Language / Anyone use "SERWUS"? [46]

Seanus

Hm, why the sad smiley? You're over 30? :) Don't worry, I am too and it doesn't really matter now, does it?

M-G (cheer up and have a nice ale or something)

Language / Anyone use "SERWUS"? [46]

Actually the only ppl that I've heard using it were Austrian and I thought it was an Austrian thing until I heard my Hungarian friends use it for the first time at the funeral of their dad. I never heard Polish ppl use it. But "service" does make sense: "service - servus", it doesn't take that much imagination to see that these two words are somehow related.

M-G (tiens)

Language / Anyone use "SERWUS"? [46]

Torq

Well, that is kinda funny. If it means "at your service" (I wouldn't want to go with the "I am your slave" meaning as I think it's not really relevant today:) ), it's a bit odd as the only times I hear ppl using it, it's when they leave you. It's used as a "goodbye" as far as I know.

M-G (weathergirl at RTE is mmmm:) )

Language / Anyone use "SERWUS"? [46]

Polonius3

It's actually "SerVus" and Hungarians use it. I've heard my Hungarian friends use it.


My friend is 32.

Seanus

Austrians use it a lot.

M-G (nah)

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish immigrant in the UK. Ch. 2 - Stress [63]


Did you know that you're very sexy when you're complaining sarcastically? True!

Anyway, I now know that you only mean it sarcastic or for fun, but ehm, maybe your next series could go about a black person living in Poland? Or an Arab living in Pomerania?

M-G (1,5 hours to go and then weekend)

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish migrant in UK. Ch. 1 - Staring [43]


Oh, ok. But anyway, I never had this in the UK and I like to look ppl in the eye as well and they all look me in the eyes too.

M-G (hm, beef stroganoff with mushrooms)

UK, Ireland / Sad life of a Polish migrant in UK. Ch. 1 - Staring [43]

Hm, pardon me, but I have no clue what you are talking about here. I am in London pretty often and I look ppl in the eyes quite a lot. Never had ppl getting angry at me or ppl shouting at me in the street. And I am not English nor am I Polish. So, what are you trying to say with this?

M-G (just wondering)

Life / Poland's westernization [44]


Believe me, in Holland truck drivers don't listen to Vivaldi and certainly don't listen to Dostojevski, that is, if they can read.


Don't you think I don't know that? I see it all around me. I was aiming at the major lump of ppl. Unfortunately it's the kind of ppl you see most. The intelligentia doesn't show itself that obviously as the lesser spirited ppl. It was based on them, not on the professors, the doctors, pHd's etc.


And from most Polish ppl that I know, I understand it's regarded very highly if you are able to speak English. My ex -again- couldn't speak one decent sentence of English, yet she was regarded very intelligent, smart and classy (ha-ha-ha) by her Polish friends because of her English. While I believe there is nothing wrong with Poles learning English or any other foreign language, it should be considered a necessity if you want to go to other places, not an accomplishment. But I know, when I was in highschool, we looked up to ppl who spoke French or Spanish fluently (perhaps they couldn't speak a decent line in those languages, but to us it seemed fluently as we couldn't say one single word in French or Spanish), so I guess it's the same everywhere. Or maybe not. Might as well be.

M-G (omnipotent)

Life / Poland's westernization [44]


Indeed, we are and it puts us on the chopping board of many countries who are not as advanced as we are. Remember the nice discussions we had in the past about this.

Seanus

No, not every country is the same in the West, nor is every culture identical. Every country has its own little things that distinguishes them from the rest. However, I think the point that mfeva is trying to make is this: the Poles seem to take the greatest common divisor and try to make it theirs as well. The mistake they make with this is to think that this is the general rule for Western culture, when it is not. True, there is a greatest common divisor which spans the entire Western culture (think about Eurohouse, brrr!), but most of the Poles who adopt this are ignoring the cultural differences of the diverse countries in the West.

M-G (had chicken Kiev, which wasn't chicken Kiev at all; when do they learn how to cook in our canteen?)

Life / Poland's westernization [44]

You're quite easily puzzled are you? :)

Anyway, Poles indeed go to extremes when trying to copy our Western "pop"-culture. Unfortunately they rarely copy the real and rich culture we have, only the cr*ppy things we have. Apparently these things are seen as more important than our deepest and finest utterings of cultural awareness. They all want to be like us and think by becoming some freaking "barbie-doll" that they are like us. Well, they are not. It's always done in an "over-the-top" way (not every Pole does this, I am not saying that) and it usually looks kinda ridiculous to us Westerners. What I personally find funny when Poles try to imitate us is when they try to use English words within Polish. There are a lot of examples of that, but right now only Skaip comes to mind (Skype). When spoken, this would be ok, however, they should write it the correct way. Strangely enough they write it this wrong way as well. Another example is: Fajna/Fajny, which would be Fine. But those are just details, not really important, I just find them funny, that's all.

