Love / From a Turkish Man! What I heard about Polish girls from my friends :) [53]

oh...always when i read such threads i realise how pointless are all discussions like that and how egoistic and "self-oriented" we are..everyone just talks from his/her own perspective and with a specific "life luggage", including education and cultural backgrounds and because of that such topics are never-ending stories and poeple just repeat themselves with the same stereotypes...im not saying im out of it:) my thinking is full of national character features and generalisations. the solution is just try to jump into a "stranger's" head. utopia? yea, sure:) but worth trying. and one thing always work - listening to the others,even if they have not much to say...

well, its late and i read too much these days;P

Travel / In Poznan 8-11 August looking for things to do and a cheap place to stay... [3]

hi there,
ive got one room which is free for summer months; if its just from 8 to 11 august i could rent it if u want.
ive just posted the offer yesterday for the room but didnt noticed yr thread.
anyway, for more info and details pls contact me via email - flyinrambla@gmail
one more thing - im a tour guide for poznan and i do tours for english speaking tourists so it may be useful for u too:)

if u r interested pls let me know as soon as possible!
greetings from poznan :)

ps.posnanians unfriendly??? no way. they just compare us sometimes to the Scots...;)

Real Estate / Looking for apartment in Poznan. What are their prices? [6]

Hi Kostas,
if u read in Polish a bit check gumtree Poznań, there are always lots af ads about flats for rent.
If not, I could possibly help u (I've just helped my cousin to find a flat via gumtree, so I'm updated more or less;) but what I need is more specific wishes about how it should look like, etc.

It is also important if u plan to rent it alone or not, as the 1 room flats cost a lot comparing to 2 rooms' ones (if shared with someone it's even cheaper).

The prices differ - up to standard and location. Do u have any preferable location?
For 1 room flat it can be 1200 PLN as well as 2000 PLN...
For 2 rooms flat lets say, approx. 1400 PLN...
But u may find a single room in a shared flat for 400 PLN.
Let me know if u need any help, I live in Poznań and it's not a big problem:)
U can also use my mail:etnoaska@yahoo.de
good luck!:)

Work / Moving to Poland in 3 weeks to study! [30]

well, if u meant squash... there would be a problem:(
Poznań is one of few cities in Poland where we have places to play squash but they are not in a good state:( I've found there is one place being built now,but still don't know exactly where.

the other existing ones are fully booked...the prices are from 20 PLN - 40 PLN per hour,depending where and what time...

Work / Moving to Poland in 3 weeks to study! [30]

there is one club that u should actually know from your country - belongs to Nautilus. I've heard they have good offer and reasonable prices (comparing to expensive one called Niku) sth like 100 - 350PLN /month depending on what u want. possible student discounts too, I supposse...

but there must be smaller clubs too, maybe cheaper. thats all i know for now;)

Work / Moving to Poland in 3 weeks to study! [30]

sure:) feel free to ask about anything.
and now good luck with packing and stuff...;)

Work / Moving to Poland in 3 weeks to study! [30]

Hi there, I'm Polish, from Poznań;) and I'm a local guide in here; I'm busy but always willing to help, with any questions or problems to be solved "locally" don't hesitate and mail me on etnoaka@yahoo.de

good luck!
:)

Life / Poznan. The most hated city in Poland? [21]

i was born in poznań and i live here (plus im the local guide;) so my local patriotism seems to be obvious;)
i agree poznan is not to fall in love from the first glance,however if u know what to see and where to go, if u try a bit harder and find the way to get to know it better - well, then it's fantastic...

it's not very well advertised, that's the other thing...

its not snoby (my opinion:) but yes, its the same in every country, this kind of "competition"...
beggars - not many really,comparing to warszawa and krakow
looking german - of course, but only certain places,esp. those being made to look german:)

come and see it! ;)

Life / Traditional Polish blessing for a Christened baby [5]

you must be joking...appetizer?..DJ???...
where all these parties take place?...
surely not in PL...where???
polonius is right...

