I had a wonderful 2-day stay in Warsaw I must say. The city is must safer than I thought it would be. Perhaps it is the religion that the Poles adopt which explains their behaviour and attitude. About 90% of the Poles are Catholic and the guide in Krakow was right about Poland being a traditional catholic country which devote their Sundays faithfully to church and god. In Warsaw, I see for myself what it means to have a faith.
I remembered that when I went to Shanghai 2 weeks ago, the professor who gave us a lecture on Shanghai mentioned about how the lack of a religion or faith makes one greedy, unscrupulous, or even immoral. That explains why the PRCs are known to be profit- oriented businessmen who lack sympathy for the poor or the health of others. In Poland, I see the other side of human beings.
While in Wilanow and the other parts of Warsaw, I see people walking, rushing to churches. Mother and son walking together to church, students flocking to church in hordes, and the most amazing one was seeing a tall, cute, handsome and promising young man with his messenger bag hurrying to church after hearing the church bells! I think I am someone who fears commitment which explains why I adopt no religion. I cannot foresee myself diligently going to a place of worship on a regular basis and not questioning whatever faith that I might adopt. But I see the majority of the Poles doing that, young and old alike. For that, I truly admire them for who they are.
It is often in these cities that we see peace and stability and security. :)
The visit to the Warsaw uprising museum caught myself at a surprise because I know I am not a museum person and even if I were to go to one, I am unlikely to stay there for more than 2 hours. However, I spent close to 5 hours in that museum. The whole exhibition was awesome because of the way they presented the entire WWII situation where Poland is concerned. We had read in secondary school textbooks about how WWII started as a result of Germany's invasion of Poland and how the Jews were exterminated in concentration camps in Poland. But we never truly learnt anything in depth in my personal opinion despite the 1 year spent on it. A visit to Berlin, Munich, Krakow, and Warsaw in 2 weeks would suffice and be deemed more beneficial. All the insights of the war, from invasion to capitulation to uprising and eventually surrender are simply awe-inspiring!
The visit to Warsaw's stare mistro was a little of a disappointment. The square was a small one and there were not that many shops or fanciful items that can be bought. It reminds me of Stockholm's old town but I guess the latter was so much more beautiful! :)
But anyway, I was lucky to have gone to a really nice Polish restaurant which served delicious cuisine! The warming winter tea was one of a kind and after drinking it, I really find the cold less overwhelming.
I guess I am pretty sick of castles and cathedrals after the Europe tour in 2008. Every other castle pales in comparison compared to the ones in Austria, Sweden, and Buckingham Palace. The only twos that I have heard are of equivalence are Versailles in Paris and the one in Munich which I did not visit the last time round. As a result, I no longer pay to enter castles. As for cathedrals, I have seen at least 20-30 of them in Europe and my favourite 3 has got to be saint peter's in Rome, notre dame and sacred coure in Paris. So no more cathedrals for me when on tour. As a result of such a mentality, I see myself needing lesser time when I visit. I guess I have to say so for waterfalls. I don't think I will pay much attention to falls again after having seen Niagara, with the only exception the Iguazu falls in Brazil! Hope that some day I get to visit it and that day would not be too far away.....
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Krakow day 2
The Krakow stare mistro is probably one of the best town squares I have ever been to in Europe! The square is bustling with people, beautiful monuments adorn the town square and it is humongous! :) there is also a Christmas market and it was really lively. ;) I love pâté (if I interpret it correctly)! It is a pastry, hot and filled with cheese with cranberry sauce on it! Singaporeans will use the word SHIOK when they taste it during winter! So I spent the night at the Krakow old town square after returning from Auschwitz and the Salt mine.
I guess the salt mine is really a major highlight of my visit to Poland! I learnt a lot of general knowledge when I was there. Owing to Singapore being a tropical country and consequently we do not experience snow. As such, our understanding of the use of salt is limited to only cooking. So when the guide told us that salt is an extremely important commodity in Poland, especially during winter, my mind was filled with question marks! Apparently, salt is used to break the snow or build snow (either one, I did not really understand her explanation). So I told myself that when I get back to Singapore, I should google and find out about this. Another interesting fact: salt is used as a form of money i.e. wages and the word salary is derived from the word salt.
The visit is the first time I enter a mine and there were a lot of things that I did not understand. I ended up like a student on a field trip and kept posing the guide questions. She did the job duly and explained to me the complicated processes to her best knowledge. One of the issues was how salt is being derived. Being a mountain tortoise who lives in a country with no natural resources, I had always thought that salt comes from the sea. We heat up the seawater and through some chemical processes like evaporation, crystallisation and filtration, we end up with pure WHITE salt. But actually, salt is not always dissolved in seawater! Salt can come in solid blocks and can be grey in colour. That is because they are mixed with impurities therefore they do not appear to be white. However, if they come into contact with water, water vapour in the air inclusive, they will then dissolve in it and form white salt. The Polish guide call it cauliflower! :) while in the mine, the guide allowed us to touch the walls or even lick them to convince ourself that we are actually surrounded by salt! Even the floors are made of salt!! I had no reservations when it comes to pursuing the truth. So I rubbed my fingers against the wall then smell and taste it! OMG, it's really salty! I have indeed learnt a lot in the salt mine!
