Life / Should I expect racism as a 'black' woman in Poland [149]

"Mixing" races is not toxic!! How governments often pit one ethnicity AGAINST another sheerly for economic gain, THAT'S toxic:-)

Genealogy / Is it possible there is a Slavic soul trapped in my body? [8]

Thought for years that there was a Teutonic soul trapped in my body (only much later to discover it was only indigestionLOL)

The Russian melos is far different from the Polish "dusza", even though both use essentially the same word! Motto: not all Slavic souls are one, any more than one can generalize about the "Germanic" soul either for that matter:-) Danes, Germans, Swedes, and Dutch are considered "Germanic", yet are almost as different as Poles from Russians are from Czechs and Bulgarians!

Genealogy / Angela Merkel is partially Polish. Her family name could be Kaźmierczak [208]

Possible, but none too likely:-)

Genealogy / Angela Merkel is partially Polish. Her family name could be Kaźmierczak [208]

Her words and deeds indicate that she's sold out to the far LEFT and hence is fueling PEGIDA and AfD in the upcoming election:-)

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

"Mein Krampf" would be more like it:-)

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

Hmmm, never noticed that. However, I will admit that I've rarely ever seen American guys become quite as impassioned about their history as Polish people whom I've encountered. They respond strongly to perceived slights and become worked up whenever their country is impugned, either by the Polish or even the foreign press!

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

You bet, Dreamer!

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

A Pole usually doesn't need wódka to sound off at the drop of a hat, Dreamergirl! Disagreement with him/her will generally do the trick. Once this happens, watch out:-)

By contrast, Germans for instance, tend to argue just as aggressively, only more surgically, moreover, with less concern for emotions. With almost Kantian precision and sometimes geometric logic, they'll slash the other person's argument to shreds!

I've known Polish men to become passionate to the point of crying if the subject is especially close to their heart.
Polish women go for this big time, I'm told.

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

Polish men particularly can sometimes come across in discussions, especially in a foreign language, as what we in the US call "characters" aka "wise guys", arrogant, intellectually aggressive know-it-alls who can be rather insensitive to public opinion with regard to the constraints of good manners once they think they're in the right:-)

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

@Dreamer, you've got a one-tracked mind, and I think I know which track you're onLOL

Love / Impressing a Polish girl who's not talking to me much anymore? [19]

The key word is "chivalrous" And the lovely thing about Polish chivalry, as opposed to the superficial Austrian variety, is that, by G_d, they really mean it!!

Only last year, the 70+ father of a Polish friend met my wife for dinner at a local Polish eatery, and (having forewarned her earlier) upon taking leave, promptly stood erect in front of her and raised her hand with the customary "Całuję Pani rączki!", charming both my wife and myself:-)

Mind you, the man was a simple factory worker his whole life, speaks not a syllable of English (though a smattering of Russian) and probably barely graduated fifth grade. Yet such manners across the board in that country nearly draw tears to my eyes!

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

Fact is, Merkel has ruined things for everyone and it will cost her dearly come mid-2017!! How many more defeats can one person suffer before it's wave the white flag time???

Language / I need to be encouraged to properly study this beautiful language - Polish [8]

The more inflected the morphology of a language, the richer, therefore, the deeper and more rewarding the experience for learning it.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

And not only Brits! When in Berlin about fifteen years back, I asked a German-born native Berliner acquaintance of mine whether, given the disproportionate number of Turks in Kreuzberg, for example, (many with equally broken German), whether at least in the capital, concessions would be made to a similar type of phone or service menu option with Turkish, possibly English or Russian. She sort of bristled at the notion and replied that if either immigrant or even tourist didn't understand German sufficiently, 'guess they'd have to work it out:-)

That was then, so I'm no longer physically familiar with what changes, if any, have been made in this regard.

UK, Ireland / Why English do not like Polish? [417]

I'm starting to realize, albeit slowly, that the reason it seems many English do not like the Polish is much the same as the reason many Americans often seem reluctant to accept Hispanics; it's the attitude of adaptation! Perhaps a large number of Poles in the UK also act as though they feel the gov't. "owes" them something for giving them safe haven, hence that the government should accommodate them instead of the way it ought to be:-)

Language / I need to be encouraged to properly study this beautiful language - Polish [8]

Slog on, dear heart, persevere and you will most assuredly have success! Only never let so-called English-speaking (often self-proclaimed "bilingual"LOL) Poles ever dissuade you from either learning or above all speaking Polish with them. In the end, you'll come our ahead:-)

Powodzenia a życzę Ci dużego wyniku na drodze!

Genealogy / Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]

I already sent you a private mail in this regard.

Again, "personally", I'd wager he's a Silesian as you suggested, after having thought about it a little:-)

Genealogy / Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]

Yes, that's an excellent guess. That sort of goes with the ethnics Polish-German idea!