Life / Visiting a Polish friend who's just given birth? Flowers, gift? [23]

coming back to the subject...
1. father (the easiest one;) - vodka is perfct.
2. mother - flowers are always nice, however I like the idea of fruits. sweets, cosmetics - definitely not.
3. baby - a toy, a rattle- yes. diapers, bottles, baby milk and such - definitely not! there are many to choose and only mother knows what's the best (and asking her before wouldn't be nice); u don't know if the baby has alergy or not, if the mother is breast feeding,etc... clothes - yes...but rather not;) for the newborn it is very hard to get right thing if u r not the parent, some clothes are impossible to wear, to wash..well, i could write a book about it;)

most newborn babies are ugly:) but - of course - mine wasn't;) ;)
compliments are always better;)
don't make the visit long, it may be really tiring for the baby and the mother, even if u r good friends.

hopefully it will help a bit;)
my daughter is almost 2, so it wasn't long time ago when she was born...;)

Travel / What to do on a sunday in leszno? [6]

depends on what these people expect and what they like...
leszno has beautiful baroque churches and has strong protestant traditions...
very interesting history and sighseeing, but most people dont like it;)

Travel / WE ARE BACK FROM POLAND AND HERE IS OUR REPORT [96]

jeeeezzzz, we have tropical weather right now in PL and still... nobody smiles ;)

now seriously, rjrogalla, great report, worth reading even for us, Polish,living in Poland..:)
my question - were you guided somewhere? I mean, by proffesional local guides,esp. in big cities, or you just counted on yourselves?

Life / Magdalena Name day [9]

The name day is the first date after the birth date. So if a Magdalena was born on June 5, her name dame would be July 22. etc.

Travel / Finally moving to poland (Poznan)! [28]

hotel stare miasto - have no opinion, but checked;) - the description sounds ok, and the address is cool, close to stary browar and 10-15min to old market square.

will it be your first time in poznan?

Travel / Finally moving to poland (Poznan)! [28]

so many of you around!:)
kotik, feel free to ask about everything, i live here (poznan) and im polish, im also a guide, may be helpful;)

and the meeting one day...git!;)

Travel / Hiking/rambling maps and travel tips in Poland? [13]

oh yes, u watch too many...;)
hitch-hiking is the best in germany, in poland there should be no problem too.
use big cardboard or sth to write on it and with big capital letters write the name of the closest place u want to reach.if u go from lublin to berlin dont write berlin, just choose closer town and do it step by step.u dont need to use your thumb;)

be clean;) and dont take too much luggage with u...
i used to travel by hitch-hiking within europe and i think its safe but have your eyes opened;)
anything else u want to know- email me.
good luck!;)

Love / Polish men: conservative and structured? [12]

unfortunately Poland is famous from women, not men...;(
but there are exeptions i guess, however, never found one...;)
good luck!!

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

yip, cyg, most people who use the name but never listen to folk;))in this sense I agree too:))

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

i dont agree (ups, even we argue, Polish in Poland!;)
muzyka folk is not only "Anglo-Irish-American folk", it can be any folklore based sounds! however, as you wrote, this type is quite popular in Poland, maybe the most popular among all other folk music traditions. but Latin is folk too! (i dont mean shakira;)and many many more...muzyka folk or folkowa (as we call it) its relatively new expression in Polish and it originates from English of course, that maybe led you to name it only Anglo-Irish-American...here it used to be always "ludowa" or "folklorystyczna", folk has its roots in tradition but its more acceptable as it can be mixed with modern styles and techniques.

a good example of that can be indian "swarmalika" (sargam) music that is not easy to listen for "western" people, but nusrat fateh ali khan (for example) transformed the difficult traditional style for the worldwide fascination (recording succesfully more than 100 albums!!!)

i dont like the expression "world music" as its connected with some relaxation or so called "new age" music which means sometimes "everything that is slow" ...

anyway...im a big fun of many folk traditions in music and im graduated from ethnic studies, so even if its sounds a bit fanatic;) pls forgive!

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

mamma mia...