I guess the salt mine is really a major highlight of my visit to Poland! I learnt a lot of general knowledge when I was there. Owing to Singapore being a tropical country and consequently we do not experience snow. As such, our understanding of the use of salt is limited to only cooking. So when the guide told us that salt is an extremely important commodity in Poland, especially during winter, my mind was filled with question marks! Apparently, salt is used to break the snow or build snow (either one, I did not really understand her explanation). So I told myself that when I get back to Singapore, I should google and find out about this. Another interesting fact: salt is used as a form of money i.e. wages and the word salary is derived from the word salt.
The visit is the first time I enter a mine and there were a lot of things that I did not understand. I ended up like a student on a field trip and kept posing the guide questions. She did the job duly and explained to me the complicated processes to her best knowledge. One of the issues was how salt is being derived. Being a mountain tortoise who lives in a country with no natural resources, I had always thought that salt comes from the sea. We heat up the seawater and through some chemical processes like evaporation, crystallisation and filtration, we end up with pure WHITE salt. But actually, salt is not always dissolved in seawater! Salt can come in solid blocks and can be grey in colour. That is because they are mixed with impurities therefore they do not appear to be white. However, if they come into contact with water, water vapour in the air inclusive, they will then dissolve in it and form white salt. The Polish guide call it cauliflower! :) while in the mine, the guide allowed us to touch the walls or even lick them to convince ourself that we are actually surrounded by salt! Even the floors are made of salt!! I had no reservations when it comes to pursuing the truth. So I rubbed my fingers against the wall then smell and taste it! OMG, it's really salty! I have indeed learnt a lot in the salt mine!
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
The one who does not remember history is bound to repeat it again
What a tag line I've as the title of the post. Simply put it, Auschwitz and birkenau really impressed me.
I think history has a lot of lessons for us but as humans, when we live in peace and harmony for too long, we take it for granted and forget what it takes for us to perpetuate this stability. Look at how Iran is on their way to develop nuclear weapons, the death of Kim Jong Il and hopefully not another bloody succession, unrest in the Syria, and hopefully not another war by Israel man! :(
I've always wanted to visit Poland for the history is too enticing for anyone else to miss it. When I stepped foot onto the camps and listened to the stories shared by the guide, I was overwhelmed with lessons to share with my students in school!
Yeah the Nazis were really the kings of propaganda! They painted such a rosy picture of a life in Auschwitz and convinced more European Jews to voluntarily pay for a one-way ticket to the death camp. Imagine trucks filled with people who were full of hopes of a place where they can lead better lives. When they finally arrive at their supposed 'paradise,' they are separated from their families and still, they think that this moment of anguish is worth the paradise that awaits them. Life or death laid in the hands of one man, one crazy experimenter, and if he points you in the right direction, you get a second life. For all that they did not know, these Jews were walked to the end of the platform and only till their very last gasp of air will they finally find out that getting to paradise is indeed true, only that paradise is in another dimension and no longer on our beautiful Mother Earth!
A lesson that I brought home with me today from Auschwitz is, no one should be seen as being superior to another, for that creates divide, anger, hatred, extremism and eventually extermination.
We should all be really glad that the Polish government is doing their very best to maintain these historical sites as they serve as warnings to our future generation about the atrocities of war crimes. I am full of praises for Germany's efficiency and this impression has not changed after the visit to the camp. Instead, I have new found admiration for their courage to step out and up to face their past. The Germans could be subjected to mockery and reprimanding by the rest of the world. However, we all have our own judgment about war crimes. A series of atrocious acts by a group of self-proclaimed actors of justice i.e. Nazis is not representative of how German civilians in general are. And for that, we will not judge the future generations of Germans that we face today. If only the Japanese could understand this argument, I am sure we will be exposed to more life's lessons from history.
And after the visit, I think about the true purpose of education yet again. Sometimes, we hear kids complaining about the various theorists or academia for e.g. Why did pythagoras invent the stupid Pythagoras theorem? or why did Adam Smith read so much into human's behaviour? If they had not existed, we would not have to study so hard!
Now, I think I will have an ideal explanation for that - Education is the avenue to remember the legacies of great people from the past and also have your own legacies being written down in history.
Are you game to create your own legacy?
Indeed, the world is the biggest classroom one can ever afford. There is Chinese saying: 读万卷书不如行万里路. I understand the world so much better with all the travels that I've embarked on.
I think history has a lot of lessons for us but as humans, when we live in peace and harmony for too long, we take it for granted and forget what it takes for us to perpetuate this stability. Look at how Iran is on their way to develop nuclear weapons, the death of Kim Jong Il and hopefully not another bloody succession, unrest in the Syria, and hopefully not another war by Israel man! :(
I've always wanted to visit Poland for the history is too enticing for anyone else to miss it. When I stepped foot onto the camps and listened to the stories shared by the guide, I was overwhelmed with lessons to share with my students in school!
