Inspired by this article at the Polandian, I decided to find out my Polish name day. I figure this is as good a method as any to claim another day as a personal holiday. It turns out that the Polish spell Sarah with no h, so I’m forced to use “Sara”. My name day is January 19. I expect congratulations and free drinks on this day, as well as on the day of my birth.
If you are insanely jealous (as you should be) you can find out your own name day! It is easy! I’ll demonstrate how I found out my sister Emily’s name day.
1. Make sure your parents named you something classic and European. This is a Euro tradition. If you don’t have a European first name, I guess you can choose one that you think sounds Bad-Assed. Or sounds like your name.... whatever.
Emily... check!
2. Think of all the variations on your name that you know. Translate into other languages, use the Internet. Make a good list, as this improves your chances of having a good name day Emily: Emilie, Amelia, Amelie.
3. Go to this website, and search your possible names with the dropdown set to “Name Days”.
4. Choose your favourite name day country.
Emily has a choice between an Estonian, French, Czech (as Emilie), Swedish (as Amelie), or Polish (as Amelia) name day.
5. Choose the name day that comes first after your birthday.
Estonian: May 19 French: September 19 Czech: November 24 Swedish: April 20 Polish: March 30
6. On the week before your name day, remind others that it is coming up, and that it is very important and close to your heart. The Polandian article has some methods to convince people believe you.
7. Collect your congratulations and free stuff!
Comment on this post with your name day, and if you follow the steps, I will congratulate you on your name day! What a wonderful prize!
Actually I have a better prize – comment here with your name day and email me your fall mailing address, and I’ll send you a postcard from Poland (or other European country) celebrating your naming! Unless you are going to Poland with me – then I’ll buy you a drink on your name day if it occurs while we are overseas!
12:00pm-12:30: Discover my possible travel companion is unable to join me, print off directions to the Polish Consulate, and Mountain Equipment Co-op on King street. I also eat a quick bowl of leftover tomato soup – I forgot to eat breakfast somehow.
12:30: Pack all my stuff up, get in the car, and get the heck out of town.
1:00: I forgot my $100 fee. Shit.
1:30: Slightly lost as I miss the ramp to get on the Gardiner Expressway.
1:45: I drive down Lake Shore, don’t see the consulate, but knowing where it is supposed to be, I park, put 3 hours in the parking meter, and start walking in the right direction.
1:50: A bank of Montreal! I take out my monies.
1:55: I find the Polish Consulate. It does not open until 3, but there are already 4 Polish ladies waiting patiently outside.
2:10: I pull out my sock-in-progress, which excites the 3 remaining Polish ladies (the one left to do something) and they start exclaiming at me in Polish. I explain that I don’t speak any Polish, and two of them compliment me on my sock in English. The third says something in Polish to the second, who translates for her: “You’ll be able to finish it before the place opens!” Everyone has a good laugh.
2:30: I am feeling a bit dizzy and overheated, so I sit on the sidewalk and eat half of the peanut butter and jam sandwich that I packed for my lunch, and drink some of my water. The crowd around the gate is getting much bigger – there are around 10 people now, including one Canadian girl and her boyfriend.
2:45: The Canadian girl, a Polish guy in shorts, and I chat about our reasons for being here. The Canadian is travelling; she expresses a hope that the Polish Consulate will be an easier process than the Italian one. The Polish man explains that he has never needed to come here before (despite living in Canada for ~20 years) but his father died and they called him here. I explain my reason for travelling and how long I’m staying. Polish dude in shorts is very excited both about my knitting and my trip. He assures me that I will pick up Polish very quickly and that it is a very easy language (I am not persuaded, but hopeful). He also tells me that I need to go to Zakopane in December for some kind of festival. He said the car ride is about 2 hours, and would be less if it wasn’t a two lane highway with terrible traffic. I respond that I don’t mind traffic if I can knit, and won’t have a car – I would take a bus or train. He was very emphatic about me not taking the train to Zakopane from Krakow. He and the second Polish lady both assured me that the train ride was about 6 hours, you could walk to Zakopane more quickly, and the only reason to take the train was if you wanted to see Polish trees. Take the bus! They were very insistent about this point.
