The Wrocław International February 2012

Review of the past six months of the Polish Presidency of the EU, new tourist card for Wrocław. Pages 2 & 3

AMCHAM business breakfast review, giving blood at NSN, advice from Deloitte on new legislation to protect those buying property. We review two different job creation initiatives. Find out about stateof-the art ways of working remotely, and details of why Juliette Binoche recommends Crédit Agricole. Pages 4-6

Homage to Havel, free language lessons and the sudden departure of the German President. Page 7

Indian-Chinese economic story, Spanish interns speak out about their Wrocław experience, an introduction to Nadodrze and Tango co mpo sitio ns for Wrocław. Pages 8-11 as a mo re atmosphere.

Our regular columns on Polish Language and Culture appear together with our third instalment of stories from a French Classroom. Pages 12 and 13

We have articles in French, Italian and Spanish for our multi -lingual readers. Pages 14 and 15

Food for lovers from Spicy Delight and two restaurant reviews. Pages 16-17

More Pilates instruction, news of a Badminton Championship in Wrocław, EURO2012 Update. Pages 18-19

In less than two weeks, Copernicus Wrocław Airport will be the home of a new modern terminal. The eagerly anticipated upgrade will benefit 3 million passengers a year, preparing the city for the European championships and beyond. The new terminal is the largest at a Polish regional airport, and will officially open on February 29th. The more spacious and elegant terminal is filled with examples of stateof-the art technology and smart, sleek design. Passengers and visitors will additionaly benefit from shorter queues, an enhanced selection of entertainment options, as well

relaxing

“Passengers will receive a modern, richly furnished terminal with more connections and more opportunities for travel. It will be much more efficient and comfortable,” said Dariusz Kus, the president of the Corpernicus Wrocław Airport.

Modernity and improvements will be felt throughout the whole co mp le x, externall y a nd internally. Externally, a new parking lot with 1100 spaces will offer the opportunity to reserve spots online, in advance of departure. Several free parking spaces for short stays will also be available near the entrance of the terminal.

taxis, businesses and frequent flyers,” said Przemysław Marcinkowski, the director of the new terminal building project.

Additionally, newly planted trees, shrubs, fountains and bright lights will decorate the area surrounding the terminal.

Trees from Florida will greet passengers inside the complex, amongst sleek, elegant and modern furniture resembling abstract sculptures, identical to the seating found at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

“We found a solution, the same one that the airports in Paris and Zurich used, to combine comfort with style,” notes Przemysław Marcinkowski.

“This will be an attraction for

Other ideas were borrowed from

Street Protests in Wrocław

signed on the 26th of January.

The main result is that the protests have raised a lot of awareness about ACTA, and led

Last month a protest took place in Wrocław, a completely spontaneous action carried out by multiple Polish cities in parallel. It was organized mainly thanks to the Events feature on Facebook. People came up with the idea on the same day on which it was announced that the Polish Ambassador to Japan was going to sign the AntiCounterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The date to protest was chosen as the

25th of January as the date of the signing was to be 26th.

Numbers are inconsistently reported with attendees at the manifestation in Wrocław claiming it was attended by almost 10 thousand people. The Polish media state that it was attended by around 5-6 thousand people.

It seems that the protests did not influence the government enough to cancel the signing of the agreement and it was finally

other European airports as well, including the modern baggage security check system which is identical to the one used at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Luggage will be scanned using a 3-D system and then sorted to their respective destination planes. In addition to being more efficient, the system shortens the time necessary for scanning checked baggage.

Other enhancements include 21 ticket and check-in counters, with one dedicated exclusively to extralarge luggage. Another idea, taken from Copenhagen Airport, is the style of the jet-bridges connecting the gates to the planes outside. Passengers will either walk in these jet-bridges (Cont’d Page 3)

to many politicians speaking out on the issue. Members of the (Cont’d Page 3)

The expression ‘To stop and smell the roses’ brings to mind the story a friend recently posted about a world-class violinist who busked (on one particular day) in the subway.

This maestro, who has captivated millions around the world could barely catch passing commuters’ attention with his classical compositions. In fact, children pulled futilely at their parents because they wanted to stop and listen.

We are totally overloaded by information, sound, work, media, smart phones and our own expectations of ourselves.

When something wonderful is happening we are so busy taking a photo on our mobile phone that we do not actually live and savour the moment.

There is a wealth of culture and creativity at our feet in Wrocław and through our paper we are endeavouring to bring it to your attention. Share your tips and insights with us.

Grace Sexton editor@wroclawinternational.pl

enlargement. There were also many positive results regarding specific goals, including:

remain, different visions of this cooperation.

As one looks back on Poland’s EU Presidency, it would be difficult to ignore the difficult significant circumstances in which it took over the role from Hungary. The Japanese Tsuna mi ha d triggered problems at Fukushima’s nuclear plant, the Arab spring was in full force, whilst the EU itself was dealing with its own crisis of a financial nature.

With regard to the European financial collapse, Poland was in a situation that much resembled an Alfred Hitchcock movie: starting with a shuddering earthquake before steadily increasing in tension. All other priorities fell under the shadow of the financial crisis and everyone had to roll their sleeves up and cooperate. Little did we know then that the future would show us that there were, and still

The major challenge of the Polish Presidency was to bring all the stakeholders to a consensus. The significant barrier to this problem however, was that the crisis mainly affected the Euro -zone.

Meanwhile Poland, still using its own national currency, remained outside that zone. Nevertheless, the most important achievement of the Presidency was the socalled “six pack”, a package of le ga l r e g ul at io ns to b e implemented by all Member States (MS) to avoid the future collapse of their public finances.

This package was adopted during the ECOFIN meeting in Wrocław. Other successes included the opening of negotiations for the next EU budget, which is to be based on the proposals of the European Commission, and keeping alive the idea of further EU

Consensus for creating a unified system of patent protection within the EU and forming a Unified Patent Court (law and competition) The signing of Croatia’s Accession Treaty (enlargement).

The adoption of Directive 2011/99/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on the European protection order (law).

Compromise and conclusions for future development of Common Security and Defence Police (defence).

“Blue bottom” – regulation making possible the adoption of the common European legal regimes instead of national ones when shopping on-line.

Compromise on the so-called correlation tables (lists of European and national legal acts sho wing the level of implementation of common law in Member States).

The Opening of trade negotiations with Georgia and

Moldova (enlargement, Eastern Partnership).

In total, 53 legal acts were signed and more than 100 issues were closed at the level of European Council.

There have been mixed impressions regarding the EU’s relationship with the Ukraine.

On one hand, negotiations were successfully concluded and a treaty on the association of Ukraine with the EU could have been initialed. On the other hand, political developments in the Ukraine and its stiffening political position, as well as the treatment of former Prime Minister Timoshenko, resulted in the failure of these efforts.

Similarly, the Summit of the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw was a success because Poland managed to get all the Member States to participate fully, with exceptional levels of representation. However, there were no spectacular political results, partly because the countries of the Eastern Partnership are not univocal in their opinions, policies and aspirations.

There was also a lack of satisfaction with the Presidency because of the Dutch veto against Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen-zone.

However, the two countries declared that they will reexamine their position after two subsequently favourable reports

from the Commission on the progress of the two aspiring Member States.

Robert Kron from the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington (DC) characterized the Polish Presidency with a triple C: confidence, competence and comfort. There were also many other positive international opinions.

During a meeting with the Presidency staff in Warsaw in January, Donald Tusk quoted the current President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, who congratulated him with “the best Presidency in the recent 15 years” and asked afterwards, why in 15 years, answered: “Because I don’t remember the previous ones.”

Generally, all acknowledged the extremely difficult economic context of the Polish Presidency.

Words of occasionally harsh criticism came mostly from Polish opposition politicians.

The Presidency lasted for 184 days. In Poland, 452 meetings were held, among them 20 informal meetings of the EU Council and meetings of ministers, 30 conferences at a ministerial level and more than 300 expert meetings. In Brussels, Poland chaired 1940 meetings (councils, committees). In general 1200 staff members from different ministeries and offices were directly involved.

Official Presidency events in Wrocław and Lower Silesia: 5 informal meetings of European Council (culture, finances, energy, agriculture, defence) 2 ministerial conferences (sports and labor and social policy) European Culture Congress European Heritage Forum 1 special committee meeting (agriculture) 1 committee meeting (social protection) 1 study tour (environmental protection) 1 working group meeting (trade) 3 conferences of experts

The Wrocław International February 2012

City News 3

Instead, the public transportation and free entry and discount functions will be encoded electronically and will additionally serve as an electronic “wallet”. The public transportation features will be integrated with UrbanCard.

Tourists arriving in Wrocław will have an additional benefit to look forward to: the OpenWrocław Tourist Card.

The modern card, combining public transportation tickets with discounts or free entry to cultural institutions, recreational and sports activities, restaurants and pubs, will be useful for tourists and residents alike. The goal of the card is promotion of the city and what it has to offer.

Although a few minor details are still being managed, the card will enter the market in April, just before the UEFA Euro 2012 championships.

Capital of Culture extravaganzas and the World Games in 2017, will motivate thousands of new tourists to flock to the city.

According to the city’s Vice President, Michał Janicki, Wrocław has increasingly become an attractive city for Polish and international tourists and a tourist card would be greatly beneficial. Future events, including the Euro 2012 championships, the World C h a mp i o n s h i p s i n M a l e Volleyball in 2014, the 2016

Though other cities in Europe and the world have their own tourist cards, Wrocław’s will be one of the most modern technologically. The city took other cities’ tourist cards into account during the planning process. There will be no scratch -offs or coupons attached with the card, as in other cities.

“Having such a card will motivate such a person to see the whole of Wrocław,” said Janicki. “If all of these people spend more time in Wrocław during the events, they will have a greater incentive to come back to the city in the future.”

“Other city’s’ tourist cards are a “maluch,” said Tomasz Goralski. “Ours will be a Mercedes.”

The main functions of the card will be public transport, with the opportunity of having 24, 48, and 72 hour time periods, a packet of discounts for partnering restaurants, hotels and pubs, free entries to partnering city attractions and the electronic “wallet”. The card has over 200 partnerships, including Aquapark Wrocław, Hala Stulecia, the Zoo and the National Museum in Wrocław.

The card will be beneficial for partners because it can be used as a measuring device to calculate how many customers the restaurant, hotel, pub or cultural attraction receives.

Tourists will be able to purchase the basic OpenWrocław card, or add one of three packets: Culture, Culture and Fun, and Culture, Fun and Sport, which would offer free entry to cultural institutions, recreational centers and sport-related activities. The packets also include partnerships with car rental services, taxis, souvenir shops, hostels and hotels. Tourists will be able to purchase these cards and their packets online or at special booths at the airport, train station, in the Rynek, at Hala Stulecia, in Aquapark or at partnering hotels and hostels; 250 places are planned as purchasing centers for the card.

Residents of Wrocław will also

benefit from the card. If somebody already has an UrbanCard, encoding one of the three packets will only be a short online process, at www.openwroclaw.pl.

Wrocławians will be able to use free entries or discounts for 24, 48 and 72 hour periods, depending on what time period is purchased. More residents will be able to explore the cultural, recreational and sport institutions in their city. The cost of the card will depend on the time intervals and packets, with prices ranging from the teens to 164 PLN. “Ultimately this card is a sleek Mercedes,” said Góralski.

Modern Terminal for Modern Wrocław

Street Protests in Wrocław

toward their aircraft or, depending on the gate number, will board a bus to take them to their plane. Sixteen planes can fit onto the new waiting dock and 12 gates will offer a place for waiting before flights.

Palikot Party have also shown up in the Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish Parliament) wearing Guy Fawkes masks. The minister of administration and digitalization (Michał Boni) also handed in his resignation to the Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, but it was rejected.

Before departure, passengers will be welcomed by 4.5 thousand square meters of commercial space, including restaurants, well -known shops, car rental kiosks, currency exchange kiosks, bookstores and info desks. The center of the hall boasts the largest restaurant in the terminal.

Belonging to the Krawczyk Restaurants line, the resaurant features terrific views of the airport’s runway. A separate observation terrace can also be

Of course, the main issue is ACTA itself. Protestors feel the agreement may be abused by the copyright holders in order to make horrendous and surreal claims as compensation for losses carried out due to copyright infringement. It also expects the ISPs to hand out information about suspected copyright infringers without a court order.

found on the second floor.

Meanwhile VIP passengers will be treated to the highest standards in the speciallydecorated VIP lounge, complete with its own entrance, parking, boarding system and personnel.

The old terminal will be used as an alternative landing area for special cases before Euro 2012 matches. According to Aleksandra Palus, a spokeswoman for the airport, the old terminal will be used as an additional, if necessary, hub for UEFA family members.

“After the games the terminal will be converted for General Aviation and private small aircraft use,” said Palus. “The parking lot of the old terminal will be converted to long-term parking, for travelers away for more than a week.”

In order to move forward, those who criticise ACTA feel the next step is actually having a national referendum once 500 thousand signatures are collected. Many people have been mobilised to fight for civil rights when it comes to internet access, even if they are not affiliated with any political parties.

Pictured below you see third level students who helped to organise the protests in Wrocław burning the text of the agreement, "ACTA" at Wrocław Market Square during a demonstration on the 11th of February. Anti-ACTA activists feel that their actions which are in the spirit of freedom of expression and respect for fundamental civil rights are not been given equal media coverage.

Let's not forget that this agreement applies not only to the Internet.

It's linked to many areas of each of our lives; drug patents, trade, and even things outof the spotlight like patents on animal husbandry. In short, the way our governments deal with ACTA could have serious rippling implications for all of us.

Overall the Copernicus Wrocław Airport will be four times larger than the previous terminal and will be a destination and departure point for two million more travelers than the previous one could host.

The Wrocław International

February 2012

4

Business

On the 20th of January, AmCham hosted the first breakfast meeting of the year for member companies in Wrocław. The guest speaker, Ms. Ilona Antoniszyn-Klik, UnderSecretary of State in the Ministry of the Economy, addressed a number of topics in relation to the economic outlook for 2012, the transatlantic relationship, and the approach of the Ministry of the Economy towards availability of investment incentives and public aid for companies investing or reinvesting in Poland, SEZ status after 2020 and last but not least promotion of Poland as one of the most attractive investment locations in Europe.

Ms. Antoniszyn-Klik, a former Deputy Governor of Lower Silesia, was appointed by the Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the position of Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of the

The Act, which is designed to protect the rights of purchasers of apartments or detached houses and which comes into effect on the 29th of April 2012 and is commonly known as the Developer Act, significantly changes developer business practices. The purpose of the changes is to provide purchasers of apartments and detached houses sold by developers with the right to obtain exhaustive information regarding the terms of transactions they are about to conclude and with full insurance in the case of a developer becoming bankrupt or failing to execute the agreement for other reasons.

The New Regulations: Who do they protect and on whom do they impose duties?

The Act provides protection both for clients purchasing apartments and purchasing/ obtaining perpetual usufruct of lands on which their houses are located, covering only individuals. On the other hand, develop-

On 22nd of December 2011, in one of Nokia Siemens Networks’ offices in Wrocław, a blood drive took place.

Nokia Siemens Networks encouraged its employees to support this important action and enabled it in NSN’s own offices. The drive was organized in cooperation with Regionalne Centrum Krwiodawstwa i Krwiolecznictwa in Wrocław.

Economy on 24th November 2011 and is responsible for supervision on bilateral international and transatlantic relationships and support of FDI into Poland The meeting which was followed by a moderated Q&A discussion, focused on ways and experiences of international companies to support the flow

ers, as defined in the Act, include both individuals and entities, as well as organizations without legal personality.

The Bank as the ‘guardian’ of the client’s savings The developer is obliged to hold an open-end or closed-end escrow account in a bank for the purpose of the investment. This is a key change introduced by the new law. Clients purchasing real estate from a developer pay cash not to the entity itself, but directly to such an account. Only when it has been determined that the developer has properly completed the given investment stage, the bank shall transfer the collected funds to it, but only those regarding the approved stage. This principle does not apply to the closed-end account, which shall be disbursed on the one-off basis once the ownership title to an apartment or a plot of land has been transferred to the buyer. Should a client withdraw from the agreement due to developer’s fault, for example, if a developer has failed to transfer

The Wrocław International February 2012

of FDI into Poland.

