Life / Foreign crap OK, Pułaski not! [14]


Yeah, but you still made it onto Polonius3's enemy list. Expect a knock on the door around one in the morning in a few days.

Law / Best Polish returns on $100,000? [23]

One word ... plastics!

UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]

Like many other plagues.

UK, Ireland / The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland [310]

Pickels and onions don't sound typical for breakfast. Fresh tomatoes, yes.

Traditional Polish (big) breakfast is usually (IME) bread and/or rolls with cold cuts and cheese (yellow and white crumbly). Maybe fresh tomatoes. Everybody makes their own sandwiches.

Not much cooking beyond eggs (esp scrambled and boiled or my favorite, soft boiled eggs with fresh horseradish and mayonaise) maybe boiled frankfurters and milk soup (somthing like very runny oatmeal but maybe barley or rice instead of oats).

British abominations like fried tomatoes and beans are kept well away from the breakfast table.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]

LK was _not_ as far as I recall behind rejecting the useless flu shots, that was the health minister in one her (very few) moments of being right. LK was, as I recall, wanting the flu shots (or pretending to in order to appear in opposition to something that PO was doing).

"Banning" something is the surest way to make it go underground and get organized crime involved. P3 should remember his 'coś za coś' thread.

The short feel good of banning dopalacze will inevitably lead to a loooonnngg hangover of an illicit drug trade.

The overall benefits of freedom are that a minority will misue it and end up hurting themselves.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


Well, unless you're in Poland on a daily basis you don't necessarily realize that ceconomic and social policies don't line up in Poland the way they do in the west.

very roughly:

PiS, economically liberal (socialist really) but socially very conservative

PO, economically more conserivative than PiS and socially a little more liberal

SLD, economically between PiS and PO socially much more liberal than either

PSL, no discernible principles whatsoever, ****** who'll get into bed with anyone offering them a bit of power

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


Yeah, when I was a teenager we did the same kind of thing (ostentatious public shows of being against drugs). The biggest potheads were usually in the front lines (can you say 'cover'?)

disclaimer: I've done fewer drugs than almost anyone I know, but I've never understood the 'illegalize it!' crowd. If I'd wanted to do drugs the fact that they were illegal wouldn't have stopped me for a second.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]

Yahoo! Everybody knows that teenagers don't want to have anything to do with anything that's been banned! We also know that there's no way for the industry to go back underground where it'll be impossible to regulate! Well done Polish lawmakers! You've managed a small, meaningless, public relations victory that will fool the gullible Polonius3's of the world and help you feel good about yourselves. BRAVO!!!!!

Travel / Which is the most trustworthy taxi company in Warsaw? (child seats too) [10]

More guerrilla getting around (I recently used this in Budpest).

You generally don't want to take taxis that are unaffiliated with any company as they have a tendency to be ...... how is the expression, bloodsuckers?

Anyway, scout around and find where people are being left off by taxis. Wait for someone to arrive in a company taxi (phone numbers all over it) and make sure they don't seem distressed by what they paid. You might even ask them. Or ask the driver for a rough idea of the price "Ile na lotnisko?" and if the estimate seems okay then jump in. Any good reputable taxi driver should have some idea about the price from downtown to the airport as it's a very frequent run.

From centralna to the airport the actual price will vary a lot due to time of day and traffic but will probably be not less than 30 or more than 50. Tip about 10 per cent if you're satisfied. The most common way of tipping in Poland is to round the bill up, so if it's 32 zl you can give him a 50 and say "(powiedzmy 35)"

Travel / Where can I find a map of the Warsaw / Central station and other points of interests [7]

Never heard of a map of the place, but you can buy a bus ticket at almost any kiosk. IIRC the bus to the airport is on the train station side of aleje jerozolimskie sort of across from Marriot.

Give yourself lots of wandering around time practice saying "w jakim kierunku jest autobus na lotnisko?" and go for a while in the direction that people point at. Repeat until you find it.

There are shorter, better ways of asking if you speak Polish well, but in my days of guerrilla direction I found ='w jakim kierunku' works well because then people will usually point, whereas if I asked 'gdzie jest....' they give verbal descriptions that I didn't understand.

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]

Some years ago a younger Polish friend was looking for a book published in Poland in the 1980's (or maybe early 90's) on drug abuse.

Ostensibly a guide for parents concerned about possible drug use by their children, it was apparently also a very good how-to manual for the prospective drug user, giving instructions on the manufacture and consumption of a variety of drugs.

Life / Disco Polo - No No No No No! [95]


I'd say I agree completely. And that goes double for Polish music critics (who mostly would prefer if there were no Polish music at all.

Disco Polo isn't really my taste but I didn't look down on people that liked it and in the 90's it connected with larger audiences than anything else in Polish music.

And, as simplistic as most of it was, at least it was optimistic (it's real sin for Polish critics) and wasn't as nihilistic and self-destructive as hip hop.


What music do you like?

