City Pole versus country Pole

Theres a massive difference between mentalities. Prices vairy significantly.

I lived in Wroclaw for a while now im in the country and i feel the difference big time.

In my country - England its more expensive in the country, people want to get away from it all. Its the opposite here. In Poland country people seem to be looked down on, segregated, deemed stupid almost.

Any thoughts?

Any time I travel a country, it is always better to roam the country.
Cities are all the same (depending of course).
Country people have more time, they are usually more friendly and interested.
In saying that though, I prefer doing business with city folk for the same reason.

Do Londoners not look down at country people?.

really? do they hire cow-sitters and such?
;)
yes, not everybody takes care of the farm animals in the country but also not everybody has a job in the city...
:)

What are the contrasts in Ireland? any similarities? I come from Southampton in the UK so pretty much surrounded by cities and urbanisation, but living in the country where i come from is considered a luxury. Not so sure about places like Cornwall or the Highlands in Scotland.

Country people in Poland seem to be a cut below the norm.

Cities are busier, hustle bustle, it does my head in.
The country is slow and peaceful, it also does my head in. :)

I suppose they do, well Londoners are a different breed altogether.

Im a country bumpkin now, give it a few years ill be that guy in the tractor who all the drivers are cursing.

They do. There is often a lack of understanding. I remember waiting on the platform of Bethnal Green station to return to Hertford, thence to the house I was living in out in a tiny village. The centre of London is bright lights, big city. Then around that there are areas like Bethnal Green, where it is part high-rise, part grotty estates, but partly gentrified inner-city suburb. There were a couple of chavs on the platform. They were talking in their London Jafakean accents about there dreams of making some money and moving out to Crews Hill. Crews Hill is one of the outermost parts of Greater London - still essentially a village surrounded by both fields and big expensive houses and some rather expensive estates, plus lots of garden centres. These kids didn't dream of getting out of London entirely, just to it's outer limits. I like London, but wouldn't want to live there.

My girlfriend and her family are probably fairly typical of Poles who have relocated to England - they come from a very small town somewhere close to Poland's border with Belorus. There is very little there, and is probably one of the country's most economically depressed areas. Other Poles I have met and worked with have often come from villages. Many have driven tractors since they were barely old enough to walk or at least have an uncle who has a farm or something. "Big city Poles" are probably far less likely to take jobs doing manual labour in the English countryside, however...


One forum member I know comes from a farmy sort of background, but goes against this country bumpkin stereotype. Then remember the scallies on Bethnal Green station I mentioned. Poland's cities aren't all bright lights either.

Ha ha ha, that is probably what a lot of people from out side of Dublin would say.


Me too, but I have to live near a city.
I saw two shop assistance, young girls, shovelling large amounts of wet heavy snow yesterday, they really put their back in to it.
You wouldn't find that in a large city.

But i mean the contrasts between people, if someone from the country came to a city in England i wouldnt immedietly assume he was an ill educated lower form of life based on his address. I also wouldnt categorise him on the way he talked.


Kray twins, just read a book on that.


Thats what we like to see.

theres a lady living opposite me and it looks like shes gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and did relatively well. Apparently shes got one hell of a right hook.

I really like this about London.

I have lived in london many times but i always manage to escape, thank goodness.


Poland has a population of about 38 million people but there are only about 2 million in Warsaw.
Most people live in the country.


To be a real Pole, you have to make your own tractor out of found pieces of metal that you weld together yourself.

I would say it all depends on region and people Wroclaw Boy.
Some villages (their parts) are full of big, modern, nice houses and are dominated by rich people who built houses to move away from the city centre.

And there are regions/villages where you feel as if you turned back time, people there seem to think the way which nobody nowadays would think, they use characteristic "village words" etc etc...

City Poles
Country Poles

Indeed the former being small towns on the outscirts of major cities mostly. the latter appears to be more rural locations.

Are you referring to house prices? or the cost of living?


hehe and those pieces of metal come from the homeless guys in the city who make a living hacking apart used fridges or anything with any metal in it at all!

