Life / WHY POLISH PEOPLE DON'T USE THEIR NATIVE FIRST NAME WHEN ABROAD? [136]

One reason would probably be the fact that other people have a hard time pronouncing the native names especially with letters/symbols not present in another country's alphabet. For example, Bronislaw (the l should have a slash) maybe pronounced as Bro-nee-slow instead of Bro-nee-swav.

Another would probably be that native names sound funny abroad when pronounced properly. For example, I had a guy in one of my college classes whose name was Phuc Pham, a Vietnamese name. He would stress out that Phuc is pronounced Fook and not F*ck.

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]

I would not doubt that most of these sick sites are in English. However, instead of pointing the finger at me and suggesting that I'm trying to insult the Poles, no one here has posted meaningful discussion as to why such a term came into the Polish vocabulary.

Look at this ranking of internet users by countries: Top Internet Users by Countries 2007

There are 247 million users in the EU (rank #2) and ~206 million users in the US (rank #3). Australia has 14,663,622 (rank #18). Italy has 28,870,000 (rank #11). Canada has 21,900,000 (rank #14). The UK has 37,600,000 (rank #8), and Poland is rank #22 with 10,600,000 users.

This is Google Trends' ranking of countries according to the specific search term:
#1. Australia
#2. Poland
#3. Canada
#4. United Kingdom
#5. Italy

There are more Internet users in Canada, United Kingdom, and Italy, yet they are ranked lower. Also, some of you suggested that most of these searches are probably due to foreigners.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), these are the statistics of foreign population inflow for the following countries in 2004 oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_2825_494553_38060354_1_1_1_1,00.html - latest available data):

Australia - 150,000 (permanent) and 261000 (temporary)
Poland - 36,800
Canada - 235,000 (permanent) and 245,000 (temporary)
United Kingdom - 494,000
Italy - 319,000

These numbers maybe 3 years old, but I doubt that the ratio of magnitudes of inflows between each countries would change drastically unless there is an economic collapse or civil war.

Also, try sorting out the search term in years. For 2004, 2005, and 2006, Poland still tops the list. If you sort it out for the past 30 days, Poland is ranked #1.

Let me repeat what I stated earlier. This post is in no means trying to insult the Polish population. Think of it as an unexpected curiosity. Instead of all of you jumping at me, why don't you ask the following questions:

1). Has there been any references regarding bestiality in Polish news, songs, movies?
2). Has there been an increasing movement by local, avant garde artists, poets, or authors to take on such a taboo issue?

Once again, I am just as surprised as many to see Poland ranked high on the list.

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


You are right. I did not claim this search to be conclusive data. I'm merely stating the fact that Poland is ranked higher for a certain search term. Other countries may not be familiar with the term "bestiality". I did take this into account and tried out terms such as "animal sex" or "animal porn" with varying ranking results; India, Pakistan, Finland, South Africa, etc.. tops the list. Poland is #8 for "animal porn."

Let me put it in a different perspective. Bestiality is clearly an English term. However, there are two non-English speaking countries that top the list (top 5): Poland and Italy. Now why would an English term be that popular in a non-English speaking country?

(By non-English, I am not insinuating that the majority of Polish people cannot speak English. I mean that English is not the official language.)

Work / where to teach in Poland? [5]

Are you an English teacher? If so, in the past threads, some people mentioned that Lublin might be a good place to teach. I believe there are three universities in the area and not as many English teachers.

UK, Ireland / Polish tramp dies in Wolverhampton. [17]

What does a tramp mean in the UK?

In the US, calling someone a tramp is, somewhat, similar to a slut / *****, but I doubt if this fellow fits in this category.

Polonia / Are there any Polish people in Korea? [6]

You'd probably find many of them near the place where the Americans are congregating. I live near a military base, and there are many foreign nationals from all over the world either meeting with their American counterparts or selling their products and services to the military.

Also, you may see an increase in foreign nationals (including Polish citizens) in South Korea in the coming years. The US has signed a free trade agreement with the South Koreans, so there's money to be made to those in international trade.

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


Why don't you read my other postings before calling me a freak?

Once again, you are treating my original question as an insult when in fact I am questioning the data that I have no control. Is it wrong to question even topics considered taboo in many cultures?

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


I'm not really sure. I only had 1 day to drive around Warsaw, so I didn't get to explore it that much. But foreign visitors maybe biasing the search trends results.

The bottom line is the world is weird. A taboo from one culture maybe accepted as a norm in another. Truth is relative to its social context.

And if you guys/gals actually want to read something weird & amusing, see telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/26/nsex126.xml

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


Not all. Why would I want to do that? Plus, I may not be Polish, but I do have Polish relations. Once again, the only reason why I posted this was because of the surprising results. Heck, I was expecting the United States to be in the top lists because as of the past months there have been news articles about people being charged with bestiality. But Poland? I was surprised, too.

