UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Let's hope you're right, DougPol:-)

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Yep, and it's precisely this xenophobic which will prevent Britain from working together with her continental allies such as France and Germany.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

You're right I'm sure, but where then would Britain turn as she has in the past? No man's an island, nor a nation:-)

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

One critical member, you mean! Oh, I guess the world, i.e. Europe, won't literally come to an end should Britain decide to exit, but it would most assuredly have severe reprecussions throughout much of the continent.

Of this one can be nearly certain, I think.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

True. Yet without a "concert of Europe" (once proposed by Metternich, if I recall correctly), once more, the continent might be plunged into chaos, both economic and/or martial, with no neutral body to intervene. If the Brexit occurs, what will become of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, or NATO??

I reiterate, the Brexit would be a disaster, for Britain at any rate, FAR WORSE than when Scotland threatened cessession several years back:-)

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Britain withdrawing from the EU would do irreparable harm to both the fabric of Britain as well as Europe as a whole!

Although from the United States, I've always seen Great Britain aka England as an integral European partner, despite perhaps the foolish parochialism of those who think of England as somehow "separate" from the Continent:-)

Study / Wroclaw vs Warsaw vs Cracow? - Which city is better for education? [10]

Something tells me Warsaw/Varsovia, then again, I've only been to Poland once and that was a long time ago:-)

Work / Opportunities for a foreign student seeking an work Internship in Poland? [5]

Can,

If language skills are the issue standing between you and employment in Poland following your internship, then for heaven's sake take a basic language course, precisely as if I for instance, an American, were seeking work in Turkey, I too would have to learn at least the foundation of the local lingo:-)

Although as in the rest of Europe, English is widely used and spoken (particularly among other non-native English speakers working in multinational corporations!), there's NEVER a legitimate substitute for learning the language of the country in which you're living, and especially, working.

Other than as a mere tourist, foreign languages when interacting with others on a daily basis might not get you as far as you think!

Tebrikkler,

Many find learning a foreign language time consuming and onerous, yet not doing so will only make things tougher later on! Certainly, there are sure to be internships where the target language isn't required, but I assume you want to get to know Polish people, not simply hang out your entire stay with other Turks:-)

Travel / World youth day - Częstochowa, Poland [34]

I'm not Catholic (nor even Polish!), but I think right here in New Jersey, Polish-Americans are making their own pilgrimage to an American shrine of their own:-)

Not entirely related to your friendly post, but thought I'd pass along the info anyhow.

DOBREJ ZABAWY!!

UK, Ireland / Where to find friendly Polish people in London? [16]

Where to find friendly Polish people in London?

Likely much the same place as where to find friendly English people in Warsaw; in a bloomin' pub:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

I wouldn't say that, Nothanks! Oh, admittedly she's also bought into the familiar affirmative action mantra of "You girls have gotta do it all by yourselves (..just like I did HAH!!!!! -Paging Bill:-)) and she certainly does reach out, at least on the surface, to minorities of every stripe, don't let's now lapse once again into bleedin' Right Wing whining about the decline of the W.A.S.P male ad nauseum!!

keep to the topic please

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Sounds a bit ominous, all told:-) Is this meant as a promise or a threat?

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Ahemm, let's not point the accusing finger SPECIFICALLY at Islam for her excessively punitive stance on "alternative lifestyles":-) Putin's made it a literal crime and he sure ain't MuslimLOL!

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

I simply mean that neither extreme in society is necessarily beneficial. While no country is nor wants to become a caricature of herself, England as the eternally genteel land of RP-speaking, caucasian, pasty-faced toffs from "Upstairs, Downstairs", addicted to water coloring and tea parties, Holland as tulip country populated by scores of homogeneous Katrinkas, Hans Brinker types etc.., IMPOSING diversity on any unwitting (hence ill-prepared) society is scarcely the same as allowing it to blossom from within that society, naturally, organically and not, as I posted prior, by boat lift for political expediency!!

Before we label us skeptics, occasional nay-sayers, as bigots and racists ad nauseum, let's examine diversity seriously and from a more scholarly perspective, it's positives as well as its negatives, shall we?

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, above all, Copenhagen (all cities which I know!) are indeed massively changed from the late '70's, even the start of the millennium to be sure! No, my view isn't "outdated" and yet I know that Europe is NOT America, nor should she be, and so again, multi-culturalism sounds wonderful, but it has it's limits.....in America also:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Face it, folks! The melting-pot culture may well work in much of the US, it is still foreign to Britain as well as much of the Continent.

For the average ethnic "Anglo" Londoner aka Brit at large, the mayor a major urban center still ought to reflect the majority culture, and that means white and Anglican (or Catholic). Jews barely gained acceptance during the 19th century, Muslims continue to be just a bit of a stretch for Mr. and Mrs. John Bull:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Think the next mayor then will be "of color" aka black? And how would the diversity-friendly Brits feel about a black royal in the future?