Pretty much everything, unless were talking souveniers in which case much more expensive. Ohh and camping equipment.

Whats with the profile pic you look like wolverine.

I'd like to see a "city Pole" attempt this. Proper country people tend to have these kinds of capabilities. I know and work with people who can build anything out of anything, build and repair tractors, even steamrollers. The kind of people who do work on the land, go shooting, leave the dog outside, have a dog that's trained to catch rats, respond to the sound of a gun and bring in game. People who drive proper 4x4s that actually go off-road every day... Many people live in the English countryside, where it is a quieter extension of suburbia, but true country people are different. Poland just has more of these true country people.

In Poland, maybe the aspirations are different. The economy is different. You want to make money and move to a city, rather than take the money you already have to live in some rural idyll (which very often turns out to be blighted by hay-fever from oilseed rape, the din of tractors and combines, the spraying of pesticides, the shooting of cute furry animals and the presence of pikeys nicking stuff and blocking bridleways with old burnt mattresses.)

I take it to mean including the different levels of salery so that we are comparing apples with apples?

London is a lot more expensive that where I'm from in Cumbria and believe me thats about as country as it gets.


One of my ex gf's took it after I fell asleep and my hair went funny. Whats with yours? it looks like Odo has a chip pan fire...lol

This is a relatively new phenomenon,
from what I gather.
It used to be 45% independent farmers here,
6 years ago.
I would imagine that number is greatly reduced now?.


Hermann Hesse had a dream/ideal,
to live like real country people,
the noble savage,
to live off the the land
and to be independent.

Now Hesse, was a suburbanite and when he was older realised that he had been torturing himself with this "perfect world" and everything was second best to what it could be.

I don't know if I am explaining this well but it left quite an impression on me.

The bottom line is be happy with what you got, country life is not for everyone.

Cites are harder to defend, when talking in such grand terms but I love'em.
Even though they do my head in, have I made myself completely misunderstood? ha ha ha

Town people buy places in the country and get them decorated to look like Góral cottages, spend the summer being village people then moan about the poor conditions and run back to the town in the winter.

Around Olsztyn all the townies are building in the villages cos the old farmers are selling their land. Seriously, one week there's a field and the next month ther is an estate.

When it comes to access to higher education, good jobs, cultural events, such silly things as internet or even fashion, people living in villages are clearly at a serious disadvantage. It is well known that the number of highly educated and wealthy people is far greater in the cities than in the villages, and the opposite is seen when it comes to the number of people of poorer background and education. Thus, generally, those from the bigger agglomerations are seen as hip while peasants are seen just as... well peasants. Which doesn't have to be the truth, but often unfortunately is.


A Brit that doesn't judge people on the grounds of their accent? Now that's a rare sight. :)

You are talking about me, ain't you! Oh yes. I'm a farmer girl. I used to clean pigs sheed for years ha ha. I am never ashamed of it.


is your avatar a picture of her?

Country Poles tend to be more traditional. Naturally, they suspect foreigners more.

I worked with a village based theatre near Olsztyn. A lot of young college/university students came to visit and were interested in the village music and dances which the group used.

What was interesting was that when speaking with people I often heard the same thing; townies were interested because this contact with village cultur gave them a sense of their "Polishness". Howevr, village kids often gave trad culture a wide berth, as if it was an embarrassment to them.

Educationwise, facilities are usually a million miles better in the towns. hard to get someone to work in a village school.

Country Pole wears Adidas.

Funny you should say that... I was at a Christmas service in a Greco-Catholic church in a little £emko mountain village. The altar boys were wearing Adidas tops.

I'd say not, most Londoners dream of moving to the country, but alas would never be able to afford it...WB explained that in a simplistic way, villages in the UK are expensive to purchase property in.

Yep. In Poland people build new homes or buy weekend homes. In UK it is possible to find whole villags with no farmers, just BMWs and Mercedes. The townies upped the price so that many locals couldn't afford to live in their own village. Some villages are now running protectionist policies to stop this.

Poland hasn't caught onto that yet, at least not where I am.