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Polish culture - know your place. 'They ignore me completely' aspect.


Ksysia 25 | 430  
6 Dec 2009 /  #1
OK, a short discussion about Polish culture, why not. 'They ignore me completely' aspect.

I'm sure you have noticed already that people who come from humbler backgrounds in Poland do not want to talk too much, and generally stick to themselves.

Yes, they are. So is everyone else.

People will usually act along the lines of the old sayings:

ciągnie swój do swego - like attracts like.
nie pchaj się gdzie cię nie chcą - don't go where you're not wanted.
świń razem nie pasaliśmy - I haven't grazed pigs with you

Now, it looks as though if humble people don't want to talk to you, you get offended. But I say that you should NOT. If somebody is humble, they often are shy as well - of being not verbose, worldly, cultured etc. I, and ordinary city girl from £ódź, get that as well - if I'm dressed in a particularly lilac summer dress, people on the tram will not tell me on which stop to get out.

Why don't they want to talk to you? Well, for starters, dear Forumers, if you are interested in foreign cultures, then you are worldly already. And they are not. They are quietly backwater, simple, ordinary and obscure - and liking it.

In the 19th century, Wyspianski the playwright wrote 'Wesele', with the famous line: 'co tam, Panie, w polityce?', 'what 'o, Sir, in the Politics?'. The intelligentsia were dumbfounded - so the simple people take interest in Politics? The simple people noted the dumbfounded-ness. Then came the carnages of the 20th century. Simple people became the masters and really showed what they can do.

So now there are three societies, along the lines of former 'stany', and a little similar to 'class', but not based on money. There are the countryside people, majority in Poland, who are church goers and really as natural as you can have them, walking around in their torn underpants. There are the two city states - the aloof ones, intelligentsia, who keep to themselves, upon introduction ask: 'how many languages do you speak' to set up the rank, and live off their brains. And all the rest, sometimes called 'blokersi, but in most cases zawodówka pupils, hairdressers, steel traders, etc. Many a time the steel trader is far richer than a journalist, but belongs to the simpler crowd.

So, the simpler crowd, encountering a foreign speaker, removes the contact tentacles. And you, Forumers, even if you are English working class, are foreign speakers and may be cut off, so that you are not given a chance of imposing your tongue-speaking self.

...

enough of those ramblings... my Carmenere is almost gone...
pawian 222 | 24,060  
6 Dec 2009 /  #2
enough of those ramblings...

No, no, please, don`t stop. It is very interesting.
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
6 Dec 2009 /  #3
what, city boy? can't you see my glass being empty?
dtaylor5632 18 | 2,004  
6 Dec 2009 /  #4
I think Krysia has the hots for Pawian...

But at the same time she has a point. Some of the most colourful and brightest people I met in Poland came from far outside the cities.
pawian 222 | 24,060  
6 Dec 2009 /  #5
what, city boy? can't you see my glass being empty?

I have just had my third. And not glass, but kufel. :):):):):):)

But at the same time she has a point. Some of the most colourful and brightest people I met in Poland came from far outside the cities.

Yes, I agree.
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
6 Dec 2009 /  #6
I do hope it's Noteckie. I'm all in favour of Noteckie!

And if they offend peasants I'm in the mood to slash them!
pawian 222 | 24,060  
6 Dec 2009 /  #7
I do hope it's Noteckie. I'm all in favour of Noteckie!

Not quite. Today I am not in the mood for beer. I am drinking my home-made cherry wine, full of vitamins and microelements, the recipe I invented upon my doctor`s advice to consume a lot of fruit.

And if they offend peasants I'm in the mood to slash them!

I love peasants. Whenever I see one, I get very agitated. I start digging for my camera all over the car, risking an accident.

2009 Peasant Close Encounters of the Third Kind
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
6 Dec 2009 /  #8
Fruit is good, mead is better.

Have you ever taken part in bryczka races?
pawian 222 | 24,060  
6 Dec 2009 /  #9
Fruit is good, mead is better.

I like it too.

My photos:

Have you ever taken part in bryczka races?

Nope. Only once or twice in a kulig. And once I rode on a horse cart.

Not my photo:

g
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
7 Dec 2009 /  #10
shame... bryczka races are the core of the culture... kulig one can get anytime
pawian 222 | 24,060  
7 Dec 2009 /  #12
shame... bryczka races are the core of the culture... kulig one can get anytime

No, the core of the Polish culture is this:
:):):):):):)
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
7 Dec 2009 /  #13
core of the Polish culture is this:

that's an ugly Germanic face... no offence - where are the tall cheekbones???
pawian 222 | 24,060  
7 Dec 2009 /  #14
Hmm, you might be right. That`s my wife`s cousin from Śląsk region. Ober Schlessien.
OP Ksysia 25 | 430  
7 Dec 2009 /  #15
that's why he favours beer over mead, IMHO
pawian 222 | 24,060  
7 Dec 2009 /  #16
Nope. He smells whisky before gulping a few shots:

Cat, you crazy, dog?? Back off!

I told you: bugger off!!

ale germańska morda...

:):):):):)
Please, be tolerant. After all, we are all Europeans...... :):):):)
Tymoteusz 2 | 346  
7 Dec 2009 /  #17
But at the same time she has a point. Some of the most colourful and brightest people I met in Poland came from far outside the cities.

This has been my experience almost without exception.

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