Help my son with a school assignment on Poland

That's cool! My two aunts from Poland were nuns. One went to Italy and tought Italian children, the other went to England. But they resigned because there were injustices and ill-treatment going on (probably unhappy because never had a man) and some nuns get a big head when in charge.

Thanks! I'll tell you about Indiaina after school ok?

Dan

Well unlike most of the USA Indy uses sugar on EVERYTHING from ice tea [yuck] to chili. It ruins it! Houses range from mobile homes to big wooden framed houses from the 1800s. In Auburn, we have the Auburn-Cord-Dusenburg festival and the Kruse Car Auction which attracts people from all over. We also have many museums like War Birds Airplane museum, the World War II museum, Auburn-Cord-Dusenburg Museum and the Car and Truck museum so if you like cars especially old ones or are interested in World War II, my town is the place for you. This area was settled mostly by German people so not many Polish here except for my Mom. My Dad's family came from Prussia so they were neighbors of your ancestors at one time.

People who live in Indiana are called Hoosiers. They were called that because in Southern Indiana people have accents similar to those in Kentucky. When they answered the door they would say "Who's there?" but it sounded more like "Hoosier?" I don't understand why some people would be proud of that name but they are. Basketball is a big sport here even though I and many of the younger kids prefer to play soccer in the summer leagues.

Dan

More Questions On Poland

I need more info on houses like...are those cement houses big/small how many rooms are there usually? I do need to write about what the houses are like for my report. Also is there a nick name for Poles?

Dan

They are similair in size to the US homes, but since they are made of brick or concrete blocks, they do not have insulation in the walls and they don't put siding on like in the US. There are usually 3-4 bedrooms and the upstairs usually has a balcony all made out of concrete. The wooden structure is used for trusses to make the roof where insulation is placed. The roofing material differs from that in the US in it that they don't have shingles. I have seen metal roofs becoming popular but mainly are made of cement (dachówka).
The steps are wooden inside and some homes in the country have a wood fire-stove where they cook on it and boil water. The door-knobs are not round like in the US but elongated. (My dog learned how to opened those kinds of doors by jumping up and placing one paw on the wall and the other flipping open the door-knob. Can't do that with the US doors.)
Wall-to-wall carpeting is not very popular, at least in the homes I was in. Floors are mainly wooden with a carpet on top. Bathrooms are similair except that the hot water is on the right marked with red and cold is on left marked with blue. Toilets look different, they have a "shelf" in the middle and are not filled with as much water as in the US because the water is below that little "shelf" (don't know how else to describe it) and to flush it you have to pull on a chain from above. But once again, not all tiolets are like that.
The kitchen. Many kitchens have small refrigerators, specially if you live in an apartment. But they are similair to the ones in the US, by having a compartment for eggs, shelves on the bottom, freezer on top, etc. Ovens and sinks are similair.
Furniture is very stylish and chic, some imported from neighboring European countries and many designs to choose from. TV's are the same, and unless you have a dish, you only get a few local channels. Washers and driers are similair, many still have small round-type to save space. Driers are not that popular and the clothes usually get hung in the bathroom to dry or on the balcony. If you live in the country they hang them on clothelines or over the fence. Some still wash clothes by hand.
The name for a Pole is Polak - like an American - but in the US it is used as a degrading remark and a source of jokes.

Krysia, you've done a great job and there is not much to add. I am somewhat disappointed that there was no respond from anybody from Poland...
I think you're much younger than me, but it looks like things are still the same as in 60-ties and 70-ties.
I can only add that I had to wear a dark, navy blue "fartuszek" - a cover up with a white collar. Gosh, this surely saved on clothes, as well as did not allow the "richer" kids show off their expensive outfits. We had to wear it up to the 8th grade. Girls were often reprimanded for not wearing one, but some took the chance. Here is how we looked.
(I have the long piggy tails)



Also, a lot of high school kids had to live in the dormitory. My high school included grade 9 to 12th (I know it's different now). I lived in the dorm for 4 years going home only for winter and a spring break. I lived pretty far from the schooling I chose and it was not always worthed to take the bus back home and come back on time for Monday morning class. It was a room with 4 single beds, a table in the middle, 4 chairs and a closed for four. Frankly, they were the most fun years! We had fun.
Occasionally, we got in trouble and as a punishment we had to clean the big dorm bathrooms, but our parents were not told about our "guilt' whatever that was
The boys lived on the 2nd floor and the girls on the 1st. There was no visiting allowed after 10 p.m. Of course, we were braking the rules and it was one of the "troubles" we were getting into (smoking in the bathroom was another). There was a supervision day and night, but it was hard for them to keep an eye on 300-400 young residents
Well, all of us turn out just fine and I still visit my friends when I go to Poland.
And, this was my 5 cents into the school years in Poland.

The pic was too big, I'm trying again.

5_ta_klasa_sm.jpg

Yes, and you had to wear a "Tarcza" on your left fore-arm of your fartuszek ( in Kraków they called it"chałat") with the name of your school. You had to learn Russian starting in 5th grade and you had school on Saturdays.
You had a "dzienniczek" (Preparatka in Kraków) a small note-book where the teacher would write your grades and if it was a "2" ( an "F" in American schools) your parents had to sign it and you had to bring it the next day. The grades were 2,3, 4 and 5. "5" being an "A".

Do you know when Poland was first settled?

Dan