Almost unnoticeable among the crowded couches near Norris University Center’s Starbucks, a small group of students gathered Tuesday night to sit, sip coffee and speak to one another – entirely in Polish.
Beginning Winter Quarter, the Polish American Student Association has hosted a weekly Polish Coffee Hour, a time for students of Polish heritage or with an interest in Polish culture to come together, share their experiences and work on their Polish language skills.
“We talk about everyday things just to build up confidence and get students used to talking in Polish,” said PASA President Iza Gronski, a Weinberg junior. “I just love speaking it, being around it, because if you don’t practice it, you lose the language.”
Polish culture has had a strong presence in Chicago and, at one point, the city’s Polish population was even larger than that of the Polish capital of Warsaw, Gronski said. But Polish Americans are a minority at Northwestern.
The Polish environment of Chicago is somewhat far away, said Maciej Swiech, a PASA member.
“It’s more like on the west side of Chicago, so just by modes of transportation, it’s not very accessible,” the McCormick freshman said. “If you had a car, I’m sure you could go down to Polish town, but otherwise it would be pretty hard to get down there.”
PASA began at NU in 1996, but the organization has been on and off for the past decade, Gronski said. Since last year, the executive board has been trying to improve PASA’s image by planning more dinners, bonfires, movie nights and events, and by working to enlarge the group’s membership.
“At home, we eat Polish food, we speak Polish, we watch Polish TV,” Gronski said. “By participating in PASA and being involved, we kind of have this other side of the Polish culture of interacting with people our own age that come from similar backgrounds.”
Originally, PASA hosted a Polish Language Table at the 1835 Hinman dining hall as a way for students to practice their Polish language skills. But because many members were not on a meal plan and midday lunch was not convenient for everyone, the group decided instead to have an evening coffee hour every Tuesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m instead.
PASA member Laura Bresnahan, a Weinberg junior, is one of four students enrolled in her Polish language class at NU. Though Polish language classes are run through the Slavic Department, courses offered by the department are predominantly focused on Russian culture and language.
In Dallas, where Bresnahan is from, there are few outlets for Polish Americans to come together.
“My mom loves it,” Bresnahan said. “She loves that I can speak and take Polish here at NU and know where all the Polish places (in Chicago) are.”
PASA currently has six members on its executive board, 20 active members and about 100 people on the club’s e-mail list, Gronski said. The group meets every Friday at 5 p.m. at the Multicultural Center, 1936 Sheridan Road.
“Last year when I was social chair, I went through this whole Facebook search phase just to try to get more people involved in PASA and build social awareness,” Gronski said.
The coffee hour topics, though not necessarily based on Polish issues, are prompted by both attendees and events in the news, Swiech said.
“They are funny if you follow Polish politics,” Gronski said. “We have a lot of crazy Polish politicians.”
The hour is also a time for PASA members to bond over their common traditions, like eating kielbasa (Polish sausage) and listening to Polish music.
While some students speak Polish more regularly at home, the chance does not arise as often in college, Swiech said.
“If you don’t use the language, you forget little things,” he said. “It’s nice to talk to people in Polish because it is my native tongue.”