:)

i didn't even want to touch the word "polka" in the title, but obviously cyg is right and thanks for this little explanation!:)

there are other misunderstandings too...probably it's my fault, forgive me my poor English, maybe i just can't express myself as i wish to..

so...why i don't dance or sign polkas, mazurkas or other oberkas?
it's difficult and now only profesionalists do so - i mean, Polish Folklore Bands (by the way, they sing and dance mostly for polonias abroad!!). sure, there are still families that the tradition is cultivated, but not many of them (unfortunatelly!!!)

im really glad that when i was little i had a chance to listen to my grandma's singing, i know all lyrics of "plynie wisla plynie" and others..and im 32.

hopefully i can sing it to my children too. but its just for fun, let's say, there is no tradition line anymore.
and yes, people in poland are interested in polish folk music!! i could even say IT IS a big phenomenon! its just sth different than what you wrote, it's called "new tradition", same like everywhere again, it's a kind of fashion, if you are famous jazz artist (for example) you rather should record one or too folk songs, its almost a must.

its pretty tough for me to explain it, there is a difference between folk and folklore, even we call it here "muzyka folk" that is different than "muzyka ludowa"...it's a translation problem that i wouldnt dare to approach:))

once again,sorry for all misunderstandings.
hopefully this post is more or less clear...uffffff;)

Life / Why is Polka music played in Poland so much different than in the USA? [36]

first of all, not everything in Poland is rock, aye....:///
actually everything is the same like anywhere else within so called "western" music...even reggae styles are quite well represented...
besides, its obvious that the immigrants bring sth with them, not only music. the process of saving or loosing their culture may differ but it concerns all aspects of life, including music. they can either listen to songs they know from their own country or addapt new music from the new place. or mix. whatever. I see nothing really surprising here!

and here in Poland my parents dance to something they like, I dance to sth I like and my kids will probably do the same... if you like the song your grandma sang 20 years ago its fine and if not - its fine too... however I havent seen people aged 20-30 dancing to the songs their grandfathers sang and listen to...but maybe I haven't seen much;))

try to find some polish jazz music, its amazing! look for możdżer, anna maria jopek, ula dudziak... other cool music: everything that is created by waglewski and now his sons too, fish and emade...marysia sadowska sings older beautiful music composed by komeda, there is another girl worth listening - maria peszek...

i'd never call this rock music;)
have fun!:)

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]

but seriously, of course, this situation should not happen, there are park tickets machines everywhere...i'd ask for what actually you pay, since you park within "strefa parkowania" and pay a ticket!

Life / The strangest things in Poland [468]

is it on Plac Wolności?where in front of bank entrances there are these strange guys walking along the street ready to catch you...wrrrrrr ;)

in this situation the underground parking is the only one solution. maybe these guys do their job to encourage people to park underground?...sth like city council "tajniaki"?...;))

Work / Moving to Poland with my work - which town should I choose? [25]

only POZNAŃ.

News / Where to find a physical feature map of Poland? [8]

and also.... perfekt.krakow.pl/costumes

News / Where to find a physical feature map of Poland? [8]

maps for downloading

geostrefa.pl/mapy,5.html

Genealogy / Female names ending in 'A'.... why? [23]

brawo krzysztof:)

my English is no good enough to explain it so clearly like you did:(

anyway,one more thing - in some Registry Offices in Poland it's still not possible to register a baby's female name not ending in -a (e.g. Carmen/Karmen). it's up to the individual officers' interpretation of law. also, spelling must be Polish - so if you want to name your baby Nicole, u must change it in fact for NIKOLA!

Language / a new Polish alphabet for internet and sms.... [29]

agree with anotherGuest! without diacritics if fine, everyone understands, and we use it here in Poland even in emails (because of laziness, to be honest...;( )

so, bad habit anyway.

Travel / Looking for a good b&b or resonably priced hotel in Nieporęt area [9]

rany, a co to ten Nięnporet???

Study / anyone with CELTA? [73]

2 years experience applies for everyone.
thanks for suggestions and comments, I agree that I need to be more specific about when it starts and all other conditions and to use proffesional sites. however the subject came up yesterday and I just thought about this forum to ask for opinion which is valuable;))