M-G (lunchtime)

Life / Scientology in Poland [24]


Second that :)

But anyhow, mfeva is right: we in the West get a bit tired of hearing all those Eastern Europeans talking about how shallow we are, greedy and arteficial and how "superior" their culture is. Well, if that is the case: you guys tried to imitate us for such a long time and a quick search on YouTube for Polish pop-vids from the 60's proves that you have been doing so even before the fall of the Iron Curtain. After the Revolution, you were more than happy to come to us and buy our second-hand cars and clothes and all. And when you guys became part of the EU a true Tsunami followed into the Western countries that were so unwise to leave their borders open. Golddiggers coming to profit from the West and most of them sending their earnings home to the Motherland, thereby causing their hosts to lose millions, if not billions of Euros and enrichening the Motherland. And besides, nearly everything you have at home was at some point invented in the West, not in PL, not in Russia or anywhere else. If you guys despise Western culture so much, why then do you try to imitate it as much as you do? Why don't you stop using Western products and live off the land as according to you guys is more superior than what we do in the West?

I originally wanted to name a few famous names here, but I guess you can dream up some very wellknown names of artists from the West.


Don't know about the other countries, but in the Netherlands we do have a tradition of stimulating Literature and Arts. Plus we have of course our famous museums...

Don't think that we all condone this "culture" of Top40, MTV and stuff like that, because we don't. At least, not all of us. And when I look at an overview of Polish television, I must say, the difference is not that big. It's worse in PL than it is in NL.

M-G (tsk)

Life / Scientology in Poland [24]


We do have some more depth than that. It just depends on how far you wanna look for it. We do have our brilliant authors, musicians, painters, etc.


Like I said, unfortunately you have abcesses like this. However, in a way all churches charge :) In Holland (and I don't know if it's still like that), you will have to start paying "church-tax" when you're 18 or older. And Although it's voluntarily, when at the end of mass that bag goes round for your "free" gifts, ppl will look strange at you when you don't drop a coin or two in there :)

But my opinion about Scientology is: let's get rid of it asap.

M-G (never mind Tom Cruise and John Travolta)

Life / Scientology in Poland [24]

Jay24

Poland wants everything the West has. Unfortunately abcesses like Scientology are also part of the Western world. How sad this may be. Just don't give in to any of their promises, proposals or question. When they start talking to you on the street, just walk on and ignore them. I know it's hard because it's new, but believe me, you don't want to get mixed up with these guys.

M-G (saw the struggle of a friend who made this mistake)

Language / How does Polish sound to you? How to make Polish sound more pleasurable? [100]

Lyzko

And it's indeed amazing: I once sifted through a Polish booklet pretending to be a quick guid to English at the workplace. Some sounds in there are just explained wrong. "From" indeed was explained phonetically as "Fram" and "wrong" as "rang". No wonder, I say.

M-G (tiens)

Food / Are there any Polish recipes in which alcohol is an ingredient? [13]

Thanks guys for the tips. I made a nice pate today and it was a success :)

But I will definitively try all the other tips you guys gave me some time soon. Thanks again.

M-G (spent hours in the kitchen today)

Food / Are there any Polish recipes in which alcohol is an ingredient? [13]

sadieann

It's whiskey. I was just talking about a recipe I had a long time ago and was really good.

ShelleyS

Thanks! I was indeed thinking of doing a sweet tomato soup as a starter, some wodka in there certainly wouldn't do harm.

Seanus

Casseroles are great and kinda easy to make. Since I am a lazy cook, that might be an option, yes.

M-G (thanks guys so far)

Food / Are there any Polish recipes in which alcohol is an ingredient? [13]

Thanks, Sadieann. I will keep it in mind. I once had this great recipe with Sherry, but unfortunately I forgot it :( I am looking for hot dishes, preferrably.

M-G (cookery guard club - who remembers them?)

Food / Are there any Polish recipes in which alcohol is an ingredient? [13]

Will do, but first the recipes of course :) And you have to come over to Dubs as I am afraid if I send it by mail, it will be gone when it arrives.

