The strangest things in Poland

Ok I met "red noses" asking me for 2 zl :) I don't know if it is so strongly related to my car :) (it happens even if you travel by foot) I always tell them to go away. (in Polish wypierdalaj) :)


It is very populat statement on this forum :)

No, these guys are there to take money from people to park. It's not just vagrants asking for spare change.

Luk- I've seen this done to many people. I think you just don't know where I'm talking about. Maty knows exactly where.

2 zl seems like a good deal to me. Try parking the new shiny motor in certain parts of Liverpool and see how much the gangs of kids want for 'watching out' for your car...

From my observation they approach anyone with a car. It's not because you are with two ladies. I don't know if they would do actually anything to your car if you would refuse to pay them. But than again, who would want to find out. :)

Ok I am going to find it out ... I think it is better to take my GF car (joke!) to check if something is going to happen. Matyjasz i don't think they ask everybody for 2 zl :) believe me

Yes, try it. But, do it on a nice day when the city is packed.

Maybe, but does it change anything?

I usually park near Fort Kolumb Pub when Im in this part of Poznań so I am not bothered by those bums. Well, if there is a place to park of course. Finding a parking space in Poznań can be often quite of a challenge.

of course not.

Doors that don't close behind you. And open *inward*. Can't tell you how many times I've walked into a shop and left the door open behind me because they don't seem to know what an automatic door-closer is.

That raspberry juice so many Poles get a squirt of in their beer. Ugh!

Carp in a bathtub. 'nuff said.

Washing machines with no hot water hookup.

No screens (skeeters, I think they call 'em here) in the windows.

Shops where you have to tell someone behind the counter what you want. Everywhere.

No 24 hour convenience stores.

Roads made of patio bricks (paving stones). Hell, the entire (large) M1 shopping mall in Warsaw is paved that way. Then again, seeing the quality of the asphalt (tarmac) on the roads (too much tar, not enough stone) I can see why.

Rental cars with manual transmissions (although that's actually cool, impossible to find in the States).

Paying your bills at the post office.

Everyone seems to have a uniform *except* the postman.

It is impossible to buy a simple two-by-four (dunno if the Brits would know that one). Stud and drywall construction is nearly unknown.

People living in half-finished houses.

Cereal only in bags, never in a box.

The thinness of the aluminum foil.

An entire supermarket aisle dedicated to ketchup (catsup, whatever).

Hearing English names for goods or companies, spoken by a Pole who doesn't speak English, and who puts the emphasis on an 'odd' syllable. Most noticeable on things with 4 syllables. PENtium versus penTIum. MARLboro versus marlBORo. MIcrosoft versus 'meeKROsoft'. The Microsoft one always makes me grin, sounds like "me grow soft" to my angielski ears.

Fences everywhere.

The near absence of, or extreme prices for stainless steel kitchen utensils.

Air conditioning in a house is unknown. Freezers and ovens seem optional in kitchens, as do ?washing machines?.

Maluchs(Maluchy?), those little Fiats.

Parking on the sidewalk.

Buying milk at room temperature, that doesn't expire for 3 months.

Paying 22% tax on YEAST (drozde), for crying out loud.

A KFC in a building whose window headers have comminust labor propaganda sculpting on them.

Stop lights that seem more suited to a drag strip than public roads.

No "brewed" coffee in the coffee shops.

It's preferable to dig around your pockets and spend a minute and a half giving the cashier exact change, instead of them making change for you to speed the line along.

Bribing your doctor.

The fact that it starts to get light out at 4:00 AM in the summer. Then again, Stockholm is worse that way. Then again, you're never walking out of a bar at 4:00 AM in Stockholm, either.

The black market in Reeses' peanut butter cups.

and then when you pay with a note the cashier says she has no change!

wtf i just watched pani babcia give you her entire life savings in coins

Those apply to most European countries

I didn't see any black persons in Poland.

[quote=Threegigs]

Washing machines with no hot water hookup.

- the washing machine heats the water inside all on its own, you see... I've heard it's actually more efficient that way.

No screens (skeeters, I think they call 'em here) in the windows.

- skeeters? Well, never mind. I hate them things either way. Windows are there to be opened wide and leant out of, and if I hate flies so much, I can always install a screen, they're available.

Shops where you have to tell someone behind the counter what you want. Everywhere.

- Where do you live? Out in the country somewhere? The counter style shop has been in decline in Poland for many years now. I'd say supermarkets are the norm now.

No 24 hour convenience stores.

- ??? There's lots of 24 hour stores... again, where do you live?

Paying your bills at the post office.