For AmCham members investing in Lower Silesia, this was an opportunity to address questions related to their expectations in terms of the Ministry of Economy’s assistance to foreign investors who plan to either expand or strengthen their presence in Poland.

the ownership title to an apartment or a plot of land to the buyer within the contractual deadline, the bank shall pay the cash from the account to the client. Further, a developer is obliged to provide its clients with bank or insurance guarantees, based on which a bank or an insurance company reimburses the client with funds previously paid to the developer, should the latter go bankrupt or make the client withdraw from the agreement.

Right to proper information as the basic right of the client When commencing the sale of apartments or plots of land, a developer is obliged to prepare an informational prospectus to include information regarding the developer itself, its professional experience and the real property being sold, as well as to present such prospectus to potential clients per their request.

Upon request, a developer should give potential clients access to such documents as a copy of entry in the National Court Register or Business Register, financial statements, a copy of the land register entry regarding the real property being sold, as well as copies of obtained construction permits and the architectural design.

Residential develop ment agreement – its form, contents and consequences A residential development agreement must have the form of

More than 40 employees volunteered to give blood.

Registration was organized quickly and efficiently and within a few minutes the blood was literally flowing.

Unfortunately, due to the time of year and bugs being rampant, a few employees did not qualify to make a donation.

The drive ended with a total donation of just over 13 liters of life saving blood.

This was the first such activity at the premises of Nokia Siemens Network and plans are already afoot to repeat the blood drive again and extend it to other NSN locations.

a notarized deed. The same principle applies to the preliminary agreement binding the parties to conclude a residential development agreement in the future.

The agreement must, among other things, determine the purchasing price of the real estate in question, as well as construction commencement and completion dates. Any contractual provisions less favorable for the buyer than the provisions of the Act are null and void, and the amount of interest reserved for the developer cannot exceed the contractual penalties to which the buyer is entitled. Notarial costs regarding preparing the agreement are equally distributed between the parties. The development agreement provides the basis to enter clients’ claims to the land register, which increases their effectiveness towards third parties’ rights related to the subject of the agreement and acquired after the date of the land register entry.

Build according to the timeline If a developer has an open-ended escrow account, the agreement must also determine the timeline of the development project, indicating its stages and percentage share of each stage in the total investment cost. The timeline shall include at least four investment stages, and the cost of each must range between 10 and 25 percent of the total investment value. Funds accrued are paid to the developer in line with the pre -determined timeline.

Bankruptcy of the developer does not threaten its clients anymore If a developer is declared bankrupt, funds accrued on custodial accounts along with the ownership or perpetual usufruct title to the land under development form a separate bankruptcy estate, giving claims of buyers privileged treatment in relation to all other creditors of a developer. Clients may also decide to have the investment continued by the receiver or bankruptcy estate manager, or to conclude a composition agreement with the developer.

Conclusions Organizations that protect the interests of real estate buyers are satisfied with the new regulations, which at the same time raise protest from developers’ associations. The new regulations may result in a price increase of newly developed real estate. Unfortunately, certain provisions are unclear and give rise to doubts, and their interpretation will probably become a subject of numerous future court rulings.

Bartosz Miszkurka, advocate, head of the real estate department at Deloitte Legal, Pasternak i Wspólnicy Kancelaria Prawnicza sp.k.

Business 5

Kalina Iwaszko Wrocław’s edition of Future City Game took place on 16th and 17th of December 2011.

The game was part of Future City Jobs, an action led by the British Council and supported by the EU Programme for Employment and Social Security PROGRESS. The Institute of Culture Wrocław 2016 serves as the local organizer.

The participants came from different backgrounds, some working in NGOs, others in the creative sector, business or public administration. Diversity of professions, gender and generations played an important role in assembling participants.

The object of the game was to foster a creative and cultural economy and build dialogue between public officials and residents to deal with vital problems of urban living. The key idea was to bring together peo-

ple living in the same city and help them work out initiative proposals that would create employment, preferably in the creative and cultural sector of the economy. Participants had the support of experts in attendance who contributed their experience from business, cultural and public sectors.

The methodology of the workshop was created by the British Council, which was represented in Wrocław by Nigel Bellingham, the president of BC in Czech Republic.

Players worked in teams creating project ideas that were developing during visioning and testing segments, after hearing training lectures. At the end there was time for presenting ideas, receiving feedback from the experts and, finally, voting for the best proposal.

The winner was the idea of “Creative Cooperative” that would enable cooperation between artists and craftsmen, as well as engage local inhabitants.

Creative Presentation of Ideas.

Fernando Ballester Bru The most brilliant entrepreneurs, creative web desig ners a nd eff icient software developers will have the opportunity to team up their talents during the Startup Weekend in Wrocław this May. What is Startup Weekend?

A 54 -ho ur event wh ere youngsters with a background in the above-mentioned skills: business management, web design, software development, come together with the purpose of building a web/smartphone application during one weekend.

The process starts on Friday, with the initial pitches followed by first votes to decide which ideas will make it to the Sunday

final presentations, followed by the teaming up moment, which consists of convincing those attendees with the skills you might need to build your startup to join you. Also on Friday there are interesting conferences about entrepreneurism and the Internet.

Saturday is a must-work day when teams develop their projects: mockups, programming and PR. Everything has to be ready by Sunday morning, when the time comes to concentrate on the final presentation, during which teams will show the jury what they have created in 54 hours, plus answer questions that judges will shoot. Everything is on live streaming!

Startup Weekend is a globally recognized brand that has already visited Poland, with similar events organized

As for the other proposals developed during Wrocław’s session, there was, for example, the theatre and dance initiative, project

thro ugho ut Poland, most recently in Kraków, where one of the attendees was just ten years old! Since the first Startup Weekend, more than 400 congresses have been celebrated, and over 5000 applications have been developed thanks to over 45,000 participants.

Participants working on project ideas.

for revitalization of city parks using entrepreneurial and recreational elements and a platform for integrating Wrocław’s festival organisers and artists for the sake of teaching youth.

The game was great fun but also an opportunity to learn something from the experts and the other players. Everybody could contribute from their own background and the ideas for projects grew mostly from the experience of the players. The event took place in The 3 Sector Centre, which turned out to be the

perfect match for this kind of initiative.

The winning idea has been recently presented at the Future City Jobs convention in Prague, Czech Republic, where the proposals from six cities, including Wrocław, Tallinn, Glasgow, Prague, Södertälje and San Sebastián, competed for the highest honours and recources for implementation.

Here, Wrocław’s project also won the competition and is to be implemented in our city starting this year!

take place in late May.

visiting:

To book your ticket, follow the latest news and learn more, by

www.wroclaw.startupweekend.org.

Why should you attend Startup Weekend Wrocław?

Multiple reasons might convince you to attend Startup Weekend W ro c ł a w. T h e r e i s t h e opportunity to develop your own project, to find investment for your ideas, valuable networking, and generally to live a unique experience.

The Wrocław International will soon publish the venue and exact date of Startup Weekend Wrocław, which is certain to

Participants at the recent Startup Weekend in Kraków

The Wrocław International February 2012

Evolution of technology makes business reality more complex and virtual than ever. Both business and technology are changing dynamically and require flexibility in terms of using new tools and communication channels, but also affect daily cooperation of virtual teams. They work for a common purpose, but are separated by distance, time, and organizational boundaries.

Virtual cooperation is no longer an extraordinary model of business reality. In the era of Facebook and Twitter we’ve learned how to keep in touch virtually, but does the same set of rules apply to virtual working reality?

Technology enabling virtual management and effective dayto-day cooperation is a clear must for business nowadays.

Sophisticated IT tools do help a lot, but it takes more in order to successfully collaborate in a virtual reality.

Oana Burichita, who works in a team located at HP in Wrocław, lives more than a thousand kilometers away. At her office in Bucharest in Romania, she cooperates with her Polish colleagues on a daily basis and successfully

drives projects despite geographical distance and time zone difference. “The truth about virtual teams is that not everyone can successfully work virtually, it takes a certain kind of person to work in such an environment – self-motivated, independent, focused and able to work with low managerial supervision.

Virtual teams require high-speed communication to succeed, an effective collaboration platform and healthy communication principles”, admits Oana.

Piotr Jakubowski

In Poland, the first advertising campaign under the Crédit Agricole brand name was launched on 18 October 2011.

Its slogan is presented by French a ctress Juliette Binoche, a well-known figure in Poland: “Simple and sensible”, which carries on the spirit of the tagline Le bon sens a de l’avenir (“Common sense has a future”), which could not be literally translated into Polish. The advertisement highlights the viewpoint of customers, with what they like and what they don’t like about a bank. It’s a simple, attractive way of presenting the values and importance of the Crédit Agricole Group: despite its being one of the world’s biggest banks, it is able to stay close to its customers by focusing on transparency and honesty. The campaign is part of a global advertising strategy designed to boost awareness of the Crédit Agricole brand to 70% among the Polish population over the next three years The Wrocław International

February 2012

At HP, virtual environment is supported by a variety of tools and channels, giving employees a chance to minimize communication obstacles. Instant messaging communicator enables quick and efficient contact, helps to solve ad-hoc issues, but also gives a feeling of closeness and connectivity so well known from “private virtual” life situations.

Oana Burichita knows the challenges of virtual collaboration very well: “After four years of working in virtual teams I’ve learned that what makes such

Juliette Binoche was one of three French actresses that were considered for the campaign.

The other two were Audrey Tautou and Sophie Marceau.

The creative team which developed the idea of the campaign must have been inspired by a highly popular French movie Amélie (also known as Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain) which contains a funny montage sequence in which Amélie (played by Audrey Tautou) tells us the things she likes and dislikes. In the first TV spot – that launched Crédit Agricole brand in Poland – Juliette Binoche reveals that she likes: simple things, chocolate, the look on the winner’s face, honesty, fairness, to have friends all around the world and things that have history. She dislikes: financial gibberish, dishonesty, small print, empty promises and small banks that tell fairy tales… .At the end of the spot we learn why we should fall in love with Crédit Agricole just like Juliette Binoche did – it’s because Crédit Agricole has 117 years of history, ranks as one of the

setups difficult; are mainly cultural differences, time zone variations (a pain especially when fast decision making is necessary), lack of face-to-face contact which does help in better understanding your counterpart are dominant business focused interactions that formalize relations”. With the aim of bringing people closer, HP introduced a breakthrough solution that gives a video-conference quite a new dimension: HALO Rooms are virtual conference rooms, equipped with high-quality audio and video systems, giving meeting participants the feeling of sitting in one room. Shared calendars integrating time zones and public holidays in different countries make it easier to schedule meetings and plan a teams’ work. Paulina Basta, who leads the recruitment team in Wrocław, considers the virtual environment a great learning opportunity: “By working in a virtual team, you gain a unique experience and a broader work perspective. This might help you understand the complex business environment, as you step into a new, more advanced role”.

Another advantage of virtual working environment is global reach and diversity. These are especially appreciated by Oana Burichita. “Virtual teams are a great opportunity because it brings benefits such as being able to hold jobs all over the world with no need for geo-

biggest banks in the world with over 54 million customers in 70 countries and still likes things that are straightforward, fair and simple. Juliette Binoche closes the ad by speaking some poor Polish – she says: Try to like it [Crédit Agricole] as I do. Crédit Agricole’s Polish tagline is: Simple and Sensible [prosto i z sensem].

The rebranding campaign employs all the major media: TV, outdoor, internet and press.

The second TV ad that followed the one with Binoche is a typical

graphical moves, autonomy and diversity. You get to meet extraordinary people from all over the world, join teams of talented people and have global reach.

And from time to time have the time of your life in one global teambuilding,” she explains.

Paulina Basta points out another advantage of virtual setup: “By default a virtual team is multicultural, so it makes you stretch your cosmopolitanism a bit. Obviously it means you all need to communicate fluently in English, as this is normally the business language in such teams”.

Virtual stands for flexible. It supports business growth, professional development, but also inspires reaching for innovative solutions and new communication channels. And as Oana Burichita concludes, “in multinational companies virtual teams are a fact of life and though doing business over the phone, via e-mail, instant messages, in virtual room or in a HALO Room is not always easy, it’s definitely worth it”.

product-oriented spot which promotes the “first account” for students. Its hero – a student – in the similar manner tells us things he likes and dislikes. Two new TV ads have subsequently been broadcast featuring Juliette and Crédit Agricole..

The campaign was created by an agency called NestPoint. The ad with Juliette Binoche was directed by talented Polish female director Małgorzata Szumowska and photographed

by Michał Englert.

Miłosz A. Gerlich In mid-December Wrocław hosted Czech President Václav Klaus. The two-day visit to the capital of Lower Silesia was to be an occasion for lively discussions about the past, present and future times of the post-Soviet Bloc countries and present-day European Union members. In unforeseen circumstances, the occasion evoked an entirely different atmosphere.

Václav is a special name in the Czech Republic, meaning “one who will achieve fame”. Origins of the name stem from a Duke who, in the tenth century, died in a battle with barbarians. That martyrdom elevated Václav to sainthood. For Czechs, he is a national hero, the patron saint of the country and the city of Prague. The greatest boulevard in the capital is named after him as well.

Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which originated on Václav Square, another future hero of the country bearing the national hero’s name began his rise – Václav Havel. The future President of the Czech Republic turned to the revolutionaries with a proclamation of freedom, which became the initial step in the process of tearing down the Iron Curtain.

Havel became the first freely elected President of Czechoslovakia. The Prime Minister of the new Parliament became Václav Klaus. Political paths between the two politicians intertwined for over two decades. Their differences were great, in regards to ideological,

At the end of 1989 during the

Kalina Iwaszko Wrocław has been drawing an increasing nu mber of foreigners, many of them being students but also professionals.

Everyone who has ever moved abroad knows how hard it is to build a social network from the beginning. Lonely evenings are surely not the nicest way to spend time but often when foreigners want to encounter Polish culture or learn a language outside the classroom they can have a hard time finding the right place and people. Luckily in Wrocław many initiatives have been established to bring people who speak different languages together.

One of them is Language Exchange Club Wrocław, a network that serves as a contact point for those willing to practice foreign languages skills in a casual atmosphere. This is also a great opportunity to learn something about a different culture and meet people from various backgrounds. So far there are regular meetings for several languages: German, Italian, Spanish, French, English and Russian.

German speakers meet every Wednesday evening in Kalaczakra Café. Phillipe Kuhr, the organizer of the event says: “It is about learning by doing,

b u t al s o a b o u t c u l t ur a l integration, here one has a chance to experience the living language.”

Gwenni Sonberg, a freelance journalist from the Netherlands who has recently moved to Wrocław, came to the meeting for the first time: “I found information about these meetings on the Internet when I visited Wrocław before. So when I moved here recently I thought it’s a good occasion to meet people. Since there are no Dutch meetings I thought I can take up German because it’s similar to my language and I already know some basics.”

Many people learn about these events on Facebook or Couchsurfing.

At www.couchsurfing.org you can find the schedule of Wrocław Language Exchange Club meetings . A Similar initiative is the Language Café taking place in Mediateka (city library on Widok street).

If you are a student always ask about tandem projects international students your university.

you can language in the office at

Language tandem initiatives are a good way to improve your speaking skills when you have already gained some language competency. It is effective informal education and it’s free.

societal, and business perspectives. Havel was the icon of dissidents, a writer and a playwright, who alongside writers and playwrights Beckett and Ionesco became a creator in absurdist theater. Klaus, an economist with conservative views, initiated the peaceful split of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Though they had different biographies, they are united by one thing: aspiration that the totalitarianism they witnessed in their previous lives would never be repeated.

How does one treat history, tradition and authority nowadays? Perhaps the solution lies in self-irony, which Czechs are famous for, stemming from the prose of Jaroslav Haska and B o h u mi l Hrab a l. D i al o g characterized by contemptuous mockery combined with national taboo became as well the domain of David Cerny, a popular national artist from Prague. In 1999 he created the sculpture “Horse,” on which he presented Saint Václav. The saint poses nobly on the steed.

