News / The past and future of Poland. Poland is lost. [113]


Communism had fallen in 1989. So in the nineties everything was up for grabs and people were as a rule much more America-friendly, capitalist-oriented, and happy to run the rat race than they are now, almost 20 years after the deed was done. McDonalds, PCs and shopping malls are not a novelty any more, they're just another ho-hum fact of life, and nobody's wetting their pants with excitement about being in the EU either. I'd say most Polish people see EU membership, politically, more as a lesser of two evils than anything else.

Language / Confusion about genitive plural [30]


and right you are! ;-) thanks for pointing it out :-)

Language / Confusion about genitive plural [30]

mur - mury! in the whole declension cycle, both sing. and plural, there is no "rz" in sight here. unless I've suddenly gone crazy and forgotten my mother tongue ;-)

Law / Unique type of restaurant - Want to open in Warsaw [13]


O RLY? I would say they like coffee more than tea, but it's the type of coffee that most foreigners dislike, the one with grounds in it, strong as hell (Turkish coffee it's called, even though it's not actually brewed the Turkish way).

Travel / Overnight sleeper train travel in Poland (Warsaw-Wroclaw-Prague)? [6]

Isn't it possible to go straight from Warsaw to Prague? Unless of course you have business in Wrocław.

Life / Teens in Poland, their typical life, schooling, influences, etc. [32]


I am quite a mature person in the sense that I have seen many summers ;-)
And I must say I have never encountered such attitudes outside the smallest villages and tiniest towns in Poland - ever. 20 years ago, 30 years ago. In fact, as far back as I can remember. Actually, women have been urged to work and "be modern" (in the communist sense of the word, i.e. "revolutionary"). What you are talking about might actually be a backlash of sorts.

Life / Teens in Poland, their typical life, schooling, influences, etc. [32]


...which means there is no democracy in the west either, as governments of countries such as the UK or US simply LOVE to influence their citizens' lifestyles, sexual life and religion, even though they tend to do this rather covertly, hiding their true reasons under 'elf-n-safety and political correctness mumbo-jumbo. Oh, and global warming, recently.

The recent smoking ban is just an example of how people meekly agree to have a bit of freedom taken away from them in the name of "the common good". BTW, I have never smoked and hate the stuff, but I see where we are all going with this "good work". Other bans are on their way, and will be more difficult to accept, but we will have gotten used to obedience by then. Democracy?

Food / Food taboo, therapeutic food: Questions about the food culture in Poland [24]

Strep throat bacteria thrive in the cold. I know, I defied them several times. And paid dearly for it... ;-(((

And garlic is a natural antibiotic so yes, it's very useful when you've got an infection. If you cook it before eating (e.g. fry, or boil in your soup), it does not smell after consumption. Or, properly speaking, you do not smell ;-)

Those "old wives' tales" are very often 100% spot on.

UK, Ireland / Polish homeless in the UK [42]

Unfortunately, those who "made it" (in the sense of getting by, more or less comfortably) tell their relatives and friends in Poland stories of money literally lying in the streets, easy jobs with no English required, and affordable housing. Then someone just gets up one morning and buys a ticket, no idea where to stay, how to get a job, no English, and there you are. I have very recently had such a lady overnight, with kids too. The only option she had was to go to a homeless charity, sleep in a bed for the first time in a week, take a shower or two and head back to Poland (I live in a studio flat the size of an average room, so I could not conceivably keep several more people in there for any lenght of time).

She had no contingency plan, frankly speaking, she had no plan at all apart from a vague idea that magically, things would fall into place. And she is not alone.

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]


To Tamara - this is what I said right after the bit you quoted. "Strange" should not mean only "shocking, wrong, stupid", but in many of the posts, it does. I do not like that. Sorry.

Life / Customer Service in Poland, what are your experiences? [106]


customer service in Poland aside - the above is a totally American way of saying "it sucked" ;-)

Life / Customer Service in Poland, what are your experiences? [106]

And a dangerous one. Lawsuit culture, anyone?

Of course, downright rudeness on the part of the service provider is not to be tolerated. But I think many foreigners confuse rudeness (chamstwo) with a certain aloofness which we Poles like to maintain. We just don't like getting all lovey-dovey with total strangers ;-)

If a salesperson totally ignores me while I talk to them, I will either walk out mid-sentence, or tell them off.
But if they ignore me UNTIL I start talking to them, it makes me feel comfortable. I do not like being pestered before I had even made up my mind whether to stay in that store at all. I know a lot of Polish people who feel the same.

If you want me out a place real quick, ambush me at the door with "can I help you" :-I

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]

Poland is truly a land of horrors, where men stand too close, old ladies smell bad, and the roads are full of potholes. Plus children are required to change shoes at school - terrible infringement of their human rights... Do you think you could try being just a tad more flexible in your approach to what is a different culture? It is not the Poles' fault that you find some things different. Some of you make it sound as if it actually were their fault, though. And that makes me feel rather uncomfortable.

Yeah, sure: they could mend the roads. And surprise - they actually are, all the time, every year. Maybe there is not enough money to make the new road surfaces more durable. I don't know. But I've driven around quite a lot and every spring there are roadworks all over the place. So there!

Life / Customer Service in Poland, what are your experiences? [106]

Apart from everything else - the customer is NOT always right.

