News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


SLD at one point as well. Oddly those were/are the only parties with a history from before 1989. Since then it's all been big men and their flunkies (even though PO didn't start out that way that's what it's turned into).

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Of course he did, that's how Polish politics works. As soon as you become a potential danger to the big kahuna you're out.


I dislike PO a little less than I do PiS. Call that being a big fan if it pleases you.

My natural inclinations are socially liberal (though I'm a little on the traditionalist side) and fiscally moderate to conservative, sort of a Rockefeller Republican (which no longer exist since the the bible crazies took over the GOP). Internationally of more an isolationist (US involvement in almost anything outside it's borders has been a major disaster for the last 30 years or so).

PiS is the opposite of that - socially conservative socialists the worst of all possible worlds for me.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Dont' ever change, Polonius3, keep feeding your hate. I'd pay for you and crow to have dinner together just for the opportunity to listen to all the crazy.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Almost all Polish parties remain power vehicles for a single leader and anyone else gets pushed out. Both PO and PiS are guilty of this. As soon as a particular figure begins to develop their own power base in they party they get forced out (Rokita, Ziobro, Marcinkiewicz are just the three biggest examples). Does anyone think that Kaczynski will let Szydło alone? The better job she'd do the more in danger her position in the party..... that's pretty effed up.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


Burn? How? That horrible idea for a coalition was PiS's own idea and it clearly showed the electorate that they weren't as ready for prime time as they claimed. PiS knew what Samoobrona and LPR were before they picked them up.

Polonia / BRAZILIAN POLISH PEOPLE [21]


Why would Brazilian Poles want to write about their experiences in a language that's not native to either country?

If you want a larger online presence start a Portugese/Polish forum for people. This forum is not very accepting of languages other than English (which makes zero sense, but....)

Food / Where can i find turnips (rzepa) in Poznan? [8]

Lots of luck in finding any, you might check the open air markets in Lazarz (just off Głogowska) or Jężyce (on Dąbrowskiego) but Polish people mostly don't think of turnips as edible (they also don't like rutabagas 'brukiew' which I don't understand either).

You might find biała rzepa, a kind of long all white turnip but that's about it in my experience.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


That was an own goal. He wanted to create a grand coalition of the right but didn't realize you have get the mainstream first before going for the extremes cause the extremes will scare off the mainstream.

News / Poland Parliamentary elections 2015 [1060]


PSL will get in bed with anyone for a shred of political power......

News / Russia threatens Poland over monument [33]


That's a bit much, but the Soviet Union did almost all the heavy lifting in beating the Nazis, had they not forced a bunch of countries into unwanted political and military alliances with them afterwards then maybe people would be more favorably disposed toward them.

News / Russia threatens Poland over monument [33]

Many people make a fundamental mistake about Russia (I made it for many, many years and was suprised to realize how wrong I'd been).

They assume that Russians disliked the USSR and were glad to see it fall. Nothing could be further from the truth. The USSR and the shortages and repression suited them just fine. That's one reason there's never been any demand for a public accounting of communist crimes in Russia - they don't care.

And that's why Putin is so popular - he's saved the feckless Russian masses from capitalism and restored a Soviet system that (sort of) guarantees security in exchange for not making a fuss about anything the government does. It didn't help that the privatization process in Russia was fouled fromt he start by US financial criminals but the result was that Russians liked and like the CCCP.

The defining achievement of the USSR was WWII and Russians cannot imagine why the world doesn't worship them for this. They get completely unhinged and think the only explanation for not worshipping the Red Army is that people are nazis. The chances of them ever understanding why other countries didn't like the Soviet system are approximately zero.

Work / Lang Company fired me [17]

What I hear is that private language schools are really hurting all over. The market has been glutted for years and the demand just isn't there anymore.

News / The yesterday's referendum in Poland? Results? Attendence less than 8%. [24]


No he didn't. He was just the latest 5 minute protest candidate. There's no indication he knew how governmnet works or was willing to learn.

News / Referendum to cost Polish taxpayers nearly 130 mln zl amid uncertain turnout [29]


Glad to hear you admit it! You're exactly the type of person who was a party member before 1989.

Language / Ambulans displacing karetka - similar meaning of different Polish words? [19]


I remember one year the printed train schedule for Poznan had some reference to "stacja pociągów pasażerskich" (whereas the previous year just had 'dworzec'). And no one in Poland asks how they can get to stacja (at least I've never heard anyone ask that).

Language / Ambulans displacing karetka - similar meaning of different Polish words? [19]


I would say 'carriage' (my all purpose word for horse drawn transportation) but google translate doesn't agree....

