American wanting to know about views from Poland

Fisz,
You said "You can assume the worst for our country...more of you and we'd be pathetic and lose all hope." I hope you did not intend to refer to me as pathetic. If so, then I think you're reading too much into my posts. I'm trying to point out that we live in an anxiety-fueled society these days, and most people tend to stick their heads in the sand to avoid dealing with the reality of it. Do you have any idea how much of today's health problems are stress-related? People choose not to deal with it on a conscious level, so they "stuff" their anxiety and it manifests in them physically, emotionally and spiritually. I'm not saying that I (and most Americans) do not enjoy their lives or pursue their goals and ambitions - only that the quality of their life experiences are severely clouded by what they are deailing with sub-consciously on a daily basis.

I am assuming nothing - simply reporting it as I see it. The quality of life for a typical American started to decrease about 12 years ago, and it's been proceeding steadily since then. There is going to be a significant and drastic drop-off in the not too distant future, which is going to put a significant portion of Americans into a similar financial situation as that experienced by so many after the Great Depression. The country is in hock up to its ears with no path to financial independence. Money is leaving the country at record rates. These are not assumptions - they are simple facts. Those who wise up to them and start taking whatever measures they can to protect themselves in the future will be the winners - the "pathetic" ones will be the majority who, unfortunately, do not.

Hey,
From my 14+ year old experience living in the US, I find it true that there is a tremendous gap between the educated people and the dummies. You can daily, find people that cant count up o 50, read; nor know some basics that are considered literacy in Poland, or anywhere in civilized world. Even some of the, so called educated ones, have very limited knowledge of: history (even their own country), current events, math ( I still remember my Economy professor quoting:"...dividing is the same as subtracting..." - this is a major, accredited US University), geography...They are just good in what they do and nothing outside those parenthesis.

I went to the US 2 years ago and I found alot of them, especially in 'the south' to be very nice and welcoming. But I must say that their knowledge of their own accents is pretty bad. My friend and I were chatting away in our aussie accents in the line at wal-mart in North Carolina, when the guy in front of us asked us if we were from Alabama!!!????!!!

People in small towns are not exposed to any foreign accents on daily bases. They can spot it immediately, but being not exposed they don't know what it is. The same happened to me in South Carolina last year. However, saying that I'm originally from Poland creates a frown and some confusion, they don't know where it is... Some younger ones do, but the older folks do not.

I think the US would benefit from exposing people to the world more via radio or TV, besides a few ethnic stations. There is way too little of it.

I remember being a kid, let's say 7, 8, 9...changing radio stations in Poland and picking up foreign stations and playing guessing games with my siblings or girlfriends what was the language. Of course, the neighboring languages were easy to pick up, but then we went to Albanian...or greek, or turkish...whatever.

Americans who travel abroad are a very different breed of people. They are very easy to talk to. The ones who travel 50 miles from home are totally helpless... :)

I think that it changes for the better thanks for the internet being used by all young people and kids.

Merged: CNN wants your views on Poland



watch the video then upload your responses to youtube you might find yourself part of the week long special broadcasts being screened on Poland from tomorrow :)

Here's a link where you can add comments on the CNN site: Poland Shaping Europe's Future

It'd be hilarious to do a youtube montage of all the Polish forum members
About their special interest in Poland i.e. their threads and posts.
People would think Poland the maddest country ever ha ha ha