Sad life of a Polish immigrant in the UK. Ch. 2 - Stress

Everyone takes it easy in Britain, you have local newspapers, local radio, football teams and pubs, and that's about it. You don't fret over the politics as much as we do, you're not bombarded with Gazeta Wyborcza and TVN living in a state of permanent catastrophe.

This is what draws people over here, that lack of stress.
This is what makes people not care what job they are in - even if it's 200 pounds per week, at least the petrol is dirt cheap.

It's not stress free for all of us. Especially with the nasty comments: not in the papers, not in the internet, but at work. But definitely your life is easier (and the roads go without saying)

hey krysia are you living in UK? if its so shltty why are you staying? if youre still in Britain enjoy it and stop bltching. stop being one of these complaining dreadfull vvankers. enjoy the things you can and get over and try to live with the rest. if its so bad just fcuk off to Poland

Politics: I reckon they do
Stress: I reckon they have
Job: I reckon they complain and complain about the money and hard work aspects
Petrol: Are you totally sure
Comments: Get them to poke you in the chest and you can have them all on assault
Roads: They are the wrong way round

Nasty comments like what ??
We have polish in are office. They are not subjected to nasty comments.

Ksyia - these threads are dire - how many more chapters are you going to share with us ?

" I took a dump today - the toilety doesn't flush the same as it does in Poland..........wonder if it will rain later........."

I love how you defend your country! It's good to love one's country.

So what does offend you exactly if I say that you have less stress than Poland?

it is raining already, just checked

It isn't my country that you are going on about - slag off England/London as much as you want.
Ever been to Scotland ?


Mundane posts along the lines of..." Woke up this morning and thought....oh no .....not again...."

cheer up girl !

I don't know what job you do but we most certainly have stress, house prices are sky high rental prices are sky high and generally to live a decent quality of life you need to be clearing £20k annually if not life is hard.


Have you read the papers recently, thats all they seem to write about, MPs expenses, Labours incompentence.


If people are being nasty to you at work then you should find something else, Theres no excuse for bullying in the work place and i can assure you the bullying isn't simply based on your nationality, The UK has been a multi cultural society for decades and we are used to accomodating people from different cultures. look at how many mosques have been built and how native people of the country aren't allowed to really say anything to people from different cultures for fear of being branded a racist.


We have the daily mail and various news channels to keep telling us that our economy is fcuked.

Sorry but where do you get theses ideas from?

I agree with some aspects but I would say life is much more stressful in the UK than in Poland as more is expected of people ie be polite no matter what has gone wrong in your life, You are expected to make your fortune before you hit 30, You must have a luxury leather and wood lined expensive car on the drive, Your house must be perfect and paid for.

Roads I agree and we drive on the correct side of the road which makes things much better.

Really, can you tell my team that because last time I looked most are in for 08:00 and dont leave until circa. 19:00, yeah sure we take it really easy!


Really? So we dont worry about the mess our goverment has caused with mass immigration? Hmm insteresting..


Nope we have had months of talk about economic downturn and 1,000s of people losing their jobs and companies going to the wall left right and centre!! Yeah our news is full of the fun stuff! Not to mention crime...


LOL LOL LOL LOL...


Is that what you earn? You think petrol is cheap..oh okay..


Tough, if you dont like it, you know what you can do :D

I would agree and disagree at the same time. Most Polish migrants don't really read the papers or watch British TV; they don't get together with people who are stressed about the state of the economy because their more expensive lifestyles and top-notch jobs are on the line; and they don't really think of the UK as a real, actual country - they see it more as The Place You Go to Earn Money, a kind of Neverland or what, where nothing bad ever happens, and even if it does, there is always someone British to pick up the pieces.

Sad, but true. The real world is in Poland, and now they live the "dream". And dreams are usually stress free - everything is weird, but hey, who's to worry, it's not for real!

Hard to say who's to blame for this fairytale image of the UK, I guess both sides are guilty a bit. NuLabor has done quite a lot in the nicey-nice propaganda department, and most migrants the world over tend to paint a fantastic picture of their new country to those who stayed at home, thus luring them to come over, and who will admit they had been fooled?

.........

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  Describe the above
  

a glass ver a wooden table, there is water up to the middle of the glass. :D

The UK still sadly hasn't learnt that long hours doesn't mean productivity - and this is one reason I don't want to go back. There's something very wrong with the macho attitude that "oh, I worked 13 hours yesterday, you only did 12, you're not dedicated enough".

the glass if half-full but I'm introvertic anyways.. :(

Don't loose heart Ksysia, we are all praying everyday for you in Poland, try to live somehow in that dreaded mad country where dogs are barking with their arses, be the shining beacon, be strong and never back down even if the water in the toilet isn't flushing in the right direction. Even if you can't buy a proper bułka just those tasteless toast bread ( barf ). And keep on taking these sedatives, please keep us entertained.

Who drank half of my water???

Magdalena
There is a lot of truth in this.