Also I remember in the early 90s there was a flurry of usage of the word 'stacja' instead of 'dworzec' but that seemed to die out (mercifully enough).

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


Only if they're into group sex.

Work / Is moving from Moscow to Wroclaw worth it? (.NET software developer) [39]

IME they have the downsides of Poland (dreary weather a lot of the time though I don't imagine Moscow is much better) for somewhat better financial rewards and far worse socially. The big complaint of people living in places like the Netherlands is that it's very hard to get into a social circle (that isn't a bunch of dreary whining expats). It's a little better in Germany.

Linguistically, Polish will be very easy (IME Russian speakers can become fluent in a few months) while German will be harder if you don't already know it. Germans take a dim view of longterm residents who don't learn the language while the Netherlands make it difficult to learn and use the language (and then at some point turn against you for not knowing it).

Politics is a big issue. Most Polish people have no use for the Russian state or Russian politics (for very good reasons). On the other hand, many Poles like a lot of aspects of Russian culture so many people will be happy to make an exception of you as a 'good' Russian (unless you're a big Putin supporter).

UK, Ireland / Common pitfalls for Poles learning English [187]


So? In American usage there's no way to use it (in the meaning "czy masz..?") without sounding like you're 80 years old or very pretentious.


No, it's fine. It's also ambiguous (possibly his intention) it could mean either he decided to not run or that it wasn't his choice to run but his party's (kind of a "nie chcem ale muszem" situation.


I would say "I choose to not run" (sounds far more natural in modern usage).

Life / Polish maid very flirtatious? [36]


Best. Freudian. Slip. Ever. (at least on this site in the last few years)

Language / Polish dative case: Why do you use "mu" in this sentence instead of "go" [9]

jemu is a more stressed form and is the only form possible as the first word in the sentence, 'mu' is unstressed (far more common). The form 'niemu' occurs after a preposition as in

"mężczyźnie, który zeznawał przeciw niemu w sądzie"

"the man that testified against him in court"

Law / Your experience as a foreigner running a small business in Poland [43]


Straight into jail?

Google translate is great for some simple things but nothing very complex or that you need to be really sure of (like anything to do with anything legal).

Life / What are the things which cause culture shock in Poland? [164]


Long underwear or long johns.

I occasionally wore them in -15 degree weather in Poland but haven't for many years.

Life / Polish maid very flirtatious? [36]


And then he can PM his disturbed fantasies directly to you without getting the rest of us.... soiled.

And to keep this on topic. Poland lost most of its servant culture during the communist period and norms of behavior between employers and employees aren't necessarily worked out yet (and since a lot of maids in Poland are actually from beyond the eastern border, cultural questions are also an issue).

Life / Reaction regarding Pakistanis respected in Poland [54]


"own" them? Like property? Give up while you're ahead.....

Life / Catholic idol worship in Poland [29]


They're actually called "offerings". 'Sacrifices' makes it sound like they're cutting the heads off goats and chickens.... I've yet to see that in Poland.


And repeating "peace be upon him" every time you write or say his name and caring about depictions by non-believers is _not_ a form of worship? This makes sense? what is PBUH in Polish, anyway?

Life / Polish maid very flirtatious? [36]

This is Polish forums, not Penthouse forums. The author should keep his fantasies to himself, they're not very arousing... (and I feel sorry for any poor woman who works for him).

Work / There are English speaking jobs in Poland. [9]

Isn't it easier to just learn Polish than to contort your life a*s over elbows so you can speak English?

I don't get it.

News / Poland in ruin or flourishing? [35]


I've spent most of the past 25 years in Poland and yeah, I'd say the improvements have been more equitable than not. Not perfect, but perfect is never going to happen. The great majority of the real have nots (versus chronic malcontents) are in dire straights because of various kinds of dysfunction and/or chronic passivity. For anyone with any gumption and free of crippling addiction it's possible to scrape up enough money for a ticket to western europe.

Duda and PiS are playing to the widespread subjective feeling among many Poles that they should be richer than they are. That is many Poles feel subjectively poor and nothing can talk them out of it.

Polonius hates anything modern and wants Poland to be mired in 1991 level poverty so he can pontificate and preach (as opposed to actually live in Poland).

Travel / Taxis from Gdansk airport? [65]

Guerilla taxi finding (I've used this in a few countries at train stations and airports and it's always worked)

Wait in the place that people going to the airport are left off by taxis. If they seem okay leaving the taxi and not upset then they're probably locals who know which taxi companies to use. When in doubt ask the driver for a rough estimate of the price to get where you want to go.

I've never been ripped off when doing this.