When my dad visited the States, he got loads of really way bad customer service - waiters that were right in his face all the time, making him feel guilty for saying no to "would you like something more" (he really hated that one), waiters trying to be overfamiliar with him, pestering him with details of their personal life and habits, trying to be on a first-name basis with him just because he wanted to eat a salad; no "hot tea" anywhere to be gotten for love or money (only iced tea or terrible, watery coffee); at one place they actually gave him tea leaves "infused" in lukewarm microwaved water and were genuinly surprised he did not like the result! Etc., etc. When my dad got back to Poland, he did some complaining, but then stopped short and said OMG, I'm just like those Americans in Poland, complaining of everything in sight. I'd better stop! - So he stopped ;-P

Life / Customer Service in Poland, what are your experiences? [106]


And why not? It's their country and they have no duty to conform to your requirements. When in Rome, etc.
There are a lot, a LOT of things I find funny/stupid/maddening in the UK, for example. Does this mean the UK is worse than Poland in some respects, or does this attitude work only one way, because the UK is "more developed" by default? I am afraid many of you think that it is only the poor old iron-curtain countries which need to "catch up". Unfortunately, I have lived and visited abroad (so-called western countries - Holland, the UK, Denmark, Germany), and I am not terribly impressed. They are just regular countries. And each has its quirks, some amusing, some downright crazy.

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]


except this meat is not raw - it's smoked (heat treated over a long period of time). sushi is raw meat.
have you eaten beef jerky and/or biltong (I've eaten both, seem very similar to me)? that's a lot "rawer" than your typical Polish sausage, being smoked for a short time only.

Travel / June Weather in Poland - What to wear? [13]


ORLY? I have the hardest time buying anything BUT antiperspirant in Poland - and in the UK as well, for that matter - where do you buy your cosmetics?! Walk into any Drogeria Natura or Rossmann and there they are - row upon row of them. Chock fullo'aluminum chlorohydrate (that's why I am paranoid about them). Then there are the spray-on body whatnots, but I wouldn't really even class them as deodorant, they're more along the lines of a weak, cheap all-over perfume. But as far as antiperspirants, there's LOTS. Unless some sort of national catastrophe has wiped them out within the last year. I'm visiting Poland in August so I'll keep you posted ;-)

Law / I want to open a bar in Czestochowa [28]


Oh really..? I used to live in a small town of 60 000 and there were lots of places to go (ranging from typical restaurants through pizza places through night clubs to pubs and cafes) - and they were (and still are - I recently visited) packed on a daily basis. If not, then fullish during the week and packed at the weekends. ;-) Not a new phenomenon either. I can't speak for tiny hamlets though.

Life / Shattered dreams. Poland is more expensive to live than the UK. [23]

But how about Geant, Auchan, Carrefour, to name just a few of the other foreign ones, or smaller chains like Bomi or Piotr and Paweł?

IMHO, the Polish version of Tesco is only slightly better than Biedronka / Leader Price and suchlike.

Life / Shattered dreams. Poland is more expensive to live than the UK. [23]

But I was asking - did you ever go beyond Tesco?

Life / Shattered dreams. Poland is more expensive to live than the UK. [23]

What supermarkets do you shop at in Poland? Tesco was, and is, one of the worst on offer - overpriced and badly supplied.
The Polish Tescos have absolutely nothing in common with the British ones, except ownership ;-)

Language / 'przytulic' cannot ever be properly translated into English [33]

"ach, jakie to urocze/słodkie - dzieli się z pieskiem!"

Language / 'przytulic' cannot ever be properly translated into English [33]


Oh but we would say: Co za cudna żabka! Urocza malusia ropuszka! Unless we thought the frog was gross, of course ;-)

Language / 'przytulic' cannot ever be properly translated into English [33]


cudny/śliczny/słodki kotek would work just as well.
and yes, I have heard a tiny girl comment: Mamo, co za uroczy kiciuś! ;-)

thing is, most of you are trying to translate word-for-word, whereas it's only possible to go concept-by-concept in cases such as these.

Language / 'przytulic' cannot ever be properly translated into English [33]

cute - uroczy
kind - serdeczny
funny - zabawny

not quite ideally the same, but the general emotional tone is right :-)

History / Poles executed in Warsaw '1939-44' [112]

The Ghetto uprising took place in the spring of 1943. This was the Warsaw Uprising, 1944. Some of these people might have conceivably been Jews in the religious sense, who had sheltered on the Aryan side. But they were Poles and Varsovians first.

Travel / What time does the stores close in Warsaw Poland? [5]

If you go to one of the big shopping malls you don't have to worry about closing times - they are open well into the evening. I remember coming to London and being shocked about almost all the shops (not grocery stores) closing at 5 pm. ;-(

Life / Polish products for sensitive skin, are they available in Poland? [17]

Irena Eris (Polish brand, very good quality) has a whole range of products for allergy-prone and sensitive skin. Check out the Lirene line of products.

History / Poles executed in Warsaw '1939-44' [112]


But earlier on, I was very offensive and what else, arrogant if I remember right? And I didn't even call anyone a toilet cleaner. Seems like a classic example of double standards. Of course I am nit-picking now, but hell, it's fun. You are wonderfully uncoordinated and muddled in your argumentation, if I may have the honour of complimenting you.

History / Poles executed in Warsaw '1939-44' [112]


We are in the Polish Politics and History section. History - a global shadow-chasing campaign? It sounds rather nifty, actually. But seriously, if someone chases shadows it's because they desperately need closure. Native Americans campaign for their ancestors' bones to be taken from museums and buried with respect. Is this so different?


Might be some truth in it... My, how generous you are! And how objective in your pursuit of historical truth! Congratulations.