Real Estate / Foreigners: Please don't buy Polish Land! [823]

Reality Check

Thanks for the warning and welcome to a global economy Ola.
Other European countries have had immigration and inward investment problems for years but violence is not the answer.
My own children suffer from not being able to buy property where they have grown up because middle-management move out of the suburbs for a more “country” life. The space they leave is taken up by social climbers from the cities or their houses are rented to immigrants as flats.

I work in a city whose newspaper has a Polish supplement – even though there are fewer Poles than Asians or Afro-Caribbean immigrants there. Churches in some areas cannot put up bible texts because “it offends other faiths” (Muslim & Hindu), Christmas decorations in the office are allowed to be “festive” but must not be “religious”, some workers cannot wear a crucifix because “it offends other faiths”, all the taxi drivers are now Pakistani, because they have shut out everyone else out of the business and Japanese own the best golf courses.

So, do I teach my children that everyone is equal and not to be judgemental?
Or do I teach them intolerance and xenophobia?

I know I’m old and therefore unwelcome in these forums – but I was a lurker for some time and thought it more honest to declare myself.

I am also in a position to influence young Brits, help my young Polish friends (yes I have several of them) and even buy a holiday property in Poland if I feel like it.

And of course the investors you have to fear most, are rich expatriates from former Soviet countries who have truly embraced capitalism in its most extreme form.

So go right ahead, burn down the holiday homes and stone the holidaymakers in Poland; but you will lose, because they can afford insurance and security and while they rebuild, you will be in jail.

You have a long term choice too – High security foreign owned estates of luxury homes, shops and hospitals with you locals shut outside, or an integrated society. Your destiny is in your own hands.

History / Poland and why in the past it was so many times attacked [16]

Obviously inviting foreigners to be head of state is a poor tactic for maintaining independance.
(in times past, i.e pre 20th century)

Food / the best cure for hangover-the polish way ;) [76]

At risk of mixing threads, WW2 fighter pilots found that breathing pure oxygen is an instant cure for a hangover - just don't smoke at the same time.

Language / difficult English words for Polish speakers? [119]


Seriously, this is deliberate because the answer is not specific: "in hospital" is a predicament, not a location. "I play piano" is a statement of fact about accomplishment - any piano will do. I do some proof reading of translations from Polish and constantly knock out "the" or change it to "a" as necessary.

More obscure is the southern English phrase "going (up) to town" - this means London - which is a city.

I don't know how Poles get on with this phrase - but it kills the French:
"the synthesizer is over there".

Language / "polish pig" - is it offensive? [41]

Sorry, was speaking from English perspective.

You…. dog, chicken, what a turkey, silly cow, like sheep, acting the goat, very catty, bovine, old nag, snake, worm, toad, *****, donkey, ass (English not U.S) gannet, parrot, etc,

I wouldn’t take “sly old fox” as a compliment either.
Still, I am a country person and don’t humanise animals or their traits, they are food, vermin or sport to me, so perhaps I don’t see their attractions as much as others.

Something not to do at an English country wedding:
Look at the bride, then turn to the bride’s mother and say: “You always get a good heifer from a good cow”

News / Poland over the next 10 years? [79]

From the little that I have seen of Poland, some care needs to be taken with "progress".
Bielsko-Biala has beautiful architecture and is an almost unique meeting of Prussian and Austro-Hungarian style, what you really don't need is for some maniac mayor to tear down and modernise (any more than has happened already). Lego brick styling exists all over Europe and every place should protect their unique heritage.

Similarly Cracow (when is it called Krakow?); if ever a place needs protection from shopping malls (except the cloth hall of course) - this is it.

More provocative is Polish agriculture. will it ever improve efficiency unless land strips are amalgamated and farmers practice primogeniture?
In England, the first son usually inherits the farm. children may form a company or a partnership but the family land is not split up and especially not split into strips which prevent the use of machinery.

Strip farming is inefficient and archaic, but the practice is part of the inheritance psyche - my little plot for my retirement

I know that communism was part of the cause, I've heard the old "you got the Marshall plan but we got communism" statement (but you didn't have to pay for communism though) and this is true of other former soviet controlled countries too.

So one change that I wouldn't like to see, and one that I would.

Oh, another motorway would be nice too (autostrada?)

Language / "polish pig" - is it offensive? [41]

To call anyone a pig or any other animal is almost always an insult.

I sorry to tell you that you are not special and not singled out for abuse, the word pig had been appended to all races and nationalities.

The pig is a religiously unclean animal to Jews, Moslems and Hindus - all of whom would no doubt claim a double insult.

Even the carribbean word for white people - Honky, is a reference to the sound a pig makes.

Swine means the same as pig too.

The only unique quality in your case is that the phrase is alliterative in English P-P, this of course doesn't apply in other languages.

UK, Ireland / English food - unhealthy? [52]


Artificial food eh? must be the fertilizer from Chernobyl.

wow you have your own city? no wonder the streets are empty.

It is always a pleasure to read reasoned argument, beautifully presented.

Love / Who is not looking a Polish woman .... :-) [17]

Bearing in mind this is a Polish forum, are you saying "Polish girls are easy?"

