News / British food exports to Poland up 53% [43]


Everyone overlooks the lowly Cheese & Onion Sandwich. A Welch rarebit sandiwch also gets my toes tapping...

Language / How do people mispronounce your Polish names? [60]

My mother-in-law's first name (and my wife's middle name) is Zdzislawa. To this day, I cannot get it out of my mouth properly. I am having a TON of problems with the Zdz thing. I don't have the dexterity in my tongue to make that quick stop and continuance in the name.

If I don't call her mom, I call my mother-in-law "Slawa"

Genealogy / Ryszkowska/Gryszkowska from old Polish Town from pre-1930 ("antowi zcizus") [14]


It's pronounced the same as it reads in English. Gdansk.

Love / Pick up lines - the Polish style [110]

Believe it or not, someone I did this to actually became my girlfriend. So let me paint a picture...

She was a friend of a friend that I had never met or talked to before and I was at a party. I had also spent my afternoon assembling some IKEA furniture and had a screw left over that I put in my pocket without thinking (you are always plus or minus one thing every time you buy something from IKEA). At the party while trying to find my cigarette lighter in my pocket, I came upon the screw.

I walked up to the girl and said "Hey! You wanna screw?" And as she looked at me and I saw the anger building in her eyes, I gave her the screw from my pocket and walked away. She followed me laughing and I had a date with her by the end of the night...

Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]


A confession, Father? I think absolution at the bar is called for!


One other tip I learned the hard way was, when I was still utterly clueless in Danish, never to trust my friends when they translated common phrases for me. They "taught" me an expression to say good morning which loosely translated into "Good morning and go shove it up your arse". I got high fives and slaps on my back when I said it to my colleagues around the office. However, I passed an old lady every morning in the pedestrian zone and she always gave me some shocked look when I said it to her. At first I thought it was my bad American accent, but realized that something was amiss when she would cross to the other side of the road when she saw me coming....

Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]


That's true, but during each episode, one of them becomes a sort of television and they play some short live action film that they repeat twice. That's where I learned my Danish. They'll have a kid narrating it saying "I'm going to help mommy wash dishes. First I take dishwashing liquid and put it in the sink. Then I turn on the warm water. Then I take a cup. Then I hold my sponge", etc. That's where I learned most of my basics in the beginning.

Once I learned my basics (having really good conversations with my friends' toddlers while being ribbed by their parents), I was able to get to a more adult level much more quickly.

Like I said, you take some good natured ribbing (sometimes not-so-good natured), but it was one of the things that helped me learn another language...

Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]


Is it that expensive now? I bought mine late in 2006 and paid a bit over $300. I swallowed hard when I had to fork over the cash, but my girlfriend (now wife) is worth it.

It truly is an excellent program though. It helped me out tremendously.

Love / Pick up lines - the Polish style [110]


She goes along with it. She actually liked it when I said it the first time...


Yup! He's 2 months old now and smiling all the time (unless he is hungry that is... When he's hungry, he turns into the child from hell)

Love / Pick up lines - the Polish style [110]

Both! I called her "wife" our wedding reseption as a joke and it stuck. I alternate between "Sweetie" and "Wife". She calls me Sweetie too, but if she calls me by my first name, I know that I'm in trouble, lol!

Language / The best way for me to learn Polish [89]

I bought a program called "Rosetta Stone" to learn Polish. Supposedly, it's what they give to diplomats as a crash course on a language. Rosetta Stone has a program for a ton of different languages, however, you have to learn as a child does.

You get a picture of a girl and they say girl in Polish. Later you get a ball. Then they say "Girl with ball" and things like that. I actually found it to be quite easy to learn. And it's WAY easier doing that than trying to throw yourself into adult conversations.

Another way (but don't let it ruin your ego) is to watch Polish childrens programs.

When I was relocated to Denmark, I could not speak Danish whatsoever and nobody really helped me learn. I had a dictionary I used, but the thing that helped me most was watching Teletubbies in Danish. They repeat everything twice, so it was easier to grasp what they were saying the second time through. My friends made fun of me while I was doing it, but after a year, I started to be able to confidently talk to people even if I had a bad accent.

Life / Holiday's in Poland! Not allowed thanksgiving off. [30]


That's true. Veterans Day in the US started out being called Armistice Day. It's the symbolic day that World War 1 ended. They called World War 1 "The war to end all wars" in the US. However, once WWII cropped up and everyone had more dead soldiers on their hands, they changed the name to Veterans Day so they could honor the dead soldiers from WWII as well.

Love / Pick up lines - the Polish style [110]

How did a thread that contained bad pickup lines degenerate into this?

Anyway - back to the central point of this thread:

- If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me? (an oldie but a goodie)

- How would you like to go and do what I'm going to tell my friends we did anyway?


I got one! I call her wife, lol...

Life / Holiday's in Poland! Not allowed thanksgiving off. [30]

The boss was right. It stinks to not have the day off, but you have to do what you have to do. My American friends and I held our Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the real Thanksgiving when I lived overseas.

Don't sweat not having some US holidays off. You are in Poland now and have to conform to Polish holidays. But just think that you may have off from work for a Polish holiday when all the Americans will have to work.

I lived in Denmark for a few years and couldn't wait for the Easter holidays. We had 5 days off for Easter. I loved that!

Language / Expressing "happiness" in Polish [29]


Thank you! Those things stand out in my mind the most. I actually thought very hard about it. I thought about all things that have made me happy - Buying my first brand new car, getting a bonus at work, and I find that I have always been most happy when I have had the human touch and not material ones.