Krzysztof Tokarz Another president of the RFN has terminated his presidency prematurely. Christian Wulff, just like his predecessor Horst Kohler, walked away from his position amidst an atmosphere of scandal. Only two months ago we featured a photograph of the German President walking through the streets of Wrocław with our mayor, Mr Dutkiewicz.

Both Presidents announced their terminations in the same presidential palace during a press conference. The reason for terminating Wulff’s presidency was due to the initiation of proceedings by the prosecution against him and calling for his immunity to be lifted. The postwar Federal Republic has not yet experienced such a situation. It’s not a great surprise that the President is departing. Wellinformed German journalists and experts had previously stated that anything but the announcement of a termination would be a surprise. In 2008, Wulff, then the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, and his wife supposedly borrowed 500,000 Euro from the wife of businessman Egon Geerkens for the purchase of a house, a fact which was published by all the German newspapers.

The perversity of the sculpture lies in the fact that Saint Václav is sitting on the horse’s belly even though the horse is dead.

This is meant to be a symbol of the political transformation of the Czech Republic, of its evolving nature and rapid progress.

The economical and societal crisis that encompassed Europe created intense conversations on the future of the European Union. For conservative portions of citizens from post-Socialist countries the united European community appears as a threat to two decades of sovereignty previously obtained. Experiences of totalitarianism in the past influence and impact the concerns of the future. This theme became the main focus of the book Where Tomorrow Begins by Václav Klaus, which the Czech President promoted during his visit in Wrocław. The motif of defending freedom is also apparent in the publication The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel. The book’s premier occurred in Wrocław on

Following this were further allegations of financial misdoing involving airplane flights, cellphone purchases and hotel stays sponsored by businessmen.

Now, the prosecution wants to examine whether corruption existed when the producer in the film industry paid the bills for Wulff’s hotel stays. The same man has received millions of dollars stemming from taxpayer money. Although there have been no direct accusations of corruption, the whole situation has already broken the camel's back.

Christian Wulff, in a brief speech given before journalists, declared his termination due to the inability to properly further represent Germany at home and abroad. His departure will make room for his successor. Wulff briefly and concisely announced his resignation. He thanked his colleagues and family who supported him very much, especially in recent months. He also said that during his public ministry, "he was honest".

However, opinion polls showed that his fellow citizens believed in such assurances less and less.

During the press conference Wulff was supported by his wife Christiane.

Shortly after his speech Angela Merkel gave her remarks, after cancelling a planned trip to Italy for a meeting with the Italian

the 15 of December. Gravely ill, Havel did not come for the premier. He passed away three days later.

Václav Havel

Prime Minister in order to deal with the situation. Merkel briefly but succinctly commented on the departure of Christian Wulff.

She said she regrets such a departure, but agrees with his assessment that in such a situation the President would not be able to perform his duties well. This whole situation is rather awkward for Merkel.

First, it weakens her position.

Secondly, although the President of the FRG does not have many powers, the situation can still be harmful. The opposition has long felt the need to find their own solutions, under the banner of “a joint cross-party candidate”. On the day of Wulff’s departure it is difficult to pinpoint a favorite successor. Judging by the looks on Merkel’s face, when she was speaking about Wulff’s departure, it was clear she was aware of the eventual consequences of the whole situation. However, Merkel is k n o wn fo r t r a n s fo r m i n g situations, which at first seem unfavorable, to her advantage.

Wulff was President since November 2010, lasting no more than two years.

The Wrocław International February 2012

No, it is not the usual China vs India rhetoric, but the fact is that the Indian elephant has to now take on the garb of a tiger in order to regain its fair share of the global economic pie.

According to research done by Angus Maddison on historical statistics, at the start of this epoch, in about 1AD, India had more than a third of the global GDP and China, a quarter.

China's rise subsequently brought it on par with India and both had a quarter share each by 1500AD. The discovery of America, British/ Commonwealth expansion and the European Industrial revolution ensured that by the turn of the 21st Century, both India and China in total, had just about a 10% share.

But the fact that Goldman Sachs and other Economists of the world are now painting a "world rebalanced" picture that has China & India cornering 40% of the global product by 2040 means we are well placed for some very exciting times in our lifetime. Recently, in simple nominal terms, China surpassed Japan and India and by some counts has overtaken Italy in the global product shares league.

The fall of the West By adopting an aggressive stance to boost the short-term economics of the past years and decades, the West has failed miserably with regard to achieving a long term economic balance, and may end up being the worst economies of the 21st Century. The era of higher production, which lasted for a couple of decades, has been replaced with an era of higher consumption and a spend thrift society. This, coupled with the gradual shift of the bases of manufacturing and servicing from the West to the East, has begun to make Western economies hollow from within.

P r e v io u s l y s e l f - s u s t a i n e d economies, the interdependence has started to increase and the balance of payment has shifted from years of surpluses to deficits. This was not the end.

The pseudo po wer of consumption disguised the Western economies and made them resort to printing more currency notes and engaging in higher and higher external borrowing, while continuing with their alarming rate of spending. Their myth of

investing and controlling global assets for generating income to bridge the deficit, also fell apart.

All this has brought them to the point of no return, a point where the power equation has to change. The manufacturing and servicing nations of the world now have their own consumption stories building up at such an astounding pace that they will outgrow the Western economies much sooner than a lot of economists have been predicting. That will not be the end. This phase will also see a complete shattering of some of the Western economies to a level where their economic significance will dwindle.

Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, Greece & Spain are fittingly labeled as PIIGS thus.

Challenges for China By 2020, India is expected to have more people than China and that would start the ultimate ascent of the "Bird of Gold".

What happened to India and what China did to the West, it would only be a matter of a few decades before India is where it started this epoch. We will add 250 million to our urban population by 2030 and Delhi & Mumbai will be among the top five cities in the world. Just Mumbai's GDP would be larger than that of countries like Malaysia and Portugal.

Besides demographics it is the economic structure as well where India has an upper-hand over China. It is very much a consumption led economy. The domestic consumption was what shielded India from recessions in the past and ensured a good pace of growth when the developed world faltered.

Rapid credit growth, high investments, the real state bubble, unchecked lending, unregulated/shadow banking and speculative markets, all have been witnessed in the past: Japan in 80’s and in the US leading to their recent crisis. Unfortunately we see similar traits building up in China in the current scenario.

The economy is majorly led by investments and the consumption share of GDP is just half of that in the US. The consumption growth has long lagged behind the overall growth.

Leadership also plays a critical role in stories of success and failure alike. On one hand we have the authoritarian communist rule and on the other it’s the wo rld 's largest democracy. The pros and cons

The Wrocław International February 2012

have all been too explicit. While China has marched on with investments and government fueled and directed spending, India is slowly chugging its way towards prosperity via political impasse, rampant corruption and other perils of a comprehensive democracy.

Given the state of the developed World - US, Europe and Japan do we really need or want China giving us more jitters. Hope not!

As for other emerging markets in Latin America or Eastern Europe or even Africa, they prove no match for the like of India and China given the sheer scale, size and momentum that is exhibited by the two. But for sure between the two, historians and economists alike, all (with some caution) pick India as the under-dog in the long-run.

India’s hard work ahead More than corruption, political impasse and poor infrastructure, the challenges that India faces are on two different aspects: the material front of society and the psychological dimension of

mindsets

and

beliefs.

The rapid growth has brought with it the related curses along all po ssib le d imensions; inequality, abysmal child care, malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy, poor healthcare - which all need to be tackled urgently so that overall growth translates into a better standard of living for everyone. Thus the premise that the Elephant needs to move fast like a Tiger now. That the reforms take the right course, bureaucratic inertia is addressed sooner and the entrepreneurial and technological momentum we have is maintained.

The other aspect is more difficult to be course-corrected easily or sooner. The inherent mindset and beliefs of the population, running the country for centuries, has always baffled historians and economists alike.

The mind of this Elephant has a very easy going attitude.

Majority prefers to go with the flow rather than change the flow, the belief that what has to happen will happen coupled with general risk aversions, the cultural beliefs, religious faiths

and the geographical diversity all give India the color it has.

The fact that supply is always behind the demand and more so by a big margin gives rise to cut throat competition; the survival of the fittest policy is always at work in society. The younger generation is more impacted by this aggressive stance and at the same time has to work within the fabric of age-old mindsets and beliefs.

While it is hard to categorize the forces at work under some heading, it is even harder to pinpoint the causes or chart out plans to address these real tasks in the future, if India, the Bird of Gold, plans to have another flight of success sooner rather than later.

Manish Sharma has recently moved to Wrocław from India and will be contributing a regular column on economic and cultural issues to The Wrocław International. He can b e r e a c h e d a t m.s@indiatimes.com for comments and suggestions.

ish words like “Hola María, ¿conoces Kenia?” (`Hi María, do you know Kenya?´). Janusz always says this sentence when Sheila comes to the office, while she answers: “No, no la conozco” (No, I don´t know it).

These sentences are a part of the first script they shot.

“Do you have everything?”, Sheila asks. “Yes, I do. So, let’s go to the beach!”, answers Roberto. They are ready to travel to the Caribbean, only this is pure fiction.

In reality, they are recording a lesson that teaches Spanish.

Writing the scripts, memorizing it and enacting it, are the three steps needed to shoot the video. However, this is only a small part of a large process in which many people are engaged.

Roberto Paredero and Sheila García are two young Spaniards living in Wrocław, currently working at FunEnglish. Having received an EU grant that enables them to stay in Poland for four months (thanks to the Leonardo da Vinci program) Roberto has stated that he and Sheila would like to stay longer.

They are both working on a Spanish course for Polish people and an English course for Spanish people. “It´s very funny when, in the morning, we listen to good morning in three different languages,” says Sheila. “It‟s the same situation when we say goodbye,” Roberto then replies, with a gleaming smile.

Both have already lived abroad.

Roberto has lived in both England and Malta and Sheila has also been to the UK. Therefore, the pair chose Poland to get to

know a new country and to try to find a job. Roberto is a business administration and management graduate and is responsible for contact with Spanish partner corporations, marketing actions and other commercial tasks. Sheila finished a degree in journalism and is dealing with linguistic problems, such as reviewing grammar and creating activities. Aside from this, they record their voices for dialogues, do translations to and from English to Spanish, and are the main characters in the videos. It is the great teamwork that they adore. “We love the welcoming atmosphere because that makes us more comfortable,” Sheila explains.

The FunEnglish team are a young, professional group of people who enjoy their work.

Janusz and Kuba shoot the scripts and edit the videos, whilst two Karolina‟s resolve

harmony and anti-discrimination.

Before beginning this series of analytical articles on the Nadodrze District of Wrocław, it is highly important to describe the area in terms of its environmental, economic and social landscape.

This series will not only be a deep analysis of Nadodrze, but also an examination of some sociological issues, the urban integration process and the revitalization movement in the area.

In addressing these topics, I will be taking advantage of my experience gained at „Foundation House of Peace‟ which has a good reputation in the district, owing to its involvement in the revitalisation process and social workshops for local people. I am very optimistic that our experiences and way of thinking about the district will help to contribute to the idea of multiculturalism,

The Nadodrze district is an area of socioeconomic deprivation, with locals being excluded by other segments of society; Nadodrze is the stepchild of the city.

Concordantly, it is not hard to say that the people of Nadodrze are seen as a danger to the rest of society, with prejudices against them resulting from a range of factors from their ethnic roots to their low standard of living. In that sense, increasing the idea of harmonization between people belonging to different ethnic backgrounds, promoting the ideas of equality and tolerance and creating a dialogue among different cultures will be the principal objective of these articles.

I will use a hypotheticaldeductive method in order to authenticate my observations and experiences which were acquired throughout the last five months. I believe that my assertions will be

all other issues relating to the different languages. Meanwhile, Dorota organises the course, Paweł develops the marketing strategy and Sebastian provides the materials. IT problems are solved by Adam, and last but not least, Krzysztof Wojewodzic coordinates production. This is only a small part of the FunEnglish team, and each worker knows that their job is an essential part of creating a great language course. Sheila and Roberto are contributing to the project with their original ideas and have adapted themselves to a steady workplace.

Everybody in the team has their own task, but the program also gives them the chance to see how to manage an entire language project. Meanwhile Sheila and Roberto can improve their English and get to know new Polish words too.

Polish workers also learn Span-

Roberto and Sheila play the roles of Juan and María, two typical Spanish names. They are developing their imagination, their language competence and their commitment to good work. In exchange for this, FunEnglish offers them a good working atmosphere, nice colleagues and the opportunity to know how Polish people live and celebrate. A fine example of this was the „Wigilia‟ in which they ate traditional Polish Christmas food. “It looked like a real Christmas Eve,” Sheila says.

The two young Spaniards were in Poland during the holidays.

They had to come back to Spain on 13th of February, but they have extended the grant until March “to finish the courses and, obviously, to see the results of our work” as Roberto explains. They are not sure if they can spend more time in Poland, but they already know that whenever they leave Wrocław, they will go back to their country with more experience and a lot of new knowledge, friends and good memories in their suitcases.

The `bandoneón´ player, Ariel Ramírez, will pay a tribute to Wrocław in his next album with the song “Wiosna” (spring). This is the second time Ramírez has paid homage to the city, following in the footsteps of his album “Spadek” (autumn). His group is known as the Ariel Ramírez Tango Quartet, and is composed of João Teixeira de Sousa (voice), Dominika Białstocka (guitar), Darek Samerdak (piano) and Ariel Ramírez (bandonéon and composer). Although tango’s birthplace is in Argentina, Ramírez believes that “Polish people are able to feel this kind of music”.

A `bandoneón´ is a large accordion which Ramírez explains is challenging to play: “The notes are out of order and you can‟t look at them while you are playing”. He speaks of his instrument like a person and describes it as “the only instrument that breathes at the same time as the musician”.

There are two new musicians in the group: Marlena Grodzicka (violin) and Marcin Spera (double bass), so now the band is Ariel Ramírez Tango Sextet. They are recording a new CD in January and February (featuring the song “Wiosna”) and will play in the Romanian National Opera in thesummer.

much more clear and understandable for readers by using this method.

The question that I wish to address is: “Will Nadodrze be of secondary importance when it is compared to other areas of the city during the revitalization and urban integration process?” And, “Does it really deserve its bad reputation as the “straggler” of the city?” If we accept the answer “Yes”, we can start looking for a solution in a healthy way.

In order to properly answer these questions, we must investigate the concepts of social integration and solidarity, find what holds individuals together in social institutions, and how social integration can be possible in a differentiated and individualized social order? In other words, how can we be a well-designed society, with today‟s individualistic tendencies? Émile Durkheim answers these questions with “organic solidar-

ity”, a theory based on interdependencies and interactions, emerging as a result of division of labour and specialization.

Also, it should be supported by economic and legal institutions.

To make it more clear; social groups remain distant from each other when they do not know each other, often as a result of coming from different backgrounds and socio-economic levels. If there is not enough interdependency between Nadodrze and the rest of Wrocław

because of the lack of solidarity, the superficial policies of local and central authorities go down the drain.

So, how can we provide a common or at least a tight-knit socioeconomic levelled society in the long run? The answer can be to support non-governmental institutions which have close relations with both sides of society, thereby creating solidarity which will pave the way for social integration and harmony. cagricinaz@hotmail.com

The Wrocław International February 2012

10 Culture makeup. I have seen Asians, East Indians, Latinos and yes, Africans. It is we who more often than not stare across the room at each other, most often slyly and shyly, or as I knowingly did at a young man and his girlfriend in the jewelry store as they looked at a catalog of rings.

I nodded at him, and as our eyes met, he nodded back. I knew his story and he knew mine. Yes, it was a woman who had drawn us out and over but why would I want to stay? Here comes the answer to the best of my ability:

Why Poland?