- How's that different from any other country? You can pay your bills online or at the bank if you want to...

An entire supermarket aisle dedicated to ketchup (catsup, whatever).

- so there are supermarkets after all! ;-P

The near absence of, or extreme prices for stainless steel kitchen utensils.

- all my friends have them, personally I hate the stuff, but never found it difficult to buy.

Air conditioning in a house is unknown.

- in the Polish climate, you don't need AC, you need a good heating system ;-)

Freezers and ovens seem optional in kitchens, as do ?washing machines?.

- Washing machines are put in the bathroom, where they rightly belong - or in the laundry room, if someone has the space. A medium sized fridge has enough freezer space for the average family, and cookers come with ovens, so where's the option (of not having any?)

Maluchs(Maluchy?), those little Fiats.

- those are Italian, actually...

Buying milk at room temperature, that doesn't expire for 3 months.

- UHT processed. You do need to put in the fridge after opening, though, and it'll not last three months opened anyway ;-P

It's preferable to dig around your pockets and spend a minute and a half giving the cashier exact change, instead of them making change for you to speed the line along.

- I flatly refuse to hunt for change and the change is found for me pronto. I just don't get all flustered about it. On the other hand, if I do have the change and know it, I am happy to hand it over. Never been given a dirty look or anything. Just don't act guilty when you say "no".

Bribing your doctor.

- never have, never will, have been very happy with my healthcare.
If people believe they must bribe doctors, who's to blame when some doctors succumb to the temptation? I just refused to acknowledge this, and have never been pressurized into bribing anybody.

I just came from the hairdresser…she dried my hair with a paper towel…I don’t get it…an hour later and I am still confused ….

Maybe it's their way of proclaiming 'We don't use dirty towels.'


The Fiat 126p was the Polish version, produced in Poland (I think).

Why didn't you ask? Had she run out of regular towels, or is it the newest in hair care?
By the way, are you happy with the way she did your hair?

I'll try rubbing my head with a normal towel, then with a paper one. Then I will scientifically study at which point I start to feel confused.

THIS :-)))

osiol: The Fiat 126p was the Polish version, produced in Poland (I think).

They were produced in Poland on an Italian - what's the word I'm groping for - licence or suchlike. I've seen pictures of Rome with those little buggers parked all over the place, seems really outlandish, but when you think of it, it's their mother country ;-)

The strangest things in Poland are the 'Foreigners' expecting everything to be just the same as 'back home'. This thread makes me laugh.......just stay in your own Country and leave Poland alone :-)

I think you'll find that most that post here aren't complaining...........just pointing out the differences that actually make Poland an interesting place to visit/stay. There are many strange things here in Scotland...........doesn't mean it's not a great place. (Ahh, noimmi excepted)!

Happy to discuss further...............but my guess is you're just a troll ;)

I thought we were admiring cultural diversity...who wants everything to be the same? Not most people in this forum

I'm not a troll.........but lets look at the evidence e.g.


My very expensive German washing machine only has a cold water fill <I'm in the UK btw>


Yeah, so what! We pay our bills at the Post Office too!

I could go through the whole list just like Magdalena has.

What's so strange about these things. Sheesh......

And I am not a troll I am incognito lol........I like to be mysterious sometimes......Mind you, I've never been called a troll before. Many other things I'm sure but never a troll. Is that a compliment hahahaha!

The heater element is inside the machine. Sneaky, huh?

But hey, you got those in the US too, and you call them front loaders - touted as the latest and greatest in washing machines. They've been available in Poland for some 30 years now. You will appreciate them when you compare the result of washing whites in such machines as compared to those American pieces of junk requiring bleach and two million gallons of water per cycle.

It's like magic, man!


Building codes. Different than in the US but nevertheless codes. Doors open outwards can hit people walking on the sidewalk. But then, Americans don;t walk all that much, so you may not understand.


They do. It's you.


But,unlike in North America, after an average storm a house is still where it was before it. And it's even in one piece.

LOL all my doors in the US open inward too :) Where is this guy?

The homeless guys who wait for you to take money out of cash machine, then ask for beer. Wouldnt be so bad if they didnt follow you after you told them no.

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...

I have the feeling that it's getting worser and worse. I mean I do remember them doing this for years but not as frequently as they seem to do it these days. :/


Lack of yummy sos? Can't be.

I found something very strange and scary when I went to Poland.

IT WAS FULL OF POLISH PEOPLE hahahaha :-)

Wonders will never cease aye !

was that before thay all came to uk:):)

Now it's not full of Poles? I suppose it must be entirely populated by Finns, Koreans or Ewoks.