Well You visited and/or lived in Poland, tell us what its like.

If by NYC you mean Manhattan+The Bronx then I'd have doubts about the friendliness. Wall Street, after all, is one of the least friendly places on this planet. Dog eat dog. The Bronx... it changed a bit, most of the unfriendly people have been pushed north, towards Yonkers and such. Still, The Bronx is not what comes to mind when one thinks about "friendly".

If you look at other boroughs then the friendliness varies too. From Russian mob in Brighton beach, to Astoria where it was hard to rent a place if you weren't Greek or Italian.

A melting pot it is though, but I could never decide whether that in fact was good or bad.

Z-Darius, I dont know if you're looking at the right places or times for "friendly" attitudes. You mention Wall street, which is mostly bustling with activity during the day when ppl are neck deep in work, so to expect them to stop and exchange pleasantaries would be highly unrealistic. I have spent 10 yrs in Manhattan (Upper west side, east village, west village, soho, and midtown) I speak of my daily interactions, collegues at work, my building staff, neighborhood vendors, ppl living in the community, generally being able to have causual open and friendly conversations with someone at the park, cafe or bookstore without feeling it an imposition.

Have I had my share of subway spats, ofcorse! One wouldnt be classified as a New Yorker if one didnt now :) but thats more the exception than the rule in my experiance..I do believe that New Yorks repuation of being rude, predisposes ppl to be on the lookout for such attitudes...btw how long have you lived there for?

don't know about anybody else, but i find the people in the villages much more welcoming than the big towns? I love the countryside in Poland, it's beautiful & great fro horse riding! :)

I was in a small village near Lubin/Wroclaw and traveled around Lower Silesia.

Likes: Castles (Grodziec, Bolkow), mountains (Sleza & Karpacz!), beer, Czech Movie Pub in Wroclaw, the retro commie joint in Wroclaw, beer, bigos, weather, the small village I stayed in, honey vodka, the mead...

Dislikes: grafitti (used to it though), driving, that "l" with the line through it, couldn't find grits, the attitude of the cashiers at Tesco, the way gas station attendants eye-balled me...

Overall Poland rocked so much that I'm moving there next month. Need to find grits though.


I'm from the South. I did notice that, but for every person that gave me one of those looks there was someone else who smiled. Even my gf's parents warmed up to me.

I just visited Poland and got a very positive image. The amount of new housing - from small villages - to impressive homes in the burbs of big cities. It makes me wonder how so many people can afford them, when so many others keep on whining about money.

Will there be the rich and the poor only in Poland? What about middle class?

The streets are clean, the yards (most of them) kept trimmed and neat. A little worse in the countryside. Also,I was amazed with the amount of colorful houses: yellow, blue, orange, lime green.... I can barely recognize the market square in the town I was going to high school in - so colorful, happy looking place :)

The prices for food, electronics, house-ware, gas, cosmetics - just about everything - are outrages. I thought vegetables in "warzywniak" stores were fairy priced and fresh looking. Ah, I love potatoes in Poland, the yellow ones, simply delicious.

Chicken however seemed to have some "fishy" aftertaste, makes me wonder what the farmers are feeding the chickens with.
I hoped for a real chicken soup made from "real" free range chicken, but even my only farmer cousin stopped having chickens running in the yard...Lots of pigs in the barn, however! :)

hw is myslowice? a gud place 2 leave in poland or not

regards
exotic

It depends where you live! Life in Warsaw is quite easy or in Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw. But if lived in other towns such as Lodz, Katowice, lower Silesia, Bialstock, it's a completely different story...

why do you think so?


and why do you think that?

So how is medical care in UK????? Behind what? ...dirty hopsitals, shortage with doctors and dentists....

Why English fly to countries to Poland to go to dentists or have operation as in UK they are on 10 month waiting list.

Ok, I have never been to Poland.
I have never lived there either but I am moving there in less then one month to live.
So all posts here are quite useful for me too, thank you!
The Polish people I met here or in Dublin are all very nice people, always helpful, always in for a good laugh and that's als why I chose Poland to go and live.

It's not the most "common" place for Western people to go live, but it's a challenge, and in the end, isn't that what life's all about? I rather regret the things I do then the things I didn't :-)

So bring it on, I am ready :)

I'd like to revise my previous answer. People that I'm formally introduced to are pretty nice. People on the street or in the shops act like I'm a potential child molester.

Customer service is non-existent and it seems like smiling is against the law (in the city).