Why Wrocł

I have been asked the first two questions often enough during my time in Poland, and for those of us who do not look Polish, they have an interesting range of answers. When someone meets me for the first time, the questions will often arise in their minds; for those brave enough to broach the topic in the usual polite and apologetic manner of the Pole, my personal answer is usually straightforward…sometimes.

Family members of my girlfriend, Ela, upon meeting me for the first time, would seem a little relieved about my appearance. I am, after all, a Caribbean man of African ancestry, with European and East Indian features. But, as a dear friend of mine from Kraków remarked one day as I was joking about someone saying that I looked like Will Smith: “James, you’re not all that black”, causing me to explode in laughter. Just goes to show that we can sometimes be so wrong about ourselves.

My journey to Poland can be traced back to my teenage years when my father renewed ties with the Abby on The Mount; it was during those years that I learned that as a young man, my father had a desire to become a priest. He had lived the monastic life as a Benedictine monk for five years before leaving to pursue a life dedicated to helping the poor. My mother was a Nun

of The Holy Name order who had met my father upon joining.

Five years later, she left the order, they met again and courted.

They were married in the chapel of the monastery.

As I explored the monastery as a teen, I discovered their library and devoured the books therein, in particular those books on the Second World War, the devastation of Europe (Poland in particular) and the Jewish Holocaust. Polish jokes aside–at that age, I honestly thought that a pole was a stick in the ground– until those books, I had no idea of the suffering of the Polish people. My parents had spoken about their challenges with regards to being able to get canned goods and some groceries; however, those of us out in the Caribbean were only inconvenienced, while the Poles and Jews were struggling for their very lives. It was during those years I made a pledge to myself to one day visit Auschwitz, a pledge born out of curiosity and in time forgotten, as growing up took over and I got caught up in dayto-day living. In fact, if you had asked me fifteen years ago if I ever thought that one day I would walk the streets of Poland, I would have told you no.

1997 found me working on cruise ships as a photographer where I met my mentor and friend Monte Zucker, a master photographer and a Jew, although not fully practicing. He was my first Jewish friend, and through him and his partner Fred, I learned a little bit more

about Jewish life and culture.

When I assisted Monte with a Bar Mitzvah party, I was moved to tears by the letter that the boy's grandfather had written to him sharing the experiences he had had in Germany as a Jew who had managed to escape to freedom and then America. My interest in Poland was definitely rekindled. I also had my first Polish hot dog experience in Chicago back in 1997; it was epic, and every trip back to Chicago found me on Maxwell Street for hot dogs immediately upon landing.

Though those experiences may seem a valid enough reason for wanting to visit Poland, it does not end there; it was also the result of the friendships formed and forged while working on board cruise ships. A very dear friendship grew between myself and one of our classical musicians on board, and as is normal with life on board cruise ships, the time to depart came and my friend Asia had to return home to her life. I have made many

friends from around the world and have not laid eyes on them since, but this time I had to keep my promise that I would one day visit because I gave her a very precious item: a cross given to my father by Pope John Paul II, which was the last thing he had held onto before he died. Not being able to accept that I would never see my friend again, I asked her to hold onto it until I visited her in order to reclaim it.

I did visit and now have it in my possession once again.

Still, my journey to Poland began even before I had met my dear friend Asia. It began with the first notes of a violin played

by Ela one day in 2004 on a very busy day for me. I had seen this woman before and had not truly observed her; it was not until she began to play that I really noticed her. I found out her name, and that she was Polish. She was part of a trio of Polish musicians, my first Polish friends.

Time passed and we went our separate ways only to meet again and grow closer, separated once again to meet again on a different ship.

So, when–in my sixth month here–I was finally asked by the fruit and vegetable shop keeper in our apartment complex where I was from and what brought me to Poland and to Wrocław, the easy answer was “a woman!” To which a very loud and exuberant “Aha!” was forthcoming.

I never meant for it to happen this way, but it did. In a way, I fulfilled all my dreams of visiting Poland and living here for awhile, and my sweetheart aside, I’ve come to have a special fondness for Wrocław.

This meeting place that is Wrocław is loaded with life. Opportunities abound, and after looking around, I have come to realize that I am not the only one who looks like me, I am not the only one with a different ethnic

The Wrocław International

February 2012

Why not? Throughout human history, men and women have traversed continents and oceans in search of a better life. America would not be if it were not for those in search of a better life. Whether they found it or not, the fact is that they laid a foundation for the future, their future generations. If it were not for my Indian and European ancestors who came to my island in the Caribbean, The West Indies, I would not be here today, returning, so to speak, to the continent. Why not Wrocław?

The very nature of island life, its culture and the character of the people, would make it easy for a Polish citizen to establish themselves in a former British colony and thrive; it is their difference that would open doors. This is not necessarily so for the reverse, for someone coming into the cold realities of a country that was once overrun by a people hell bent on its destruction.

Walking through the Wrocław Rynek, I see a human melting pot beginning to take shape, a spark of sorts. As different cultures converge, it’s very interesting to me to see sections dedicated to East Indian movies and music in major stores and to hear the music being played on the radio in the summer. That Latin dance has taken root is evidenced by the dance classes on offer just a stone’s throw from our apartment and in the pubs around the Rynek in summer, and by the look of hope thrown to me from the young lady dancing by herself to a Salsa beat, that perhaps I would join her. It’s a sign that not only Wrocław but Poland has opened her arms to many. The smart ones, those who get here sooner, will stand to benefit from all that Poland has to share.

Though Poles have found me a little odd for wanting to settle in their country while they themselves are looking to venture further afield, I, for one, look forward to the day when I will be accepted not only for my differences in appearance and background, but also for what I can share with Wrocław and Poland, something that all of us who have fallen in love with Wrocław no doubt look forward to. After all, why not?

Culture

11

International Friends of Wroc aw Open-Mic Night Revisited When living in England, I was a regular performer at folk sessions and open-mic nights in the Oxfordshire area. With a bit of careful planning, one could perform seven nights a week throughout the year. No, that's not the name of a song, just a statement of fact. I had seen sessions and open-mic nights grow from a nucleus of two or three individuals into events attracting thirty or forty different singers and musicians. I suggested that the International Friends of Wrocław might like to try and hold an open-mic night, and because I had experience of them in England as well as my guitar and a sheaf of self penned ditties, I even offered to run it.

The offer was gratefully received.

In late February, I had previously performed a two hour solo show for the club, so I figured that if nobody else turned up, I could keep the evening going on my own if required. The first IFW open-mic night took place on Thursday July 14th. and true to form, it brought out not just the curious but also the show offs. Audience and performers though are equally welcome.

I started off proceedings with a couple of my humourous compositions, and funnily enough, that was exactly how the evening progressed. Next to take the stage was Steve Andrews who gave an a cappella rendition of "The Winkle Song", an old cockney music hall ditty that had everyone in hysterics with its double entendres. Steve later took the stage as a double act with David Smith, performing a tribute to Flanagan and Allen.

David also performed solo, cajolling the audience to sing along to more Victorian and Edwardian music hall songs.

Between us all, we kept the evening going for two and a half hours, and at the end were asked when the next open-mic night would be.

We actually waited three months to the next one, not simply because we wanted people to first experience withdrawal symptoms, rather, we had the chance to hire a guest artist, free of charge. Steve Kelly, the President of the Review board had casually mentioned that his father would be visiting him in the autumn and that he also played guitar, sang country & western songs and bore a striking resemblance to Kenny Rogers.

So it was that "Open-Mic night Revisited" was scheduled for

Thursday, October 20th with Ed Kelly performing a special tribute to Kenny Rogers. We had hoped that somebody would dress up as Dolly Parton and we could put them together for a duet of "Islands in the Stream", alas it was not to be.

Once again I got the evening under way with one of my own compositions accompanied by guitar and harmonica, and throughout the evening played many more of my own songs, some serious, some political and some funny. Ed played his country & western fayre, including hits by John Denver and of course his doppelganger, Kenny Rogers. Steve Andrews resurrected "The Winkle Song" and reprised his double act with David Smith. David, himself conducted an even bigger audience than first time round to help him sing "The Ugly Duckling", "Leaning on a Lamp-post" and "On Mother Kelly's Doorstep". He also performed an hilarious double act with Beata Bartolome. Later in the evening I recited a poem about IFW written by club member Colin Tyborczyk, who unfortunately could not be present.

The open-mic nights at the club look as if they are here to stay. I would imagine the next one will be early in the new year. These

Photo: Mags Andrews

Richard Jeffery

Open-Mic Night revisited with guest performance by Ed Kelly evenings are open to everyone, and anything goes, whether you play an instrument, sing, recite poetry or juggle with anacondas.

There is no admittance fee for performers or audience, but we do ask you to bring the drink of your choice and some snacks to share. Performers are asked to bring the "Dutch Courage" of their choice and if juggling with anacondas, to bring their own snakes.

IFW ELECTION RESULTS Following the A.G.M. and Elections on Wednesday, January 25th, the new boards of the International Friends of Wrocław for 2012 are as follows: The Executive Board President: Anne Branjonneau Vice Presidents: Mags Andrews and Marina Kotovitch Secretary: Richard Jeffery Treasurer: Mav Hall Delegates: Kate Getty, Steve Andrews and Ingrid Baron

International Friends of Wrocław internationalfriendsofwroclaw@gmail.com www.ifw.org.pl

The Review Board President: David Smith Vice President: Patricia Cheroutre Delegates: Alice Renard, Kimmi Lee and Ania Solska

New Year, New Start Working Together as a Community

A full report of the A.G.M. will appear in the next edition of The Wrocław International.

An Englishman in Poland: Finishing the First Year Chris Thornborrow My future wife, Kasia was living with me in Wrocław now and quite pregnant. The Rynek had become an oven in which to bake foreigners (I'll have mine well done please) so we decided to get a more normal flat and rented in the suburbs. Most people in Poland live in flats, not houses. They are built quickly and with as few building materials as possible. We therefore quickly learned what sexual positions our neighbours preferred, what made them laugh on the TV and how loud they could belch, without ever having a cup of tea with them.

During the next six months we would visit doctors a lot. Medicine is big business in Poland.

Everyone has a medical opinion and probably a box of something to cure you. The doctors have a fairly systematic approach. Shirt off - blood pressure check - advice to eat more garlic - 4 pre-

scriptions - week off work. I'm almost certain that going into a Polish doctor with both legs in your hand, blood dripping on the floor, will result in being advised to take a week off and eat garlic. In fact with the number of crosses I've seen in Poland and the doctors constant advice to eat garlic, I'm beginning to worry.

They say some pregnant women lose the ability to make clear decisions. This can make driving hazardous and Kasia was no exception. She is the only person I know who when at KFC, took the sign "Drive Through" as an instruction. After repairing the car we decided I would have to drive from now on. It turned out driving on the right was no problem. I'd spent many months in the passenger seat and got used to the idea. However, my work demanded that sometimes I drive between Wrocław and Poznan or Zielona Gora.

This means many kilometres on roads with one lane in each direction. Polish people can judge distances much better than us

Brits and have no problems overtaking. Some of them even have the psychic ability to see round corners it seems and can easily overtake on bends.

On Polish roads you can find signs that say, in effect: This bit of road is dangerous, 50 people have died here. They are known as Czarny Punkt - black points.

It’s a sober reminder that Polish roads and driving are dangerous, which brings me to mushrooms.

Driving along fast roads, you will often see people sat at the side of the road with mushrooms for sale. Cars will go from 150Km/h to 0Km/h in about 25 metres in order to catch a mushroom bargain. In England, eating mushrooms bought from a stranger at the side of the road is an effective way to commit suicide. However, Poles know two things very well: mushrooms and bargains.

The roadside mushroom is thus a part of life here and probably a contributing factor to dangerous driving.

Kasia was almost ready to give birth and I was away for work,

flying this time. I decided on one trip to buy her flowers as a present after a long trip. In Wrocław there is a truly wonderful little flower market in the Salt Square (Plac Solny); it’s open 24 hours. I guess many men have a need to buy apology flowers at 4am on the way home after a night out. Anyway I bought a lovely ring of flowers and hopped back into my taxi.

The taxi driver asked me who the flowers were for. I told him I'd been on a long trip and these were for my wife. He told me he was sorry. For what, I couldn't say.

Arriving home I knocked on the door, Kasia opened it and I proudly presented the flowers.

She looked at me and asked who they were for. The same look as the taxi driver in her eyes. I explained they were for her, a little deflated at her lack of gratitude. "But, I'm not dead," she said. You see one weekend every year, Poles flock to the graves. Everyone goes. It’s utter chaos. Traffic jams for miles to place wreaths on the

graves. The one day I had decided to buy flowers for my wife was that weekend and I had bought her the classic Polish Wreath for the dead. A week later, when the flowers were still in full bloom, a friend of ours, laughing at our story, pointed out the flowers were actually plastic too.

Kasia gave birth in November of the first year. It was rough.

Zosia was the most ill child the hospital had seen survive they told us. She survived due to her own determination and also thanks to equipment bought by WOSP. WOSP is like red nose in England, but it is run by one man; a saint if ever there was one. Each year he dedicates his life to raising as much money as possible to buy equipment for sick children. He is a human phenomenon and in 2010 alone raised 36 million złoty to buy hospital equipment. Zosia is alive, thanks to this man, Jerzy Owsiak, and the generosity of Polish people - who adore children. Thank you!

(Continued on page 14…)

The Wrocław International February 2012

12

Joyeux mois de février: la saison du carnaval et de l'amour…

“A Joke is a Very Serious Thing!”

Winston Churchill

In France, the season’s festivities do not end with Christmas or New Year's Eve. In fact, from January 6th (the feast of Epiphany) until Mardi Gras, France gets into full-blown Carnival mode.

Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, is a day of fun, frolics and extensive feasting before Lent kicks off. Lent, the period leading up to Easter, requires faithful Catholics to limit indulgences and resolve to self-discipline.

The length of the Carnival season and the day of Mardi Gras are moveable, depending on when Easter falls. This year Mardi Gras will be celebrated on February 21st.

In French, the name Mardi Gras exactly translates to Tuesday Fat (Fat Tuesday in English) and is associated with the age-old custom of parading a fattened ox through Paris on this day to remind people to not eat meat and fatty food during Lent, and afterwards feasting on the ox. Gorging on crêpes (a French staple for Mardi Gras) became customary so as to utilize any remaining dairy products at home before Lent.

Although the origin of Mardi Gras in France is religious and spiritual, this fun-filled tradition is enjoyed by the faithful as well as the general public simply because it is entertaining and interestingly does not include traditions normally associated with Catholic holidays. This merrymaking celebration involves parades with glorious masks, costumes and music, parties and a decadent feast.

While the mood is festive with carnivals, the French do not resist celebrating love on February 14th with tremendous enthusiasm. They even have a petite ville, St. Valentin (situated in

We Brits take our sense of humour very seriously. At home, we all seem to appreciate telling jokes and having a laugh; I suppose we expect this is the case everywhere. It is only when we leave our small island that we start to realise how much this is taken for granted.

Champagne Berrichonne, in the Indre department), named after Saint Valentine which holds various events and ceremonies, including wedding vow renewal, on Valentine’s Day. It is believed that people and young lovers in France during the Middle Ages regarded midFebruary as a lucky period because birds would begin pairing up and mating at that time. This popular belief started the tradition of exchanging gifts to express love during the month of February. This romantic tradition was further promoted by French poets and writers through their writings through the 14th and 15th centuries.

A rather old and astonishing, but now prohibited, Valentine’s Day tradition in France was called une loterie d’amour.

Supposedly, men and women would enter houses that faced each other and call out through the windows looking for a valentine until pairs were formed.

Men would desert their valentines if they were not smitten with them. Thereafter, deserted and unpaired single women would light a fire and burn pictures of their ungrateful lovers and hurl abuses at them. However, due to the resulting negativ-

G L O S S A R Y Fat Tuesday – Mardi Gras Carnival – Carnaval

Valentine’s Day – le jour de la Saint Valentin Lovers – les amants

Lent – Carême

Prohibited – interdit

Easter – Pâques Faithful – fidèle

Drawing for love – une loterie d'amour

Dairy products – des produits laitiers

Light a fire – allumer un feu

Entertaining – divertissement Village – une petite ville St. Valentine – St. Valentin

The Wrocław International

No doubt you will come across a Pole who speaks English to an advanced level that you may naturally want to share a joke with. The chances are, you will do this without the slightest doubt of whether they will understand it. Don't be surprised if you are met with polite, mock laughter and eyes looking in every direction except at you.

