From Poland with love

Hello!

I’m Katarzyna and I come from Poland.

A couple of months ago I did my exchange semester in Milano and very often when I introduced myself, especially to non-European students, it looked more or less like that:

- So where do you come from?

- I’m from Poland.

- Oh, Holland? Nice, been there.

- No, it’s actually POLAND.

- Oh, right …

And I remember that funny look on their faces when they were wondering what did they know about Poland, if anything, and where exactly it is.

On the other hand, I also experienced a completely different approach. I really cannot explain how it occurred but it happened twice (my friends are eye-witnesses!). I was recognized by Italians as a Polish girl. Really! Once I was just passing in Brera district with my friend and one man shouted Cześć! (polish word for hello) to me and then, when I looked at him totally surprised, he went on to Milik! (polish football player that plays in Napoli) Polska! Pierogi! Kocham Polska! and so on. It was extremely nice but also unexpected because I didn’t even talk to him or anything. So when it happened to me for the second time in Bologna, when I was talking to a stranger asking for direction and I just asked How on earth did you know? and he replied I just looked at you and I knew. Thank you, my beloved Italians!

As a student I have many friends from different countries and no matter if they come from Germany, France, USA, Taiwan or Australia, they associate Poland with vodka, maybe also with the Pope. But there’s so much more to discover!

So, for all of those with the incredible curiosity of the world, for those who know everything about Poland and for those who don’t even know it exists, for all of you out there, here it is – the blog about my life in Poland. Enjoy!

Love,
Katarzyna