I bow to your superior knowledge

UK, Ireland / English food - unhealthy? [52]

Magdushya, I believe your symptoms but not your diagnosis.

You mention you have seen a doctor, was he a GP? Did he understand the problem and did you understand the answer?

If your body mass in increasing, it can only be fluid, muscle or fat.
Fluid is heaviest, then muscle, then fat. So if you gain liquid mass without gaining weight, you have a problem.

If it is fluid, it is is governed by gravity and at the end of a day will show most at your ankles (or lower abdomen) and conversely be more apparent in your face and upper body when you wake up in the morning - Muscle and fat does not do this.

If you press your thumb against a swollen ankle and it leaves an indentation - it is fluid, but if the skin and flesh regain shape straight away, it is not fluid.

Fluid retention (Edema) has many causes, and I would suggest that unless you can identify a substance like excessive salt intake or excessive diuretic intake (coffee?), it may not be food related at all.

If you believe your problem swelling is fluid, you must see a doctor - again.

UK, Ireland / English food - unhealthy? [52]

My friends in Poland (girls) are far more physically active than English girls of the same age. I can't genaralise too much but Polish schools and colleges have more sports activities, and the young people walk more in their daily lives.

Joining a Gym or Sports centre in the UK is expensive and it is eaier to drive to the pub or club (or stay at home on the computer).

You can blame fast food or additives but the simple equation is:
calories taken in versus calories burned - what isn't burned is retained as fat.

Warning - If you are overweight at 40, it is much harder to lose after that...

Travel / Traveling to Poland: Tips for First-Timers [47]


This is a puzzle to me - I know it is true about the Polish appetite and I've had wonderful food of diverse types in Poland, by why is it that English girls still make Polish girls look anorexic?

Does binge drinking make a difference?

Can Polish women explain this paradox?

UK, Ireland / The un-acceptable side of new entrant countries coming to the UK [56]

I think that Britain's economic state is exactly what you would expect of a non-manufacturing country which is relying on "invisible earnings" for its income, while spending on capital purchases abroad.

This is scarcely affected by immigrants; because who sends the most money out of the country?
Is it the economic migrant, living and working here while taking a pittance home once a month?
Or is it the Brit buying a holiday home in Spain or Bulgaria, while puchasing his new BMW and a Czech Toyota for his wife, and possibly booking overseas holidays too.

I drive a Jeep (Austrian), ride a Triumph (Taiwan) and a BMW (Germany) and my wife has a Japanese 4x4 too. As I look around, the only thing I have that was built in the UK is a horse trailer.

Fortunately for the country, almost all my work is for Oil & Gas projects overseas, so I bring in money from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Egypt etc and spend most of it here; in living expenses.

Before we throw stones (metaphorical) at migrants, we should all study our own financial input and output, and then ask how our country can survive economically.

Trade barriers work in both directions. As older Soviets say,"under communism we didn't have choice of food to buy, but at least when we reached the counter we could afford to buy it". That friends, is the cost of a free market.

I'm not bitter, just an engineer who has seen his country cast aside a rich heritage of manufacturing to become a high street society. With our government only concerned with High Street Spending, Napoleon was almost right - we are becoming a nation of shop assistants.

The most useful phrase for a British engineering graduate to learn now in several languages is "do you want fries with that sir?"

Poland has already gained some industry (and lost control of its steel mills) and if the work at it, the could have a good engineering future - until the Chinese buy them out.

I support a European Economic Community - warts and all.

UK, Ireland / Negative attitude towards Polish immigration in UK becoming stronger [90]

Negative attitude? – Blackpool, Bournemouth?

First, let me assure blackpool_uk that I am sympathetic on a personal basis.

Finding and maintaining regular employment in the UK is not easy. I have not had a permanent staff job since 1976 when I finished at college and no longer needed day-release for a course.

Mass redundancies have been the worst situations both nationally and locally, but the survivors, are those who identify their strengths and work to them.
I have been on night school courses in the 1970’s and 1980’s to make sure that my skills are sufficient for my chosen field (engineering). I am entirely self taught in computing, yet write spreadsheet calculations to make my job easier.

I believe that versatility is vital for employment in the 21st Century and that most economic immigrants possess: a good work ethic and flexibility. They are prepared to leave all their previous aspirations and “start at the bottom” if that is what it takes to earn a living.

Any British worker, manual or otherwise should realise that our entire economy is under threat as Asian economic power increases. So ask yourself: what can I do better than immigrants? And if that means offering to train them to do your job, or to learn a new skill where native English gives you an edge, then that is what you have to do.

If ultimately, this means working among British expatriates in Spain (and learning Spanish), then there are two choices: actively seek work or sit and complain.

There will always be special circumstances, but I know how it feels to be out of work with no income, benefits or allowances whatsoever, with a family to support, a mortgage and just £50 in the bank. You can sit and cry, or you can look for work, no matter what it takes or where it leads. I survived and I am stronger because of the experience.

There will always be economic migrants and in future, we all may meet up in a Conversational Mandarin evening class – whatever it takes.

Bubbawoo is right about the language schools but is forgetting about the majority of inhabitants - Bournemouth is mostly one of “God’s waiting rooms” on the south coast – full of wrinklies and crumblies – but they have money, need jobs done, and the weather is much better than Blackpool.