Fully understanding a joke involves fully understanding a way of life and this takes time.

Understatement and absurdity are not commonplace in Polish banter.

Thoughtful – pensif Forget – oublier I love you – Je t’aime

February 2012

ity and wildness, this tradition was banned by the authorities.

One of the most admired gifts on Valentine’s Day could be a Valentine card with a thoughtful message. It is believed that the first ever Valentine card (a poem) was written by a young Frenchman, Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife from the Tower of London (the main state prison then) after being captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Flowers, chocolates, perfumes, photo frames and collages, or gift baskets are other popular conventional presents for a beloved one.

So, whether you decide to feast on crêpes or pączki (Polish doughnuts) this month, do not forget to say “I love you” to all the special people in your life. I will continue my French journey with you next month. Until then, have fun!

Renu Singh is a second semester student at Alliance Française in Wrocław. Through Bonjour! from a French classroom… she will share her learning experience with us.

Mastering a joke is a very serious thing because it allows you to penetrate the culture you are in; can improve opinion, create acceptance, help win favour, lighten the atmosphere and generally make a good impression – of course if you say the right joke at the right time to the right people, etc...

But, is Polish humour similar to British humour? Well, to some extent it is. Instead of Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman jokes they have a Pole, a Russian and a German jokes. There are the common victim jokes about blondes, people from Poznań (Scotland) and many situational gags generally about life in communism or politicians.

However, where things differ greatly is on the subject of word -play. English is incredibly rich in puns and ambiguity which is often the basis of a joke and the reason why it is hard to understand this humour for an outsider. Polish humour doesn't make extensive use of this and is comparatively easy to understand, once you have mastered the language to a conversational level.

Here are three fairly safe jokes that you can positively impress your Polish friends with.

What do you call a young man who goes out with a older woman?

Antykwariat (an antique shop) wait for the confused look.

She is an Antyk (antique), he is a Wariat! (Crazy person).

This might sound strange to you, but it should get a laugh.

What is the fastest land animal?

Gepard (A cheetah) - most people should know this.

And what is the fastest bird? (deny all answers and gesture in the punch line) The bird of the gepard!

Hard to laugh at this one if you are British. In English, a bird is a slang term for a woman; in Polish it is a slang term for male genitalia.

A Polish ex-president was talking to an American expresident a few years back...

So tell me, how much money does the average American earn per month?

About 2000 dollars.

Oh, and how does he spend it?

Well, around 400 for his house, 200 on food, 300 on bills and 100 on his car.

And what does he do with the rest of his money?

The USA is a free democratic county. We don't like to ask such questions.

Oh, I see.

And how much money does the average Pole earn per month?

About 2000 złoty.

And how does he spend it?

Well, around 600 on his car, 1200 for his flat, 500 for bills, 600 for food and 300 for his mobile telephone.

But that's a lot more than 2000 złoty. Where does he get the rest of the money?

Well, Poland is a free democratic country. We don't like to ask such questions!

This is a situation that many Poles have faced, but also reflects the natural resourcefulness of the Polish nation.

Finally, I need to point out that there are some funny people (funny meaning 'strange' and not funny 'ha, ha') who really do not appreciate a British sense of humour and/or simply lack a sense of humour altogether. If you happen to meet one, advise them to lighten up for 2012!

I bet one of your new year’s resolutions is to improve Polish as much as possible or maybe another language as well. This is why I would love to start with….. learning methods.

I have been asked many times, what is the best method of learning? Frankly speaking, an ideal method does not exist. Why? Because when it comes to learning, every student has different needs, expectations, and personal style.

If "visual" intelligence predominates your life, then, you “see” language like you see other things. In this case, it will be easier for you to remember works you have seen written.

You probably like working with texts, presentations, photos, movies, schemas, diagrams, lists, and pictures. It is also possible that you do not like to talk too much and in your language you use expressions like “I don’t see,” “show me,” “let’s imagine,” and “this is clear.”

If you learn the language by listening, then you would prefer attending lectures instead of making notes. You probably would like to repeat new word and expressions aloud and discuss problems with others to find a solution. It is possible that you would use expressions like, “listen, I’m talking to you,” “it sounds bizarre,” and “I have a

question.”

If your “channel” of experiencing the language is though emotion, movement, and touch, then you learn language by action, doing things, experimenting and role-playing. You probably tend to use a lot of gestures, like to move, and have spelling problems. Expression you would like to use would include “to take something,” “I don’t feel like,” “to hold fast,” and “to touch upon an important question.”

Many times you can be “visual” and “emotional” at the same time!

Knowing your type will help you in the process of learning and will make it more pleasurable and fun. Nothing will be too difficult.

Based on the knowledge above, you can choose between individual lessons, group courses, tandem courses or e-learning that follows your preferred method.

During the individual lesson your teacher can concentrate only on you and your needs so the time can be used very effectively. If you choose to study in

a group because you like to meet other people or prefer group learning, it can either speed-up or slow-down your process depending the group you are in.

The collective motivation plays a big role in group learning as well. When choosing groups, we should not forget about selflearning after classes. The teacher can guide you through the process, however, a lot of work needs to be done alone to master a language.

As a complement to the information above, I would like to recommend a very good way of learning foreign languages called “tandem language learning”. A lot of language schools and universities are using this method. From my experience it is a very effective and pleasant tactic based on language exchange between two native speakers, each wanting to learn the other’s language.

In tandem the most important benefit is the absence of stress and unnecessary rivalry that can be present in a group. These factors can increase your moti-

vation for learning and mutual failures along the way remain private between the two speakers. When the tandem method works, it can yield fantastic results.

Regularity of meetings is another important key to learn.

These meetings can be face-toface or via internet. For example, twice per week, one hour of English and another hour of Polish. It is crucial to have the same level of engagement, preparation, and effective use of time when working with the tandem method.

Being open and accepting your partners culture, practicing tolerance and understanding brings enormous benefits and aids learning greatly. Cross-cultural interactions offer learning opportunities that can provide depth. For example, things like colloquial language or slangs.

Students can also visit each other’s homes, meet in a pub, cook and eat while learning more, more and more…

Students can exchange music, movies, and books if both stu-

dent share common interests and are of the same level. If not on the same level, there is always the opportunity to practice patience. It is always good to plan ahead and set goals and achieve targets. Sometimes too much freestyle can be de-motivational.

From my experience, students learn more effectively when we reduce unnecessary stress to the minimum, that is, if they have fun, if they can play, if they have TIME for learning. If you are here for a while (Socrates/ Erasmus) and you dedicate more time for learning, besides the regular lessons try the tandem and just taste the language! Give yourself this luxury to taste the language! And definitely share your experience with me!

I also have some advice for students with limited time for learning! In March…

Edyta Juszczyszyn is a qualified and experienced teacher of Polish for foreigners. You may reach her at: edyta@inpolish.edu.pl

The Wrocław International February 2012

Depuis août dernier, Alexis Dernoncourt est VIE à Eurobank, filiale de la Société Générale. A 26 ans il vient de terminer ses études d’histoire et de droit international et européen. Il débute ainsi sa vie professionnelle.

The Wroclaw International : Pourquoi faites-vous un VIE? Alexis Dernoncourt : Trois raisons sont à l’origine de mon choix.

1. Je ressens un attrait pour les pays et les cultures différentes, j’aime voyager, en Inde par exemple. Dans le cadre de mes études et par le biais des échanges Erasmus, j’ai étudié un semestre en Espagne et appris l’espagnol.

Ensuite, grâce au jumelage de la faculté de droit de Tours et de l’école de droit français de Łódź, j’ai passé une année d’étude à Łódź suivi d’un stage dans un cabinet d’avocats. En même temps, j’ai appris le polonais.

2. A titre privé, je suis attiré par les pays d’Europe centrale et par la Pologne en particulier.

3. A titre professionnel, un VIE donne l’opportunité de démarrer dans la vie professionnelle en ayant un champ d’activités et de responsabilités beaucoup plus large qu’en France. Le VIE se révèle ainsi une première expérience professionnelle très formatrice. Les liens hiérarchiques y sont aussi plus souples. Il est possible de traiter de sujets plus transversaux. L’environnement étranger oblige à développer des capacités d’adaptabilité.

TWI : Comment trouve-ton un VIE?

The hospital was rudimentary.

Kasia was rushed into the operating theatre and I was advised I was unwelcome. Left outside, worried, I was engaged by a painting hanging in the hallway.

It was a picture of a man in a black cloak, carrying a scythe, with a sheep's skull for a head.

Death I assume. Outside an operating theatre. In the waiting area. Death. I mean why not go the whole way and write "Abandon hope all ye who enter" above the doors?

After three hard weeks in the hospital mum and daughter came home. It would be a real family Christmas in Poland. I quickly assumed my role as father with exhausted mum and decorated the flat. Christmas dinner in Poland though was beyond me and so that duty fell to Kasia.

The typical Christmas dinner in Poland involves Carp. For about a week before Christmas thousands of these poor creatures writhe over one another in huge

The Wrocław International

AD : Le site internet d’UBIFRANCE regroupe d’une part les CV des candidats à l’expatriation et d’autre part les offres d’emploi d’entreprises souhaitant embaucher un VIE. Il est également possible de contacter directement une entreprise. Pour ma part, j’ai répondu à une offre d’Eurobank mais la connaissance que j’ai du polonais les a incités à me proposer un poste différent de celui qui était envisagé au départ. Le fait de parler les deux langues me permet de jouer le rôle de passerelle entre les deux cultures française et polonaise.

TWI : Quelles sont les conditions d’emploi pour un VIE? AD : Avoir moins de 28 ans. Le VIE ne peut durer plus de 24 mois. L’employeur est UBIFRANCE. Nous recevons une indemnité en fonction du pays dans lequel nous travaillons (distance, coût de la vie, risque). En Pologne, l’indemnité est de 1600€ par mois, ce qui est bien sur le marché du travail polonais. J’ai aussi droit à un allerretour en France par an. Un contrat VIE n’ouvre pas l’accès aux indemnités de chômage mais compte comme années travaillées pour la retraite.

TWI : En quelle langue travaillez-vous?

AD : En trois langues en fait : en polonais, langue officielle de l’entreprise ici et langue des textes juridiques, en anglais, langue de communication entre les uns et les autres, en français lorsque nous sommes entre français.

Ici la connaissance du polonais est réellement un plus car peu d’étrangers l’ont.

TWI : A l’issue du VIE, que pensez-vous faire?

tubs of water at Supermarkets.

They are often bought live, taken home and kept in the bath tub until their glorious moment arrives. Turkeys in Poland meanwhile presumably are watching James Bond on TV and tucking into a Christmas helping of turkey feed. Carp is a bony fish.

Conversation at Christmas lunch is an art - speak, spit, speak, spit, speak, spit, spit, spit.

So the first year passed. I was now used to life in Poland and after a year there were few surprises left. It’s now six years later. Christmas this time was spent in Egypt and I had falafel and Turkey for Christmas lunch.

Zosia and I swam for hours and Kasia read a Stanisław Lem book about Pirx by the pool. In Poland I feel very comfortable, life is good. I doubt I will leave Poland, unless it’s for a job or a warmer country. I'm proud to be one of the few who "went the other way" as the taxi drivers say.

February 2012

AD : Personnellement, je ne sais pas encore car je viens d’arriver. En général, 95% des VIE se voient proposer un emploi à l’issue de leur mission, et 70% l’acceptent. Les employeurs valorisent le VIE, preuve d’adaptabilité et d’intérêt pour l’international.

TWI : Comment se fait votre intégration dans la ville de Wroclaw?

AD : Très bien, je vis totalement intégré en milieu polonais.

Geneviève Meillan et Alice Renard pour The Wroclaw International.

Ormai lontani dalla memoria degli italiani i cori di piazza che invocavano le dimissioni dell'allora Presidente del Consiglio Silvio Berlusconi, le problematiche sociali ed economiche sono oggi esplose.

Nessuno dira' mai se sia meglio vivere in un impero di cristallo fasullo sapendo che il marcio che cresce sottoterra e' destinato ad esplodere oppure affrontare la realta' di un paese lacerato a tutti i livelli sociali.

La popolazione non ha piu' fiducia nelle istituzioni, se non avessimo alle spalle la nostra storia forse opteremmo per la soluzione della guerra civile. E a niente servono i piccoli gesti del neo Presidente Monti (spostamenti in treno, diminuzi-

Durante la Eda Media, en Europa se celebraban las "fiestas de la carne", como una licencia previa a la Pascua de Resureccion. El nombre mismo hace alusion a la danza, al jolgorio, a la comida, a la bebida.

La tradicion llego a Mexico con los colonizadores espańoles y a diferencia con la manera de celebrarlo en Europa, debido entre otras razones, al clima, no se acostumbra a cubrirse la cara con mascaras y vestirse con muchos ropajes.

Por el contrario se tiende a mostrar el cuerpo lo mas que se pueda.

El Estado de Veracruz se localiza a lo largo de la costa del Golfo de Mexico, al Este del pais y colinda con los estados de Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca y Tabasco. Su ubicación geografica cercana al Tropico de Cancer permite gozar de clima calido durante todo el ańo. A lo largo del estado se localizan los principales mantos petroliferos del pais, cuya produccion de petroleo es de casi 3 millones de barriles diarios siendo esta la principal fuente de ingresos. Es estado cuenta tambien con una gran industria pesquera, ademas de otras especies, se exportan varias toneladas de camarones al dia, principalmente hacia los EEUU y Canada.

El folcklor del Estado es una mezcla de tradiciones prehispanicas, espańolas y las ten-

one delle scorte e di alcuni privilegi) quando il Parlamento, vero organo rappresentativo eletto direttamente dalla popolazione, continua a difendere le numerose garanzie economiche di cui da anni dispone, mai cosi uniti da destra a sinistra!

La disoccupazione non e' piu' il solito problema di sempre, oggi e' una questione strutturale di quasi impossibile soluzione: come evitare che le imprese italiane preferiscano spostarsi a Est dove il costo della manodopera e' almeno del 70 per cento inferiore o che i distributori italiani non acquistino prodotti fabbricati in Cina realizzati con un costo dieci volte inferiore a quello dell'europa occidentale anche a discapito della qualita'?

E' molto probabile che la soluzione per l'occidente arrivi direttamente da queste stesse zone ori-

entiali dell'Europa e del mondo, infatti, quando questi paesi conquisteranno le proprie garanzie economiche, la qualita' della vita aumentera' e con essa i salari.

L'Italia e altri paesi ritorneranno competitivi di nuovo, forse. Ma chi sa quando e chi sa a quali condizioni.

tasse e i tagli, parole ultimamente ripetute all'infinito.

Piu' probabile e' che oggi l'Italia, dopo Grecia, Spagna e Irlanda rischi di cadere nel baratro di un default e proprio per evitare questo pericoloso fantasma che sembra sempre piu' reale, e' stato chiamato lui: SuperMario Monti.

Ma cos'altro poteva accadere? In fondo il Monti nazionale di derivazione cattolico-borghese non poteva che agire secondo i propri indirizzi culturali ed economici.

Che l'Europa avesse gia' stima di lui e' risaputo e chissa' forse anche gli italiani, conoscendolo poco e da lontano, pensavano che veramente avrebbe salvato tutti con un miracolo ma l'alternativa all'indebitamento decennale di un paese gia' in crisi non potevano che essere le

Proprio cosi, la popolarita' del nostro eroe scende ogni giorno e tanto piu' quando le odiate tasse sono andate a toccare pensionati e fasce gia' deboli, “risparmiando” i super ricchi.

