Life / IS POLISH PATRIOTISM OBSOLETE? [34]

There's nothing wrong with being proud of your country. However, there are grades in being proud of one's country: I personally think that Dutch herring is the best in the world and that all the copies of it in Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, cannot even touch its taste. In that respect I am proud of my little country. Also I'm proud of my little country because we are usually the first in trying new, sometimes controversial, ways of dealing with certain themes. And we have the best football team :) However, I don't look down on other cultures, nations and the like. I think a certain grade in multiculturalism is needed as, let's be fair, no culture has derived its traditions and values solely by itself. I also have to admit that I've become a little more "Dutch" since I live abroad, which seems to be a natural evolution for most of us. When I was still living in NL, I couldn't be bothered much, but now I see that my little country has distinct and good features. However, I don't look down on other countries; they all have their good things and their bad things; no country is perfect.

In short, I don't think patriotism is a necessarily bad thing, however, one should never be looking down on other countries. And it's a myth to deny the influence of other cultures on your own. But I guess it's my Dutch mentality who thinks it's kinda scary when ppl suddenly get all serious when talking about your country and waving the flag for no good reason (football game or some festivity) and the line between patriotism and nationalism is not so thin, but unfortunately many patriots cross it sooner or later when they start giving out to other countries.

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

Language / A word about a dialect. [20]


Take a look around at universities, you'd be surprised.


Forgot to react to this one previously. I fully and wholly understand what Received Pronounciation is. Every country with its own language has a version of that. In NL (and BE as well, for that matter) it's called Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (Generally Civilised Dutch) and it's based on the dialect spoken to the West of Amsterdam in and around the city of Haarlem. It's the language that is generally accepted as the one to be thaught in schools and as main form of communication. Having an accent does not mean you're unintelligable, after all, ppl will understand what you're saying - the brightest souls can have the strongest accents.

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

Language / A word about a dialect. [20]

jump_bunny

But does it say something about somebody's intelligence?

>^..^<

M-G (coffee)

Language / A word about a dialect. [20]

jump_bunny

Accent has nothing to do with education. In the North of NL, for example, they have a very distinctive accent. However, the University in the main city of that area is known for the high quality of their education and research. Yet most of the academics who graduate from there do have the strong accent of the region.

What I meant was that everybody in every country gets educated in the standard language of that particular country and that regional dialects are being learnt at home or on the street. The fact that somebody cannot speak the standard accent of a language doesn't rule out the level of education of a person. People learn languages mainly by parrotting their parents or friends. If these talk with a dialect tongue, the child will take over that accent. Later on in school the kid gets re-educated in the standard version of the language (or the generally accepted version of it), and may keep the accent for the rest of its life, no matter to what heights this education may take him, or how low, for that matter ;)

>^..^<

M-G (is in dire need of coffee)

Language / A word about a dialect. [20]


Doesn't that go for any country?

>^..^<

M-G (when speaking his dialect with his parents, no other Dutch from outside the area can understand him)

History / History of the crime ; Bandera, UPA and Podole Polish land. [116]

Ironside

Can you post part 2 and 3 as well? Thanks, it's very interesting.

>^..^<

M-G (kinda hungover)

Thanks. Good that it's subtitled in English :)

>^..^<

M-G (has a new tune with a new sound - a bit more groovy)

News / Slavic linguistic union inside of EU; Polish language official [95]

delphiandomine

Tourism was a major source of income for Yugo. Market-Socialism, it's probably the only way to maintain socialism. See the Chinese, they're doing not so bad at all...

>^..^<

M-G (if you let the constant breaches of human right out of the spectrum, that is)

News / A THOUSAND PEOPLE WITH SWINE FLU....just over the Polish border.. [43]

cheehaw

Let me guess; it's the Jews again? :D :D

Edit: hey, no Jews in those articles. Hm, you're getting better, yeehaw :)

Edit2: I heard that it's spreading pretty big in the Netherlands as well - my parents had their first flu shot last week (or the week before that) and will have a second one this week. A lot of ppl already have died of it in NL.

>^..^<

M-G (grin)

News / Slavic linguistic union inside of EU; Polish language official [95]


True. It was named until 1923 the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS). In 1923 it became Yugoslavia (South-slavia). Only after the installment of Tito it became somewhat Communistic, however, Tito had his own version of Communism and it was a more liberal form - that's why they broke ties with the USSR and was never member of the East Bloc. It's also the reason why Yugo was so very accessible for the West (tourism and so on). Ideologically it was more on par with China than with the Soviet Union.

>^..^<

M-G (still has a Yugoslav print of a wellknown album on the label "Yugotone" or "Yugophone" or something like that)

Life / Prices of Computer Hardware In Poland [8]

Ryszard

Just check out maplin.co.uk, pcworld - ok, I know, these are not really representative, but the problem is with most of those sites is that they don't deliver abroad or at a ridiculous high shipping cost (I know that's due to Ire, but I still have to pay that).

