"We would occasionally have Polish family and friends round for all those mouth-watering feasts'...all this usually helped down with a glass or two of strong, chilled Polish vodka and beer"
Jurek is 55and lives in Southport with his partner Fi and his 3 sons. He works as a sales consultant and in his spare time enjoys football, golf and snooker.
My story is primarily about my Polish-Ness and how it is taking on an increasingly important part in my life. As a teenager there didn't seem to be enough time to explore my Polish-Ness, or there seemed to be more interesting things to do. 'Better late than never,' perhaps?
Inside Lives has has helped me to reflect on many different aspects of my life. It was a very worthwhile, enjoyable and satisfying experience.
I am English... born in England... with an English mother... but Polish father... so I am also Polish! For all those early years, as Dad would be learning and speaking English regularly, it was always English we spoke in the family home. But Dad did encourage me and my sister to speak some Polish in my teenage years, even taking us to Saturday morning classes. As interesting as it was then, other interests prevailed...and so for many years I only 'touched' on bits of my Polish-Ness Of course, during all this time we would occasionally have Polish family and friends' round for all those mouth-watering feasts which include soups (that were just so much better and tastier than any before)...bread, sausage, salami, gherkins, salads and other national dishes like 'bigos', 'golabki' and 'pierogi'...simple food but the best tastes ever. And all this usually helped down with a glass or two of strong, chilled Polish vodka and beer--I can still remember my first taste of vodka when I was about 8 years old! Since my Dad passed away, much before his time, we try to keep all these traditions going...but more importantly now I'm making up for those missed opportunities of earlier years. For the last 3 years, I've been very actively involved with a new Manchester based singing group 'Biesiada'...The word 'Biesiada' itself means 'feast' and that's what we have: we get together and perform Polish songs and dances--traditional and modern, happy and sad, slow and fast. And we eat and we drink and we celebrate our Polish-Ness in a way that would make my Dad really really proud. His earlier efforts were not in vain. Yes, I am English...but there are times just like these that I am very, very Polish...which means I get 'the best of both worlds'. | 
