[MN_Mom]

Hello from Warsaw!

We are into week 6 of our stay in Poland and can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We should be flying home a week from Saturday at the latest.

We are going to spend the weekend doing some shopping for souvenirs to bring back home. Any suggestions? What did you all bring home? What do you wish you had brought home?

I need a few nicer gifts for the folks who have graciously been watching our house for us while we were gone, but also many small trinket gifts for our sons' classmates back home and such.

Let me know if you have any splendid ideas!

~sarah
based on a true story...

[lastpaige]

We bought a lot of books from the various places we visited to give to our closer friends who are home educating. (Always on the look out for good books about various places.) We also brought several chess sets, playing cards w/ wooden boxes (careful, the pictures on the decks of cards are occasionally inappropriate!), and sets of nesting dolls.

For large groups of children/casual friends, you may want to bring back coins. Bring enough so that everyone can have one. It’s a small investment, covers a lot of children, and boy – they sure think it’s cool.

[momraine]

Our translator took us somewhere to buy nice amber jewlery for a nice price and we also were able to buy some nice pottery. My son picked out a mug, that he still uses on all special occasions and he loves knowing it was from Poland. The store with the pottery also had some nice painted wall crosses, I got one for me (I have a collection) and a few for friends and realtives. Because they were flat they were easy to pack beween layers of clothing. We also brought home the kinder eggs for all the kids we know. They are chocolate eggs with a toy inside.

[jola_nyc]

I would bring some Painted Wooden Eggs since they would be a great seasonal gift. Also polish candy for children. If you go to any attraction they usually have a little store which might have something interesting. I travel to Poland often and it is like here:lot's of stuff is "Made in China". You can also find religious stores in the churches if you want to purchase Black Madonna (A patron to all Polish People) I like to bring stamps - you can buy them in the Main Post Office ul. Świętokrzyska 31/33, on the second floor. I would also buy for kids stickers with polish eagle or Syrenka.

[MN_Mom]

Great tips... thanks! We found some single-serving sized nuttellas which will be a big hit with our son's classmates. Along with some stamps and small coins, and candy, the kids should enjoy getting a small taste of Poland.

More shopping tomorrow. With any luck, we will be headed home in a few days...

[MamusiaWI]

I'd say I didn't have as much time looking for souvenirs as I normally would. I like shopping, but found it difficult while adjusting to having three active children in tow. Though they did pretty well considering how long they were in their orphanage. We did not spend much time in country without the children.

We spent 11 days in Wroclaw and had a hotel just off the main town square/rynek. I found a little shop that had t-shirts, patches and other trinkets.

In Warsaw, I bought some wood carvings in Stare Miasto/Old Town including one with Warsaw's icon, the mermaid. I also bought some of the nesting dolls, carved and/or painted eggs, and carved wood boxes big and small. I would have liked more woven straw items but didn't because of cost and packing concerns.

I didn't buy any amber there because we have a pretty good sized community of newer Polish immigrants in the Green Bay and Fox Cities area (in the US ranging from 5-20 years.) One contact imports amber and we sell it to fund raise for the Polish Heritage Society of Northeastern Wisconsin. With the dollar low, it was a savings to buy it from our friend.

One thing I bought that I did not mention in this post from last year was that I bought a few things in a bookstore at the University of Warsaw. I bought some lanyards and some muslin shopping totes. As all of the teachers at school (and guests) wear ID badges, they usually wear them with lanyard. Some are the shoelace type, but many wear a beaded one to coordinate with their outfits. At the U of Warsaw, I bought about 4 lanyards. I gave one to my oldest's fourth grade teacher. I bought these without knowing who I'd give them to.
There's a fine line between what our now 7, 9 and 10 year old will bristle about in regards to their former lives. Sometimes something simple will bother them and sometimes it is no big deal. In fourth grade in Wisconsin, the social studies curriculum usually includes Wisconsin history and culture. Our school does a huge smorgasbord - each of the 100 kids brings a dish to pass that is associated with their heritage or ethnicity. We brought nielishniki (sp) and 10 yr old E (girl) was so proud of it.
Then her teacher invited us to give two -one hour presentations about Poland. E was really nervous, but I told her I'd do most of the talking. It was really a great experience and E did a super job telling stories and answering questions as best she could. Her teacher gave us a little thank you note and a Demdaco Mother and Daughter figurine(s). It was adorable and her note to E was beaming with pride and encouragement.

It seems like a silly little thing, but I gave E's teacher one of the University of Warsaw lanyards, thanking her for giving us the opportunity to share our experiences, photos and souvenirs. But the teacher wears it everyday. I don't know if E realizes it is from us. But it was a super way to bring something small home and allow it to have great meaning and use.

We also have Polish Fest in Milwaukee, which has a different ethnic festival nearly every weekend of the summer. There were some vendors that had more than trinkets, but the prices were high for my budget, while we adjust to our three new family members. At Polish Fest I did buy two Christmas CDs, some wool slippers (for decorative purposes), some patches and other misc.

One thing I would like to do is acquire or make a costume for my daughter from her region of Podlasie. I found this link and the cost seems reasonable Perfekt: Polish Regional Costumes
Other suggestions would be helpful.

Lastly, I'm a shutter bug, so my biggest souvenir was the nearly 500 photos I took. I put it in a bound book by one of the online photo sites like shutterfly.com.

one more . . .
I like souvenirs but struggle with keeping down the clutter and such. I'm not really into collectibles, but I bought the 2007 Santas from Around the World, Polish Santa from Hallmark. They sold out from the stores quickly. Then I found them on ebay for less than retail and I bought two more, one for each of our children. Also there was another Hallmark (I think) ornament that says something like 'first Christmas 2007'. It is in the shape of a heart. It seems like it would be for newlyweds, but captured the idea of our first Christmas together in pretty glass ornament.

Any way, a not too off the subject, our little Polish deli and restaurant in Green Bay sells Kiesel and Budyn mixes in packages. I feel really spoiled now, because we can get a lot of misc things at the deli that would be very hard to find. THere's also Eagle Distributors in Chicago but haven't looked on the web to see what they might offer for retail - I think they may only be wholesale.

Beth