Non c'e' fine all'incertezza che caratterizza il nostro paese, se nei decenni precedenti si parlava di problematiche relative alla disoccupazione giovanile oggi sempre piu' si discute di famiglie, ridotte a condizioni disumane che non arrivano alla fine del mese.

un contratto a tempo indeterminato per andare in pensione con la societa' che ci aveva assunti da giovani e nella quale eravamo maturati dal punto di vista professionale, oggi il problema e' trovare una societa' che non fallisca durante la vita professionale del lavoratore.

Se il problema di ieri era avere

dencias mas modernas el la musica, el baila y la vestimenta.

Asi, el carnaval es una muestra viva de nuestro pasado historico.

Se inicia en enero con los "Papaquis", desfiles que se realizan cada fin de semana durante el mes de enero a lo largo del Boulevard Adolfo Lopez Mateos y que permite a los participantes afinar sus presentaciones para el gran dia a mediados de febrero.

Las escuelas publicas siempre participan, organizaciones no gubernamentales, asociaciones civiles, el gobierno patrocina a quienes quieran participar, el Instituto Veracruzano de Cultura es la institucion que revisa el contenido de las presentaciones, conservandocon ello la calidad y calidez -, de las celebraciones.

Cada organizacion renta un trailer en cuya plataforma se presentaran estampas o escenas historicas o simplemente se baila con vistosos trajes, que puedes ser los tradicionales pantalones blancos y "guayabera" en los hombres, con un "paliacate" rojo anudado al cuello. Zapatos blanquisimos para taconear el "jarabe", los huapangos, las decimas. Las mujeres con vestidos muy blancos, con muchos olanes, pańoleta roja y peineta de carey en el pelo. Muchos collares de oro y perlas, Aretes y pulseras del mismo material. En este caso la musica sera con arpa y cuatro y marimba, como marca la tradicion. Los participantes bailan y bailan durante todo el recorrido que normalmente dura unas 8 horas desde el municipio de Boca del Rio hasta el munici-

pio de Veracruz.

En otra plataforma de trailer se puede ver la forma de un buque hecha de madera y pintado para la ocasion y alli los participantes van vestidos de marineros y las mujeres van disfrazadas de sirenas. Todos bailando al ritmo de salsa, cumbia, merengue, son.

Las escuelas de samba - como en Brazil -, hacen derroche de color y ritmo. Cada una presenta una plataforma y tambien presenta un grupo de bailarinas y bailarines que ejecutan sus coreografias a pie, para disfrute de la concurrencia que suele ser multitudinaria. Familias enteras colocan sillas desde muy temprano para poder presenciar el

desfile. Las escuelas de baile tambien presentan sus propias coreografias y asi es cposible ver junto a los ritmos tropicales, una variedad de disciplinas como el tango, cha-cha-cha, inclusive jazz y bossa nova.

Una vez que los contingentes van alcanzando el final, se dirigen al parque central, donde estan los famosisimos portales que albergan a los restaurantes, bares y cafes mas populares del Puerto de Veracruz. Alli se sigue la fiesta, casi en cada restaurante hay un grupo musical y cada uno ejecuta las melodias de moda.

No importa que en el restaurante de al lado tambien haya otro grupo musical haciendo lo mis-

mo. El ruido es tremendo. Se habla a gritos para pedir la carta al mesero, el barullo es incesante y tambien se tiene que gritar para pedir una cerveza en el bar.

Se come y se bebe. Se baila con todas y con todos. Se baila solo, en grupos, se baila toda la noche. Se canta. Se vive. Al amanecer, los pescadores deben ir a revisar las redes que colocaron el dia anterior. La madre naturaleza es tan benigna que durante la noche los peces han estado arribando al chinchorro. Los camarones han estado entrando en los "clarines" o en las cestas, donde previamente se colocaron platanos para que el olor les atraiga. Ya es otro dia.

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Winter is in full swing, reminding us that it won’t be getting warmer anytime soon.

Nonetheless it manages to charm us with the snow all around. So why not jazz it up a bit by preparing an easy and classic restaurant showstopper - Steak Diane - at home.

While the classic culinary technique the recipe calls for, flambé (igniting foods that have been topped with liqueur) will create a dramatic effect, the tender panfried beef steak drizzled with a luscious flambéed cognac sauce will tantalize the taste buds and impress your friends and family.

We are thankful to Louise Elphick for sharing her recipe with our readers.

Prep Time: Less than 30 min Cooking Time: 10-20 min Ingredients: For two servings

For the steak: 2 sirloin, rump or rib eye steaks (200g each) ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper salt 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 teaspoon butter 2 tablespoons brandy or cognac 2 tablespoons butter For the Diane sauce: 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard salt freshly ground black pepper To garnish: 1 tablespoon chopped chives 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley 1 teaspoon lemon juice Method: First, prepare the steaks: cover with cling film and pound them with a rolling pin until about 5mm flat. Season with freshly ground pepper but do not add any salt.

Prepare the ingredients for the sauce and set aside in a bowl.

Heat the oil and butter in a stainless steel frying pan and cook the steaks for 1 minute on each side. Take the pan off the heat, transfer the steaks to two warm dinner plates and season with salt.

Add the brandy or cognac to the hot pan and return it to the heat, where it will flame (see notes).

When the flames die down, reduce the heat, add the butter and pour in the prepared sauce ingredients (Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper).

Stir vigorously with a spoon for about a minute, allowing the mixture to bubble and thicken.

Add the garnish (chives, parsley, lemon juice) and any juices that have gathered from the resting steaks, stir well and pour the bubbling sauce over the steaks.

Serve immediately with potatoes and green vegetables!

NOTES Flambéeing is an interesting technique, but must be executed with extreme caution.

- If the flames are too high, cover the pan instantly with a lid and wait for the flames to subside.

- Place the alcohol (max 40% abv) in a small dish or a ladle; don’t pour directly from the bottle.

- If using an electric stove, use a long matchstick or a barbecue lighter to ignite the alcohol.

- Remove the pan from heat (important), add alcohol and tilt it slightly towards the flame (away from you), or use a matchstick, to ignite.

- Using a stainless steel pan (with a long handle) is highly recommended; don’t use a non-stick pan.

This light and fruity champagne cocktail with floral overtones is definitely to be sipped away with your sweetheart. The elderflower and lime-flavoured foam adds a delicate flavour and texture to the cocktail without overpowering it, making it more enticing.

Fruity shots for two to celebrate love!

Glass: champagne glass or flute Ingredients (for one drink): 20ml Aperol or Campari 20ml freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice 10ml elderflower syrup 40ml Moët & Chandon Imperial, chilled *elderflower-lime flavoured molecular foam (optional) Garnish: *Foam as a float, or a fresh strawberry or raspberry on a cocktail pick or skewer Method: Shake the first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

Strain into a chilled champagne glass and carefully fill with champagne.

Top up with elderflower-lime flavoured foam, or simply garnish with a strawberry on a skewer and relish the magic.

Glass: 2 shot glasses Garnish: a fresh raspberry on a cocktail pick or skewer

*elderflower-lime flavoured foam Ingredients: 100ml egg white, 80ml lime juice, 50ml elderflower syrup, 50ml still water, 30ml sugar syrup** (2 parts sugar/1 part water) Method: If you have a whipped cream dispenser, feel free to add all the ingredients to it and use according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you don’t have one, you can make the foam using a hand blender with a little effort. Chill the foam in the refrigerator [not freezer] for an hour before using for a good, stable foam. **Combine 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan. Heat while stirring on a low flame, until sugar dissolves completely. Cool to room temperature. Store in a clean container, seal, and keep refrigerated indefinitely. Use whenever a recipe calls for simple sugar or simple syrup.

The Wrocław International February 2012

Ingredients: 20ml Belvedere Black Raspberry 20ml fresh sour passion fruit purée 10ml Blackberry liqueur Monin or Chambord 10ml sugar syrup** (2 parts sugar/1 part water) Moët & Chandon Imperial, chilled Method: Shake the first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

Strain into two chilled shot glasses. Top up with a splash of champagne and garnish.

Na Zdrowie!!!

Ingredients for these cocktails may be purchased at centrum wina stores, EPI, Alma and good hypermarkets in Wrocław.

These bittersweet, mildly floral truffles are an excellent after-dinner treat served with a cup of tea. The hint of caramel sweetness and coffee tones from Guinness® Draught add depth and richness to these sinful truffles. They would be a great handmade gift, too!

Recipe published with permission of Guinness Storehouse®, Dublin, Ireland.

Preparation Time: 15 min, plus 2 to 3 hours setting Cooking Time: 10 to 15 min Servings: Makes 25 truffles Ingredients: 1 kg dark chocolate, broken into small chunks 400ml double cream (30%) 100ml GUINNESS® Draught finely grated zest of 1 orange cocoa or coconut powder, for dusting

Method: Add the cream and GUINNESS® to a double boiler and bring to the boil over medium heat. Add the chocolate and grated orange zest. Reduce heat to low and mix together until the chocolate is fully melted.

Leave the chocolate mix until it is cool to the touch and a little set. Take generous teaspoons of the mixture and roll in your hands to form small round truffles, dust in cocoa or coconut powder. Set in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours. Enjoy!

Food & Wine 17

A Night of Romance at Sarah s.soesbe@wroclawinternational.pl

Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but if you missed the big day and still have a sweetheart to woo, there is no more romantic restaurant to take your love than Sarah.

Located in the old Jewish district near the White Stork Synagogue, Sarah stands out as the city's only Jewish restaurant. Walking down the uneven cobblestone street, it's easy to get drawn in by the flickering candlelight that beckons to you from Sarah's gracefully curving windows. As you step into the restaurant, you're greeted by a warm dark wood decor, the jazzy moan of vintage music on the radio, and candles burning low on cozy tables.

You are not typically greeted by a member of the wait staff, un-

fortunately. The one downside to an evening at Sarah is that the service can be erratic and the food awfully long in arriving at your table, although the waitresses are very friendly when you do see them. While efficient customer service is usually of the utmost importance to me, I simply leave those expectations at Sarah's door because the superb ambiance is worth every extra minute spent waiting for my pierogi. The lack of attentiveness might even be considered a bonus as it allows more time for trading steamy looks with your main squeeze over a glass of spicy mulled beer.

Sarah boasts an eclectic menu that features a mix of traditional Polish and Jewish specialties.

The meat pierogi (on the menu as "Kreplachy with beef") were recommended to me by several people as the best in Wrocław, and they did not disappoint. The seasoning is quite unlike any

other I have tasted in pierogi, with more savory notes and an undercurrent of spice missing from the bland norm. The texture of the meat is not the usual soft pulp that one commonly finds, either; it is more like what one would make at home. I found them seriously addictive.

Wanting to try a traditional Jewish dish, the waitress recommended the Casserole from Haifa. Comprised of finelyground beef in a spiced sauce that has been mixed with rice and baked under slices of tomatoes and a blanket of golden cheese, it was both hearty and full of flavor.

While Sarah is perfect for special occasions like Valentine's Day, do not hesitate to enjoy their lovely atmosphere whenever it suits you. Drinks with friends after work are lovely accompanied by starters like blintzes with vegetables and

Anchors Away at New Floating Restaurant Rob Burgess It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: what do you get if you cross a restaurant with a boat? Wet customers? A lot of fish?

Fortunately for the Barka Tumska, a new floating restaurant and conference suit situated near the heart of the city, this is one joke whose punch line is more stylish than funny.

It's an impressive beast. Four dining rooms, a bar, a kitchen and an open top summer terrace make for a great deal of choice for would-be punters. There are conference rooms for business meetings, larger spaces for receptions and a pub for more traditional drinking. There are even special entrances cut into the side

of the boat so that travellers on the river can dock with the restaurant and enter from the water itself. Wet customers indeed.

Artur Perliński (The Director of Catering/Gastronomy) from investment company Integer SA promises that the menu at the Barka Tumska is every bit as extravagant as its setting.

"Clients can choose from a menu comprising everything from exotic seafood to traditional local delicacies," he says. "The unique character of our barge makes for a one-of-a-kind dining experience in the heart of our city's centre."

It's hard to argue with him, especially considering that the owners also promise a series of live events to be held throughout the year to coincide with all that wining and dining.

www.sarah.wroclaw.pl

Shannon Soesbe

baked spinach with Parmesan cheese. And there are few things more pleasant to do in Wrocław than relax with a cup of Sarah's Tea on a cold and rainy day. A black tea flavored with ginger syrup, orange, lemon, cloves and cinnamon, the very smell will wrap you in a perfumed cloud of citrus and spice from which you will not want to escape. It is pure pleasure.

With the ever-increasing pressure these days to create magical

date experiences, make it easy on yourself and take your beloved out for an evening steeped in the romantic atmosphere of a time gone by at Sarah, where the magic makes itself.

Details: Sarah ul.Włodkowica 5 (71) 792 49 56 www.sarah.wroclaw.pl Open 12:00-22:00 Starters from 10zł to 15zł Main dishes from 12zł to 37zł

Europeum Hotel Wins a Prestigious Accolade

The Barka Tumska opened its doors at the end of August and so far public opinion has been very positive. "I had a really great time there," enthused one local resident who asked to remain anonymous.

"There's really nothing else like it in Wrocław at the moment."

What do you get if you cross a restaurant with a boat? Whatever it is, it's certainly worth checking out.

For more information on the Barka Tumska, visit: www.hotel-tumski.com.pl Opening hours: 13:00–23:00 - restaurant "Blue Marine" 14:00–24:00 - pub "The Tavern" 12:00–22:00 - terrace

Europeum Hotel has won the 1st place award in the 1-3* category for “Best Hotel Awards 2011”. Votes were cast throughout 2011 by guests and clients and the hotel received 40% of the total vote!

Additionally they won 3rd place overall for the best 1-3* in Poland.

Further details of the contest can be found at: www.besthotelaward.pl The Best Hotel Award is evident proof of the superior quality offered by Wrocław’s hotels. It is important especially to the fact that Wrocław is getting prepared to host European Football Championships. Europeum Hotel, the best 3* hotel in Wrocław was also named the 3rd best of such establishments in Poland.

Photo: Leszek Stryja

Europeum Hotel’s passion is to create a comfortable, stylish and efficiently run hotel and the last few years’ hard work has come to fruition after being awarded this accolade and is in recognition of their quest for high standards.

Contact: Europeum Hotel ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego 27a, 50-077 Wrocław tel: +48 71 371 45 00, email: europeum@europeum.pl, website: www.europeum.pl

The Wrocław International

February 2012

Sadly, I hear the above statement quite often and honestly, I am not surprised since there has been a lot of misinformation about Pilates, especially in Poland where this form of exercise is considered relatively new, and to many people it remains a mystery. Compared to the USA, UK or Germany, where teaching standards are higher and instructors are often fully qualified, we are falling behind and have some catching up to do.

Having done a little bit of research myself, I have come to realize that many of the local gyms offer Pilates-wannabe classes that frequently resemble yoga or therapeutic sessions or are simply taught in a slowmotion fashion, which can get really monotonous and leave a bad impression on first-time participants. As a result, they get discouraged, decide not to do this type of exercise again and what is worse, they share their opinion with others, which then spreads like wildfire damaging the great reputation the Pilates system has been enjoying for many years now. It has helped millions of men and women around the world get into better

shape, lose belly fat, eliminate chronic back problems, become stronger and more flexible and feel empowered. You can gain all of these health benefits from doing Pilates on a regular basis, but you might have heard a false opinion about Pilates and so I would like to step in to set the record straight: Boring, easy and slow! Yes, I can actually relate to that as I once took a Pilates class at a local gym that made me literally yawn and I just could not help but leave before the class was over. Admittedly, being a Pilates teacher myself I set my expectations high and I can be a harsh judge but I just want peo-

ple to know how challenging, effective and inspiring real Pilates can be. Everything depends on the instructor and any class can go wrong with an instructor who happens to be teaching many different classes at the same gym and who turns out to be an excellent step trainer instead.