This conversation also gave me a new slogan : Never take the train to Zakopane!
3:00pm: After a short burst of static-y Polish from an unseen speaker, the gate opens and people start trickling in. Before I go on, I want to point out that the Consulate is a big house.
We weren’t led to the house though, and the ~30 people now gathered were herded around the back to a waiting room about the size of my living room, with no air conditioning. I immediately felt both nauseous and sweaty. I was second in line at the window that said “Paztportsawa” on the window, and sweating more than I ever have before. I was sweating out my ears, which I didn’t even know was possible. It wasn’t that hot in the room (maybe 27°C), but I was probably white as a sheet and not too healthy looking.
3:10: My rapidly deteriorating condition didn’t stop some random Polish lady (who I hadn’t seen outside, btw, so she hadn’t been waiting long) from barging ahead of me in line, waving her pick-up slip around. I was too much of a pansy to do anything about it (and not feeling well enough to try. I merely hoped she’d be quick at the window). The Canadian girl in line behind me started talking loudly to her boyfriend about the rudeness of some people, and they both made pointed comments about not being an asshole.
3:15: Miss “I’ll only be a minute let me in front of you in line” (I think this is what she said – I don’t speak Polish) has a missing passport. The lady behind the window is still looking for it. The Canadian girl’s boyfriend makes a pointed comment about filing systems. The girl reminds him that it is still better than the Italian consulate. Remind me to never get an Italian visa.
3:20: I make it to the window. Wrong window, but I’m sent to the first window, where no one else is waiting in line, so it’s okay. I put my backpack on the ground and sit on it. I immediately begin feeling better, though there is no one at the window, so I have a bit of a wait still.My cold sweat stops, and I begin to feel much more normal.
3:25: I am asked to the window. I stand up and take a step to the window, passport in hand. Before I can even say anything, a Polish man runs to the window and yells a question in Polish at the glass. The lady behind the window replies, then goes to look for something, and passes it to him through the little slot. I’m ready to punch this dude in the face.
3:40: After assuring the Consulate lady about 4 times that I am not attending a Polish University, and therefore CANNOT get “my acceptance letter” from them, she seems to be understanding. There is a phone system on the wall so people don’t have to yell through the glass (just like in jail!) but she isn’t using it. I bend down to the little slot that I pass my paperwork through, talk through that. I can feel the air conditioning in the little office hit my face, and it is wonderful.
3:45: After promising to fax both contact information for someone in Poland, and my payment receipt for the program, I leave with a slip to pick up my new passport (with Polish Visa) anytime after July 23.
3:50: Toronto is in a garbage strike, and the entire city stinks in the heat. I step into a Polish deli on the walk back to my car to get a cold drink. There is no air conditioning inside, and the smell is worse than outside, so I leave without buying anything. Poland better not smell anything like that place.
4:00: I reach my car and begin the drive to MEC. I find it with no trouble, but parking is a bit of a difficulty.I find one lot that charges a $15 deposit plus $3 an hour. I park there and tell the guy I’m looking for an ATM and have no cash. He points me to a nearby hotel’s ATM, but I decide I’d rather find somewhere else to park.
4:20: MEC has a parking garage ($2 an hour), so I park there and walk upstairs. I quickly find a quick-dry travel bath towel and the backpacks I was looking for, but am very confused about how to fit them. I also can’t the difference between the first choice and second choice backpacks that I found online. I find a salesperson very quickly, and we chat as she fits the first choice backpack for me. It turns out that the only difference between the two was a separate zippered pouch on the bottom of the first choice pack. I figure more space is better than less, and go with this bag, in navy.
The picture is pretty unassuming right? It looks like a backpack, but really it is a giant backpack! It is huge! The girl who is helping me loads it up with some handy-dandy weighted pillow things they have around. She puts about 35lbs in the bag, helps me put it on, and makes some minor fit adjustments. With the hip strap done up properly, the bag is heavy, but manageable. I feel like I need to walk like a hunchback, but walking that way doesn’t really make it feel much lighter. She encourages me to walk around the store and to call her if I need any other help. I finish my shopping with the weighted bag on. I find some plug adapters, and look at the huge amounts of cool stuff they have there.
