Misconceptions of tourists about Poland

Being a foreigner (Belgian) and living since 4 years in Warsaw and coming to Poland since 1989, it amazes me what kind of questions are posted on this forum sometimes.

You might think from the content that this country is located in the Amazon rain forest...or lat least so these posters think.
Like: Does Poland has Wifi hotspots? / Can I do my laundry there? / ? do they know how to connect a laptop to the internet ? Do they still leave in trees?

The last one I made up obviously.
But people... this country is not an Albanian smugglers' nest. Admittedly they have weird politicians here.... But for the rest it is a great place to live...

And yes, they have internet :)

That could apply anywhere.

I was once asked what language was spoken in Poland.

Not once, have I been greeted with a great surprise in the US that Poles have their own language.

One American (allegedly educated) was surprised when she saw Polish workers reading newspapers during lunch break. She asked me whether they could really read?

Was she from Texas? LOL

Nope. She was from N.Y.C.

But a Texan I knew insisted on calling New York City - Jew York City.

I was asked by a college girl from my class if I came from Poland on the train... :)

LOL That's hilarious :)

Yes...hilarious and really surprising. Oh, well - maybe not :)
I live in the greater Chicago "burb" and I commute to work 20 miles. When asked where I live, and I answer, I'm asked "Where's that"?...I heard about it". lol. Lots of people in the USA keep close to home, anything further away is a big unknown. I've met an elderly person in Chicago who never went to see Lake Michigan - it was too far!

I laugh when I think about the time I was living in New York City over 6 years ago, some people would ask me "So what part of Europe is Poland in?". They would also associate Poland exclusively with "kiełbasa and pierogi". I blame the media for such generalizations and lack of knowledge of the American public.

I'm still battling with a lot of my friend's perceptions - they refuse to believe that I am visiting a really cool, fun and friendly country whenever I visit Poland. Almost like they want to stick with their images of concrete blocks and stodgy food.

Also, a very common misconception is the one that can be summed up in the conversation that I have EVERY SINGLE TIME I travel to Poland, as my parents offer to give me some Euros left over from theior holidays in France, thinking that this is the currency of Poland. And I always excplain to them that like the UK, Poland is in the EU but has its own currency. And then my dad always says, "wow, I bet there are millions of Zloty to the pound" If only this were true....

The temperature is one of them. Many see Poland as a freezing country. Yes, in 2005 that was very true but it's not that bad. It's almost October now and the forecast is for relatively warm weather. Poland is not like parts of Russia, Omsk or Novosibirsk for example.

I e-mailed around a couple of pics from one of my trips to the Baltic Coast earlier this Summer, and asked friends to guess where I was.. some of them thought that I was in Spain :D

Your friend was probably emphazing the fact of many Jews in NYC ....LOL