Life / Do Poles Lack in Social Skills and Etiquette? [74]

Cable I think it's just that your man prefers home.

You could be totally right that he has never been on a date. Do you know his dating history? Maybe he's a newcomer to all things 'datey' :)

Or he could just prefer to eat at home. Maybe suggest to go to a movie without involving food. Just the movie and home.


My friend Piotr was like that too and then his new GF suggested going a couple of times. Now they buy a ticket that gets them in any time they like etc. Can't keep him out the cinema! ;) I think he didn't like the cinema before because he always went with friends but it's a different experience with his GF ;)

UK, Ireland / Why do Poles come to England? [514]


What are you talking about 'it took a while'? Lots of Polish people started to get laid off when the recession hit. Two of my friends got laid off in a week from tradesman jobs, that was months ago. British and Polish people have been getting laid off for months!

My two friends didn't claim any of the benefits they were entitled to, rather they tried to find jobs, moved back to Poland to work for a couple of months and came back here when the boss could take them back on recently when he had an upturn in work.

Life / What is the nature of Polish people's hygiene? [76]

Not just in Poland. I've been in the UK a long time and see this consistently. People come out from the cubicle, put the tap on (if it works) and rinse hands under for a few seconds. Or they don't wash at all, but preen for a moment in a mirror and then leave.

Hygiene loses it's importance after a lot of drink apparently. ;)

Life / What is the nature of Polish people's hygiene? [76]

Not a thing. ;)


They can be opened...

Life / Internet in Poland [8]



It's the modem. I have one of those and it doesn't work well. It's sporadic and it's usually very slow.

News / FEINSTEIN NEW us AMBASSADOR TO POLAND [47]


Yes let's just erase history to suit ourselves...

Whether the camp makes you feel uneasy or not, it's there, it tells a tale and it should stay.

Shove your missiles somewhere else, I'm sure I don't need to make suggestions.

Love / Need help figuring out a polish guy [55]


You'll never achieve that! ;)


It's very possible this guy just craved some physical attention so that could explain the extra hours of cuddling and the food. Make sure there is something between yourself and this guy and that you haven't read the signs wrong. If you have read them right then that's great and good luck to you both. If you've read them wrong and there is no future then you had a great night and morning and you should always remember it as a special time. :)

Although you didn't get his number from him you have now got it. If you found it on line then that means it was there to be found so there was no harm in you looking it up, he'll probably be flattered that you did so. Give him an SMS or a little call and hint about going out for a drink soon, or lunch or something. :)

Life / Why build a supermarket with 20 checkouts with only 3 till staff? [46]


My local supermarket is one of those huge ones that you spend ages in. They have a cafeteria there encouraging you to eat or have a coffee/tea before or after shopping, they have demo's inside for various products and they have aisle upon aisle of products which they move around constantly, all designed to keep you in the store for as long as possible...but you can only park in their car park for one hour...

The checkouts are not too bad but that's of no consolation when you've already overstayed your welcome in the car park and are probably being fined for it just as you hand over your hard earned cash for products they've enticed you to buy!

Love / Girl just interested, or a hooker? [30]

That's what I was thinking. Or mental health issues. People do weird things in the street sometimes...

UK, Ireland / Belfast Telegraph won't print my comment. [133]


Unless he gets citizenship...

Food / PUDLISZKI BOTTLED GOŁĄBKI? [17]


Yes. They're OK as a snack or if you don't have time to cook. Otherwise stick with homemade ones, they are a lot nicer.


Yes I'd go with that. :)

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]

Agreed. I have seen this many times with kids who speak English and Polish. They don't really care which language they are chatting in as long they understand.


Also agreed.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


Unless he makes that choice as an adult he's not going back to Poland to live. They are settled here.