Genealogy / Vintage Photos of Polish ancestors [144]

While his face, despite the still somewhat grainy image, certainly could look Polish, he could easily be an ethnic Polish-German, a Ukrainian or possibly a White Russian, perhaps even Ruthenian! There's little way of telling really:-)

Language / Appropriate word selection to positively describe someone in Polish [10]

I agree with much of what's been said, particularly by Mafketis! This whole thing about complimenting someone, particularly a child, is very American, perhaps also British, not really continental European.

My experience is that such words above are used, but used sparingly, except perhaps when addressing foreigners who've learned Polish:-)

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

I actually agree, Maf! Don't even allow them in unless they pass muster. If they honestly do, then any resistance to their entry, simply because they don't "look" Nordic etc. is just plain ol' prejudice.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

Regrettable perhaps, multicultural globalization is immanent and will simply have to be absorbed by whatever enlightened, civilized means possible.

While I on occasion will condone violence, violence for example done in clear self defense, those who advocate the brutal expulsion of migrants are giving in to their basest instincts, from which we supposedly evolved!

Not every incident is either clear cut or weighed equally, you people.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

As an American and not a European, if said Syrian migrant were dead-set willing, ready, and able to sacrifice for their new homeland, learn the language like hell, work their tail off to acculturate and assimilate wholeheartedly, then why oughtn't the German, Polish or Swedish population be as ready, willing, and able to accept this fellow human into their fold?!

The obvious answer is that conservative, traditional societies are often too hidebound to accept change, even if the person willing to change will be a bene- not a malefactor in their midst.

As everywhere, some bad apples aka those who attacked women in Cologne last year have spoiled the entire batch and THAT, sir, is the crying shame here!!!!

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

Crow, you're talking isolationist foolishness! Remember in this global world, you can run, but you CAN'T hide.

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

In what way am I being cruel?

I'm merely trying to put myself, coming from the wealthy United States, in the meager position of a semi-literate Syrian migrant whose heard half their life about "beautiful Germany", then finally arrives there and is told "GO HOME"!!

Again, the real cruelty are the games that big government play by using these migrants as bargaining chips, much as with the Jews during the Middle Ages; welcome when we need ya, **** off when we don't!

It's a sick message, don't you agree?

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

Then it's simply being human to want to live somewhere which has been made so damnably attractive that the rest of the poorer countries, as with us plainer folks oogling at some drop-dead gorgeous female, are expected to merely gape in awe and realize that it's hands-off except for the deserving few??

Wow Maf, you sure expect a lot of restraint out there! Maybe the emerging nations should be given a forced frontal lobotomy so that their brains will be in permanent "off" mode and they won't ever have to strive for anything because they'll never know the difference, right?

Ludicrous??! Naturally! But following your arguments to their ineluctable conclusion, there's no other choice, is there?

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

Although multi-culturalism clearly hasn't worked as planned, the fact is that civilized ADULT humans are often forced to make the best out of a less than favorable situation, and torching asylum shelters, beating up foreigners in frustration (or for sport!!), daubing hate messages on all media etc. is not something which mature, thinking people should ever be encouraged to do:-)

Always put oneself in the uncomfortable position of the minority aka migrant foreigner. They're usually just an unwitting pawn in international money games which governments have always played, among them "Here's mine, this is yours.....NOW LET'S FIGHT FOR IT!!!"

lol

Law / Polish citizen moving back from USA to the EU (Ireland or Netherlands) with American partner [31]

@Maf, although the Dutch speak proverbially fluent English, this by no means signifies that when I've been to the Netherlands, I don't speak Dutch with them in order to insure we both UNDERSTAND one another fluently:-)

Klaudia, if you moved to the States when you were eight, how old are you now? I ask, because normally one never really "unlearns" their mother tongue, except consciously:-) You wrote that at present your English is better than your Polish. Many in my aquaintenceship have claimed similarly that they've forgotten their birth language, though after conversing with them at some length, it turns out that in the end, both their first AS WELL AS their second language have a foreign accentLOL

Life / Polish people and racism. [943]

There is in English a huge difference between being "racist" and "bigoted"! A racist despises all races different from his own and wishes them ill, or worse. A bigot tolerates all races different from his or hers, they merely don't wish to be in their company, yet will endure the experience and hold their noses:-)

Law / Polish citizen moving back from USA to the EU (Ireland or Netherlands) with American partner [31]

Klaudia, when I was first in Europe, I'd have found it no end frustrating, not to mention just plain BORING, not to understand what my neighbors were saying, both at home as well as in public!

True, many Netherlanders do speak English quite well, but, as we international types know all too well, there's always that invisible "brick wall", beyond which we simply cannot pass:-) Had I been forced to use English in either Holland or Poland without knowing either of those languages, I'd have nearly gone nuts:-)

For me, it went beyond courtesy; it was sheer survival.