gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Mar 30, 2009 19:08:08 GMT 1
April Fools’ Day, known as ‘Pryma Aprylis’ in Poland is really a special day with a long tradition. Even mass media have played pranks on Polish people since the television was made available here. The day is especially loved by children. The tradition of the day in Poland dates back to at least 13th century but it got really popular only in the 17th century. Back then in Poland people would have very strange ideas about how to celebrate the day e.g. they would offer to their guests dumplingsstuffed with sawdusts or coffee made with clay. Letters were sent with news which were 100% invention, strange presents were given or just a card with ”Prima aprilis” written on it was sent. Two years ago, for example, Poles were informed by the media some scenes of the famous film Star Wars were going to be shot in Poland. See video: The day is popular with children in Poland. They love to dress up on the day and many schools allow their pupils to come to school in costumes and fancy dresses. It seems like a carnaval. Students love it when they can say to their teachers their clothes are dirty or have some tear in them. Apart from 1st April there was another date associated with playing practical jokes in Poland. In some Polish regions it was 12th March when the custom of Gregorians (St Gregory the Great was a pope and the patron of elementary schools) was celebrated. The custom started in the 15th century and was taken from Alsace. Once the school year started on that day and it was time for students to enjoy themselves, have a big feast together with their teachers. After a school mass they would participate in a parade all dressed up and they would collect money, eggs, dry fruit , pieces of chocolate or sausage. On the day they played jokes on their teachers, too.  traditionsacrosseurope.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/%E2%80%98pryma-aprylis%E2%80%99-in-poland/ |
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 30, 2009 21:35:14 GMT 1
Yes, the tradition is still alive, and let it remain so. Even mass media have played pranks on Polish people since the television was made available here. It is a common practice for TV and papers to smuggle some untrue information and then wait for viewers and readers` response, trying to guess what it is. There are even competitions organised. It is sth impossible for American media, right? I remember an issue of Newsweek magazine from early 80s displaying a cover with F-16 fighters bearing bar codes on their noses (the problem was to sell or not to sell, I suppose). Then, in the next issue, an angry reader critisized the idea of "improving" real photos in this way. Students in my school go to other teachers`classes. It is fun. |
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Mar 31, 2009 4:43:01 GMT 1
It is a common practice for TV and papers to smuggle some untrue information and then wait for viewers and readers` response, trying to guess what it is. There are even competitions organised. It is sth impossible for American media, right? Oh, I don't know...I think that The National Enquirer might come close.   Students in my school go to other teachers` classes. It is fun. What about teachers going to other teachers' classes? ;D |
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 31, 2009 20:37:55 GMT 1
Oh, I don't know...I think that The National Enquirer might come close. ;D ;D ;D I thought Americans treat NE as an oracle. Oh, shit! A great idea. I must try it once. Unfortunately, it may only happen on a day when I have some free time between lessons. During the lesson it is impossible, you can`t leave students alone! Tomorrow is a bad dayl, I have only 2 lessons, and at 12 we are going to church for Lent Recollections. |
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gigi
Kindergarten kid
Posts: 1,470
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Post by gigi on Mar 31, 2009 21:05:23 GMT 1
;D ;D ;D I thought Americans treat NE as an oracle. It is complete rubbish - but apparently enough people buy it to keep it in print.  Maybe in these difficult financial times people will stop wasting their money on that stuff. Oh, and not to get off topic too much, but I was stunned to find out the other day that a carton of cigarettes (10 packs) is over $51 here! Geez - they kill you health-wise and financially! Another reason to be glad I have never smoked! What about teachers going to other teachers' classes? ;D Oh, shit! A great idea. I must try it once. Unfortunately, it may only happen on a day when I have some free time between lessons. During the lesson it is impossible, you can`t leave students alone! Tomorrow is a bad dayl, I have only 2 lessons, and at 12 we are going to church for Lent Recollections. How about a surprise quiz for tomorrow??? You could have them translate all sorts of silly sentences. ;D |
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 31, 2009 21:18:34 GMT 1
How about a surprise quiz for tomorrow??? You could have them translate all sorts of silly sentences. ;D Can`t be done. Tomorrow I am going to be dead serious as my two lessons are in form 3 which is leaving school next month and now they need to have their final grades proposed etc etc so I will be busy testing them.... etc etc BTW, how do you call a situation when a teacher asks a student to come to the desk and read his/her homework or answer some questions about the stuff taught before? In Polish it is pytanie - asking, and you get a mark for it. Marks from tests plus asking give final grades. Is such method still used in US? Here it is used practically on every lesson as it disciplines students (in theory at least) to learn systematically. |
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Post by jeanne on Apr 1, 2009 22:06:58 GMT 1
BTW, how do you call a situation when a teacher asks a student to come to the desk and read his/her homework or answer some questions about the stuff taught before? In Polish it is pytanie - asking, and you get a mark for it. Marks from tests plus asking give final grades. Is such method still used in US? Here it is used practically on every lesson as it disciplines students (in theory at least) to learn systematically. We would refer to your 'asking' as an 'oral exam'. I don't think that oral exams are that prevalent in High School. I think that it is used more frequently for post-graduate university exams where students need to 'speak' what they have learned. (In elementary school, we sometimes use it for our special educ. students who cannot express themselves in writing but who have mastered the information.) |
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 28, 2009 23:36:24 GMT 1
Smigus Dyngus Art Show (04/15/2009)
By Cynthya Porter
Winona Post
Photo by Cynthya Porter
n Louise Prondzinski shows off her ceramics, paintings and a handcrafted porcelain doll as part of a week-long art exhibit at the Polish Museum Annex building. The show, which is part of the museum's Smigus Dyngus celebration, features work from people living in the Winona area with Polish heritage.