4:50: I decide I’m ready to leave. I unclip the hip belt and almost fall over. I had no idea how much weight was being transferred to my hips – my shoulders were totally comfortable while I was walking around. I unload the weights and move to the checkout.
At the checkout, the cashier is really polite. She gives me a membership form to fill out, and helps the next person in line while I fill it out. The next member in line congratulates me on becoming a member, and I am happy, despite just spending $110 on a backpack. It is a great backpack, and I’m really excited about using it. I am now a member of two Co-ops. I need to join a credit union to make it three.
5:00: I begin the drive home, but can’t turn left onto Spadina Ave. at this hour, so am forced to pass it, turn around, and then turn right onto Spadina. I make it to the Gardiner, where there is exactly as much traffic as you would think there would be at 5:00pm on a Wednesday.
5:30: Still not out of Toronto. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes to get here this morning (including getting lost), and I have a bad feeling I’m going to almost double that going home.
5:45: I am really tired. Possibly too tired to be driving, but the stop and go means I’m not driving much anyways.
6:15: The 401! And traffic is thinning! I tell myself as soon as I get home I’m going to have an hour long nap before watching “So You Think You Can Dance?” with Sylvie at 8:00.
6:50: I arrive home. I am ready to pass out, but as soon as I walk into my room, I hiccup twice and am convinced that I am going to throw up. I go to the bathroom, but recover quickly. I have my hour long nap and it is delicious.
8:00: Sylvie arrives and we start the show. She brought chocolate chip cookies but I am still too groggy and sick feeling to eat any.
8:10: Commercial break. I go to make a pot of chamomile green tea, but soon after I get the tea out, I hiccup again. I almost vomit twice on the way to the bathroom, but manage to make it to the toilet. It is mostly dry heaves, as I haven’t felt well enough to eat for most of the day.
8:20: I make the tea and am feeling 100x better. I eat 3 or 4 cookies and have two cups of tea.
10:00: The show ends, and I promise Sylvie that I am going straight to bed. It doesn’t happen exactly that way, but I end up in bed at 11:30 anyways.
11:30: I am too hungry to sleep, despite being very tired. I get up, have a bowl of cereal and crawl back into bed. I pass out almost immediately. It was a very long day.
So Krakow is a go, but now I need a Visa to go there. The original story was that because we would be leaving Poland during our stay, we wouldn't need a visa as they are only for continuous stays of more than 60 days. But a new law was passed that changed the rules (as laws are wont to do). So now you need a visa if you will be in the Schengen territory for 60 days. And I don't know the exact boundaries of this territory, but it has been described to me as Europe. So there's that. I must get a visa.
Things the Polish consulate wants before they will give me a visa:
For me to travel to their office in Toronto, wait in line for a few hours, then be interviewed.
For me to present the interviewee with the following: a reason to be in Poland for an extended stay, two passport sized photos of myself, my passport, proof that I have enough money to support myself for the first few months, proof that I'll leave when I say I will, and proof of health insurance. All this plus a pretty hefty form.
For me to leave all that stuff in their care for a week or so.
For me to come back in a week and pick up my brand new visa and my passport. They are going to keep all that other stuff, so I best be giving them copies.
In a way I suppose this visa business is a blessing. It has hastened my deadlines and now I am getting things done.
I now have my plane tickets! (Leaving on Sept. 3 and coming back Dec. 28). And health insurance! (along with cancellation insurance, luggage insurance, and other kinds of insurance that my mom assures me are needed) And once I get the passport pictures taken for my visa, I'm going to get myself an international student card, and an international driver's permit.
I like to think that having an international driver's permit makes me a cultured woman of intrigue. Please allow me this delusion.
P.S. I did some quick googling (because I'm a well researched blogger and all) and have found a list of the countries that are in on this Schengen business: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden + Norway and Iceland.
Also does this post need a picture or what? Here is a picture of Wawel Castle, in Krakow. I swiped this picture from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/poland/krakow-wawel-cathedral.htm and it is copyrighted by one D. Danzig. Pretty huh? I'm totally gonna walk there.
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