Ksysia sounds just like my ex - everything about the UK was "bad" - work, money, housing, "cholerne Angole", weather, transport, traffic, prospects, cost of living... but at least the drivers and roads are better! :D

I said to her a few times, "well, **** off back then, if you don't like it!".

Well, of course she didn't - she stayed with me - until I got fed up of the complaints/criticism and left, that is :)

If you believed her, everyone in Poland has a job which not only gives them a good standard of living, a car, and maybe even a helicopter (I kid you not!), but everyone finishes work at a decent time, so Mum can collect the kids from school (which is always a short walk away, as is every workplace). Dad always finishes work just after the kids get home from school - unlike a loser like me ;) - and no-one wants, or needs, overtime or second jobs.

However... she seemed to have forgotten what she left behind - poor wages, a low standard of living, a period during which she needed THREE jobs, and no prospects - which is, of course, why she moved to the UK. But she decided that it would be better to fiddle the benefits system and sit on her a**, languishing in a part-time job which requires no education and minimal training, instead of using her professional qualifications to earn a decent salary.Still, it paid for her fake-label market clothes, false nails and hair extensions, so it's all good! (lol)

I'm fairly certain she's gone back now. People like that certainly aren't missed - or needed - in the UK.

It's a pretty normal situation. If you move (long term) to a different country, it's quite normal for things to seem less stressful. Sure there are stresses in dealing with infrastructure, culture, language and bureaucracy but these tend to have novelty on their side and so they're not quite as bad as they might be back home.

There's also:

1. things that stressed you out in your home country are often absent

2. things that stress out locals don't bother you much (as they usually don't apply to you)

I live in Poland and have had my share of adaptation difficulties, but all in all I think of my existence as pretty low in stress. I was actually surprised when I found out how much stress Polish people experience on a day to day basis.

Finally, according to sociological research, traditionally Poland is a higher stress kind of country to live in than Britain has traditionally been, at least before labor government began its current campaign to destroy traditional British society (from the news coming out of Britain that's the only hypothesis that fits the data).

Or, the stresses you are used to are replaced by new stresses?


Now, this I do agree with - there is NO doubt that life has become far worse for the average to middle-income WORKING Briton since Labour got in - hopefully they won't make voting for the opposition illegal before next summer, but I wouldn't be surprised if they tried ;)

People quickly forget where they come from and what have they left behind. They get used to the luxury of things they didn't have. And if they are ****** enough they start moaning about discomforts. In poland it is called "Wyżej sra niż dupe ma" it means "He shits higher than where his arse is".

The grass is always greener Ksysia.

As an Englishman the English weather depresses me. We haven't had a summer for the last three years ! At least in Poland your summer starts in May and finishes in September.

Polish politics is depressing and full of corruption but guess what ? It's the same over here ! The only difference is our politicans have been part of the system longer than yours have so they know how to cheat the system without getting caught most of the time.

Christmas actually means something in Poland. In the UK it's just an excuse to drink and shop.

Poland has it's fair share of alcoholics but have you ever been out on a Friday or Saturday night in the UK ? The behaviour of thousands of our lager louts puts the behaviour of one of your drunken men on a bicycle in the shade.

Your food is better. Raw ingredients such as tomatoes tastes amazing. Even your flowers smell. Walk down a Polish street in the summer and you're assualted by all the fragrances around you.

Your internal tourism infratructure is better than ours and more affordable. It's still affordable in Poland to go to Zakopane or rent an apartment in Sopot but try doing something similar in the UK and you soon realise it's cheaper to holiday abroad than it is in the UK.

Poland isn't perfect but it's got a lot going for it

I echo that, spiritus! Super insights. Life in Blighty really isn't that great at all. Some Polish people don't really realise what they have. You don't have some of the nonsense that Britain has, e.g job share and excessive PT options.

Poles put stress on themselves but they could do with kicking back and enjoying the numerous pleasurable options of life here.

And there's no coaster, it will make a ring on my nice table.

McCoys post hits the nail on the head,ffs ksyia stop moaning.


How would you know you haven't lived here for years.

Ohh the Poles love shock therapy, that really fcuks me off about this country its a trait im trying to eradicate form my wife.

Life in England is great if you have the money.

I'm in regular contact with many Brits on FB. I'm meeting up with a guy who went back to Southend but came back here due to the difficult conditions and prices.

It's hard for some and easy for others.

Shock therapy?

The same as most places.


Whiny moany fcuks, why sit and moan get of your arse and do something about it!

Most being the predominant word here, even if i was a millionaire in Poland it wouldnt change fcuk all. It would still suck im afraid. One thing i love is cars, lets say i bought a brand new Porsche, you cant drive it here anyway.

I must admit i never drove over in Poland and to be honest didn't want to. I had a lift from my ex gfs mate once and was glad to get out alive.

For those who can't open this video from f.i. from Poland due to the regional block try through the web proxy:

Too much glass for the amount of water involved.