Love / Soldier born in Poland / living in England. Fiance going away for ages. Complicated... [205]

The United States of America wasn't Britain's greatest ever invention.

UK, Ireland / Father's Day cards banned in Scottish schools [64]

Will they ban Mother's Day cards for the same reason?

Whatever happened to Fathers For Justice? Surely there are still a few superheroes left that none of them got around to dressing up as.

News / What if Poland has decided to withdraw from the European Union? [54]


It should be possible to leave the EU. It worked for Greenland.


The military option looks completely ridiculous as far as I'm concerned. As for the economy, it is more expensive for non-EU countries to trade with EU countries. There could be some amount of deliberately making trade more expensive, but I wouldn't expect it to be at a level that cripples the country.

But how should I know anyway?

History / Why has Poland been attacked so often by its neighbors? [180]


Because everything on the internet is true.

Love / Polish Gay Life [142]


You should see them when they parade. There are so many of them that "Only the Lonely" really doesn't seem appropriate.

News / What does Poland mean to you? [66]


Don't quite a few of them go abroad to find work? Living in another country must be one of the best ways to pick up a language. The number of times I've heard thing to the effect of "I drive a tractor like this on my uncle's farm" or some sort of Polish or Polish-English hybrid.

UK, Ireland / Intercultural experiences of Polish migrants who work and live in the UK [26]


There was me thinking they would be more likely to be Saxon than Anglo.

If the media is any reflection of culture, Americans are at least as foreign as anyone else, occasionally less so, but sometimes more.


One lot speak English, the other lot Polish?

News / ARE LATVIANS AND OTHER 'BALTICS' HOSTILE TOWARDS POLES? [60]


Yes.

We should be aware that despite these historical links, Lithanians and Latvians are Baltic peoples. I wouldn't dream of saying Wales is English or anything like that effect because I am well aware that it is not. Connections, whether historical or of the present day may have their importance.


Just dusting off the old time machine, going back and taking a butcher's hook right now... just then...


So what will your Slavic Union do with Latvians and Lithuanians? Your remark suggests that you wouldn't want to view them as just being neighbours.

News / ARE LATVIANS AND OTHER 'BALTICS' HOSTILE TOWARDS POLES? [60]

So if Poland was to go out empire building, Lithuania would be in there. Who else?

UK, Ireland / Intercultural experiences of Polish migrants who work and live in the UK [26]


That doesn't mean very much to me. Not the kind of generalisation that makes all that much sense.

UK, Ireland / WHAT AREAS IN LONDON ARE POPULAR FOR POLISH PEOPLE TO LIVE IN? [33]

East Anglia (I'm being a lot less precise than those who talk about places like Kilburn) is supposedly quite well Poled-up. This may be a comparitive thing as this corner of the country has seen very little immigration since the Vikings came over.


I have known a small number of nice South Africans, which goes against the grain somewhat, especially of the Spitting Image song. Afrikaans ain't exactly beautiful, melodic, soothing, pleasant or bearable. When they get together with Australians, the result can be very nasty. I must add: that's not all South Africans.

Love / Soldier born in Poland / living in England. Fiance going away for ages. Complicated... [205]


Get through this, and the next obstacle you have to pass will be easier for both of you. You know what to do. Many people know what they have to do. It looks as though he knows this is something he must do. To have someone waiting for you at the end has got to help bring hope and help you to get through what must be a very difficult time.

- Osiol is just about sober after last night.

Love / What do the Polish guys think about the British girls?? [37]

Dunno, but my Polish flatemate/workmate fancied the pants off a girl at work, half-English, half-Spanish. But since she seems not to be interested, another work colleage, just as female, but 100% English seems to be on the cards. From whta I have seen, whe it comes to interpersonal stuff, there is plenty of cross-cultural interest.

Food / Polish (but can be just any other) recipes for chicken dishes anyone? [23]

Mixing Justyna with another continent might not be such a good recipe.

Justyntarctica?
Justyaustralasia?

USA, Canada / Pole (Lukasz Zbylut) - the most wanted student in USA [11]

Would a highly intelligent person want to be president?

Life / How do you Poles feel about the fact that so many Poles work abroad? [145]


I agree. When I posted something about British people moving to other countries for their career prospects, at least one fellow Briton replied "Good luck to them". I agree. From what I have seen, this may be the prevalent attitude amongst Poles who remain in Poland. It's a shame this thread is not helping to answer your question.


I find your post there a little difficult to understand. You have accused someone of having bad English writing skills whilst using fairly bad English writing yourself. Were you arguing with Puzzy, myself or both of us (depsite our obvious differences of opinion).

I ask because the main brunt of your attack seems to be Puzzy with his nonsensical attitude towards a wide variety of people, but you also seemed to make an argument with my usage of the term "racism".

Race is subjective. It is not something set in stone. I'm not interested in race. Neither am I particularly interested in the boundaries between xenophobia and racism - it's pretty much all the same thing to me.

Language / What does "czy" mean? [37]

It can be a bit like the Spanish ¿

edit: I really just wanted to see if ¿ works on this forum.
¿Or did I?

Language / POLISH LANGUAGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGLISH [11]


So from Polish to Russian to English then?

Life / COMMERCIALLY DRIVEN SUBCULTURES? [14]

Flapper girls of the 1920s - do they count?