There are so many different styles of Pilates, and classes may vary significantly. Some are used for rehabilitation purposes while others can be very dynamic and athletic in form and the only slow thing about them would be the burn... or the background music. The pace can change drastically once you have completed the beginner's level and from there on the challenge will be only greater, so be prepared for some hard work that will surely pay off. Have you ever tried the swan dive, teaser or boomerang? Well, I bet you would be breaking a

sweat with these advanced exercises, but even with the basics you would be surprised how seemingly easy positions can make your body a little shaky.

In a well-designed Pilates class, you would not have much time to think about anything but listening to instructions, moving from one position to another and making sure to breathe. The choice of over 300 exercises in Pilates, done either on a mat or special equipment, in which you can also use thera-bands, stability balls, foam rollers or magic circles, makes every class different and it can be easily adjusted to each person's expectations, goals and needs. This is why Pilates training has been so greatly appreciated among professional sport athletes, dancers, actors and equally popular with health-minded individuals, regular gym goers, beginning exercisers, moms to be or seniors, and everybody is welcomed to try it at least once so they can experience its beneficial effects.

So please do not rely on other peoples' opinions because they can be misleading and you might just miss out on some great training. Go ahead and find out for yourself what Pilates is really about because what does not work for your friend may turn out to be just a perfect fit for you. If you, like myself, happened to have taken a not-sogood Pilates class that felt more like stretching or yoga, do not give up on it and just give it an-

Next month Wrocław will have the honour of being host city for the 36 th YONEX Polish Badminton Open.

Taking place from the 22nd to 25 th March, over 300 players from all around the World will compete to earn qualifying points for this summer’s Olympic Games in London.

Organized once a year on a rotational basis, the host club for this edition will be „Stowarzyszenie Klubu Sportowego Matchpoint’, located in Sleza, near Wrocław.

Maja Muszynska, the head manager of the tournament, was clearly happy with the choice of venue: “We want to get as much attention as possible. This tournament is a great way to promote the sport and the city.”

Supported by the Municipality of Wrocław and Copernicus Airport, SKS Matchpoint is planning several events all over the city in order to raise awareness about this year‟s Polish Badminton Open. So watch this space!

HELP! We have run out of clothes!!! emmaus…

the association supporting

people in crisis situation, mainly focusing on the homeless, the long-term unemployed and the handicapped… will gladly and with gratitude collect your used clothes, shoes, furniture or any household or kitchen items. We can arrange transportation or invite you to drop the donations at our office in the centre of Wrocław.

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February 2012

Office: ul. J. Kaczmarskiego 7/9/1 (9am to 5pm every weekday) Our charity shop: ul. J. Rubczaka 17/17A (9-5pm weekdays/8-1pm Saturdays) www.emmaus.org.pl biuro@emmaus.org.pl Tel.: +48 71 716 47 98/517 506 688

other shot. I believe in second chances but sometimes the third time is a charm. Above all, try doing exercise that you really enjoy and stay committed; being consistent is the key to success and in no time you will see and feel the results.

We are all individuals with a unique set of expectations, but we all tend to have the same goals and similar new year resolutions, namely to be healthy and feel good about ourselves, and this is exactly what I would like to wish to all of you...and maybe a little extra time to come to a good Pilates class before this 2012 year is over.

For group classes join us: Every Wednesday 6-7pm and Friday 11am-12pm at: Torres Art Studio ul. Św. Antoniego 2-4 Brama/Gate C (3rd Floor) www.torres.com.pl If you prefer personal or duet Pilates, contact me via email at myloveforpilates@yahoo.com.

Euro 2012 Ceremonies Casting for Euro 2012 ceremonies took place on Sunday, February 19th in Hala Orbita; and was open to everybody over 16 years old.

The last group game of Polish National Team in UEFA Euro 2012 TM will be held in Wrocław. However, Śląsk Wrocław fans cannot be sure of seeing any of their local heroes perform at the tournament. Everything comes down the final selection of Poland's coach, Franciszek Smuda.

Wrocław's newest stadium will not merely host three UEFA Euro 2012 TM matches, but is also the new permanent home of Śląsk Wrocław, last season’s runner-up in the T-Mobile Ekstraklasa. Orest Lenczyk’s side are now in pole position leading into the second half of the season. Despite leaving the giants of Polish football such as Legia Warszawa, Wisła Kraków and Lech Poznań in their wake, Śląsk Wrocław players have not yet walked into the national side.

Looking at Franciszek Smuda’s squad selections, it appears unlikely that the national team coach will pick any Śląsk Wrocław players within his 23 man

On February 3-4, the Wrocław International School Wolves middle school basketball teams traveled to the International School of Prague (ISP) to participate in a friendly 3-team tournament that included Berlin Brandenburg International School.

The boys’ team finished the weekend with a 2-2 record. After winning the first 2 matches they dropped 2 very close games by only 8 and 2 points.

The girls’ team dominated the competition and compiled a per-

select. Nevertheless, with the current form of the team it may be impossible for Smuda to ignore some of the players from the current T-Mobile Ekstraklasa leaders. Three players in particular are likely to catch the coach’s attention.

Sebastian Mila – a captain at his best Sebastian Mila’s exceptional form over the last year means he is very much staking a claim for a place in Smuda’s squad. Śląsk’s skipper and main playmaker is deadly from set pieces and his goals from free kicks have been a factor in Śląsk’s lofty league position. Smuda selected Mila for the friendly game against Bosnia in December, in a squad exclusively made up of Polish based players. After the match took place Mila posted his feelings on his blog for www.wroclove2012.com, stating: “I was trying to show my best to the fans, the family and the coach.” Two days later, the best known Polish sport journal, ‘Przegląd Sportowy’ named Mila as one of the 30 players on Smuda's shortlist for the Euros.

Still, breaking into the final select of 23 will be a tough challenge, especially since Smuda stated “Mila is not the kind of player I am looking for” at a press conference for the recent Italy friendly in November 2011. Śląsk Wrocław fans will be hoping he does enough to change Smuda’s mind in the coming months. Sebastian Mila has just received a call up for Portugal match on February 29th in War-

saw; this will be one of the crucial tests for Poland before Euro 2012.

Waldemar Sobota – youthful wing wizard Another Śląsk Wrocław player that has dreams of participating at Euro 2012 is the talented right winger, Waldemar Sobota. Heralding from a small village near Wrocław, Sobota plays without fear, showing no respect for famous players. The speedy wide man has tremendous ball control and an eye for goal, illustrated by his debut goal for the national side in the aforementioned match against Bosnia. However, in the wide right position Poland already has its captain, Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund) and Sławomir Peszko (1.FC Koln). Getting into the starting eleven may appear impossible, but don’t be surprised if Sobota sneaks into the final 23.

Piotr Celeban – goalscoring defender Another candidate comes in the shape of rock solid defender, Piotr Celeban. With an impressive five goals in the first round of matches, Celeban’s name has not gone unnoticed. Negotiations on a new contract have stalled, and perhaps the defender has an eye on joining one of Europe’s elite leagues.

The player has also played for the national team before under both Leo Beenhakker and Smuda.

However, Celeban knows for all his professional attitude and heart he puts into the game, he is unlikely to make the shortlist of players for the Euros.

One hundred people will have the chance to take part in the ceremony preceding the matches of UEFA Euro 2012 in Wrocław.

Ceremonies will be held at each stadium just before kick off.

Around six minutes long, each ceremony will include elements specific to its host city. In Wrocław’s case the Grunwaldzki Bridge will most certainly feature, as it forms the city’s Euro 2012 host city logo.

The ceremonies will be organized in a similar manner at all eight host cities in Poland and Ukraine. In Wrocław, the choreography is in the hands of Krzysztof Mazur, choreographer of the Polish edition of "You can dance!"

Details of the recruitment of volunteers may be viewed at the websites of the host cities.

Euro 2012 Which stars will you see in Wrocław?

Wrocław is hosting three games for the Group A, which includes Poland, Czech Republic, Greece and Russia. We are going to take a sneak peak at the famous football players you can watch at the brand new Municipal Stadium of Wrocław.

Roman Pavlyuchenko Russia Currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur, Pavlyuchenko was Russia’s top goalscorer in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. A tall and technical forward, he had his best spell at Spartak Moscow, where he scored 109 goals in 187 appearances. He signed a deal to play for Lokomotiv Moscow on February 3rd, 2012. He signed a deal to play for Lokomotiv Moscow on February 3rd, 2012.

Giorgios Karagounis Greece At the age of 34, the Greek captain is still a key player, both at his club team Panathinaikos and the national side. A fierce, aggressive midfielder, he is very dangerous from set pieces and can strike from distance.

Tomas Rosicky Czech Republic Nicknamed ‘The little Mozart of Football’, Rosicky is still a World class playmaker. His creativity, passing accuracy and long distance shots have made him a core part of the Czech national team.

fect 4-0 record on the weekend, winning by an average score of 37-15. In one match they really showed their unselfishness and teamwork, with 12 of the 14 girls on the team scoring at least one basket.

Students were housed overnight

by ISP families and all students raved about the experiences they had with their host families, which also gave them an opportunity to meet and socialize with other international school students.

While there might be some competitions against local schools in the near future, the next big trip for the WIS Wolves is on March

16-17 when they travel to Bratislava, Slovakia to take on QSI International School of Bratislava and a school from Vienna, Austria. GO WOLVES!!

Nathan Cooper, Girls Basketball Coach For more about Wrocław International School, an IB World School, visit: www.wis.fem.org.pl

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tional road at a snail’s pace to avoid potholes, cows, dogs and bikers.

My baby nephew LambertJosef was recently baptised where it is snowing. It seemed a million miles from our destination of Kep, a small fishing village on the south west coast of Cambodia, just three hours away from Phnom Penh. Little did I know our trip there w o ul d be co me cu r s ed, everthing that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Our driver had a front wheel drive car insufficient to navigate the challenging roads, had never been to Kep before, and could only speak a few words of English. On top of that, we left two hours before sunset, hitting the Friday night traffic.

As a result from 6pm we were driving in the dark on the na-

As nobody normally is so foolish as to drive in the evening, our worried hotel manager called wondering if we had cancelled our rooms and I had to reassure him twice that we were definitely coming. On our way there we saw a few packed busses leaving clothes factories (outside Phnom Penh you have GAP, fruit of the loom, M&S).

Not only the number of people outnumbered the number of seats by one to four, I think, but the roof made room for an extra twenty people. Finally after five and a half hours we arrived, relieved not have travelled in the same cramped conditions as those on the bus.

The hotel was in a small natural resort, with a splendid view on

one side of the jungle and the Gulf of Thailand on the other.

The air was fresh and the weather much cooler than in the capital. After a lazy breakfast, we started to explore the area.

Just down the road you could see endless rice plantations that had suffered from severe flooding. Nonetheless many farmers were working hard in the fields, sickle in hand. The harvest was transported by mopeds or carts pulled by zebus or buffalos. The pace of life here seemed wonderfully slow.

Between towns, many people have small stands along the road selling food and beverages which resemble rudimentary wooden sheds. In the back of the garden you have the brick homes that are elevated on pillars with a terrace/balcony, often used by families to gather for meals. Most of them are dressed the traditional way: a light pair of trousers and conical straw hat or a scarf over their heads twisted so as to carry heavy loads.

We visited a very remote cave where our guide, a 10 year old boy called Tauh, who spoke English very well, showed us around. The young Cambodian guide was both witty and as sharp as a razor. It was nice to hear him say that he was going to school during the week, and was taught French through an

Wrocław Meanderings In October, I moved from the Netherlands to Wrocław to live and work here and I r e me mb e r s t a n d i n g a t Schiphol Airport with two big suitcases, a laptop bag and a guitar, trying to free up a hand to wave goodbye to my family as I passed the security check.

It was a strange feeling to take off for such a long time to a place I had never been.

When I landed in Wrocław it was dark outside, but still, the taxi ride from the Airport to the hotel would be the first time I ever saw Poland with my own eyes. The „taxi driver chat‟ started while putting my (many) bags in the trunk. As I told him that this was my first time in Poland and I was going to live and work in Wrocław for the next 1.5 years, he immediately

proudly told me that I was a very lucky man to come to live in the best city of Poland. As we drove towards the city we first passed some idle land with derelict buildings and later some flats, but as we got closer to the city centre, I started to understand what he meant.

The next day I decided to go for a long walk - first to the main square. Obviously, this is a very beautiful place. As I entered the square, I saw the rooftops and the fountain, the authentic pavement, restaurants and bars everywhere and people quietly going about their business and I knew I was going to have a good time here. With the sun shining and Bach‟s Toccata and Fugue being played on the accordion by two street artists, I couldn‟t help but stand still and smile for a moment. Then I circled around the square for a while and immediately felt at home in the Old Town.

The Wrocław International February 2012

As my circles around the centre got bigger and I left the old centre, I started to see more contrast. Idle land and closed shops just around the corner of a new store with big neon signs.

The newest and most expensive cars driving on broken streets. I found the most beautiful old buildings full of history and culture, but also areas full of big flats with pretty small windows.

I found the newest technology and most beautiful designs, and things that scream for basic maintenance and updating.

Then I started to learn more about the history of Poland and specifically Wrocław. If I were to make a piece on the history of the city, I would choose the theme “rise and fall”. Times of great prosperity and growth, and times of having to start everything the city had all over again. Wrocław is beautiful and full of culture and history, but if you look closely and beyond the

NGO who was supervising his education.

The rest of the day we ate the infamous crabs of Kep at the local market, we initiated Max to his first toe-dipping in the sea and took a tour at a Kampot pepper farm. Later on, to finish the evening beautifully, we went for dinner by the docks, admiring a wonderful sunset. Staying in a resort obviously has the benefit of bringing you close to nature and we did admire a lot of beautiful animals. However, on this second evening, upon hearing heavy noises on the roof of our room, I was made aware that the door between our beds and the open-air bathroom could not lock. There was no scary encounter but the noise lasted a few hours and I was trying very hard not to imagine a monkey hanging above Max's bed.

first impression, you can see that it is a city in development. So when people ask (and they do) “what do you think of Wrocław?”, my general answer is this – it is a beautiful city with a lot of contrast, old and new, prosperous and struggling, beautiful and crappy, strong and insecure, and I love it. I love being in the presence of change and seeing dreams are under construction, with the Wrocław sky tower as great example.

We have all just celebrated new

Sunday was spent driving slowly back to Phnom Penh enjoying the skyline. It was now 28-25 degrees in the city, considered by Cambodians to be winter conditions and in which they actually put on sweaters and socks when going out. I must admit that I miss the Polish cold wind and snow. The Christmas decorations had been put up in most foreigner’s quarters by then. It was more American than we were used to, with flashy green, red and yellow fairylights everywhere helping us to somewhat get into the whole wintery atmosphere. The little plastic Christmas trees at each corner were represented with snow, so the branches and leaves were all white. Sopheat looked at them and said 'how funny, they forgot to paint the Christmas trees.' I wondered if Lambert-Josef had seen his first snow flake. year, a moment between old and new and of history and future. A moment where you sit together with the people you love, talk about the past and make plans for the future, and then you celebrate it. I think that Wrocław is in such a state, also between old and new, between a past identity and on its way to a new future, so why not celebrate it?

After all, it’s rain and sunshine together that makes a rainbow.

If you are looking for a property with charm and character, a building with architectural features such as fireplaces, exposed beams, wood floors and beautiful plasterwork, outbuildings or a large plot of land, you need look no further than Wrocław. Wrocław has a wealth of beautiful historic b u i l d i n g s e n c o mp a s s i n g post-German villas to baroque castles, tenement apartments to converted barns or mills.

While you are getting a piece of history and a part of Wrocław’s cultural heritage, the downside is that such properties require much more maintenance than new homes and they might even require restoration, renovation or decorating before you can move-in.

are strict rules governing what can and cannot be done to the houses within it. An architect, an engineer and even an archeologist or a geologist might have to be hired to report to the conservator's office in order to gain permission before the start of the actual renovation.

Move slowly and don't start carelessly ripping out the building.

Get to know the property thoroughly and find out everything you can about it. Spend your money first on the essentials, the 'mod cons' and the enjoyable things like decoration can follow.

Windows are the eyes and soul of a building and, of all the external features, matter most. Try to overhaul existing windows or replace windows while keeping with the style of the house.

