smhogan
23 Aug 2006 / #1
Czesc !
Yes, that's South Wales, not New South Wales, Australia !
I am a Brit from the post-industrial town of Llanelli (pronounced KLAN-ETH-LEE, well near enough). I have mates of Polish stock, whose parents arrived in the UK during or immediately post WWII. Being Welsh I am familiar with bilingual households and do not feel threatened when someone speaks a language other than English. I speak very good German and my Welsh is OK. ALso basic Spanish.
Enough of me already ! Why this topic and where the h8ll is Llanelli and should anyone on this site care ? Well it's 300km (220 miles in real money) west of London.
Well let's see. A Brit-Pole mate of mine who fancies himself as a big wheel in POSK ( here's his web site tutkaj.co.uk/art0002.htm tells me that my home town is a Polish hotspot...and he isn't kidding. It's reckoned 10% of the population is now Polski. They've been bussed in to undertake cockle picking on the local beaches and to work (well I hope work I don't know what happens to them there) at an abbatoir. Sorry, I should refer to it by its euphemistic title 'meat packing plant'.
I shared a house in Hounslow with some Poles for three years but only picked up a few phrases. I fancied myself as multicultural but to be surrounded by so many Poles when I shop at my local Asda (aka Wal-Mart) is quite disorientating. Apparently they've all been brought over from Wroclaw.
Is there anyone from Wroclaw on this forum ? Have you heard of Llanelli ? Anyone met Andrzej Tutkaj ?
Dziekuje
Sean Hogan
PS I predict 5 million new settlers from Poland in the UK by 2010
Yes, that's South Wales, not New South Wales, Australia !
I am a Brit from the post-industrial town of Llanelli (pronounced KLAN-ETH-LEE, well near enough). I have mates of Polish stock, whose parents arrived in the UK during or immediately post WWII. Being Welsh I am familiar with bilingual households and do not feel threatened when someone speaks a language other than English. I speak very good German and my Welsh is OK. ALso basic Spanish.
Enough of me already ! Why this topic and where the h8ll is Llanelli and should anyone on this site care ? Well it's 300km (220 miles in real money) west of London.
Well let's see. A Brit-Pole mate of mine who fancies himself as a big wheel in POSK ( here's his web site tutkaj.co.uk/art0002.htm tells me that my home town is a Polish hotspot...and he isn't kidding. It's reckoned 10% of the population is now Polski. They've been bussed in to undertake cockle picking on the local beaches and to work (well I hope work I don't know what happens to them there) at an abbatoir. Sorry, I should refer to it by its euphemistic title 'meat packing plant'.
I shared a house in Hounslow with some Poles for three years but only picked up a few phrases. I fancied myself as multicultural but to be surrounded by so many Poles when I shop at my local Asda (aka Wal-Mart) is quite disorientating. Apparently they've all been brought over from Wroclaw.
Is there anyone from Wroclaw on this forum ? Have you heard of Llanelli ? Anyone met Andrzej Tutkaj ?
Dziekuje
Sean Hogan
PS I predict 5 million new settlers from Poland in the UK by 2010