News / Kaliningrad. Problem, Threat or Opportunity for Poland? [185]


Not at all.
It would receive colossal EU funding.
The diffculty would be in trying to ensure the tinpot dictators did not syphen the money off into their own pockets, as has always been the problem in Eastern Europe.

Part of the reason Ireland was such a success compared to other countries receive EU funding was because, usually, in Ireland the money was spent where it was supposed to be spent.

As we've seen in Bulgaria and other parts of Eastern Europe, this along with political corruption is one of the primary obstacles facing the development of Eastern Europe.

In truth, it will probably be a hundred years or more before Eastern Europe and the former communist nations will catch up to the economic development of the Western and Central Europe, but there is potential for massive growth - if only there were less corruption.

News / Kaliningrad. Problem, Threat or Opportunity for Poland? [185]

Don't you mean give it back to Germany?
Why would they give it to Poland?

There are 3 realistic options for Kaliningrad.
1. Remain within the Russian Federation
2. Cede the Federation and join the European Union
3. Join a Lithuanian Federation

Given current geo-politics, 3 is not possible.
Therefore it has to be 1 or 2.

The only case where 2 will happen is if the Russian Federation collapses and Russia becomes a number of smaller independent countries. This is quite unlikely and rapidly becoming less likely as Russia is growing in economic strength, not diminishing.

Therefore, Kaliningrad will remain within the Russian Federation for the forseeable future.

In answer to the OP, I have a number of friends who have travelled to Kaliningrad.
I don't believe anyone sees Kaliningrad as a threat, in fact, many are grateful for its existence as they have been able to acquire jobs they would otherwise have been unable to acquire.

UK, Ireland / no anti english comments please [48]


You can find out more here:

snp.org/campaigns/letscotlanddecide
englishindependenceparty.com

UK, Ireland / No Irish Need Apply - Polish Builders get their own back [42]


wishful thinking bro,
things are far less pretty than you would be led to believe I'm afraid.

Love / I miss my best friend [22]

precisely

Love / I miss my best friend [22]

Thank you again for your replies everyone, your advice has been very helpful.

I've decided that as much as it hurts me, I will not contact her, because I may simply end up hurting her more than I already have.

I assure you that I'm very serious and committed to this new girl I've been seeing. My ex is certainly not a fall back measure, I'm guess I'm just facing up to the fact that I will not be having a child with her as it was something I always looked forward to.

And I miss her like hell.

Lucynda, I agree with what you said and i defintely understand it.
This new girl is younger than me and I feel 10 years younger myself and a lot more free.

Guest, I'm not sure if your post was supposed to be inflammatory or not, but it was actually quite helpful because I stopped and thought about what you said, and remembered some of the reasons when we split up.

If I had no balls, I would have never broken from her despite how much it hurts.

I didn't run, I looked after her as best I could when we split (it broke me financially).
We were serious for a very long time.
It wasn't just lack of experience with girls, it was my lack of experience with everything in life. I was working since I left college and didn't experience much of anything else.

We were like an old married couple. When we would go to Poland, we could never do anything - even go for a drink- because she would have to spend time with her son.

I was working 2jobs, sometimes she had no job.
We tried for most of our relationship to save to buy a house but got nowhere really.
There was huge pressure with her ex in Poland for a reason I cannot disclose out of respect to her.

I should stop but I'm sure you get the picture.

Love / I miss my best friend [22]

It sucks because she was my best friend for 3 years and nearly my wife.
And now I can't even see her. :-(
But perhaps you are right.

When I think about meeting my new GF's parents in December, it feels like treachary to my ex. My ex's parents feel like my family. Its totally fcuked up.

I was drinking on Saturday night and I had to go into the toilets to cry (I practically never cry) because I've fallen for this new girl, but I still love my ex to bits, just the circumstances are too different between us.

Its just my luck that I'd find (what at the moment seems like) the love of my life in the first serious relationship I have.

>:-(

Love / I miss my best friend [22]

Thanks for all the replies.

Bubba,
the other minor things are big things really, but on the scale of things they are minor I suppose. They include stuff like my lack of experience, differences in sex drive etc.

Bubbles,
I sent her 2 emails last week, one on Monday and one on Thursday.
But she did not answer either of them.
She was speaking with my sister on Saturday, they have maintained their friendship.
Its our 3 year anniversary on the 11th of November, do you think it would be wrong to call her?

Miranda,
Before, maybe a month ago, I had hoped that she would move on and find someone.
Now I don't really know what I feel. I certainly wouldn't hold it against her if she found a new boyfriend if thats what you mean.

Only lately I started realising how good we were together and how much I love her - when it was too late of course.
Unless I'm mistaken, your implying that I want to go back to the relationship.
Perhaps a part of me does, but its not possible because I am dating a new person and the same problems that pressured me into ending that relationship at the time would still exist.

Part of me hopes we will be together again in the future, but not at this point in time.

Language / Use of "and" in Polish... [7]

Hello,

Just to summarise, as one English speaker to another, I feel it would be easier to explain it in the following terms.