As for his English, as I stated before, it's very, very good, better than his Polish even. The issue is not about him not knowing or not learning English, it's about his parents being told to forget his Polish, which he needs.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


Yes exactly. My friends assumed they were helping by encouraging him to speak English all the time. Now they have decided to have "English time" at home so for an hour or so a day they all speak in English, this benefits them all. Personally I thought that was a good idea. The rest of the time at home they speak in Polish.


This is absolutely correct. He is going to need Polish now and in the future as the majority of his family are in Poland. My friend reminds me that they speak to family members in Poland more than once a week via Skype so of course they need for their son to remain speaking Polish. Not only that but as they visit Poland a few times a year their son would be isolated from his family if he could not speak Polish any longer.

They have asked for an explanation from the school but I feel they'll get nothing more than a small apology and a letter saying it's not the school policy but the teacher may have mis-read the situation...


Precisely. It would be on the next news headlines and all over the next days papers.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


I'm sure there isn't. You can have whatever funky feeling you want. 5 year old boy with very good English. Parents told to forget his Polish. Hard facts.


Yes, fair enough and that's a good point. Of course, I accept that the teacher might have just said this without thinking about how it would come across. I'm sure parents evenings can be tedious. However, it's acceptable to ask for an explanation of something that has been said.

I did ask my friend if her son was talking in Polish with another Polish kid in the class but the answer to that is no. There is another Polish kid of the same age at the school but they are not in the same class and don't know each other too well.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


I've never known a teacher who was happy with the level that a student was progressing to suggest forgetting a native language. So no, I don't believe that it was what the teacher wanted.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


They thought they were helping him. They want him to be happy and successful here so boosted his English. No way did they encourage him to forget Polish or Poland. So they've every right to be offended that someone else suggest he forget Polish.

I don't know how offended they are of course, I think, like me, they think it's crazy.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


That was my original point.

It was a routine parents meeting.


Ideally, you can't.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


No, you're not mistaken, you're quite right.


Yes but I know the child and I am saying he is not struggling. His English is good, better than his Polish. There is no issue with either language bothering him but his parents have been told to allow him to forget his Polish.

UK, Ireland / Friend told "just allow your son to forget Polish" by school. [96]


This crossed my mind.


I would ignore it and I think my friend will too, well I know she will or else her son loses contact with his family back in Poland.

I've already told her to go higher with this to the head teacher or above so I hope she will. I'll push her.


All their English is very good. They have no troubles when out with English speaking friends, nothing is missed. None of them need to learn English.


They are surprised that this happened, I am surprised that this happened. I have never before heard of a school tell a parent to forget his native language. I suppose it happens if the child has a mental or physical disability and it's too much to live with both languages at the same time but for a boy who speak English very well, who writes English well to be told this I am genuinely surprised.


Well, actually they are not living in England. They don't need to learn it, they already know it and very well.


I completely agree with that. Being bilingual is only an advantage.


Absolutely. I agree with this.

Actually, my point is, if is English is very good, which it is, then why are they advising that he stop his Polish?

UK, Ireland / Modern Plantation for Poles in Ireland [352]


Yeah I think you lost us with this.


It's an Irish bar in Spain. You've lost even the people who slightly sympathised with you. Please do not make any more posts complaining of foreigners working abroad. Whether you employ people from Spain or not, you are making money from a business in a foreign country.

Sell it up, buy a place in Ireland an employ local Irish people if you're so worried about them.

UK, Ireland / Modern Plantation for Poles in Ireland [352]


Indeed remember that sort of phrase if ever the Irish have to go looking for work elsewhere in the world. You may hear "Poland does not owe the Irish a living" or similar.


Correction, non-workers are not needed. People who are willing to work are needed. It's all very well saying bugger off Polish, the Irish want the work now but you know that the only Irish people who will work are those who may have lost jobs. The previous spongers won't work at all but they just want to get involved in something so they pretend they do. Guest workers...but very welcome in order to try and get the Irish economy back on track...


Slightly unfair. Some of those jobs were not "good enough" for Irish workers until the recession hit so there's a saying that covers that and it goes "tough ****" you didn't want the low paid jobs before so why should you get them now?