>^..^<

M-G (but if you know a cheap UK store, I'd be glad to have a look there)

Life / Prices of Computer Hardware In Poland [8]

Ok, thanks guys! I think prices here in Dubs (and in the UK as well) are hysterically high for a motherboard and a proc. Ah well, I'm going to NL pretty soon, I know a computer store not too far away and I saw on their site that they have just about the motherboard that I want and also the proc that I need for about 40 Euros cheaper than on the Irish website. And those are the prices in the shop, where the Irish website adds shipping costs to that as well (!) (crappy shipping costs: ridiculous, an Irish website charges about 29 Euros for a lousy mobo and proc to be shipped...:( ) Else I can go to Germany as well as I'm very close to the German border then.

Edit: and Germany is, like America (and perhaps Canada, don't know about the prices there), relatively cheap for these kinda things...

Anyway, thanks a lot, guys! And indeed, whenever I'm in the US, I nearly always buy some hardware there as it's much and much cheaper than over here in Europe, also because of the low Dollar, currently. BestBuy most of the time has decent prices: in 2008, I bought a 500 Gig HD for not even 80 Bucks - about 60-65 Euros...Over here at the same time, those buggers cost 99 Euros on the website and nearly 200 in the shop :(

Ireland is defintively not a good country for computerparts!

>^..^<

M-G (thanks!)

Food / Why did Taco Bell leave Poland? [82]


Any opinions about Culvers', Wendy's and Perkins? I've been eating there and Perkins was pretty good, but then again, that is not really a burger restaurant, however, their burgers are pretty good imo, but I'm not an American :)

Wendy's was the only restaurant which served a burger that I couldn't finish because it was so frigging big - I forgot its name, but it was a square burger and I think there were three patties in the bun, don't remember, but it was huge for 5 bucks, I think it was.

Denny's...Are you referring to the Irish saucage brand or to the restaurant in the US? If it's the restaurant, I always confuse them with Johnny Rocket's, which has a brand in Ireland under the name of Eddy Rocket's. They are ok, but way too expensive for what's on offer.

>^..^<

M-G (still likes BK though)

Food / Why did Taco Bell leave Poland? [82]


Mayo was invented by a famous French cook (he was the house-chef of Napoleon) to celebrate Napoleon's conquest of the island Mahon (or the city Mahon, not quite sure). He called it Mahonnaise, which soon was altered into Mayonnaise.

The Americans took it from the Dutch and Belgians as they prefer to eat chips with Mayonaise.

>^..^<

M-G (read now all about it in the great Mayonnaise encyclopedia!)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

SeanBM

There is an authority for that: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayonnaise

The Belgian law states that Mayonnaise should have 80% oil in it. In the Dutch version of Wiki it says so, but check under the Europe section of this article, it doesn't state it, but I can assure you that it's true.

>^..^<

M-G (tiens)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

Cardno85
SeanBM

The sauce they call "Mayonaise" in Dutch snackbars isn't actually Mayonnaise. It's only allowed to be called Mayonaise if it has 80% fat in it. This sauce has actually 35%, I think. It's called Frietsaus (chips-sauce) and it's great :) It just kinda looks like Mayonaise (it's a bit more yellowish than Mayonaise - but we call it Mayonaise anyway) and it's great if you have chips with this Mayonaise, Ketchup and raw onions, "Patat Speciaal" (chips special) - chips with mayonaise is simply called "Patat Mèt" (chips with...) ;)

>^..^<

M-G (likes a "frikandel speciaal" better though)

Life / Who has moved to Poland in the last year? Swap stories. [115]

Honest George

Honest George? Hm, I don't think I will ever buy a secondhand car from you which has "only been used by an old lady to drive to church".

:))

>^..^<

M-G (sounds like a market vendor name, actually)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

gumishu

I love sambal oelek. The ones you get in the Oriental Emporia here in Dubs are spicey, but not too spicey and have a little sweet and soft in them, but it's not sweet. The one I buy in NL is not sweet and is a little more spicey, however Sambal Brandal is much and much more spicey, although I doubt if you could get it anywere in Europe outside of NL and BE. The hottest sambal that I know is made of the small yellow chilipeppers, in NL we call them Madame Jeanet's. That stuff is so freaking spicey - much spicier than Tabasco or it's variations. One teaspoon of that stuff into a full pan of food and you have yourself some seriously hot food.

Edit: you can use it pretty much on everything; the best however is on a cheese sandwhich for a little tangy bite or on peanutbutter, to get that saté-sauce idea. You can also use it to spice up gravy, pasta dishes, et cetera, et cetera.

Cardno85

True, they use quite some Dutch words in Indonesia. However, we cannot understand each other.

>^..^<

M-G (is going to NL the week before Xmas, and will buy some of the stuff again)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

Cardno85

It's Indonesian indeed. It was introduced in NL quite a long time ago as Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony. It's a very popular dish in NL and nearly every Dutchman knows how to make it. You can get spice mixtures for it everywhere and it's in fact so integrated in the Dutch menu that you could say that the current version of Bami is a Dutch dish. It's very different from the original Chinese/Indonesian version. Btw: In NL the Chinese restaurants are actually a mixture of Chinese and Indonesian with the emphasis on Indonesian as this is more popular in NL. Also, you will find that Chinese dishes in Dutch Chinese restaurants taste very different from the ones in the rest of the world. That's indeed because they are more Indonesian than Chinese and the Chinese dishes are heavily adapted to the Dutch taste.