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


If you read my original post, I clearly stated that I was searching for funny / unique terms and see which regions were searching for them. I wasn't specifically searching for "bestiality". That term is just one of my many searches.

There is another thing that this post has brought about. I'm not sure if any of you posters are Polish or not (I'm not), but you guys definitely get offended easily. Is this part of Polish culture, too?

Instead of asking why the Poland is ranked #2 in the search term for "bestiality," you guys proceed to shoot the messenger.

Life / Why are Poles attracted to animals? [53]


Call it what you like, but demographics data hold useful information. If you were an anthropologist, you'd be asking yourself, "Why is one culture doing this?". Although Google Trends results are not representative of Poland as a whole, it does pose some curiosity in different parts of the world.

For example, search the trends for "Brad Pitt" and you'd be surprised to find out that the Spanish speaking folks are more interested in him than their USA counterparts.

USA, Canada / Transferring money from Canada to Poland [11]

I'll meet you near the Windsor border in Michigan tomorrow at 4PM. You bring the cash and I'll bring the swimming donkeys. They can take it to Poland.

Anyway, your best bet will probably be to open a bank account in Poland and do a wire transfer of your funds from Canada to there. Carrying that much money on a plane is risky. Plus, you probably need to declare that value when you arrive in Poland. In other words, you'll probably fill out a special form possibly giving your status as a "money man" to the other passengers or crew.

USA, Canada / How long does it take Polish post to reach the US (Georgia)? [4]

Thanks! I'm a little weary sending a package to Poland. We sent a small package last year for Christmas, and it failed to arrive to its destination. I'm hoping the same thing is not going to happen to Polish packages sent to the USA.

Travel / What are Your Best Poland Travel Tips? [64]

Make sure you bring some change for the toilets. Some people charge for toilet usage.

USA, Canada / Buying food from Poland and have it shipped to the US? [9]

I found this place a while back: thedutchshop.com/index.php/cPath/2

The domain name doesn't sound Polish, but they do carry Polish goods. They even have meats that you can order. The company is based in Michigan.

Life / Polish hair stylists in Warsaw... HOT! [33]


Not sure. I haven't been to the place. But did you notice that all the clients in the picture got really short haircuts? I would, too. :P

Food / Beer and syrup - tastes better! [48]


I'm in Florida. I'll try to ask the Polish store owner if he can get me some of that. I did see apple syrup on his shelf. Come to think of it, maybe I'll try to make this shot for my friend's bachelor's party in a few weeks. Hehe.

USA, Canada / Connecting flights in the USA for Polish citizens - how much time? [7]

With any connecting internation flights, I really would suggest a layover time of 3 hours or more. This will take into account any possible flight delays, customs delays, and familiarity delays with the airport.

When I flew back from Warsaw to Florida, I had a connecting flight in Chicago O'Hare. My layover time was about 2 hours, but LOT took off 45 minutes later than expected. When we landed, I had about 45 minutes to get from the arrival gate to the departing gate. This involved getting thru customs, getting my bag scanned again, waiting in line to catch the next train to my terminal, getting thru security check, and then finding the departing terminal.

When I got to my gate, I only had 10 minutes to spare. But remember, some airlines will give your seat to the stand-by passengers if you don't show up 10 minutes before the boarding process closes. Luckily, my connecting flight got delayed.

Work / Salary indication job in Poland [44]

You might want to go to this website: stat.gov.pl

Check out page 175 of the document to get an idea on wages. On average, Polish professionals have a gross wage of 3180 PLN per month. However, if you separate how much professional men and women earn then you will get: 3751 PLN for men and 2862 PLN for women.

This does not necessarily answer your question, but it should give you an idea on wages in general.

Law / Coal Alternatives in Poland: The new electricity market [21]

And that's the reason why I see a market there. I used to work for a power company with experience in turning coal to something cleaner to generate power. When the opportunity is right, I may have to bring one of their engineers and marketeers to Poland. :-)

Plus, Poland sells its electricity to Czech, Slovakia, Germany, etc.. So I definitely think they want a way to keep emissions from coal plants lower, and I think I have a solution for that.

Law / Coal Alternatives in Poland: The new electricity market [21]

From what I've been reading, carbon trading is the new thing in the EU. I think they are pressuring Poland to get their emission levels down by 2010. Coal is very abundant in the country, so that's why I think the government will do anything to put off a Russian gas deal as the last option.

By the way, which branch of the government regulates the electricity market?

Food / Trying to sell hot sauce in Poland [7]

I think the Polish tounge for hot sauce is a bit premature. I had chili sauce in Poland that was labeled hot and spicy. It wasn't at all. But to my hosts, it was. :-)

I was told that hot sauce is cooled by ice cream or rice, but never water. The closest thing to rice in Poland is probably potatoes, so I would agree with the poster a few posts above me. I doubt mixing hot sauce and lody (ice cream) would be such a good idea.

Real Estate / Rental property prices seem to be aimed only at expats in Poland [8]

Is there a website where I can find rental properties in Poland?