I'm Polish

If you know me, you know my last name is the epitome of a tongue twister to many. It's filled with a balance of consonants and vowels, but for some reason it just doesn't make sense when you come to say it. Alas, I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago when I visited a small Polish pottery shop in Seattle.

I went to purchase a small salad plate (pictured below) and when I signed my name on the receipt, the store owner- who had an absolutely wonderful Polish accent- gasped at my "hearty Polish name." I laughed, because I was flattered. Subsequently, she gave me a short lesson on my name. Due to issues of privacy, you all will be limited to my first name, Stephanie. Not only was it really cool to hear her say my name in her thick Polish accent, she spelled it for me! Like many Eastern European languages female names in Polish often end in an "a." Phonetically speaking , my name is pronounced: Stef-an-ya!

I love learning about my heritage, and I know I'm probably going to be one of those retired women at the historical society, taking genealogy classes. I'm totally ok with that!

Pictured above is the salad plate I purchased. I fully expect my dear friend e.k.s. to buy heinous amounts of said pottery on her trip to Krakow...and would be forever grateful if she happened to pick me up a matching companion to my lonely salad plate! (wink wink, nudge nudge).