Discover what you need to know

External render was a common feature of post-German building exteriors. Post-German buildings relied upon the porous nature of lime render to allow condensation to evaporate through the wall. Try to use lime and not Portland cement as a binder in the mix and it does not shrink and expand in the same way as cement render.

When you buy a building of historic or special interest, it is important to know if it is within a conservation area where there

Choose replacement roof tiles with care. Try to salvage all the existing tiles you can from the roof that is being stripped, very

For those who have a passion for rescuing old tumble-down houses and restoring them to their former glory, there is a lot that can be done to preserve or restore an original period property.

often many of the old tiles can be re-used. You might come across original small iron roof lights built into the roof slopes of attic rooms. New dormers and roof lights should not jar with the existing architecture and planning consent may well be needed.

Avoid ripping out existing staircases and replacing them with pseudo ones. Attempt to repair when possible because you will find it difficult (and expensive) to find authentic reproductions of the often elaborately carved and decorated balusters and newel posts.

Wallpaper came into mass production in the mid 19th century and it is one of the most important elements in the decoration of a period room. It ranges from sophisticated hand-printed motifs onto rag paper, to massproduced floral patterns run off onto cheap wood-pulp paper.

Many good reproductions of wallpapers are available today.

Also try to reinstate original features like original fireplaces, floorboards, shutters, four panel internal doors and door furniture.

Lastly head down to your nearest salvage yard to scour for architecturally interesting materials.

Remember the house will probably get a lot worse before it's finally renovated but it will be well worth it.

Kimmi Lee Architect at Izyckilee Architects kl@izyckilee.com

SMOLEC: Apartment for rent, studio 30m2, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, equipment, appliances, partially furnished.

In addition, 9m2 balcony and parking space. South facing windows.

Option to install Internet and cable TV antenna.

Price 800PLN/month + charges around 190PLN depending on the meter reading.

LOCATION: Czackiego in Zacisze DETAILS: The newly furbished detached house comprises of 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 kitchens arranged on three floors with a large south facing secluded garden with decked area. The property is fully equipped with modern appliances. A selection of double bedrooms (18 to 22 sq m) are available for rent. Available immediately.

RENT: Double bedroom from 1000 PLN plus bills

The Wrocław International

February 2012

22 Events

Mesajah Premieres New Album This Week! the album "I'm here" are a social commentary by Mesajah. These include occasionally critical and sometimes positive opinions about the world and relationships. At times it is a very personal confession inspire d by his private experiences. "I have struggled many times in my life with the lack of tolerance and had to prove that, contrary to appearances, I'm not a stranger. I accept these emotions and let go of the memories in the form of a song," says Mesajah.

More than three years after his musical debut, Mesajah, Wrocław reggae musician and co-founder of Natural Dread Killaz, is releasing his next album. Titled, "I'm here", it will be on store shelves at the end of this week.

Mesajah's solo album, which features the author's creative use of reggae, dancehall, drum'n'bass and hiphop, also remains open to the influences of other genres.

"My music is not pure reggae, but a mix which can be called my p er so nal mo d er n r o o t s," says Mesajah. "In addition to genres closely related to reggae, a major inspiration for me are the sounds of soul, blues and salsa," he

adds. This is exactly the nature of his latest album, whose official premiere is 15 February.

The

lyrics

of

tracks

on

Mesajah invited many guests to work on his new album, including: Kamila Bednarek, Pa Xon,Yanaza, dies down, down the gas and MiloMailo. The album as a whole has been affected by PaXon, and the Austrian team of House of Riddim, Dreadsquad, Bardach G

Leszek Możdżer & The Motion Trio in Wrocław Two world-class stars, unpredictable improvisers open to musical experiments, will be on one stage on 26 February. Their joint concert at the Ethno Jazz Festival 2012 has a chance to become one of the major musical events of the coming season. Motion Trio is an accordion group founded in 1996 by Janusz Wojtarowicz, the leader and author of most of their compositions. A phenomenon on the European and world music circuit, Leszek Mozdzer is a top class pianist and an outstanding improviser, one of the biggest revelations in Polish jazz. The concert will be held at Wrocław CS Impart.

Mikromusic & Maidens from a Good Home On 5 March, a charity concert for homeless animals will be held at club Firlej in Wrocław. There will be team Mikromusic and a whole galaxy of charming singers: Natalia Lubrano, Alicja Janosz, Anne Kłys, Barry Mirowska and Marcelina. During the event, an auction will be held for which various items have been donated by Leszek Mozdzer, Catherine, Paulina and Joanna Sekula Korbaczyńska. Organization of the concert and Ekostraży Foundation was initiated by the Two Plus Four Natalia Grosiak,singer for Mikromusic. Total revenue from ticket sales, building blocks and receipts from the auction will be donated to organizations caring for recently abandoned animals.

The Wrocław International February 2012

PD of Riddim Studio and the Bandits were responsible for the riddims. It was released by the artist management, Wrocław Lion Stage Manageme nt Agency.

The first single, Fri "Fire," you can listen to on: http://soundcloud.com/lionstage/ mesajah-ogie-censored.

Events

Impart Art Centre ul. Mazowiecka 17 50-

Coming to a Theatre Near You...

Compiled by Kathryn Getty We, as in the not-quite-fluent-inPolish-yet population living in Wrocław, are very fortunate when it comes to movies. Unlike in our European neighbor, Germany, in Poland movies in languages other than Polish are not dubbed or voiced -over (children’s movies are the exception), but rather only have innocuous Polish subtitles. This is great for those of us who prefer to see Leo, Daniel and George’s newest releases on the big screen, with a giant bucket of salty popcorn and a gallon of Diet Coke, rather than waiting for the movies to come out on DVD. Knowing what is playing does require some Polish language skills or at least access to Google Translate as the titles of movies are almost always given names in Polish. Knowing when movies will be released also requires some web-searching skills, as movies premiere in different countries at different times.

23

www.impart.art.pl box office: +48 71 341 94 32

Calendar

February 2012

20 II

performance for children

21 II

performance for children

22 II

performance for children

24 II Marek Dyjak and Piotr Machalica

concert of

25 II Edyta Geppert concert in Teatr Piosenki 28 II Niebezpieczna gra/Killing Time spectacle 29 II Niebezpieczna gra/Killing Time spectacle Killing Time

This month I have done the work for you though and list below all the coming attractions, their release dates and the Polish titles you will see listed on the web or in the theaters. I also provide below a list of the major cinemas in Wrocław.

February 17: The Grey (Przetrwanie); The Descendants** (Spadkobiercy); Big Miracle (Na Ratunek Wielorybom); Young Adult (Kobieta Na Skraju Dojrzałości); Elles; Über uns das All (Above Us Only Sky/Ponad Nami Tylko Niebo) February 24: The Woman in Black (Kobieta w Czerni); The Artist** (Artysta); Haywire (Scigana); Shame (Wstyd); This Means War (A Więc Wojnę); Pieds nus sur les limaces (Lily Sometimes/ Lily); Hors Satan (Outside Satan/Poza Szatanem); Syberiada Polska March 2: We Bought a Zoo (Kupiliśmy Zoo); Goethe! (Young Goethe in Love/Zakochany Goethe)

Calendar

March 2012

March 9: One for the Money (Jak Upolować Faceta); Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Strasznie Głośno, Niesamowicie Blisko); Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

1, 2 III Screenings of films related to Kosarewicz and Waltenberg

March 16: The Devil Inside (Demony); This Must be the Place; Et Maintenant, on va où? (Where Do We Go Now?/Dokąd Teraz?)

5 III Ganghuyag Odpurev painting exhibition, opening at 19.00, Galeria ImpArt

1, 2 III Leningrad musical theatre performance, Teatr Piosenki

5 III Jazz jam session cafe Autograf March 23: The Hunger Games (Igrzyska śmierći); Wuthering Heights (Wichrowe Wzgórza); Kloss - Podwójna Stawka

6, 7 III Peter Pan and the Pirates performance for children 6, 7 III The Vagina Monologues spectacle

CINEMAS:

**Nominated for an Academy Award

Multikino Arkady Wrocławskie (Arkady shopping center) Helios (Kazimierza Wielkiego 19/23)

6, 7 III Spotkanie/The Breath of Life by David Hare spectacle 8 III

, J. Poprawa and B. Sobczuk recommend

9 III Mój Staszewski 10 III

in Teatr Piosenki concert

Dolnośląskie Centrum Filmowe (Piłsudskiego 64a)

13 III Blues jam session cafe Autograf

Multikino Pasaż Grunwaldzki (Grunwaldzki shopping center)

17 III Dance Vibrations dance theatre performance

15, 16 III

performance for children

18 III From Piaf to Garou 20 III Nadzieja/Hope concert of Tadeusz Nestorowicz

Helios Magnolia Park (Magnolia Park shopping center)

To see a full listing of movies currently playing in Wrocław, as well as to find detailed theater and time information, go to: www.google.com/movies and enter “Wrocław” as your location

See you at the movies!!

Peter Pan and the Pirates

The Vagina Monologues

The Wrocław International

Photo: A. Doskocz

Cinema City Korona (Korona shopping center)

February 2012

'Myth and Melancholy' is an exhibit for 'the end of the world'. Its atmosphere arises from the theme of evanescence, decline of faith and identity crisis being explored.

Artists metaphysical feelings mix with history, which adds meaning to the aspects they selected. The reinterpreted themes taken from the 20th century history, mythology and art reveal a distance between our times and modernism, at the same time pointing to gaps to be

filled with new ideas, forms and myths.

The thirty artists invited to the exhibit make their personal statement on the world observed, stressing the right to express pain, helplessness and doubt in schematically propagated beliefs and values. The intimate dialogue conducted by the artists between individual works may provoke personal reflection on alienation of an individual, a search for acceptance and love.

The exhibit curator Jolanta Ciesielska points to the fact that each of us can become the hero of myths, stories and studies to be created, and even for this one reason we should try to make our lives extraordinary.

Works in the exhibition from the collection: Gallery 'Stereo' in P o z n a ń , Lo we r S i l e s i a n Association for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, Gallery 'Piekary' in Poznań, Association for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in Podlasie, Gallery 'Apendix2' in Warsaw, Gallery BWA in Warsaw, Art Agenda Nova in Kraków, also from private collections of artist.

Co–ordinator of the exhibition: Agnieszka Chodysz Organizer: The Culture and Art Centre in Wroclaw Co-organizers: Wrocław Contemporary Museum, Bielska Gallery BWA T he e x h ib i t io n wi l l b e accompanied by the album, edited by Jolanta Ciesielska, published by the Culture and Art Centre in Wroclaw.

The exhibition has been organized as part of Lower Silesian Art’s Festival OKIS.

The Wrocław International February 2012

The exhibition was subsidised by the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Marshal’s Office of the City Wroclaw, from the budget of the Bielsko-Biała Municipality.

Marshal of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Jolanta Ciesielska Wojciech Bąkowski Cezary Bodzianowski Bogna Burska Witosław Czerwonka Krzysztof Gruse Ryszard Grzyb Grupa Klisza Werk (Jakub Grzywak i Mariusz Kubielas) Jerzy Kosałka Kamil Kuskowski Roman Lipski Grupa Łódź Kaliska Artur Malewski Sławomir Marzec Tomasz Mażewski Andrzej Miastkowski Agata Michowska Marcin Mierzicki Bartłomiej Otocki Laura Pawela Marek Rogulski Jadwiga Sawicka Grupa Sędzia Główny Kama Sokolnicka Piotr Szmitke Grzegorz Sztwiertnia Marcelo Zammenhoff Alicja Żebrowska

Events

25

A State-of-the-art Multi-Media centre has opened this month at Centennial Hall. You can learn the history of this world-famous UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the history of Wrocław through interactive multi-media. The exhibition is also available in several languages.

The Wrocław International February 2012

26 Events

Mrs Anna Dutkiewicz organised the 10th Annual Charity Ball to raise money for much needed paediatric hospital equipment. The event at Hala Stulecia was attended by about 1000 people with copious food, wine and entertainment. Ticket sales and extravagant auction bids raised over a million złotych for charity.

For the past 11 years we have an interesting tradition in Wrocław. In January delegates of final grade high schools in Wrocław meet in the Rynek and dance together the polonaise around the Fredro monument. This dance is called “Polonez for Fredro”. They believe that it may also help at the matura exam. We wish them luck!!

The Wrocław International newspaper co-hosted a party at Klub Synergia on 10th February. US Comedian, Jim Williams performed together with Liquidmime, and world music DJs Imported Goods. The next TWI will be h e l d i n M a r c h ; fo r i n v i t a t i o n s , e ma i l editor@wroclawinternational.pl.

In recognition of the 'EUROPEAN ACTION WEEK AGAINST RACISM', with support from 'UNITED for Intercultural Action', in March thousands of people and numerous organizations will be engaging in events and activities to promote tolerance and equal rights as well as to celebrate the diversity of Europe.

In support of this initiative, we invite you to the opening of an exhibition on the theme of multiculturalism in Polish football in the EDITH STEIN HOUSE on March 21, 2012 at 7:00 pm. This exhibition is part of the project 'TOGETHER AGAINST RACISM', developed by volunteers from Germany, Ireland and Ukraine who have come to Wrocław with the European Voluntary Service (EVS) and Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste (ASF).

The exhibition outlines the history of ethnic minorities locally and nationally and also draws attention to the problem of racism that exists to this day in football stadiums. The opening will include various special activities.

For additional information please visit our website at www.edytastein.org.pl or contact Katrin Bartels atkatrin.bartels@edytastein.org.pl, or at +48 788 093 163 .

EDITH STEIN HOUSE, ul.

N o wo wi e j s k a 3 8 , 5 0 -3 1 5 Wrocław

ROOM FOR RENT 





The Wrocław International February 2012

23rd February (Thursday) at 7pm Jazz concert of InJazz Quartet Free entrance 26th Feb (Sunday) at 6:30pm “Haunted Mill” play, directed by Joseph Frymet, based on the

play by Mariusz Urbanek & Beata Maciejewska.

Tickets: 80 pln (dinner before the play included) Info: http://hotel-tumski.com.pl/hotel/

Monday, 20th February 2012, 8pm FREEENTRY Tawerna, ul. Wróblewskiego 9

Tuesday, 21st February 2012, 10am FREE Meet at Biblioteka/Library on the Rynek, No 58 Contact: renardalice@hotmail.fr

Delegation in Ukraine Wednesday, 22nd February 2012,11am FREEENTRY Instytut Studiów Międzynarodowych/Institute of International Relations, Koszarowa 3, sala/room 201

Tuesday, 20th March 2012, 7pm Tickets 30PLN Teatr Lalek, Plac Teatralna 1 Further details to follow as part of Les Journées de la Francophonie in March

Living in Wrocław we see, day after day, an increase in the number of tourists from all over Europe and beyond. Open to the west, Wrocław has become a city that can be described by the expression: "The place to be." Daily we are in contact with many languages and we notice more and more foreigners who choose to live in this city. Hence a relatively simple thought: What was the first facial expression of a person when he/she first discovered the city? Answering might be impossible because we were not with the person at that initial moment of discovery to catch that first glance.

This is our project developed from the earlier question of what foreigners feel when they first arrive in Wrocław. The exhibition is the creation of a photographer and a director of photography. The photographer will work silently taking portraits of subjects and the director will assist the photographer but also gives a "dramatic" direction to the picture. This project is open only to foreigners living in Wrocław, of all ages. Through discussion, the director will lead the person in remembering his/her first impressions upon arriving in Wrocław. The photographer will capture the moments when the facial expression reflects the memory. The photos will all be on a white background. The portrait will be in black and white.

The exhibition's title is important because it will define the general concept of the exhibition. The title will be chosen after we have several sessions completed and pictures developed and it will be based on the most prevalent emotion.

Number of photos: 20 Mandatory conditions: people expatriates/all ages Day: 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 February Hours: from 10am till 5pm / 1hour per person maximum Contact: ravenelromain@gmail.com - to arrange an appointment

The Wrocław International February 2012