Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Monday, February 27, 2006

_Following is the “Poland Report” that my Henry wrote while still in Warsaw to give to his class back in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Henry has given me permission to enter it into my diary, in lieu of a daily entry of my own. We brought our camera crew into the classroom to record Henry giving the report to his fellow third-graders at Jones Intermediate School on the morning of Feb. 3, 2006.

Henry’s classmates were well-behaved and fascinated—not only with his Polish experience—but the chocolate samples, Polish coins, canceled tram stubs, and mini-calendars that he passed out to each one of them. Henry shared a few words with them and before long, the entire class was speaking Polish. They asked in unison: “Ile masz lat?” (How many years do you have?) to Henry, to which he replied, “Mam osiem lat.” (I have eight years.)_

*“POLAND REPORT”* by Henry Urbanski Levering

“My mom and I visited Poland from Dec. 19 2005 to Jan. 23, 2006. We came to learn about the country, to learn some of the language, and to spend time with family members.

Poland is in the exact center of Europe. Poland is east of Germany, north of the Czech Republic and Slovakia; it is west of Ukraine and Belarus, and south of Lithuania and Russia. It borders the Baltic Sea to the north. The population is between 38 million and 39 million. That’s a whole lot bigger than Mount Airy!

Poland has a long democratic tradition. In 1791, Poland adopted a written Constitution, the first in Europe and the second in the world, after America’s Constitution. Poles have always loved America and contributed two generals to fight the British in the American Revolution.

World War II began in Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. Poland fought bravely for the Allies and lost 23 percent of its population and 38 percent of its national wealth—more than any other country. After the War, it became communist against its will. In 1989, Poland elected its first president since the war. It is now a free country again.

Religion is extremely important to the Poles; 90 percent are Roman Catholic. The Poles put many Christian symbols like crosses on their walls. There are many old and beautiful churches in the country. I visited 12.

Poland has always had strong farms, steel production and coal mines. These hard-working, well-educated people have a strong future. Their currency is the zloty. One zloty is now worth about 33 cents.

Polish schools are similar to American schools. In 4th grade, most Polish students begin studying English. There are more cars in Poland than ever before, however, most Poles also travel by bus, tram and train.

We had a Polish tutor named Bozena Wiercinska. She taught us Polish words for three hours a day, and we repeated the words. Here are four words: “tak” which means “yes”; “nie” which means “no”; “pa pa” which means “bye bye”; and “dziekuje bardzo” which means “thank you very much.”

We stayed at the apartment of Monika Malcher, our second cousin in Warsaw. Her apartment is small. We slept on a fold-out bed, which I have noticed many Poles have.

On Dec. 24, we took a train to Poznan to spend Christmas with cousin Grzegorz and his family. He has three kids, a wife, and a sister. In Poland, the Christmas Eve dinner starts when the first star appears in the sky. For dinner, we had carp in gray sauce, pierogis, vegetable salad, and barscz which is beet soup. We also had herring and chopped potatoes. For dessert, we had cheesecake, poppyseed cake, and ginger bread cookies. We opened presents after dinner. At 10 p.m., we walked to mass; it was so crowded that we had to stand up for one hour and 15 minutes.

On Dec. 25 and 26, Uncle Grzegorz took us on a walking tour of the Old City of Poznan. We visited 2 or 3 churches, the Poznan Panorama, and the Old City Hall.

In the New Year, we took a train to Krakow with cousin Monika, then walked from the train station to the Old City. In the center of Old City is the Sukiennice, which is a long hall where there are many shops. I bought a wooden sword that said “Krakow” on it. The most famous church in Poland is St. Mary’s Church, where a man sounds a trumpet every hour. At Wawel Castle, a metal dragon named Smok blows real fire every five minutes.

I learned a lot here, and I really hope that I get to come back to Poland sometime.