterns of June 21. Hope it doesn't make you too dizzy. Enjoy!

Ode to Summer

Poznań looked something like this last night:


Actually, it looked more like this and this (first batches of pictures on Facebook). My videos coming soon.

In celebration of the shortest night of the year, the first day of summer, the summer solstice, and Kupala's Night (Noc Kupały), Poznanians gathered on the banks of the Warta river by Św. Rocha bridge and released thousands of lanterns into the night sky. This was the first year that they did it, but I think it will become a tradition. Estimates are saying 6000-8000 lanterns were released, making it a record for Poland (and possibly Europe).

More traditional Kupala celebrations (also known as the Feast of St. John) involve youths going into the forest at night, jumping over bonfires, girls making wreaths of flowers and floating them out on water, and boys swimming out into the lake to catch them. St. John's night (Noc Świętojańska) is usually celebrated June 23-24.

Happy summer!

Life Lessons

The water in Poznań is not exactly clean. Even the locals don't drink it. It doesn't contain pathogens or other deadly substances (as far as I know), but everyone buys bottled water. Maybe it's because the pipes are old, maybe it's because Poznań is far from any mountains, or maybe it's because it just doesn't taste good. My green sentiments were revolted by the idea of buying so much bottled water, but when in Rome, sometimes it's best to do as the Romans do.

The sanitary situation of the water was most evidenced by my electric tea kettle. After only a month of boiling the local tap water, I was repulsed by metallic pieces that started to chip away from the interior bottom of the kettle and float in the hot water. First the flat shiny metal bottom became dull, then brown, then green, then brown again with a greenish hue. I almost bought a new kettle until some friends assured me that this would happen to any hot pot boiling Poznań water and that the unknown substances that flaked off the bottom were harmless. Good thing the spout has a filter to keep them out of my tea cup when pouring. Still, I thought I might be slowly killing myself with carcinogens of some sort.

Today, that changed at last. After making a few volcanoes of baking soda and vinegar that did nothing to clean the inside, a friend suggested simply boiling the vinegar and letting it sit. And WOW. What a difference! I wish I had before and after pictures. For the first time in six months, I can see shiny metal again, and I don't feel like I'm dying by drinking tea!

So maybe the moral of this story is to always have vinegar on hand to clean things. Or to not wait six months to ask for help. Or to not drink the tap water in Poznań.

The only downside is that now my room reeks of vinegar.


As a side note, the tap water in Gdańsk is delicious, so it might only be the more central parts of the country (no mountains) that have a tap water problem.

Lech Poznań: Kolejorz!

The latest TV-spot for Poznań's football/soccer team.

Poznań from Above

Here's a third video of Poznań from the brilliant filmmakers of Poznań, I Love You. This one includes shots of the Cytadela (park), Stary Browar (shopping mall), the Rynek and the famous clocktower goats, the Lech Poznań football team, and even the Swięty Marcin parade.

Christmastime in Poland

December is, of course, a very busy time of year with all the preparations for Christmas, and I'm afraid that I've neglected my blog terribly. My days have mostly been filled with teaching, visiting as many Christmas markets as possible, and packing for a pan-European holiday week (actually, only PL, UK, and NL, but still).

I shared the American classics How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Charlie Brown Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with my students and European friends. I've been amused to learn that apparently the media tradition in most European countries, especially Poland, is to watch a different movie on Christmas: Kevin Sam w Domu (Home Alone)!

Also, besides these American imports, Poles generally do not have secular Christmas songs or stories, and the holiday remains very strongly tied to religion. Every town has a grand nativity scene beside its Christmas market. (Though my favorite has been in Toruń, where the Christchild was surrounded by artists and other historical figures). And one of the most beautiful Polish Christmas carols that I've heard is a lullaby sung by Mary to the baby Jesus.

Merry Christmas, and Wesołych Świąt!
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Finally, on an unrelated note, the Telegraph wrote this great travel article about Poznań in a nutshell: Poznań, the Birthplace of Poland

Poznań Marathon 2010

Poznań Marathon, 10.10.10
from Aleja Niepodległości
runners from all over the world and all ages












And last but not least, my favorite participant, and the last runner of the day:

Wedding Photos at a Soviet Memorial

Wedding pictures at the Heroes' Monument of the Soviet Soldiers' Cemetery (Pomnik Bohaterów na Cmetarzu Żołnierzy Radzieckich). The Citadel, Poznań.

For the record, this monument does offer a great view of the city. Also, I have seen A LOT of weddings in the two months that I have been in Poznań-- such as my favorite, this day in late August when 20-some fancy cars filled with brides came honking into the Rynek; it's a popular tradition to drive around (especially a central place like the Marketplace) and loudly honk the horn after the wedding, but we'd never seen so many (we later learned it was some sort of radio show promotion):

Smacznego!

From Poznań's Bread Festival this past weekend. Bakers from across Poland displayed their wares, including some of the most creative decorations on bread that I have ever seen. More pictures to come, I'm sure.



Enjoy your meal!

Zapraszamy do Poznania

Welcome to Poznań, Poland! Here's the second of two videos that provide an artistic tour of the city.

Today's Photo: Rondo Kaponiera

Things I am not looking forward to: When this entire intersection, one of the busiest in Poznań (though I know it doesn't look it here), is practically shut down and remodeled beginning in 2011. The morning commute is going to become a nightmare.

(This also happened while I was in Wien and they were extending the U2 to reach the stadium. Looks like it's under construction again).

Oh, the things that a city will do for the Euro Cup 2012. Such as christening the stadium with a Sting concert. It's quite a big deal. There's even a countdown on the website for the number of days left. I'm trying not to make it known that I'm not the biggest Sting fan.

Snapshots from Poznań IV

Mechanical goats butting heads above the City Hall clock at 12 noon each day... a Poznań favorite!

Snapshots from Poznań III

Sto Lat: 100th birthday of the Zamek Castle, 21 August 2010

Snapshots from Poznań II

National Festival of Good Taste

Bambergian Festival

Today Poznań and the surrounding Wielkopolska region celebrated the annual festival of the Bambergians. The Bambergians were Germans who were invited to live in Poznań in the mid/late 18th century. The population of Poznań and of all of Poland had declined drastically due to so many wars, plagues, and floods. This festival celebrates their unique roots. Though still celebrating their ethnic German background, the Bambergians sided with Poland during both world wars, and these soldiers reaffirmed their loyalty to Poland during their parade today. Here's a few snapshots:

Musicians walking around the Rynek to open the festival at noon


Soldiers




The "bamberka" statue in the middle of the Rynek, decorated in flowers for the day.


And, as I was not able to get a picture of the Bambergian women in their elaborate festive wear, here's some photos from Poznań's website:

Snapshots from Poznań