Someone must have made plenty of money out of all those fops and dandies spending half of their disposable incomes on handkerchiefs, canes and various new styles of hat worn at just the right kind of jaunty angle.

Life / How do you Poles feel about the fact that so many Poles work abroad? [145]


I consider what you have said about "third world people" to be racist.


Branding entire races of people as racists is not fighting racism.


And scores of them are not from places like this, but with European heritage.
Many of these people have nothing against Poland or Polish people.

Life / COMMERCIALLY DRIVEN SUBCULTURES? [14]

Beatniks, teds, rockers, mods, hippies, punks, new romantics, ravers, shoegazers, grungers, metallers, gothics, crusties, emos, chavs...

How many of these were invented in boardrooms of multinational companies, and how many were invented on the streets, in the clubs and in teenagers' bedrooms before later being used for commercial advantage?

I see less different styles amonst the young people of today than I saw when I was younger, when I was supposed to choose between a variety of different subcultures (I chose more than one at the same time - new romantic crusty gothic raver mod - it didn't quite work). Myabe there are more that I just don't notice. Does Poland actually get any of the good ones?

Life / How do you Poles feel about the fact that so many Poles work abroad? [145]


You can't fight racism with racism.


With the small political influence these so-called "Third World" people have, how can they be responsible for problems in European politics?
Culture is what you do, not something imposed on you by other people. If I want to eat full English fried breakfasts (have of which is made out of pig-derived products), no-one is there to stop me. If I want to eat curry, that's because I happen to like it. If I want to listen to English folk music, no-one is going to stop me. If I want to listen to reggae music, it's not because some Jamaicans have forced me to, it's because I want to listen to it.

Amongst the people I call friends, some are black, some are Asian. As I have said before, I have not heard any hostility towards Polish people from anyone I count as a friend.


But you're not just blaming individuals, you are saying that anyone from not just Bangladesh, but the entire third world and their relatives in the first world are somehow guilty.


... and you were right.


Some aspects of this country are in trouble. Other things seem to be going quite well, thankyou very much. Where things are going wrong, I'm not going to take the easy, cowardly option of blaming it on some ethnic minority.

Language / Capitalization of Cie, Ciebie, and others [17]

Are People Tending To Capitalise More Initial Letters These Days, less, or just the same?

Language / POLISH LANGUAGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO ENGLISH [11]


From Czech. It's not the same as the Polish word. I think it might have more to do with the word pół, meaning half.

Names of food products, unless the food itself is taken up widely by native English speakers (like spaghetti, croissant, etc.) don't really count. I would say that the word vodka was borrowed from Russian rather than Polish, although this can't be absolutely certain. English has a habit of retaining foreign spellings, although W could easily change into V.

I've said more than enough about gherkins before. As much to do with Farsi, Greek or Dutch as it is to do with Polish.

News / What are your 10 fave things about Poland? And 10 least favourite? [130]

I beg to differ!

My least favourite things:

1. Being stuck behind an ancient police car.
2. Snickers bars - they don't taste nearly as good as the ones I know and love here in the UK.
3. Too many over-the-top orangey-coloured fake tans on blonde haired girls. They'd look so much better without it.
4. Having a hangover because someone forced me to mix vodka, beer and champagne. A glass of wine just looks unnatural in the hand of a Polish man - that's why it was "forced" into my hand.

5. The lektor.

News / What are your 10 fave things about Poland? And 10 least favourite? [130]

Sorry, was I supposed to say if they were my favourite or least favourite?

Most of these ones are all somewhere in the middle. Don't they count though?

E D I T

I just edited the post just before this one. I hope it was good enough for you all.

News / What are your 10 fave things about Poland? And 10 least favourite? [130]

1. Concrete telegraph poles.
2. Those little glass things they put your change on in shops.
3. Snow in winter and sliding about on frozen lakes and ponds.
4. Drivers repeatedly saying "Kurwa" nervously as they cross tram tracks.
5. Old orange squash and vegetable oil bottles containing spirytus.

To be continued...

E D I T

Sorry, I was supposed to make this clear. My favourite things in Poland might be a list of alcoholic beverages or perhaps a list of (female) Polish names, or just some place names I like the sound of. This is a list of the first 5 things I could think of that raise a smile and make me think of Poland.

Life / How do you Poles feel about the fact that so many Poles work abroad? [145]

How do British people feel about other British people moving to countries like Canada or Australia for better work opportunities? When my brother was studying, I got to know a few of his mates. Two of them moved to Canada, one to Australia, another to the US, and even one to China, taking their skills and spending power elsewhere. My brother even went to Ireland for a while for a better job. Good luck to them.

Life / How do you Poles feel about the fact that so many Poles work abroad? [145]


Will you stop going on about these people you describe as "Third World". If they live in Britain, they are not third world people. From where I'm sitting, there is no difference between using derogatory language against Polish, Asian, African, Caribbean people or just British people who may have some or all of their heritage from some other part of the world.

News / On the news: 600 of the 700 Polish criminals in Holland come from Warsaw [30]

It's frozen melon, the chance to do some sums with polishgirltx and my fear and hatred of the very serene republic of San Marino that keeps me awake at 2:30 AM. Who need's class A anyway? Yawn!