>^..^<

M-G (you should try it when in NL)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

beckski

Yeah, but clowns are not human.


Hm, Bami is very Dutch in the meantime. But if you want to make stamppot, then I would suggest Hete Bliksem (Hot Lightning): mashed potatoes with sweet and sour apples and some onion. It's delicious!

>^..^<

M-G (shame on you for not knowing that)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]

SeanBM

Clowns are best with a bit of ketchup, a bit of mayonnaise and some raw onions. We call it "Clown Special" or Bozo the bonky snack.

>^..^<

M-G (tastes a bit like chicken)

Love / ;-) what to cook a polish girl??? [34]


If you wanna cook Dutch for a Polish girl, you might as well cook something Polish for her...On the other hand, if she's living in the Netherlands and you cook Dutch for her, she might feel at home :)

If you want to do Dutch, I would suggest fried noodles with veggies and meat, accompanied with chicken satays in a nice, creamy peanut sauce, some pickled vegetables and ketjap and sambal oelek (chili paste - spicey, but not too spicey) and a baked egg on top of it. If you want recipes for this, just ask :)

>^..^<

M-G (always glad to help)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]


Read the link :) It is a typical Dutch dish that has been copied by Scandinavian and lots of other countries, but none of them make it as good as the Dutch do. I'm really not saying this because I am Dutch.

>^..^<

M-G (yum!)

Food / Why did Taco Bell leave Poland? [82]


Sheep stomach filled with intestines...yuck!


Hm, even if I would like it, I still wouldn't eat it because of the very cruel treatment the geese get in order to produce it.

Guess I'm just a bit picky :)

>^..^<

M-G (coffee)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]


It has a quite distinctive taste - the salted ones, that is. I actually cannot compare it to another type of fish...Just go to any of them Lithuanica shops in Dubs and get yourself a packet of "matjes herring", clean it from all the oily and greasy crap they put on it and eat it on a white bun with some diced onions. However, the ones you buy there are much, MUCH saltier than the real ones you would get in the Netherlands. But it comes about halfway the taste of the original, which is salted, but not by far as salty as the ones you buy in Lithuanica. They cost about 2 Euros for 3 or 4, I think. Be sure you check the "best before" date as Lithuanica has a bit of a reputation of selling stuff too close to the "best-before" date. Normally this wouldn't be such an issue, but with fresh foods like fish it does matter. And don't keep it in the fridge for too long. Best would be if you eat them the day that you get them. But for the real thing, you really would have to go to NL as nobody makes them better than the Dutch do. And this is not because I am Dutch myself, I compared a lot wherever they sell them.

>^..^<

M-G (enjoy)

Food / Why did Taco Bell leave Poland? [82]

PlasticPole

I was at a party in Mnpls once and my Mexican friend wanted have me eat a certain soup - he said it was delicious with cow-brains and some intestines. I politely refused. Yuck!

If it's TX-MX what they serve in the US and if the authentic food contains brains, intestines or stomachs and the like, then I indeed prefer the TX-MX food yes. But that's also because I won't eat any other meat than Cow, Pig, Chicken or Fish...And have it severly spiced or sauced as I don't like the plain taste of just meat, even when it's peppered and salted.

>^..^<

M-G (coffee again)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]


Ehm that's one thing for sure that I can say is a really 100% Dutch dish. There is nothing better to a true Dutchman than a salted herring on a bun with diced onions and perhaps some pickles as well.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soused_herring

All the other countries where it's eaten, like Germany, Sweden and Poland have copied it from the Dutch ;)

It's actually incredibly healthy. I buy them sometimes from the Polish shop as it amazes me that you can't get them here in Dubs, but the ones I buy only come halfway to close to the Dutch ones...:S

>^..^<

M-G (loves herring)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]

Seanus

It was about the idea of a little patch of dough filled with something and then folded. Which basically is also with Ravioli the case. Maybe that's why everybody looked strangely at me when they served pierogi to me for the first time and I asked where the tomato sauce was :))

By the way: although you have them in quick cook packages, a lot of Dutch (I think) eat Ravioli from tin cans as well - Indeed Heinz, but there are other brands as well ;)

>^..^<

M-G (cannot really remember about the tinned Ravioli)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]


I thought it was very similar to Italian Ravioli...And how about Knödel in Germany? However, you got them there in a big format and a smaller format - I mean the small format is similar to pierogi. And Gulash is just about the national Hungarian dish - at least, that's how it's presented in NL.

>^..^<

M-G (yum!)

Food / How often do you have Polish Food? [49]


Sausages...eggs...you do keep an eye on your shape, now, do you, PD? :)))

>^..^<

M-G (always glad to advice)