Ghorpm: Some of them are typical for different regions in Poland (I believe #5 is from Łowicz), some of them are pretty old design (#4 an #1 in particular) but I cannot really recognize them all that well. ~2 years ago I tried to learn more about them but sadly there are not so many source materials.
FlockeSchnee: Thanks.
It's sad, when interest in these things gets lost and they have mostly been passed down by storytelling/teaching, because then, those who want to learn (about) them, might not be able to find someone to tell/teach them and there is no (or next to no) written information of some kind about those things.
But at least there are pictues of Pajaki, so if one really wants to start "their own Pajaki-tradition" (without someone telling/teaching them), they could try their hand at recreating one of those or maybe even create their very own based on common ground between all of those designs. :-)
We even have a famous saying in Poland "Cudze chwalicie, swego nie znacie" (you praise what belongs to others and don't even know your own) and it's a very good commentary to this situation. A lot of people in Poland start to hang Christmas wreaths everywhere (not a Polish tradition) but nobody seems to know Pająki. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against new ornaments - after all what we consider a tradition was brand new some time ago. So yeah, I don't oppose them at all, I just want to preserve our own decorations.
And a good news is that not everything is lost yet. There are some European projects to preserve culture and tradition and my friends and me are supporting a regional museum to apply for this project. After all as physicists/material engineers we have quite some experience in applying for EU funds so we can help a bit with formal part of the application.
PaterAlf: I also got an early Christmas gift: A new cheese store opened right around the corner.
Yeah, I know that's by far not as amazing as Ghorpm's story. But what can I say, I really like cheese. :D
Cheese is soooo good! Back in 80s in Poland we only had "yellow cheese" (just one type!!!), cottage cheese and cheese spread. And that was it. Can you imagine? I certainly can't right now.
Ghorpm: and she had been asking me tons of questions back then so yeah, I did remember her. Much to my surprise she told me it had been exactly eleven years ago and she considered it to be a life-changing moment for her.
Gede: Wow! You're my hero! :-)
Also, outstanding memory there. I am terrible remembering people.
I certainly don't feel like a hero. Frankly, making these experiments was (and still is) a lot of fun. I can do that even when I'm alone but it was nicer with an audience so nothing special on my part. I'm in awe that she was so determined to work so hard and achieve what she wanted. And finding me to tell the story was amazing!
Fortunately she didn't ask if I remember her name - for that I have a terrible memory. But apart from that I don't complain about my memory ;)