The exhibit is open through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily.
Picture an American holiday that goes like this: At dawn, men break into your house and pour water on you until you give up the coveted ransom - an Easter egg. The next day, however, you are allowed to hit the intruder with switches until he gives the egg back. At the end of it all, there are no hard feelings, and actually, you'll probably end up marrying the guy.
The peculiar-sounding custom may sound far-fetched by modern standards, but for centuries it's exactly how legions of Polish girls woke up on Easter Monday, the day immediately following Easter Sunday.
But rather than falling in the category of assault worthy of a 911 call, the annual ritual was done in the name of courtship and labeled Smigus Dyngus.
Winona's descendants from Poland gathered Monday at the Polish Museum to observe Dyngus Day, though they gratefully appeared to have skipped the water and switches portion.
Instead, rows of art in every size and medium graced the large annex building, all of it created by Polish people who call Winona home.
This is the first time an art show has been incorporated with the museum's Dyngus Day activities, organizer Mary Edel Beyer said, though she'd like to see more exhibitions in the future.
Some of the pieces represented traditional Polish glass work or paintings, others reflected the diverse and often modern styles of a lineage that is considered creative yet shy about showing off special talents.
That modesty is certainly a departure from Polish ancestors who celebrated Easter boldly for days on end with rituals, plays and customs that demonstrated their faith.
Eggs were a cornerstone in many of those traditions, but to understand why one must look to the pagan roots of Europe.
According to historians, that a seemingly inanimate object like an egg could crack open and reveal a living creature became symbolic for life itself, especially in the spring.
Eggs were believed to have magical qualities, a belief that held firm well past the conversion to Christianity and into the 1800s.
Eggs were fed to animals, planted in gardens, and used for medicinal purposes. People even washed with the water they were boiled in, believing it could protect them from the evil eye, jaundice, fevers, fire and lightning.
So prized were they that it only stood to reason they would become important gifts in the Polish culture, particularly around Easter.
Girls and women locked themselves away in secrecy and elaborately decorated the eggs, hoping that the man they were interested in would come to claim it from them.
Different parts of Poland celebrated with slight variations, sometimes the boys used switches instead of water, sometimes they were supposed to try to fish the egg out of a girl's bosom, sometimes the girls doused them back on Easter Tuesday. Sometimes girls gave the egg without being accosted at all, a sure sign of their interest in being pursued.
Those too refined for dousing might have merely splashed a little rose water on their hands to delicately sprinkle someone. Some were not so subtle, using buckets filled to the brim instead.
The ritual was often followed by any of a variety of community processionals in which groups of girls or boys would roam through town, walking into people's yards and houses to put on mini-Easter performances. Sometimes those performances used props, like maybe a bear in a costume made from dried bean and pea stalks, or a boy covered in soot, dressed like a woman, and holding a bundle of rags fashioned after a baby.
In one custom slightly reminiscent of Monty Python, the prop du jour was a rooster affixed to a cart that youth armed with mock swords pulled from one house to the next shouting out, "We're here with the rooster for Dyngus!"
It all seems rather mysterious now, even to the Polish descendants gathered around banquet tables Monday night eating meats and sweets together. But it is their heritage, and understand it or not, one thing is clear: The Polish could teach Americans a thing or two about celebrating Easter.
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