News / Abkhazia and South Ossetia are independent states now! Poland reaction? [236]

LOL....

From an American Polish/Ethnic German with Finn MtDNA, how that got in there I have no idea!

Genealogy / U.S. Polish ethnic enclaves? [19]

It's Ridgewood, Queens, New York City, New York. I grew up there, but I believe it has become more Polish nowadays. Back when I was a kid it had a lot of Germans as did Glendale, New York.

I believe Bristol, Connecticut was largely founded by Poles and still has many Polish people.

Love / Pick up lines - the Polish style [110]

Someone told me that he overhead a guy in a bar asking what he could do to get in her pants.

She said, "Nothing, I already have one a-hole in there." LOL

Language / Female endings in surnames~ what should I think about this? [6]

I never knew until I began my genealogy that the surname spellings changed in Poland according to masculine, feminine and group name. i.e. Laskowscy.

And the other endings. When I got my grandmother's birth certificate I was asking everybody...just what is the last name? This or that?

Eventually everyone of Polish ancestry in the USA just uses the masculine ending, male or female. Maybe she was just attempting to imitate that? Just trying to help OP understand what could have motivated her stated choice.

Travel / Central Wings cancel certain flights to Poland [38]

I actually got through to them. I never received any notification that my flight was cancelled for Oct. 22nd. I found out from a friend sending me the link.

Anyway, the customer service rep confirmed that I had no flight. She had no suggestions. I asked about a refund and she said, "Yes." I asked when could I expect it and she hemmed and hawed a bit and said, "Maybe 14 days." I asked for a confirmation number, but she said that the call was monitored "Just in case." And so that was to assure me.

In my hotel when a reservation is cancelled for any reason, we just charge back the card that day. Not sure why it would require 14 days. I am not holding my breath.

I've made other very expensive reservations now with SAS. But I failed to realize I could have used Ryanair. I am using them to fly to Poland, but they were booked up flying from Gdansk to Dublin. However, I could have booked to London and then Dublin..DUH! LOL

Life / Polish Shelf Toilets [32]

Oh no, I nearly almost forgot about those toilets!!

Had a bad first experience with them. Never seen such a design before. Anyway, not sure I can even tell this story without my face turning beet red. But here goes. I have an aversion to public toilets, so suffice it to say that after the long transatlantic flight, and then the five hour drive from Warsaw, I was quite in need of a visit to the toilet. It really had been days, and I was dying. So, when I finally settled in the apartment of my hosts, I decided to head to the bathroom.

OK...not very feminine thing to talk about, but this was the load of the century.
And, unhappily, the bathroom was right near the kitchen where everyone was gathered about the table for some food.

Not wanting to spoil the nice smells from the kitchen, I was eager to flush it....but the dang thing would not budge off the shelf. OK. What do I do.....come out and ask how you get it off? Is there a pooper scooper somewhere? Why is the water pressure not enough? With each moment, I felt like they must be thinking I got lost in the toilet. Finally, I looked and they used newspapers in the kitty box next to the toilet. Good papers....push...over the cliff. Whew...flush. Come out.

Not same experience, but I felt kind of like this.....
youtube.com/watch?v=KgB8uuWfX5M

Travel / Central Wings cancel certain flights to Poland [38]

Looks like they are canceling ALL flights now and will only be a charter airline.
I have a ticket booked from Gdańsk to Dublin October 22nd. Looks like I will have to make other arrangements and see about getting my money back.

Here's the news link:

Since early October quenched low- costowe call ( cheap) . September 14 to close most of the calls originating from the country - said at a press conference Szymczak .

All regular flights scheduled for September 14 and several calls to 30 September, will be realized Centralwings airplanes.

Passengers who have bought tickets after the suspension of flights , they may get a refund or use the services of LOT.

Genealogy / Anyone from near Gniezno? Or the Small villages and towns nearby? [3]

That's interesting, Viktorea. Thanks. You never know, maybe I have some distant relatives there, then.

I don't know of any siblings of my great-grandparents who also came to NJ. I am sure they must have had brothers and sisters who stayed in the Gniezno area or emigrated elsewhere. I plan to get the LDS microfilms for their parishes and find out more about their siblings and descendents.

Language / How do you say "give me a kiss" in Polish [53]

My mother could speak Polish because she liked to spend time with her Babcia. But she only taught me one or two things. Mine did likewise. But just a little.

Evidently, I'd forgotten I knew it, but when a friend and a Polish priest visited my home, they were testing to see what I did know and I heard....

daj buzi

and just leaned in and kissed the priest! Guess I passed the language test! LOL

Genealogy / What Is The Next Step in my genealogical research in Poland? [7]

What a cool site! I'm bookmarking it as well as I am going to Poland in October and doing something similar! Thanks!

