Culture Shock Since Moving to Poland - Anybody Dealt With This Before?

Laughing already Isa :) et merci beaucoup!!

Culture shock.... hmmmm I am living in Warsaw since 2004... and how my daily life compares to the one I had back at home in Antwerp, Belgium?

- I have to get up the same time (05:30) to go to work, as I did at home
- Way too many cars on the road (why everybody has to go to work on the time I am leaving). Most of them drive like nutcases, but hey this is Poland :)

- Work is work, they speak Polish (and so do I) but for the rest.... same stress, same office politics...
- Not enough time to spend with your partner, happy to meet friends in the weekend, satisfied you finally manage to put your car through the car wash...

- Spending ages in Tesco or C4 but OK, you have to adapt to that... I take a Newsweek and manage to read the entire magazine before it is my turn... Surviving...

And then it is Monday and the circus starts again...
but was massively exacerbated by me not being able to speak Polish

In Poland the staff in C4 are NOT required to speak English. To expect them to do so.... Very sad.

Ill agree with that, though i did find some in C4 that did recognise the English language even if very very sheeply spoken back to you at times.

Actually I said that it was exacerbated because *I* can't speak Polish yet after three weeks. Not even remotely about them not being able to speak English, I made no complaint about that at all - mainly because it would have been totally unreasonable to expect English.

Please, read something properly before making comments which make other people out to be dicks - my complaint was with their barcode reader which, to my understanding, reads 0 and 1 in any language.

What's a C4?

Either a new robot in Star Wars or Carrefore. ;)

Really really lazy :) After all typing Carrefore is such hard work for some people. Sorry, sum ppl.

Thanks, I got it. I'm more familiar with Biedronka or Tesco, not the Carrefore store. :)
Yeah, welcome to the lazy, acronym full world.

plastic explosive

How do they rate compared to Dominicks?

The couple of Tescos I've been to were bigger than Dominicks or Jewel, way too big for my liking. There were some girls walking in the isles, looking like models, with trays of food samples. Kind of nice.

The Biedronkas I went to were smaller and seemed to be less organized. Products allover the place.

Yeah you don't see that too often in the US. I just wondered. Sounds not too bad.

I actually found Poland a very easy place to adjust to even though I never spoke the language. Most people I met were keen to practice their english and teach me polish. The only thing I found (which eventually drove me home) was that I was paying near UK prices for things...but being paid less than a quarter of my UK wage (which was not that high to begin with over here). However I learned from that mistake and so am going to be moving back after summer to gain a more high paying job.

But yeah, about the "trying to live like a brit in Poland" thing, it really doesn't work. The only people I know who have tried hate the place. Anyone else who embraced the culture and saw meeting someone from the UK or Ireland as a pleasant release loved the place and never wanted to leave.

How do they rate compared to Dominicks?

Aha ... I spot the sound of Illinois there :)


Exactly. I don't think that's the way most people are on the thread. Just settling in there's bound to be this period. The friend I came over and stayed with said after a few weeks he was desperate to get out - that was 10 years ago now and he says he'd never live anywhere else by choice because after a week or two more he woke up one day and thought "This place is WONDERFUL". Which puts him at the six week mark, about where most people seem to acclimatise if they actually are living life here and not in the UK.

Some ducklings swim like Mama easier than others :)

So give people a chance to deal with their own relocations and any associated or non-associated side issues a chance (I notice not many people picked up that the OP is disabled, trust me a medical issue to be worried about adds a new dimension to feeling that you can call a place home).

I get all obsessive about certain food items (did exactly the same in the UK and I would have done the same in a Dominicks too - I did in Walgreen). I'd use diabetes as my excuse but it's actually known as plain old piggery LOL. What I haven't said is the near ecstatic joy I experienced when I first saw Nik-Naks here as they were a rare exotica from Germany for me for years. Suffice to say, the easy availability of smoked cheese peanuts has made me go "meh".

I've found Wyke Farm Cheddar in Carrefore (recognised by their barcode reader too) so tbh in food terms I am happy. I can get good fresh veggies, pulses, grains, cheese (talking about other cheeses here) and excellent quality breads and chicken. I'm good :)

We had a very similar (and vodka fuelled) conversation last night in fact, where my friend said he found all the cultural differences difficult at first - I really had no problem with anything being strange except the lector (and the lector was well after my father sought asylum at the end of WWII or I'd have known about that too). I love everything, I just hate not being able to speak Polish yet.

However thank you ladies and gentlemen, those who have not misconstrued what I was trying to say anyway. What this thread has done for me personally is make me even MORE determined to learn this language whether I stay here a year or the rest of my natural. Dziękują bardzo! :) With that I will look forward to today's adventures, a "Sunday Best" moment as it will assuredly be!

I would assume culture shock even after moving to a different state in the US. I moved from Oregon to Alaska (and back again) and the transition was rough at first.

Now, my boyfriend of almost 2 years (born in Poland, raised in S. California) has moved back to Poland for school. He speaks the language, 98% of his family lives there and he owns an appartment in Warsaw. So you could say he is already established. He wants me to come be with him as soon as he gets the place ready for me, but I'm scared! I never felt this way when I moved out of state. Alaskan weather sounds worse in comparison to Poland and everything about EU lifestyle is exactly how I want to live. I don't speak a lick of Polish, but I want to learn so badly so I can talk to him in his native tongue. Everyone I talk to says it's the chance of a lifetime. I have never traveled to Europe before, only Canada and Mexico, but I do love to explore new places and meet new people. Is there any advise anyone can give me to not feel so hesitant? What are some things I can look forward to like customs, getting around, grocery shopping and things to do for a 25 year old :) I will expect culture shock, but I'm sure my boyfriend can snap me out of it quick!

It's all a question of level. If you are accustomed to a very ordered and predictable way of life then culture shock is inevitable when you move. It also depends on your background. If you have spent some time in Africa or Asia, Poland appears simple and easy to adapt to.

I didn't have culture shock, maybe I am not cultures enough :p

Of course it was very different here from where I was from in many ways but not in the ways that count.

When he describes the lifestyle there, it is very appealing to me. It's not better than American lifestyle, just different. More mindful of others and taking care of yourself physically. But I'm sure he is only going to tell me most of the good stuff! LOL. I'm the type of personality that goes with the flow, but the idea of settling down has been in my head for a while. Maybe I'm affraid of taking the last "hurra" before marriage and having kids. Must be the Libra trait, always needing balance. What kind of activities can I expect in Warsaw for the average mid-twenties youth? Is the language barrier very deep?

Mid 20s and already have a boyfriend here who speaks Polish?

You'll probably love the place!

Poland is the first country I have ever visited and lived in outside of the U.S. I had some kind of shock for the first 2 months. Then again that's because I don't like living in big cities in general, and the first two months I was in Warsaw. My boyfriend is from Poland and lived in the states for 5 years and it was harder for him to adjust. Yeah it sucks trying to learn polish..

My take on this subject is. It is apparent that you would not be happy anywhere. If you are not happy in your homeland, why would think a strange country would be better? Home is what you make it

Home is, indeed, what you make it.