This I've never heard of... what the heck is a beer garden?
10) The needless moaning and hypochondria
LOL sooooooo true! Almost everyone over 50 is taking about 80 different pills a day and is complaining about being at deaths door.
9) Cheeseburgers with more cabbage than cheese
Poland has got to have the most resourceful usages for cabbage :)
mine: love 1. moja babcia 2. food 3. sunsets 4. fresh air 5. childhood memories 6. the people 7. śmietankowe lody 8. fresh kompot 9. soft blankets 10. goosefeather pillows 11. bonus: going on a fura ride
hate: 1. lineups 2. rainy weather 3. the roads 4. milk fresh from the udder 5. rampant gossiping 6. the people (love some, hate some) 7. flaki soup 8. cow dung in the country 9. Piersza Miłosć (especially the guy that plays Artur - he looks like a rat) 10. my version of the language (I wish I was better at it)
A beer garden, it's the same in Polish Mali, ogródek piwny I think. No flowers and other ornamental objects, just beer usually and parasols.
Thanks for being honest about point 10. Many Poles say themselves that they are amongst the worst hypochondriacs.
Cabbage is put to better use in kapuśniak and łazanki, oh, and pierogi 2.
It'll be interesting 2 c who comments on the vanity aspect. Many Polish women are beautiful but it gets tiring hearing it frequently. So many countries have women equally as good. To be honest, I've seen a couple of Scottish women better looking than anything I've seen here, and that's saying sth.
I do actually quite like the rain unless im playing golf in it, helps me relax. Anyway although it has been raining all day here i find it rains around 70% less than the UK. I prefer hot summers and cold winters, gives you something to look forward to for both seasons. I am gald to have survived another winter here in my freezing Palace but I will miss snowboarding, hot soups, casseroles and evenings around the fire place. Right now im looking forward to BBQ's, cold beer, wearing t shirts and hopefully a couple of holidays.
Why cut the tips off of a kittens tail? What would the purple be? I don't think that was answered, and quite honestly I can't let go of that until I know.
You've got a good start there. Let me add some ideas. I'm a Florida cracker transplanted to Warsaw.
Polish drivers: think every crappy road they drive on is the autobahn and that they are mario andretti. Will not let women drivers pass them under any circumstances. I like to play a game to see how fast I can get them to go, just to keep me from passing.
Polish women: As a women, they inspire me to do better. Dress better, wear cuter clothes, etc. As a stay at home mom, it's hard to keep up, but I'm trying. And, unlike other nearby countries, Polish women are not throwing themselves at my husband all the time. They have self-respect and decorum.
Lastly, customer service. An idea whose time has come. Check it out. Don't be yelling at me in line at Tesco. I'm about to give you my money and that money should buy me groceries and a friendly greeting : )
What I hate about showing movies with a voice over translation (lektor) is that it ruins the movie for people who share the language of the original even if they know Polish. Neither subtitles nor dubbing manages that trick.
Of the three ways of localizing movies I think voice over is by far the worst aesthetically for that reason alone. It's the only form of translation that I think some directors (Spielberg and Kubrick IINM) absolutely don't want their work subjected too.
I can stand watching a French movie with a voice over (even German or Spanish which I know as foreign languages) but an English language movie with a lektor is just awful.
It has a low reputation in Poland but real dubbing (as done in larger western european countries) doesn't destroy a movie quite like a lektor. I'd rather watch German dubbed tv than Polish lektorized tv (even though my German isn't as good as my Polish).
Fortunately with dvd's I can tell the lektor to shut up (and use Polish subtitles if the original isn't in English).
The food..it just tastes so fresh and makes you feel right at home.
The history..I love seeing the old towns, because not only is there so much beautiful architecture but theres also so much culture surrounding it all. I remember seeing a 400 year old church, it was amazing.
The people..they are so family oriented and welcoming. I love the fact that I could go to someone's house that I've never met and feel right at home. They are also very respectful.
The land..just driving and seeing the endless fields, the beautiful mountains and shores; can't beat that.
The quirks..the old women talking to themselves/riding on bicycles, the funny drunks, the staring problems, the crappy tv shows; just something about all that, that I like.
The bad:
The roads are bad.
The older generation doesn't like to really open themselves up to new ways of thinking.
Pros: 1.The language 2. all the old buildings, historical sites 3. The fightin' side of the Poles 4. Their AMAZING restoration skills 5. some of the food 6. the beer. I couldnt stand beer untill I had some in Poland 7. the landscapes 8. Kazimierz Dolny 9. The humor 10. oldies music, like Czerwone Gitary, etc 11. the hospitality, once they get to know you 12. traditional arts and crafts, clothes 13. I don't know.... just this atmosphere... especially in artistic/intellectual circles
Cons: 1. soviet buildings 2. remaining communist attitudes and mentality 3. the grass is always greener on the other side attitude 4. the ******** and moaning and everyday rudeness 5. buerocracy (sp?) 6. the illogicalness and innefficiency of everyday things like store layouts, public transportation, etc etc etc 7. THE DRIVERS 8. most of the food (I'm a vegetarian so this IS a special case) 9. a tendency for low national self-esteem. SO ANNOYING!! 10. everything is so effin expensive!
1. Beautiful forests 2. Spruced up, colorful market squares (rynek) 3. Very tasty home cooking (if you like polish food) 4. genuine conversations 5. Private gardens (ogrodki) in the middle or on the outskirts of a city (a weekend escape for the owners) 6. small vegetable and fruit shops (warzywniaki) 7. weekly farmer markets 8. new houses with interesting architecture 9. Hospitality 10. Ice cream shops 11. Drivers stopping for pedestrians (even the bad ones?)
Non-Favs
1. Roads and road signs 2. Drivers 3. Laundry on the balconies 4. Muddy paths in parks 5. Prices in the Malls (outrages) 6. Not too friendly service clerks (banks, grocery stores), improved, but still... 7. Pushy beggars at bus and train stations.
Clothes have to get dry somehow. Many Scottish families in houses use tumble-driers or clothes horses. It's the blocks that use the balconies as they have them funnily enough. In America?
I live in a small condo complex and I never saw any clothes on the balcony. People use only dryers. Our by-laws however mention that we can hang cloths between certain hours of the day, but never after 6 p.m. I hang my dry cleaned work outfits (read suits) to "air them out" from the chemical smell, but I'd never do it with my regular laundry.
Thanks PD. I did see it in Poland. I also saw kind of multiple, round bars attached to a bathroom wall for drying clothes. I'm not sure if they we heated too. Both referred to as suszarki (dryers).