A is used when making a comparison or a comparitive/contrasting statement

I is used whenever a conjunction is required (but not necessarily making a direct contrast or comparison).

Following this logic, you should understand that 'a' can take on a variety of meanings in Polish denoted by the context.
For example, it can be interpreted as 'but', 'while'.
These are also conjuctive in their base form, just the structure is different.

News / How does Poland imagine other countries see her? [84]

Krzysz, you don't understand the word stereotype then.

A stereotype is a negative or limiting preconceived belief about a certain type of person that is applied to everyone in that group.

Sod it, I give up.

News / How does Poland imagine other countries see her? [84]

LOL, who said anything about stereotypes?

I want to know how do Polish people believe they are perceived by other europeans.

If its too complex for ye to handle, here are some examples to get the ball rolling:
A) A malasian nurse I was listening to on the radio this morning said he expected Ireland to be a place of advanced technology and systematic practises. When he arrived he saw anything but this.

He is a transvestite and organizes street carnivals, he expected extreme hostility in Ireland against cross-dressers, but said he actually experienced more hostility back home.

B) As an Irish person, I imagine non-Irish people perceive us to be hard workers, rich, well educated and a proud people with international achievements in literature, music and poetry - the contradiction being that we don't speak our native tongue.

We are assumed to be a peaceful people, a neutral country.
We used to have a reputation for friendlyness and hospitality, now we have a reputation for hostility, racisim and greed.

A stereotype would be - All Irish people are alcoholics. I drink twice per year on average so obviously thats a fallacy.

C) My sisters partner who is German imagined that Ireland was a land of fields with highly religious people. When he came to Ireland first, he expected to see old men sitting outside thatched cottages smoking a pipe and drinking whiskey and for the pace of life in general to be very slow.

All of his expectations were shattered

D) My girlfriend believed that Polish people were perceived to be poorly educated, old fashioned and backward. (Her assumptions were correct though we all know Poland has among the best education system in Europe). She assumed people didn't know how patriotic the Polish are (again correct - Polish are insanely patriotic bordering on psychosis in my experience)


HAHAHA.

Indeed Poland has been around for a long time. There was an Irish army sent to fight for a Catholic Polish King a few hundred years ago.

My point is that Poland has been absent from the consciousness of the world for over 50 years because of the Iron Curtain, its has only re-emerged in the consciousness of people in recent years, like a long forgotten part of Europe has been refound.

Also, an answer to the sub-question please.

Here is an example if you don't understand.
Irish people have an awareness/pay attention to the UK, the USA, Australia and lesser attention to other countries which speak English.

In general they have no notion of what happens in Asia e.g Mongolia, Kazhakstan, most of Africa, South America except for a major event of course.

I know Polish people pay attention to Germany and Russia, but I'm wondering since Polish is only spoken in Poland, perhaps the horizons are broader due to former communisim effects, or perhaps they are more narrow because people simply don't care.

News / How does Poland imagine other countries see her? [84]


So why did you open/reply to the thread???

Life / Army National Service in Poland [95]

Why do you say this of only Poland?

There are just as many if not more people in the West who think the same or worse.
What do you imagine the general attitude in the UK is?

No offence intended to you, but I'm guessing your quite young because its quite a naieve point of view.

Nobody will think less of you for doing armed service, but people may not necessarily think more of you either. I would respect a person far more who had to go through an extra year of medical school to go out and save peoples lives.

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

Its always amazing for me to see the similarities between Irish and Polish history, we have a lot in common, a long history of oppression.

You could just replace Russian or Communist with Englishman and in a lot of those situations it would read the same.

Probably why both nations are such a pack of alcoholics :-)

BTW, the Pewex system is obviously an extremely strange/bizzare concept for non-Polish - here is a good url which sheds a little light on it

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pewex

Law / What Polish women think about American businessmen and globalization? [10]


Thats a fairly old fashioned assumption.

I know a few male Polish 'entertainers'. They train at the same gym as I do.
They're relatively open and honest about it.
They are mostly in it for the money.
They will pretty much do anything for money.
And they sure do make a lot of money.

I know a couple of female Polish 'entertainers' but they are not that common as from countries such as the Ukraine or Romania where there is extreme poverty.

They also have a lot more competition than the guys.

A lot of these women will tell you that they don't have a choice. But thats often a lie.
A Polish female friend of mine who was doing social work in Ireland helped a Lithuanian prostitute before as she had been robbed and abused by a Polish guy that she *was* friends with, she found her a job, got her a place to stay etc..

The Lithuanian girl quit the job after a day or two, said that she could make way more money being a prostitute and she wasn't going to waste her time in some boring job.

Its often difficult to tell who is and who isn't an 'entertainer' among the Poles because if the women dislike someone, they simply label them 'a prossie' to ruin their reputation.

I've seen it done dozens of times.
The reason it works is because usually the communities are small and close-knit.

USA, Canada / Americans who call themselves Polish - how do you feel about that? [112]


hahaha, you have issues.

USA, Canada / Americans who call themselves Polish - how do you feel about that? [112]


You obviously couldn't be bothered to read the whole thread so I couldn't really be bothered to reply/explain it to you.