Hitting the snooze button on the alrm clock in the morning and cuddling with my wife.
Looking at my boy, playing with him, changing his diaper, feeding him, etc.
Helping my father with the yard work
Doing a bit of car repair work with my father
Hearing my niece yell "UNCLE KARL" in a crowded room and running towards me with open arms.

Nothing material can compare with things like that. I really consider myself to be lucky and all those things make me happy

Language / Expressing "happiness" in Polish [29]

This morning when my baby boy looked at me and gave me one of those big open mouthed baby smiles....

And other highlights:

10 September 2008 at 12:25 PM - My baby boy popped out into this world and I watched him take his first breaths and turn from a greyish color to bright pink. I had a feeling of utter joy even though there were tears coming down my cheeks.

17 September 2007 at 3:10 PM. I was standing in the front of the church and I saw my fiancee coming down the aisle to become my wife. Another feeling of utter joy comingled with some tears on my face because she was absolutely radiant.

Food / Cranberry maple nuts? Are these items available in Poland? [4]

Hi Isa,

The answers are yes and no. You can get real Maple Syrup in Poland but you have to look for it. Peanut Butter, yes, but you aren't going to get the Smucker's kind where you have to stir the peanut oil back in. I would suggest bringing a lot of it with you (I used to have people bring me Dunkin Donuts Coffee, and Peter Pan Peanut Butter when they came to visit from America).

Ocean Spray is a big fat no. HOWEVER, if you live close enough to Germany, I would suggest going on a road trip to stockpile. I lived in Denmark and I would cross the border into Flensburg Germany. In Flensburg was a supermarket chain called Citti Grossmarkt. It's kind of like a Costco/ BJ's warehouse operation. They did have locations scattered across Germany.

I did find Ocean Spray juices there, and I stockpiled the Cran-Raspberry every time I made the trip.

However, there are enough things in Poland that will turn you on. The black currant juices there are great. More than sufficient to replace the cranberry juice.

Language / difficult English words for Polish speakers? [119]

I have fun with my wife's English, but she has fun with my Polish.

When she says "Don't" it comes out "dunt"
When she talks about our son being "born" it comes out "burn"
Luckily, she calls me "Sweetie" because when she says my name "Karl" it comes out "Car"

But on the flip side, it took me forever to say the word "Elephant" in Polish. I kept saying "Salty" because the words are so similar to the untrained ear. I will readily admit that I butcher the language when I try speaking it.

USA, Canada / New Polish Deli in Boonton and Parsippany, New Jersey [8]

I haven't tried it yet, but it's called Ania European Gourmet Deli. It's at 290 Route 46. I think it's on the westbound side between New Road and Edwards Road. If you get there before I do, let me know how it is.


Just a quick follow-up. I work right by Edwards Road and took a small detour on my way home last night. That's exactly where it is. Westbound side of Route 46

USA, Canada / Gas prices in America [127]

2.779 in Hackettstown, NJ this morning and 2.759 in Mt. Arlington, NJ

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]

I can't wait to vote in the primary next Tuesday so that I can vote for someone other than her....

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]


Then I apologize. :-)

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]

True enough!

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]

Everyone is issued a firearm in the military.

I was thanking him for doing the job that he's doing. He's protecting my life and that of my family's with his.

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]

John,

Good points. I agree with some and I don't exactly see eye to eye with you on a 1 or 2 others.

That's besides the point. I just looked at your profile and saw that you were a serviceman.

Thank you for doing what you do for us and our country.

Cheers,

Karl

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]


What was I thinking? Where be dat isthatu honky? Ima bust a cap in his ass! :-)

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]


Nope. We gave it to ourselves when we created our country.


You're painting in very broad strokes now...

Language / x=a kiss sign. What's a kiss sign for the Polish? [48]

So is <>

Language / x=a kiss sign. What's a kiss sign for the Polish? [48]

I think I'm a pervert.

I was thinking <3 was something else.....

USA, Canada / The 2nd Amendment (USA), the right to own guns [261]

That's why B.B. guns were invented :-)


You are totally correct plk. It's in the Constitution. But that still remains my feelings. We've come a long way from 1787 when the Constitution was written and have evolved as a nation. I don't need a gun to join the militia at a moments notice. So I think that we are free to own a gun. But I still think that in the modern day, it is more of a priviledge.


plk, it is your opinion. You are entitled to it and I cannot argue with it. But my opinion is that, no, the argument doesn't hold true. My opinion is that an assault weapon in your house is not necessary. My opinion is that a shotgun, bow, whatever, serves a purpose for sport. A handgun serves a purpose for self defense. But an assault weapon serves a purpose for which it was named. An assault weapon is for attack and I don't see its useful purpose in a civilian life.

However, it is a gun and it is protected under this amendment, so it is a moot point. I don't believe our founding fathers envisioned assault weapons when they drafted the Constitution. I can only imagine a guy in 1787 wanting a cannon to be protected under this amendment so that he could load it with grape shot or cannister and go rabbit hunting...

USA, Canada / Need some help finding mini bottle of Polish Liquor (NY area) [5]

Hi Jon,

Where in the NY Metro Area do you live? My wife used to live in Clifton, NJ and I would pass many liquor stores on Van Houten Ave that catered to Poles when I was going to see her. You will see that most that do will have a proper Żywiec beer sign over the door.

I've never been in one of them myself, but if you are close, maybe that would be a good stating point? If they don't carry what you want, maybe they would know where to get the bottles.