<span class="vcard">Jagoda Urban-Klaehn</span>

Jagoda Urban-Klaehn

Jagoda Urban-Klaehn was born in Krakow. Thanks to her parents, the house was always open to people from all over the world. Her parents encouraged her to understand people from different cultures and to learn foreign languages. She has gained a proficiency in Russian, German and English and also knows some French and Spanish. In Krakow, she worked in Physics and also worked on weekends as a tour guide and travel guide.

Jaga moved to Texas to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Texas Christian University. There she met her husband John, a native Texan, who is also a physicist. They have a 5-year-old daughter, Ela and live and work in Idaho.

Jaga is a writer, editor and webmaster for her Polish Culture website which has hundreds of articles on a wide range of Polish related topics. She also runs the Polish Culture Forum.

In addition to writing and publishing her Polish Culture website, Jaga is a regular columnist for the Polish-American Journal . She is also the editor of the DMOZ directory [Society /Ethnicity /Slavic /Polish] .

All Saints’ Day in Poland, November 1st

Tradition and origin of All Saints' Day and Halloween is the same but these two days are so different in their atmosphere! Although All Saints' Day is celebrated among catholic all around the world this celebration is Poland has especially solemn manner.

All Saints' Day in Poland is a holiday for everybody except of transportation and emergency services. In spite of its religious roots it was also observed during communistic times as a Day of Deceased. The traffic on the roads and streets is very high since almost everybody had to commute to reach
the family's graves.

…

All Saints’ Day in Poland, November 1stRead More »

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and History

Culture / By Jagoda Urban-Klaehn / June 28, 2007

In the tourist area of the Polish Mountains people wear regional costumes on a daily basis.

Podhale is probably the only region in Poland where folk costumes are used commonly. It is partly due to a rich tradition of this region, partly to attract tourists. All horse cabmen wear traditional folk costumes. Here wearing a folk costume help with the business since the business rely mainly on tourists.

Mountaineers are called in Polish górale, are well-known not only for their regional pride but also for their patriotism and even anti-communism. Gorale allegedly saved a life of a Polish king Jan Casimir when he was escaping Swedish deluge invasion in XVII century.

…

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and HistoryRead More »

Polish Mountaineers – Folk Costumes, Tradition and History Read More »