The intention of this post is to learn about the culture of Poland based on the iceberg model, which is composed of two parts. The first one is what we believe of the Polish culture (the tip of the iceberg) and second one is the true essence of this culture ( the surface of the iceberg).
Gastronomy of Poland. (Food)
Polish cuisine is influenced by Slavic cuisine (from Russia and its neighbours Ukraine and Belarus), German, Turkish, Hungarian, Jewish or French.
Making a summary, in this gastronomy there are prepared strong flavors dishes not directly related to the spicy, but rather in the use of many condiments. The ingredients used by this culture are based on rural life as Poland is a country that lives and works the land. Mostly, they are dishes based on vegetables and producer that are obtained from the earth as radishes, carrots, among others with which are made soups and hearty dishes that allow to endure the winter in this country.
On the other hand, in summer fish is usually eaten fresh, in autumn a lot of house meat and mushrooms are consumed. However, something very characteristic of this culture is tea and beer, which are generally consumed in large baskets.
Typical or National Costume of Poland. (Dress)
The typical costume or national costume is the dress that expresses the cultural identity of a region, people, culture or nation. For a long time, Poland was influenced by different cultures leaving its mark in particular on the national costumes of its people. In the Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, Austrian and other national costumes they combined skillfully and harmoniously, making it unique and special. Typical Polish traditional costumes vary from region to region, but are often brightly coloured and highly decorated.
Religious Beliefs.
Poland has no official religion, but the majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. Approximately 90% of Poles are Roman apostolic Catholics. Yet 58 per cent of the total population actively practised their religious beliefs. The rest of the population belongs to the Orthodox Church (about 509,500), are Greek Catholics (123,000), are Jehovah’s Witnesses (about 122,757) and are Lutherans-Augsburg (about 87,300). Other Christian denominations include the Baptists, the Church of Christ, the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites, the Methodists, the New Apostolic Church, the Pentecostals, the Polish-Catholics, the Reformed Lutherans and the Seventh-day Adventists. There are about 5,200 members of the Muslim Religious Union and approximately 5,100 Hare Krishnas. More than 60% of Poles go to church regularly.
Views on raising children.
The Polish culture is mostly machista, because men are the ones who make the important decisions within the family, however the woman is the one who has control over the decisions concerning the home, the food that is consumed daily, among other things, but the most important is the raising of children. Women are the ones who decides the childrens value to raise them properly.
