• nature,  traditions,  USA

    Halloween in the Midwest – part 3

    This is the third and the last post about my road trip and just like in the previous ones (part 1 and part 2), there are plenty of pictures you can click on in order to enlarge them. entering South Dakota We were heading towards Rapid City, that’s where we were planning to stay for the next couple of nights. The drive was not too long, only around 4 hours, but it was not an interstate highway which means we had to cross some towns instead of bypassing them. I just had to be more cautious behind the wheel. But it was good and interesting ride, definitely not as monotonous…

  • South Korea,  traditions

    our big fat Korean wedding – part 4, jimjilbang/Korean sauna

    This is the last post before the summer holiday break and I decided to continue with my Korean adventure. It is the fourth part in my Korean trip cycle. To read the previous parts, follow the links below: Before I took off to Korea, I did some research. Many sources recommended a visit to jimjilbang, which in Korean culture is what sauna is in Finnish, onsen in Japanese, banya in Russian, hammam for Turkish – a cheap public bathhouse. All of the local friends we met during our trip suggested exactly same thing, but of course I knew better. I wasn’t going to “waste” my precious time to see a…

  • food,  Poland,  traditions

    The sweetest day of the year!

    As promised, this week’s post is published on Thursday instead of Monday. Why? There is a perfectly valid explanation. This Thursday is a very special day, the sweetest day of the year in Polish culture. It is called Tłusty Czwartek, which literally translates to the Fat Thursday and today, you not only should, but you are morally and culturally obliged to eat as many sweet fried pączki (pronounced pownch-key), as possible. And remember, according to a jocular Polish saying, the calories consumed this day do not count, even if you are on a strictest of the diets. Why, then, don’t you make yourself a cup of coffee, which pairs perfectly…