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The strangest things in Poland [468]
LOL! I Just stumbled into this thread, and some of the observations really have made me chuckle... I still live in the UK, although I am seriously thinking of moving to Poland.
"After plane lands people claps, at least they used to, this tradition seems to fade away... (it looked strange to even to me, are people happy that the plane did not cruch or what )"
They still do... In fact a lot of the English on my last flight joined in! I certainly did!
On my first trip the things I noticed most were...
1) In the shops, the cashiers all said the same thing to me, which I couldn't understand. I later found out it was "Do you have the correct change". They seem to have a fascination with it!
2) Money doesn't change hands directly, it goes via a change dish. In the UK we're used to passing it hand to hand.
3) Some of the beggars seem to be seriously well educated. I ended up chatting to one who spoke fluent English, French and obviously Polish.
4) Crossing the road can be a whole new experience. An expensive one if you're used to Jay walking in the UK (where it's not illegal, or subject to fines!)
5) A public transport system that is cheap, warm and usable (again, not something you find in the UK outside of the London underground!)
6) Gravy... Or lack of. :'-(
7) All the women (or at least the ones I have met) can cook, and cook well, from scratch and not just heat stuff from packets... Yum yum!
8) Meat... Lots of meat! I don't know if any vegetarians have ever made it to Poland, and if they did, how did they survive, or were they just used as a main course!
9) Queuing... Again, lack of! It seems like the English are the only people on the planet to master this. Getting on a coach in Krakow in January it must have looked like the human form of sand pouring in a funnel! I seriously considered walking on peoples heads, especially as I had a reserved seat ticket, but not the grasp of the language to inform others of this bar waving it over the heads of the people in front of me! Then again, still not as bad as the French on ski lifts. Especially when you're an English snowboarder!
That'll do for now... I'll see how many other things I can remember...