M-G (will start preparing tomorrow morning)

Language / How does Polish sound to you? How to make Polish sound more pleasurable? [100]

Polish to me sounds not understandable. Only few words I recognize, like the K-word and the P-word and Tak, Nie and a few more. How to make Polish more pleasant for me? Well, I think everybody should speak Dutch anyway, so you might guess the answer to that question :)

M-G (would be easier for me, selfish as I am)

History / Are Poles the ones who understand Russians better than anyone? [35]


Huh? I thought Finoegric ppl descended from the Huns? There are only a handful of Finoegric ppl in Europe: The Fins, Hungarians, Estonians and Karelians. I'm sure I forgot a few, but these are the main. They are not Slavic. They're a different race of ppl. Slavs do not descent from them. As far as I know.

M-G (beer: Karpacki, 4 cans for 5 Euros. I know I'm a cheapskate:) )

Love / Polish blonds are so beautiful [99]

magnum

Blondes are always beautiful to look at anyway :)

M-G (always had blonde chickadees)

History / Are Poles the ones who understand Russians better than anyone? [35]


You have something against Scandinavians? :)

M-G (shopping spree now)

History / Are Poles the ones who understand Russians better than anyone? [35]

violetta

So it's all the same: Poles, Russians, Ukrainians etc all descent from proto-Slavs. Just like the Germans, Dutch, English, Danes, Swedes and Norwegians descent from the proto-Germans.

M-G (nothing changes, really)

USA, Canada / SHOULD WE POL-AMS BE ASHAMED OF AMERICA? [24]


The west didn't use them. They just didn't give a sh*t.

M-G (it's so simple)

USA, Canada / SHOULD WE POL-AMS BE ASHAMED OF AMERICA? [24]

Polonius3

What the heck are you talking about? Oh I see now. Poland is not that important in the world, you know. It's actually a 3rd-rate country (although I know the Poles think Poland is the most important country in the world: surprise: they are not. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, but Poland is NOT important.) And fyi: nobody gives a sh*t about Poland's opinion as far as world politics is concerned. Sorry again if i hurt your feelings.

M-G (has been drinking - but still recognizes nonsense)

Life / POLISH MOBILE NUMBERS-WHICH NETWORK [13]

I think Vodafone is the best one. It has the widest coverage and is the biggest in Europe, as far as I know. They are also the most expensive, unfortunately.

M-G (has Vodafone)

History / Another WWII thread. [69]


Easy, the threat of mutual destruction. If you use nuclear weapons against us, we will use nuclear weapons against you. No more, no less.

About the English: Hitler still hoped that the UK would sue for peace after 1 September 1939 because he regarded the English as a fellow-Germanic ppl.

M-G (still busy)

UK, Ireland / "Polish ambassador warns - think twice about coming to Britain for work " [126]

Hey, but that charter is already the case within the EU. It only counts for EU citizens though. Not for 3rd World citizens. In fact, the Treaty comprises also of a better border control, so if some Eastern European country has scr*wed up before by letting those immigrants in, they won't be able to do so in the future. And that is just what you want, do you?

M-G (good night)

UK, Ireland / "Polish ambassador warns - think twice about coming to Britain for work " [126]

You're right on that part.

About Lisbon:

With An Phoblact you name just about the most extreme nationalist Irish newspaper, and as I always think with AP (if I can read it, it's in Gaelic) most of it is wishful thinking. A United Ireland, don't think that will happen in our lifetime.

And as far as the opinion poll goes: it just depends on who you're asking: I have been asking around this week among my Irish friends and if that would be an opinion poll, then the outcome would be 70% Yes and 30% No. What I am trying to say is that you never can rely too much on polls. We will see what happens next Friday. But to be honest, I have done some reading up on the Treaty and I must say it's not even that bad a treaty. All the things you fear it is, I can't find them, simply enough. Actually, did you know that with the Treaty, everybody, except Bulgaria and Romania gets the right to veto? Europe will definitively not take over Ireland. In fact, more power will be diverted to the respective governments. And: abortion will NOT be enforced upon Ireland. It says nowhere that it will, and if I have to believe those demonstators in front of the GPO a few weeks ago, the first thing that will happen with Lisbon is that Ireland will have to allow abortion. This is simply not true. I invite you to read through the Treaty once again and you will see that it's not that bad at all. Mind you, I am not trying to influence you or propagating to vot Yes, that's your own choice, I just would like you to see the positive things in the Treaty. That's all.

Edit: if the Treaty would mean that national integrity is at stake, how come the British already have agreed to that? The British are usually the first to reject anything that infringes their national integrity. Think about it.

M-G (goes to bed soon)