I never mentioned welfare. However, since you bring it up why should an Irish person who had NEVER paid a penny or cent to the Irish economy be any more welcome to welfare than anyone who has? Even if someone only contributed 3 years worth of tax to the state is entitled to more than someone who has paid nothing. And by someone I mean either an immigrant or a student who has only been working for 3 years since graduation. Say it straight RevokeNice.


Significantly less than your home-grown burden though. Get rid of the home grown burden and you're laughing all the way to the bank!


Yes and we wouldn't want to keep you from work in the morning...

UK, Ireland / Modern Plantation for Poles in Ireland [352]


You've been to Poland. Once? Twice? Where else have you been? Depending on where you have been you'll note that in some places diversity or multiculturalism is the norm and those places don't have problems.

At the end of the day you can write about how many Poles don't pay this and how many Poles don't pay that but the end result is, there are more native Irish persons who don't pay this and that either and sponge of your state. Your native Irish person may sponge off the state for 20, 30, 40, 50 years or...even longer! Guess what, they may (most likely) will have contributed NOTHING to your economy. Don't tell me that you don't see on your streets every day the people who are born in Ireland and sponge off Ireland from day one perhaps because their parents do? Those are the bothersome people in your society, not the few Poles who landed on your shores in good faith and ended up without a job. Don't listen to Irish people who say Poles stole their jobs. The jobs were sitting there, waiting for them and why? Because no one else would pick them up. Open your mind up a little RevokeNice. Try speaking to some of the people you hate. Try asking them why they took the chance to earn money, why they are working in the low paid jobs.

Ask yourself something too. Any country in this world today can fall into hard times. Governments are useless when banks run countries. Tell us here at PF that you wouldn't seek out a place where you could earn money and help your family if your family had no money and couldn't help themselves. Tell me you wouldn't take the chance to go a place where you know you could get a good education, get a relatively good job and make something of yourself. Think yourself lucky that, at the moment, you live in a country where you can look after yourself, you have water, food and there's no chance either will run out. In the future though, if all goes wrong, remember what you said about Polish people.

UK, Ireland / Modern Plantation for Poles in Ireland [352]


Well, that's sad and also the cause of your frustrations. Get out and see some things. Visit a few other countries. Listen less to your peers and make your own decisions.

UK, Ireland / Modern Plantation for Poles in Ireland [352]


Yes, WE GET THE MESSAGE. Believe it or not we do understand what you are saying, why you're saying it and what you want the outcome to be. It doesn't mean with agree or disagree with you on any part of it. Although, you have said your bit a thousand times now. Perhaps it's time you took things up with your local MEP, MP, whatever. You can repeat yourself a thousand times over here but it won't change anything.


See, there you go, whether you agree or disagree with this gent, he's proactive, not reactive. Do the same RevokeNice. Stop yapping about what you want here and go off and do something about it!

Love / First date with this Polish girl! Some advice required on what to say and what to do. [35]

I think you want to ask her those questions in English. She won't forget you don't know any Polish because she already knows that you can't speak Polish. Stick with English and don't frighten her off on the first date with too much attempts at Polish. You can tell her she is beautiful in English and that you hope, in time, to be able to say this in Polish too. She will be more impressed by that.

Have a good time though, relax and I hope this is the beginning of something special for you both. :)

UK, Ireland / England, Dirty, Expensive and a dangerous place to live? [205]


It's a nice city but it's not the best in Europe.

It's congested and that's what I don't like about it. I like the nightlife, the daylife, the shopping, the fact that I can commute right out of there at the end of the day. I like London, but I'm never living there.

Travel / Szczecin to Gdansk [4]


Any airline. They cancel at the last moment. Don't take the chance to get the last minute flight home. Not in this climate.

Travel / Szczecin to Gdansk [4]

With the way things are at the moment you may want to get a flight a couple of days earlier as they do cancel them at short notice.