Yeah the Nazis were really the kings of propaganda! They painted such a rosy picture of a life in Auschwitz and convinced more European Jews to voluntarily pay for a one-way ticket to the death camp. Imagine trucks filled with people who were full of hopes of a place where they can lead better lives. When they finally arrive at their supposed 'paradise,' they are separated from their families and still, they think that this moment of anguish is worth the paradise that awaits them. Life or death laid in the hands of one man, one crazy experimenter, and if he points you in the right direction, you get a second life. For all that they did not know, these Jews were walked to the end of the platform and only till their very last gasp of air will they finally find out that getting to paradise is indeed true, only that paradise is in another dimension and no longer on our beautiful Mother Earth!
A lesson that I brought home with me today from Auschwitz is, no one should be seen as being superior to another, for that creates divide, anger, hatred, extremism and eventually extermination.
We should all be really glad that the Polish government is doing their very best to maintain these historical sites as they serve as warnings to our future generation about the atrocities of war crimes. I am full of praises for Germany's efficiency and this impression has not changed after the visit to the camp. Instead, I have new found admiration for their courage to step out and up to face their past. The Germans could be subjected to mockery and reprimanding by the rest of the world. However, we all have our own judgment about war crimes. A series of atrocious acts by a group of self-proclaimed actors of justice i.e. Nazis is not representative of how German civilians in general are. And for that, we will not judge the future generations of Germans that we face today. If only the Japanese could understand this argument, I am sure we will be exposed to more life's lessons from history.
And after the visit, I think about the true purpose of education yet again. Sometimes, we hear kids complaining about the various theorists or academia for e.g. Why did pythagoras invent the stupid Pythagoras theorem? or why did Adam Smith read so much into human's behaviour? If they had not existed, we would not have to study so hard!
Now, I think I will have an ideal explanation for that - Education is the avenue to remember the legacies of great people from the past and also have your own legacies being written down in history.
Are you game to create your own legacy?
Indeed, the world is the biggest classroom one can ever afford. There is Chinese saying: 读万卷书不如行万里路. I understand the world so much better with all the travels that I've embarked on.
Singapore VS Poland
I arrived in Krakow late on Sunday night and was expecting a ghost town. But to my biggest surprise, the town was the exact opposite of what I had imagined it to be! There was an ice-skating ring just at the doorstep of the railway station. That really reminded me of the time when I was in Stockholm and Kim and I went ice skating in winter. It was the first time I had my feet on the ice skating ring and having snow hitting my face as I skate was simply awesome! :)
I had to collect my rail tickets at the post office which was opened 24 hours and trust me, the queue is lonnnggg! Perhaps we Singaporeans take things for granted. Singapore is truly an efficient city, from the airport to the city centre, with the exception of our transport system I guess! :) I have never seen any unusual long queues at the immigration checkpoint in Changi Airport, instead I see numerous spacious toilets placed at strategic locations in the terminals and multiple water points and Internet access points. Recently, I even see the OSIM massage chair at T3! :) our malls are open for long hours and we always get have clear directions or signage for tourists who attract our various places of interest. But I can't say so for other countries. It is when I leave Singapore that I start to appreciate all these little things in our everyday life! But there are pros and cons. No doubt we as citizens are proud of our nation and this makes our standard of living better - quality lifestyle, however we lack patience and tolerance (some not all) become over reliant on our government to make things right. We blame our government for the Orchard Road floods and make a joke out of it (if you watched the hitler one). C'mon people, the extent of that flood was not even 1% of the recent one that hit Bangkok and Cambodia. The SMRT train relays were seen as a life and death issue to some but compared to UK or Europe, such delays are common.!
I guess enough of my rants and praises after my first experience with Poland!
I had to collect my rail tickets at the post office which was opened 24 hours and trust me, the queue is lonnnggg! Perhaps we Singaporeans take things for granted. Singapore is truly an efficient city, from the airport to the city centre, with the exception of our transport system I guess! :) I have never seen any unusual long queues at the immigration checkpoint in Changi Airport, instead I see numerous spacious toilets placed at strategic locations in the terminals and multiple water points and Internet access points. Recently, I even see the OSIM massage chair at T3! :) our malls are open for long hours and we always get have clear directions or signage for tourists who attract our various places of interest. But I can't say so for other countries. It is when I leave Singapore that I start to appreciate all these little things in our everyday life! But there are pros and cons. No doubt we as citizens are proud of our nation and this makes our standard of living better - quality lifestyle, however we lack patience and tolerance (some not all) become over reliant on our government to make things right. We blame our government for the Orchard Road floods and make a joke out of it (if you watched the hitler one). C'mon people, the extent of that flood was not even 1% of the recent one that hit Bangkok and Cambodia. The SMRT train relays were seen as a life and death issue to some but compared to UK or Europe, such delays are common.!
I guess enough of my rants and praises after my first experience with Poland!