Cultural: - a Few Things I've Learned lately
First of all, I learned that chrysanthemums to Polish people represent sadness and many, if not most, Poles wouldn’t want them in their home, balconies or yards.
Why is that?
Because it is the flower of choice to be used on graveyards - on the tombstones. To them they are associated with death (according to Wikipedia, this is true in many places in Europe).
I knew that they use them on their tombstones - just look at my Nov. 1 (All Saint’s Day) post where the video shows all the flowers and candles - but I didn’t realize it carried over to meaning that they didn’t like them in their yards.
I have some in my flower area (purple ones). I remember when Cypress Gardens in FL was a only a garden - they used to have lots of them there! It was beautiful!
Anyway…that was a new one to me.
I was surprised to learn that they actually don’t really care for them in their yards - as I like them - and this year because they closed the cemeteries for 3 days right around Nov 1, the flower dealers had a lot of extra mums.
The prime minister was encouraging people to buy the excess flowers for their balconies. In doing so, they were certainly bucking tradition.
Secondly - and this one I’ve known for a while, but it was reinforced again lately - is that Poles just don’t need to drink much with their meals. I don’t know how. KFC offers many meals or specials that don’t include a drink at all. Many people simply eat their spicy KFC chicken all without a drink or a milk based sauce to cut the heat. It is especially fascinating to us since the normal Polish cuisine isn’t hot - except for horseradish which is a different kind of “hot” than cayenne pepper hot. Here in Poland most of the chicken that KFC serves is spicy (This is something I’ve asked them to change on every questionairre/customer satisfaction survey I’ve filled out.).
For us - only KFC offers free refills on drinks - as that is what is around us. If we had a Pizza Hut dine in restaurant or Burger King, then they would as well. However, they aren’t nearby.
My point about all of this is that the Poles are okay with eating - and then often drink tea or coffee AFTER their meal. At KFC where they don’t offer that so much, I guess they just go home and get their drink. We’ve seen lots of couples just eat their food and leave (Now that KFC is about a mile from our house we eat there at least once a week.).
And the last one - which is for maybe MY interest only - the Polish “folk market” is getting bigger and bigger.
A throw - from folkstar.pl website
Recently I bought this - and it arrived today with a courier. Isn’t it pretty? It’s probably awful for the environment (made from microfiber) and is definitely not a quilt - but I love it anyway!
It’s the little things in life that provide the fun, huh? We have so much on our proverbial plates that sometimes just looking at something beautiful is a real lift!
Enjoy!
Have a great day wherever you are reading this!
Don’t forget, though - if you need some fabric, be sure to check out what we have in the store!
Here’s one of the beauties we have!
