Forever and ever water

“If one can not defeat the enemy, befriend him”. This rule Dutch people, always struggling with water, have mastered to perfection. Pre Medieval Netherlanders used to say that “Deus mare, Batavus litora fecit”, what means: “God created ​​the sea, but the Batavians (Dutch) the coasts”. Also nowadays they say proudly that God created the world, but the Netherlands was created by them. more about "water by the Dutch people" in the story from "Holandia bez tajemnic" (Holland without secrets): http://www.holandiabeztajemnic.pl/?page_id=435&lang=en

Available also in Dutch, Polish and Russian languages. 

Patriotic mansions

Foreigners visiting Poland must notice the distinctive style of a contemporary single-family housing – houses which entrance is decorated with columns, often topped by a triangular pediment, or something in between. This style, referring to the architecture of the old Polish manor houses from late 18th – 19thcenturies (called in Polish: “dwór” or “dworek”) – has become very popular since the 1990s. Unfortunately, only a few projects can be considered as successful. More on it in the story "Patriotic mansions" – on Polen voor Nederlanders website. Available in English, Dutch, Polish and Russian languages.

http://www.polenvoornederlanders.nl/?page_id=17136&lang=en

A Lost Erasmus Library

One of the more interesting Polish-Dutch traces is connected with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Jan Łaski, known in the Western Europe as Johannes a Lasco.  Both men were joined by the friendship, humanist interests and the library of the Dutch philosopher. Unfortunately, very few books of the huge Erasmus collection containing over 400 titles survived up today and the fate of the rest is unknown. In the article  "A Lost Erasmus Library" you will find few information about it. 
The article is available in English, Dutch and Polish version on Polen voor Nederlanders website.

http://www.polenvoornederlanders.nl/?page_id=18248&lang=en

Letters from Holland 2014

In 2014 it is rather difficult to write something insightful about the Netherlands. Everyone who went there with a travel office saw the country in a mandatory nutshell: Amsterdam and its canals, Rijksmuseum, The Hague, windmills and a milk farm where it was necessary to purchase local cheese and clogs.
But I tried. My "Letters from Holland 2014" refer to “Letters from Holland” written in 1932 by the Czech writer Karel Čapek.  The story is published on HOLANDIA BEZ TAJEMNIC (Holland without secrets) website (in Polish, Dutch, English and Russian languages).

How to make a website reflecting two cultures

This is an article written by Renata Głuszek for Multilingualism in the Educational Space. Issue VI, published by Udmurt State University, Russia, 2014. The article describes the possibilities of using a website for comparative study of cultures.  It concerns  the website "Polen voor Nederlanders", but the problem raised are related to intercultural communication in general and the ways of bringing people together.

http://www.polenvoornederlanders.nl/?page_id=12588&lang=en

Polen voor Nederlanders

www.polenvoornederlanders.nl 

Od wieków kontakty między Polską a Niderlandami były intensywne i choć w ostatnich latach jeszcze bardziej się zacieśniły, ojczyzna Kopernika i  Szopena wciąż pewnie pozostaje dla przeciętnego Holendra krajem mało znanym, a może i niezbyt ciekawym.

Na naszej stronie internetowej znajdzie on - a także każdy cudzoziemiec władający językiem angielskim czy polskim – ważne informacje o kraju nad Wisłą, jego historii, walorach turystycznych, a także artykuły ciekawostkowe i sporą garść informacji związanych bezpośrednio z obecnością Holendrów na polskiej ziemi i pamiątkach, jakie po sobie pozostawili. 

Przepiękny pałac Marianny Orańskiej w Kamieńcu Ząbkowickim

RUE DE MERVEILLE

Wkraczanie w strefę tego niezwykłego kina jest jak wyprawa w czasie i przestrzeni. Niezwykła wyobraźnia projektanta przenosi bowiem widza z amerykańskiej rezydencji XXI w. w czarowne francuskie miasteczko początków XX w.

http://kinoplay.pl/rue_de_merveille,48,753.htm