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Polish National Sport
3년 전This week I have another piece of news for you from the Polski Daily!
Poles love the Polish sea side – this is a well known fact! Of course, every year many of them go to the cost for their summer vacation from all around the country, to spend some time with the family at the Baltic sea, eat waffles, have some overpriced fish and chips and relax on the beach… And how exactly do they enjoy the beach? Well, that’s our national sport – the parawaning!
Parawan, so the folding screen is a kind of a free-standing furniture consisting of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or by other means, ornamented with paintings, calligraphy or drawings. In the simplest of forms – the hospital folding screen – is just white canvas hung on a metal, plain frame. The folding screens come from China, in Europe they are known from the end of the 16th century.
It’s greatest advantage is that you can easily move it around or fold it, that’s why, traditionally, the folding screens were used as a kind of separator for the rooms. Usually, it is used in flats or houses (and less often in public space), e. g. to separate the sleeping space from, so bedroom, from the office space (the desk) or playing space (the kids corner). The folding screen would also often be there for decoration, as an element highlighting the interior design (most often, widely seen as Asian style). The outdoor folding screen would be a wind and sun protection and to separate your own space to get some privacy. And here we reach the bottom line!
In today’s Poland, the folding screens are mostly associated with one – the Polish national sport – the parawaning! They are not at all popular indoors, but the beaches are full of them. It’s totally crazy! The families would get up early in the morning, and straight from breakfast they would go to the beach to get the best spots. There they would truly set a camp! :D The put all the towels and sunbeds around, kids would put all of their toys in the sand, and then they would put the folding screens around their „kingdoms”! It’s supposed to protect them from the wind and the sand, but most importantly, set the borders. „Here is my piece of the beach, I was here first and nobody should set their eyes here!”. Nowadays we all kind of laugh out of that in Poland, but at the same time plenty of people spend their summer holidays this way – it’s truly a nightmare, I wouldn’t want to spend my vacation this way, ever! :D
Cheers!
Dominika