Genealogy / Lewandowski/Bubacz - I finally found their location in Poland! [3]

Yes, I also found Chmielewska and Nowak(owska) one generation back. So yes, You got that right! Each new find opens up somemore doors. I have had my MtDNA done, (U5), so if there were any females descended from Josepha Nowak and they have had their MtDNA tested, we could confirm genetically what the archives has revealed. Kind of interesting. :-)

Travel / CentralWings - are there any positive views? [10]

Oh my goodness, what a generous thing to offer. I am going to see what happens with Centralwings and then re-route as needed. I know it is a chance, but economically, I have to give it a shot. Maybe Centralwings will be fine.

I almost wish I was flying to Belfast to meet such a kind person. Thanks so much, Barney!

I am very touched.

Travel / CentralWings - are there any positive views? [10]

And the bad news is that if I cannot make my flight back to Ireland at the right time, I will miss my flight back to the USA, that company will charge $250 plus any difference in airfare for rescheduling.

Ryanair flight is already booked for that date. I do have them going to Poland. The only reason I chose Centralwing is because they were the only less expensive ones that were going on the right day to make my connection.

I only have four days for my visit in Poland, so I don't want to come back to Ireland a day sooner, and I cannot come back a day later without a big penalty from my carrier in Ireland. Not to mention my job would not like me to be late back to work.

Wizzair is out because flies to another part of Ireland and I need Dublin.

I did find that Lufthansa flies to Frankfurt and then Dublin after the Centralwings is scheduled to leave, so I think I would have an option to book that flight if Centralwings cancels. Getting another flight over to Ireland involves less money than paying the penalty on my flight back home to the USA.

Wish I could afford a better airline, but this trip is already costing $1,200.00 between the two segments of the vacation and with all my home repairs, new roof etc, I am hard-pressed to come up with more cash.

Anyhow, I wrote to Centralwings....like it will do good.....to ask if they have many bookings for that day. Hopefully, if they do, the flight will take off as planned.

So, I cast my fate to the wind...or is that wings. LOL

Travel / CentralWings - are there any positive views? [10]

That's what I am afraid of. Well, I'll go back to the drawing board and see if another airline flies back to Dublin from Gdańsk that I can afford. :-(

Love / Polish men vs German men: Who is hotter? [513]

Hi Wroclaw Boy, this thread is about the hot men! But since you brought up German women, their beauty (or lack thereof) has been covered before.

Anybody interested check out this thread!

https://polishforums.com/genealogy/typical-look-eastern-europeans-13823/3/

I am half Polish and half German so I appreciate both! :-)

Love / Polish men vs German men: Who is hotter? [513]

This thread makes me think of the famous quote, "So many men, so little time!" LOL

Somehow I seem to always find an Irish/English, English/Scot combo here in the states. I did have one Polish bf for three years and he was wonderful. Have had a few crushes on German guys, but no bf.

I love both German and Polish accents. Very sexy.

Love / My Polish boyfriend fancies are Pakistani neighbor. What do I do ? [291]

There is nothing more that makes a man love a woman less, than seeing that she has no life of her own. That she is willing to sacrifice her dignity. The only way anyone can love you is when you show that you love yourself enough to do what's good for you.

It seems to me you are stuck in either nag-anger mode, or faking the attitude that he can do anything he wants including disrespect you, flirt with her and ask her out in front of you. A man can only hold you in value, if you hold yourself in value.

You need to do what is good for you. Focusing on him, winnning him, will all drive him further away. Do things you enjoy, think of yourself and he might be drawn back to you. But, like the others, I believe it is too late. But clutching him, begging him, convincing him, all will drive him away. He may stay with you a bit longer due to pity and nothing else. Show him the strong, interesting woman who values yourself and you might have a slim chance. Focus on you, not him.

News / Sending money to Poland [32]

Thanks Krzysztof......I appreciate the update. But, I booked anyway! lol
Going to fly to Ireland first to meet with my friends from Poland and then do
the Ryanair round trip.

Hopefully, I'll spend them somewhere. :-)

If not, I am sure they will be a good investment. You are so right about the dollar.

News / Sending money to Poland [32]

I used to send money for genealogy to the church with regular dollars wrapped in aluminum foil, in say a greeting card. That was years ago. I had thought it would be the same when I contacted a church for new research, and was told the research would cost, x # of Euros.

So, silly me thought I needed to get Euros. I live in America and had to order them from the bank. It took five days and I got what I thought I would need and some for a donation. Then when the research was done, it was much less than I thought, and he gave me the church's bank routing number for a money transfer.

And he said he could also receive Western Union! Which was less expensive.

So now I have 75 Euros burning a hole in my pocket and I am booking a trip to Poland to spend them. LOL

Genealogy / I DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF MY POLISH HOME [7]

I can understand why people feel a bit inclined to point out that Poles were in that area before Germans. But the point of this post was merely as wildrover pointed out. Interesting background about his home.