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

Very good answers Krzysztof, thank you.

Bunia, I know what you're saying but I think there must have been some people who were pro-communist.
I can't go into too much detail but the father of a friend was head of the party in his area, that family had anything they desired.

I think there were some people who were pro-communist simply for what they could get out of it and other more naieve people who were probably pro-communist because they believed in it.

One further question - were you guys told by your parents/teachers in private that the whole thing was a farce and to not believe what you were taught in school?

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

Eurola, when did the first modern style nightclubs come to Poland and what was the reaction?

Was recreational drug abuse widespread prior to the introduction of modern nightclubs?
What about hardcore drug abuse i.e. heroin addicts?

bunia, you are not the first person I have heard say that. When i was in Poland for XMAS this year, particularily the elderly were saying similar things to me.

They said that during the communist era, everybody got a 13th paycheck for Xmas.

I was amazed by some of the traditions they had in Poland such as "wren boys" - guys who come around to the house dressed up and singing for money etc.

When I told my parents about this, they were looking at me like I was stupid.
Apparently we used to have this tradition in Ireland also [I've certainly never seen it or heard of it]

bunia, one thing that confuses me is how did they separate religion and communisim?
I thought good communists are supposed to be atheists?

Love / Are Polish-American women better partners, girlfriends and wives? [10]

Unless you can isolate something different in the DNA of Polish women, then I think its safe to safe its merely a sweeping statement.
Polishness is no more a tangible concept than time or love, its completely abstract.

Therefore you will find what your looking for only in an individual, not in a sociological/ enviornmental/cultural/geographical subset.
You will be severely dissapointed if you believe otherwise.

Only solution in your case is to get out there and meet lots of different women until you meet a potential partner.

Law / Law regarding Polish citizenship after marriage [10]

v.informative Rodrigo, thank you

Life / Will Poland become like the UK ? [93]


I disagree about the EU part, if you visit Poland now you will see the changes it has brought, truly incredible in such a short space of time.

But regarding the passports and forgery of documentation, there was a very interesting Panormama documentary on BBC or CH4 (don't recall which) last year.

One reporter, a moroccan lady iirc, was able to acquire forged passports for any country in the EU in Poland.
Select passports were widely available in other countries, for example, Dutch passports in Germany, French passports in Belgium.
But Poland was the only country where you could buy any of the 25 passports, and they were supposed to be of the highest quality also.

Furthermore, acquiring the passports in other countries was a clandestine affair.
Acquiring forgeries in Poland was simply a matter of ringing a number and meet in the park.

I asked my partner if she thought it was a misportrayal of Poland etc. and she said absolutely not, its most definitely like that.
Often, if you know a Polish or Lithuanian guy, he can acquire just about anything for you including Kalashnikovs because of the favour system that operated during communist times.

News / How Poles truly feel about their situation in Poland and being in EU? [76]

Amazing to see how the politics even affected the children down to such basic levels.

When i was young, it probably would have been an honour to carry the tri-colour at the St.Patrick's day parade, but I'm guessing, realistically we probably weren't too corcerned.

Then again, if I really think hard, I can remember similar things to what you described except they involved religious matters and the Catholic church in Ireland.

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]


Impressive mate, very well written.

what did people do for holidays?

my gf told me one time her family went on holidays when she was a child, they couldn't get a car they her parents got a bike each, she with her father and her brother with her mother and her parents cycled 50km per day for a few days to get to the holiday resort they were staying at (they were no trains to the area I presume).

What sports were popular under communisim?
I am a huge fan of weightlifting, was this popular in Poland?
Were drugs widely available?
Were steroids widely available?
Were guns widely available?

Were pubs/bars popular and were there any nightclubs?
A Russian guy I used to know absolutely hated standing in a group of people on a corner because during the communist times they would be beaten by police for doing this (different rules for Russia I assume), he didn't realise it was normal for people to have a conversation like this.

What would be the singlest biggest and most visible difference between now and then?

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

Krzysztof, that was great, what was that excerpt from?

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]

Very good replies by everyone so far, keep them coming

News / How Poles truly feel about their situation in Poland and being in EU? [76]

I don't think Poland will have the Euro until 2015 at the earliest, it is supposed to be the last of the A-10 countries to get it due to economic complications.

History / Memories of the Polish communist era [115]


Those are the kind of things I find fascinating.
We generally take these things for granted but in that era it was amazing.

On the other hand, a belorussian guy I know was telling me that nowadays petrol costs us a small fortune, but when he was a driver in the USSR, lots of his colleagues used to stick a hosepipe into the petrol tank and syphen the petrol down a sewerdrain, then goto sleep for a few hours. Petrol was dirt cheap.

The reasoning behind this was that there was nothing to transport but their job was driving, so they had to go out and drive regardless of wheter there was work to do.

They would fill up their tank, go out and drink/sleep etc. then go back to the base and show the petrol gauge was at the bottom (since they had dumped the petrol).

If you did that nowadays with petrol, people would think you have mental issues.