History / What has Poland contributed to the Western civilisation? [69]


I can't believe nobody has mentioned Jan III Sobieski. He defeated the Ottomans at Vienna, thus preserving Europe for Christianity. The world, and Europe in particular, would be a very different place today without his contribution.

News / What do you associate Poland with? [27]


First and foremost, beautiful women. Then Krakow (which is one of my all time favorite cities), Jan Sobieski II protecting Vienna, sausage and wodka.

Love / Foreigner's opinion about polish ladies [304]

It's always hard to stereotype any group and my sample size is small. I also think my ex's personality was affected by the fact that she came to the US at age 8. I think it made her feel like an outsider and she was teased by other kids at her school because she didn't really know English when she came. This put a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Most of her friends also immigrated from Poland and most of them seem less stubborn and strong willed than my ex. I also travelled to Poland with her and met some of her friends there. All of them seemed easy going.

I will say that my ex is very easy to talk to. She is clearly very, very intelligent and has knowledge and opinions about a wide range of topics. If that's what you meant by easy going then that's another thing that I would have to agree on.

Another trait I would add is that she is much closer to her parents than most girls in the US. She talks to her mom on the phone 3-4 times per day and stops in to see her parents at their house 4-5 days per week. She was 26 when I met her and this is more parental contact than anyone else I know. I am actually closer to my family than most people I know, but not as close to them as my ex is to her's. I was glad she had a close family but it created problems around holidays because she wanted me to spend all of them with her family. My family all live several hours drive from me, so I don't see them as often as I would like, and I make a point to see them on holidays. I was willing to alternate holidays or even have each of us spend them with our own family but neither of these choices were acceptable to her.

Love / Foreigner's opinion about polish ladies [304]

[quote=southern]

Here are my reactions to southern's remarks. My basis is that I was in an exclusive relationship with a Polish girl for the last 4 years. She was born in Warsaw and lived there until she was 8. She and her family then moved to Chicago.

1.submissive--Completely disagree. My ex-gf was VERY controlling and just about the furthest thing from submissive.

2.good hearted--agree. Although she was stubborn, I never doubted that the things she asked of me were meant to be for my benefit.

3.polite--basically agree. My ex had very good manners, in a formal sense.

4.easy going--completely disagree. My ex was perhaps the most tightly strung, ambitious person I have ever met. Everything had to be done her way, no matter how minor the issue.

5.naive--agree.

My ex is an immigrant to the US, which probably changes things a bit, but one trait I would have to add is fierce pride in her Polish heritage. This fed into the previously mentioned trait of stubbornly insisting that things be done her way. It wasn't just that they had to be done her way. It was that they had to be done the Polish way.

I'm ethnically Polish but my family has been in the US for so long that it has completely assimilated into generic American culture and my parents didn't pass along specific Polish traditions to me. At first I loved the fact that my ex was so obsessed with Polish culture and heritage. It was as if I was learning about her and about myself at the same time. A turning point came when we starting having disagreements and she would try to justify her positions by saying it's the Polish way of doing things. When she said this, she was implying that the Polish way is the only correct way.

History / Polish Constitution Day on May 3rd [14]


This is actually a fairly big deal in Chicago. There is a parade starting at 11:30 a.m. downtown at Columbus and Balboa for anyone in the area who is interested. The parade typically draws around 250,000 spectators, including many celebrating Poles.

Language / Looking for Polish and English books (translated simultaneously) [4]

My ex=girlfriend had a copy of Quo Vadis that included both English and Polish versions, so it's out there somewhere. I also came across a link for a bilingual book of Polish fables at Amazon: /Polish-Fables-Bilingual-Ignacy-Krasicki/. If you go to that page and scroll down, there are links to other books in both Polish and English.

History / Influence of polish people on US history [8]

Two other people who come to mind are Marie Curie and Frederic Chopin. Each had huge, worldwide, influences in their own field.

History / Poland and why in the past it was so many times attacked [16]

The lack of natural borders doesn't help. Combine this with the fact that Russia and Germany are two neighbors with larger populations who have historically considered Polish territory to be a necessary, or at least desirable, buffer against each other. Voila!

Travel / Where to eat in Wroclaw and Krakow [14]

There is a very good mediterranean restaurant in the city center of Krakow called Sphynx. If you're going to be there during the summer, they have a very nice patio overlooking the town square. It's very casual and inexpensive.