Think about it! Diversity also has her limits:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Again, I can only add that I hope that Londoners, to be sure all Englishmen, will come to accept a Zadiq Khan as readily as a Boris Johnson, but it's scarcely going to be an easy adjustment! Were I am enlightened Londoner, certainly I'd welcome a presence such as Mr Khan's compared with the likes of a Ken Livingstone and similar polarizing forces, yet one must realize that having an unknown factor in charge of one of the world's major capitals is going to require a significant period of adjustment:-)

Britain aka England had already long since gotten used to Disraeli as PM along with numerous other non-Christian statesmen, including Dublin's Lord Mayor Briscoe (from an Orthodox family, no less!!!). A PRACTICING Muslim however definitely throws a monkey wrench into the works. To deny this is quite simply burying one's head in the sand.

News / Germany - We won't let Poland drown! [28]

Why though, Paki Lahore? Despite an admittedly contentious history Poland and Germany both share, haven't you ever heard of neighbor helping neighbor?? Perhaps they don't share as common an ethnicity as Pakistan and India, for example, but nevertheless, there's never a "bad" time for a little bridge building, is there?

:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Szalawa, perhaps it is different in London, yet, here in New York we too have dozens of minority groups, brought in by boat lift to the shores of this country, many of the Islamic faith, others not, yet still empowered with the feeling that being a Pakistani, Hindu or Chinaman makes them identical with a native-born, tax-paying US citizen. While we may all be equal as human beings, surely we are not all equal as people and anyone who can't understand the anger at dealing with a heavily-accented customer service rep at their local bank as opposed to the locally-born English native-speaking rep whom they've dealt with for many years, merely because the foreigner is cheap labor for the bank has got to be a little slow:-)

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

All I'm saying is let's be TRULY equal! If a Western Christian or Jew were to (somehow) become head of a caliphate, he or she'd better be TRIPLY circumspect about their public comportment as well as their pronouncements! Same with Mr. Khan. As a Muslim in an essentially majority white, Christian metropolis, he must be exceedingly circumspect about his own person as representative of a presently most unpopular group:-)

In order to distance himself from such, he must do his level best to bend over backwards to show that he understands both his role as well as his position in a society in which he will remain an outsider for sometime until he gradually becomes more accepted.

I think these are reasonable sentiments, after all, London, Paris or Berlin are NOT New York, D.C. or Chicago and anyone who honestly believes we're "all the same" in some sort of kumbaya knee-jerk liberalism ought to do a quick reality check!!!

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

In this poster's humble opinion, the English brought it on themselves! Britain is certainly more a "Judeo-Christian" nation than she is a Muslim one.

No, if I were an average ethnic British Londoner, I'd be rather dismayed, culturally speaking, that is.

No doubt the bloke's capable enough, but one can't help feeling that his loyalties may lies on the wrong side. No, it's not the same as were it a Jew or even an open agnostic, for instance. Britain is still an Occidental Western nation and Islam represents a different stream from the mainstream.

Work / Soon in Warsaw from Budapest. Job opportunities for a musically-trained person and proofreader in Poland. [9]

Remember also that employment standards may vary slightly, especially outside the EU! Even among neighboring countries, qualifications are not cut and dried:-)

Work / Soon in Warsaw from Budapest. Job opportunities for a musically-trained person and proofreader in Poland. [9]

CELTA has become quite common too:-)

Any of you guys familiar with the BEC (Business English Certificate) Program? I understand in Italy, for example, it's highly respected and an acknowledged certification for professional abilty in English!

Work / Soon in Warsaw from Budapest. Job opportunities for a musically-trained person and proofreader in Poland. [9]

Jed77, I take it then you know both Hungarian and/or some Polish, is that right? If so, you have some valuable skills indeed, both for travel as well as business:-)

Powodzenia! Mindent jo!

Love / Do women in Poland change their surnames to a feminine form of their husbands' surnames? [40]

Yo, there's a village in Austria called ****! They gotta deal with it too ( and they have for many centuries)!!!
Where d'ya think English gets the word?
))

Study / Any Erasmus students in Poland? [16]

I roundly concur, kpc! In most Slavic languages, at the very least counting is more or less recognizable:

Polish: jeden dwa trzy, cztery
Russian: odin, dva, tri, chyteri
etc.

While English ALONE might well get you around the Linguistics Dept. of a university among enlightened, well-traveled student types, in the rest of the country, you might actually find more resonance with Croatian than English if you still feel shaky in Polish:-)

Study / Any Erasmus students in Poland? [16]

Good for you!

Anyway, even though Croatian's also a Slavic language, there's never a substitute for knowing at least the basics of the local lingo:-)

Study / Any Erasmus students in Poland? [16]

Good luck! Do you speak any Polish perchance?
:-)

Love / Do women in Poland change their surnames to a feminine form of their husbands' surnames? [40]

The family name "Semelli" is perfectly valid in its country of origin! That it by coincidence sounds like the perjorative English word, has no merit in and of itself:-)