It is a fact of life that people move around, people take other people's land, borders change, and who lives anywhere changes. Sometimes violently, sometimes peacefully. I believe the ancient Prus (not Germans or Prussians) but a tribe neither Slavic or Germanic were there before Poles or Germans. Also I believe the Wends, Kashubians or Pommern tribes were there.

But I'll bet wildrover's farm was not there then.

I often visit NYC where I was born and it is very different. Mostly gone are the large numbers of immigrants from my grandparents day and in there place are many other immigrants. I enjoy seeing my old home. It's nostaligic.

And as wildrover says, it is about his farm, not a contest of who has/had the right to be there or was there first.

Happy to hear you found out what you were always wondering about.

Genealogy / I need to validate my sisters existence!!! [6]

Ancestry.com for the USA has a living people finder. You do a search for a surname or both names and can choose to view living people by state.

You do have to be a paid member to view the results, I believe.

History / Are Germans going to pay for WW2? [180]

Seems like the point was well-made that almost all people have done terrible things to other people. What happened was despicable. But I believe most of the people responsible are dead, or close to it. How would suing a new generation of people help?

Europeans nearly wiped out Native Americans when they came to the New World. African Americans were shipped as slaves to the New World.

Rome was sacked. How can we make what happened better? It is done. We can learn from it, but all this talk of everyone getting even for past wrongs is what keeps nations continually hating each other.

Genealogy / Old Gorzow Cemetery - help to find it? [10]

I cannot see an overturned cemetary at Gorzów listed at the website link below, but you can get an idea of how other cemetaries that suffered a similar fate look nowadays. These listings are old ethnic German village cemetaries from before WWII.

I am interested in them as I am half ethnic German, and half Polish.

upstreamvistula.org/Cemeteries/Cemeteries_List.php

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Thanks for the tip Czerwony Lis, I registered at ww.mitosearch.org and did find a few close matches. So far, I am unique. LOL

But, I imagine that as more and more people do this, the odds will be in my favor. Good luck with the paper! Let us know how it turns out.

Joan

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Yes, you are right about not really knowing till you test. And yes, I have the extended test done and so have less matches. One comes up in Schlesweig (when ruled by Denmark).

Of course, the U5 is an ancient haplogroup. My mother's line came from Poland with Polish surnames and spoke Polish and considered themselves Polish. I am most interested in genealogical time (500 years) as opposed to population studies before genealogical time, but it is interesting.

Those indigenious native Europeans of the U5 group seem to have the high cheek bones and somewhat almond shaped eyes like many Polish people have.

Anyway, good luck on your paper, I am sure it will be very interesting!

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Well, I just got my MtDNA results back. I had the test done by Sorenson where the kit is free. and they eventually post the information without revealing who you are. Most people can figure out who they are from surnames and location and round about get their results...or they have GeneTree who partners with them, for a fee send you personalized results. I chose the later.

Anyway, I was pretty surprised. From the geneological records and names in my lineage, I have German/Dutch ancestors that lived in Central Poland, on my father's side. My test had nothing to do with them.

My Mom's, Mom was Elizabeth Bubacz, married to Josef Lewandowski. I have no idea where in Poland they came from other than German Poland. So I hoped this would help find other relatives who would know more, and it may yet do so.

But rather than the "H" MtDNA I expected, I am a "U5". The most ancient of the Clan mothers, and mostly found in Finland today. It was also the first MtDNA in Europe that is considered human, and may have existed side by side with Neanderthals! Yikes! LOL

I noticed that this "Ursula" lineage is also found in some Polish MtDNA results. My male lines are no longer living, so I cannot do the Y DNA.

Life / Germans and Poles - Fiction or Myth? [127]

I liked the original poster's idea. It was designed at promoting peace and mutual respect. We can all act like little kindergarden people and sling arrows, but what good does it do?

In several places I've posted my experiences. I am an American who did not know much about her roots. German and Polish grandparents who emmigrated to the USA early 1900's.

I've learned a lot about history and all the conflict that has marked the area. And it breaks my heart for both sides. I am so happy Poland is a nation again. Not too many people could survive belonging to three different countries and come out as a united people.

I feel badly that some ethnic Germans who were Polish citizens (like my German side of he family), lost their home. I feel terrible that some colaborated with the Nazis. I feel terrible that some Poles treated all loyal ethnic Germans like the enemy. It happens. Same thing with Japanese Americans during WWII.

It is kind of sad to me that people who lived in Poland and wanted to stay had to leave, but I can even despite the suffering, see why. It was better to get rid of all the claims to Polish soil. However,

Now we are in a new day with EU and people move around. Hopefully, they will forgive the past. And learn to respect each other. Holding on to bitterness is bad for people. It is good to educate what happened. Many in the USA are totally unaware of Polish lives lost due to Russia and Germany, and many are totally unaware of how ethic Germans (the loyal ones) suffered, too.

I am very proud of both my Polish and German heritage. Let's all see the good in each other, while learning about the past to avoid it happening again.