Just wondering: when I hear my Polish friends talking about being Polish and the country itself (I seem to read this over here as well), it seems like they regard themselves as being somewhat superior or at least better than other cultures and countries. I would like to make this clear once and for all: do the Polish think of themselves as being from a better/worse society/culture/country than other ppl? If yes, on which fact or feeling is this based? Thanks!
my Polish friends talking about being Polish and the country itself (I seem to read this over here as well), it seems like they regard themselves as being somewhat superior or at least better than other cultures and countries.
i have the same experiences, however on the otherside of the penny, they also say that we, the British, talk about the rest of the world like everyone is below us.
My Polish friends call it 'British Arrogance' for example when i tell them how much i like england and how England provides a good place fo people to come and get educated they say that i'm being arrogant and thats not true at all. then five minutes later i here them talking about the muslims and russians like their apes compared to the Polish, how confusing!!
I would like to make this clear once and for all: do the Polish think of themselves as being from a better/worse society/culture/country than other ppl?
I'm not someone special. I'm just a little bit different. Not in a good or a bad way. ...just a little bit different.
Tornado is making a good point there: I noticed that too. They are fully on their qui vivre about not being put below other nationalities and at the same time they look down on, indeed, muslims, Russians and so on. It's a bit double, therefore I wanted to get it clear how the sit actually is. And what better place to do this than a Polish forum? :)
I feel with Polish people, especially abroad, it's not that we believe we're superior or that Poland is better than any other nation, it's just that Poland, while important historically, is very ignored in today's political/cultural atmosphere. I'm speaking from an American perspective but where comparable immigrant groups like Irish and Italians are celebrated and focused on (if you don't believe me, remind yourself what day next Monday is), Poland is like another planet that nobody knows about. Often times, I've gone too far with my "Polishness" for this reason. It's not that were arrogant (or at least I try not to be) its just that we are proud to be Polish, even if nobody else cares.
Every country/ethnic groups thinks it's superior to other groups! It's called nationalism.
Its kind of ridiculous actually, but that's definitely true! This is especially true of European nations that pride themselves on their ancestor's historical achievements.
Find me an Italian that doesn't think Italy is the best place, has the best women, best food, best culture etc.... Same thing with a French person, or a Dutch person, or a Polish person. I mean you'll find some people that aren't very nationalistic, but I doubt that would be the norm.
America is pretty notorious for this also.
My Polish friends call it 'British Arrogance' for example when i tell them how much i like england and how England provides a good place fo people to come and get educated they say that i'm being arrogant and thats not true at all. then five minutes later i here them talking about the muslims and russians like their apes compared to the Polish, how confusing!!
I think that notions of 'British Snobbery' or 'British Arrogance' are associated with the nation's history of colonization. The very concept of colonization is based on the concept that X nation is better than Y nation, therefore we have a right to take over. However, colonialism officially ended in the 1960s and other nations have been slowly recovering from this idea of Britain as an 'evil colonizer'. These days, its more about America's imperial policies and notions of supremacy that has a lot of nations in the world p*ssed off.
Its no wonder this topic keeps coming up, is it?....Polish pride...
From my experience polish people are in general very proud. Even some of the most shy polish i have met come out with, rather needlessly amid conversation, some very strong, proud words of poland. I used to get pissed off by it. But now I see its just immaturity and perhaps even insecurity behind it all.
Of course, we have the right to say what we think and feel. But I have never heard my mother (who is irish ) or my father who is english say " Ireland/England is more beautiful than X ", as I have heard poles say to me ( Poland being more beautiful than X ) . I find it ignorant as this pole has not seen all of these countries.
Education is one topic I avoid at all costs with poles, clearly a lot of them assume that they are the gate keepers to all knowledge and information. They can be pretty condescending to say the least, and if they fuck up they pretty much wither in shame as though dropping a mug has brought shame on their country...then the smug giggle when the other drops the mug....*breath...
It can be irritating and it shocks them when I say, usually to taxi drivers, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and other countries produce equally good women.
Education, well, sometimes you are fighting a losing battle. I remember being in Żywiec one time and asking my GF who those louts on the train were. I skipped that train simply because I didn't want to share it with such loudmouths. Police were called in with full riot gear and Alsatians to quell the disturbances. It turns out that they were students from Jagellonia University in Kraków. Eminent I heard. Well, if that is eminent, I'd hate to see lowly.
My Scottish friend, VERY level-headed, thinks the same. He just gets into chit-chat style discussions as anything even remotely controversial is blown out of all proportion and he gets an earful.
Sometimes i wonder has communism made polish people this way... The strictness, the commitment, the hard working, the pride.... But also the coldness, the lifelessness, the lack of emotion and engagement...
Having lived in Ireland and England I have always been used to life and energy when with people, the banter and above the ability to laugh at one self and not take things overly seriously. I really dont care that cambridge and oxford are the top colleges in the world or that Irish people are liked all over the world, i especially dont use it as ammo in context of other countries, yet many poles dont seem to have breaks on these matters.
That's fine. But its not a likable trait, its more than likely bias and it just reflects poland in a bad light. Why cant they not , every now and again, joke a bit, laugh at how stupid these matters really are and stop getting so caught up.
