Poland and the United States have an agreement about Social Security systems for their citizens; Poles living in the USA can receive Polish social security benefits managed by the Polish state insurer ZUS as well as American benefits. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ZUS moved to online its 2021 consultation tour of American cities for the retirees trying to obtain both the American social security and the Polish pension. Since February 1, 2021, one can make
Situation changes quickly indeed! Our last week tips how to find a vaccination appointment are already obsolete. The vaccination site in Wenatchee and Kennewick are still available, but there is a better way to find an appointment provided by local tech volunteers. Their new WA COVID Vaccine Finder site aggregates information from different places offering vaccinations near your zipcode. Event more importantly, the sites are marked “Available”, ” “Waitlist” etc. as appropriate, saving on incessant
The Wspólnota Polska Association and the Świat na Tak Foundation in Poland invite children and teachers from Polish schools abroad to the 2021 edition of the annual contest “Be a Pole”. The students can prepare a work of visual art, a short poem or essay in Polish or a video clip illustrating one of the contest topics, such as a Polish proverb they have learned. The list of topics for different age categories etc. can
Seattle-Gdynia Sister City Association (SGSCA) is preparing a presentation about Martha Golubiec’s contributions to the SGSCA and its programs. She was a co-founder of the organization. Please share your pictures, stories, fun facts, video clips and other memories that can be used in the tribute to Martha.More: Please contact the SGSCA President, Zbigniew Konofalski. Read Martha’s obituary.
Tips from Polish community members: if you want to get vaccinated quickly and don’t mind a trip across the passes, go to a COVID-19 mass vaccination site in Wenatchee or Kennewick. Wenatchee opens signups on Sundays for service M-F, and typically you can get an appointment a day or two ahead. Kennewick has appointment slots available all the time, even on the same day.More: WA mass vaccination sites
The PHA Election Committee kindly asks the PHA members who haven’t voted yet to send their ballots back as quickly as possible. For the PHA elections to be valid, at least 50% members need to cast their votes. The following is the appeal from the electoral commission: Dear Members of the Polish Home Association, We thank all of you who already mailed in the ballots. At the same time, we would like to kindly remind
The Kosciuszko Foundation accepts applications for their very popular program Teaching English In Poland (TEIP). Normally, this involves a teaching position at a summer camp in Poland and in fact the camps are expected to be run this year as well, assuming the pandemic conditions will allow that. In addition, there is the Online TEIP Program that started in 2020 and now is being extended through June 2021. Application deadline is March 15, 2021. Below
Local artist Barbara Niesulowski will create oil pastel portraits of your beloved ones! Oil pastels are pastels that do not shed dust as regular ones do, they have brighter colors, too. Please see below for examples The price for a size 11″×14″ portrait is $150 You can send photos of your beloved subjects via email to Basia Niesulowski. She paints from your picture but can “dress” your child in any costume you can imagine. Please
Martha Golubiec, a longtime member of the Polish community, died on January 22, 2021 in Seattle after a long illness. Bursting with energy and ideas, she was a community pillar since the 1960s till recently. During this time, she initiated, spearheaded or contributed to many of the developments that were crucial to the community centered on the Polish Home in Seattle, now the Polish Cultural Center Dom Polski. She also worked tirelessly to elevate standing
This is the season to apply for one of the tuition scholarships awarded by the Kosciuszko Foundation. These scholarship are for American citizens or permanent residents of Polish heritage or involved in Polish communities. The scholarships range from the undergraduate to Ph. D. level and cover all different fields from engineering and medicine to arts and law. Don’t get spooked by the image above – the only one I could find on the KF site
Marek’s Bakery and Deli is Now Hiring! Needed: an event person to sell Pączki at events and farmer markets. Must be 21+ because some of our events are in a brewery. Send resume to mareksbakery@gmail.com
Due to the pandemic and state wide restrictions on public gatherings, the Polish Home Association election season is different than usual. As election procedures evolve and keep changing, the following is a list of most important aspects of this year’s annual meeting and elections as of January 14, 2021. Usually, the elections for different officer and trustee positions happen as a part of the PHA Annual Meeting and the election results are announced at the
Taking into account the current pandemic situation, the Trustees and Officers of the Polish Home Association decided to postpone the opening of the dining room and the bar at the Polish Cultural Center Dom Polski till further notice.
The Piast Institute of Hamtrack near Detroit, MI is offering several Polish language classes on basic conversation skills on Zoom. Each monthly series of three sessions listed below costs $45. There is also a one-time complimentary session for beginners on February 17. TopicsWinter Series ( January – February )January (3-week series)Basic Communication – January 12, 2021Introducing yourself – January 19, 2021Questions – January 26 – 2021 February (3-week series)Words of Encouragement – February 9, 2021Complements
The winter quarter at the University of Washington brings again courses that can draw people interested in Polish language and culture. As usual, seniors 60+ can register to listen to these courses for a token fee (in range of $10) through the UW Access Program. Notable courses include: Second-year Polish with instructor Krystyna Untersteiner; the course is design to reinforce the basic grasp of language enlarge vocabulary and command of grammatical patterns beyond the sentence level. Ways
Update in January 2021. There are still no visits planned for the nearby future. You have to fly to LA to file an application in person. You can also fly to Vancouver, BC, but you cannot currently drive there from Seattle. To schedule a visit, use the online reservation system System Zdalnej Rejestracji (e-konsulat.gov.pl) In spring 2020, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles suspended its program of rotating consular visits
While American citizens cannot enter the EU countries, you can fly to Europe on a different passport, such as a Polish one. There are two ways to do it: on regular flights or “rescue” flights. For regular flights, it’s the usual. You can book a flight on a regular airline such as Delta using your Polish passport or a passport from another EU country. Going to Poland requires a layover somewhere in Europe as usual,
December and January is usually an election season for the Polish Home Association (PHA) in Seattle with the annual meeting on the last weekend of January. The pandemic complicated things this year, but what I hear from PHA is that elections will happen by mail with the virtual meeting of members on Sunday, January 31, 2021. The following appeal has been issued by the PHA President, Mr. Erik Lidzbarski. Dear Members of Polish Home Association
PC gaming world is all aflutter about the Cyberpunk 2077 game from the Polish game studio CD Projekt Red from Warsaw, the company famous for the Witcher / Wiedźmin game series. The new game released on December 10, 2020 amped the ante with a movie-size budget over $314 million and is one of the most anticipated computer games ever per PC Gamer. This game runs on the most popular gaming engine in the world called
Both annual Bazaars at the Polish Cultural Center Dom Polski in Seattle have been cancelled this year, but Polish Home Association came up with a vitual bazaar before Christmas instead. You can find a unique and thoughtful gift for your loved ones. Shop local and support our Polish artists and business owners! Polish Pottery is always an appreciated gift! Visit Lidia’s Polish Pottery or https://lidiaspolishpottery.com/ to find unique patterns and shapes of high quality hand painted pottery imported directly