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]


So? Not to be crass but people die all the time without causing media uproars. And teenagers, being mostly incredibly stupid, do stupid things and sometimes die as a result. That's sad, but again, why the uproar just now?

And 'banning' something is usually wrongheaded an ineffectual. All a legal ban will do will be to drive the practice underground making it even more dangerous.


Alcohol? Tobacco? Cleaning fluid? Glue? What about the insidious threat of dihydrogen monoxide (if you get it in your lungs you die!)

News / Tusk cracks down on designer drugs ("dopalacze") in Poland [171]

I have no particular opinion about designer drugs, but I know a hyped-up media-government distraction when it's hitting me over the head.

Why such a concentrated effort just at this time, what are we not supposed to be noticing elsewhere?

Language / "A" and "I" usage in Polish language [22]

Getting back on topic, I've found the following is a useful heuristic:

i = and (also)

a = and (on the other hand)

when in doubt see which of the above would not change the meaning and use it.

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


Yes, but IME a lot of the 'cultural advice' given by Polish teachers is based on an idealized idea of what the UK was like about 50 years ago or typical Polish cliches about the US.

Native speakers do too but will tend to contradict each other. A lot of the cultural advice I'd give (as an American) won't help them in the UK much (and vice versa).

Generally, a negative approach works better as a teacher with some understanding of Polish ways can give broad advice about things that are okay in Poland but not in the US (or UK IME). These things change over time as well though. Some years ago you'd have to mention that it's not a good idea to ask someone how much they paid for something or how much money they made (perfectly polite in Poland then though much less common now).

One problem that's still probably around is that Polish conversation is a lot more freewheeling and personal than anything most English speakers are used to. Delving into topics like religon, politics, sexual attitudes, relations between ethnic groups/races etc. happens far earlier in Poland. Polish people will usually find the bland, step on eggshells nature of English conversation (between people who don't know each other well) to be kind of boring.

Work / English teacher from Turkey, have any chance to work in Poland? [71]

The market for English teachers in Poland is probably a lot like the market in Turkey, students want either
a) native speakers
b) non-native speakers who speak the students' language.

I would say the chances for finding employment with Turkish are better as you're a native speaker with some language teaching training. There is more than one university that teaches Turkish and it's going to become more important for Poland to have Turkish specialists in the future.

Google +turecka +filologia and see what comes up....

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

Classes start in a few days, some things that will drive me crazy.

rhyming the last syllable of determine with 'mine' 'fine' 'line'

Stressing computer and hotel on the first syllable

Using inversion when you shoudn't. "Do you know where does she live?"

The word 'situated' instead of 'located' (technically okay but awfully old and stuffy sounding for 20 year olds).

Ignoring the count/non-count distinction "I need some furnitures"

etc etc etc

Language / "do I" usage in a question? [50]


you can, but it's often dropped in everyday usage (the same way that English speakers might say 'you know him?' instead of 'do you know him'


nie robię (I don't do/make that)


Tęsknię za wami. (I miss you(plural)) is enoug, both in this context would be obydwoma (after wami)

Language / "do I" usage in a question? [50]


robie nie doesn't mean anything.

Polish doesn't use robić (do, make) as an auxiliary the way that English does.

In answering questions, you just use tak or nie or you repeat the verb from the question.

Chcesz piwo? (do you want a beer?)

Chcę. (I do, lit. I want)

Nie Chcę. (I don't)

Znasz go? (do you know him?).

Znam.

Nie znam.

Life / The "Rudification" Of Society - Is This Happening In Poland As Well? [146]

Traditionally I think Poland is a culture where age has its privileges and one of them is the normal expectation of having the right of way and having small courtesies extended with no necessary need to acknowledge each and every one. On the other hand I'm usually thanked for greater than normal courtesy or help.

Language / which 'if' (jeśli, gdyż or gdyby) use in conversation? [13]


wiewioros, the terms 'first conditional' etc are not really used by native English speakers. it's more of a teaching tool for teaching English as a foreign language than anything most native speakers think of.

chaza, use jeśli if the english equivalent uses the simple present "if they arrive by five (I'll be happy) "If you do this, I'll be sad."

use gdyby the rest of the time

It's a little more complicated but that will get you started and be right over 90 % of the time.

News / New cross war in Warsaw [530]

THE CROSS IS OUTTA THERE! It was moved this morning around 8.00. As I left home TVN was showing the 'defenders' looked demoralized and disoriented while someone from PiS was complaining that the president had been rude the people that threw poo at the palace.

What's the next step?

For the record, I think the decision is the president's to make. If enough people want it back they can make their feelings known in the next election.

Food / Carp -- Queen of Rivers or Pig With Fins? [10]

The best carp I've had in Poland .... was at a Vietnamese new year's party.

The first time I had carp (work stołówka) I could not finish it, each bite seemed to have more mud than the last. That's when I figured out that people keep them in their bath tubs to clean them out.

Fun fact, in Romanian, carp is 'crap'. No, really.

ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crap

Life / The "Rudification" Of Society - Is This Happening In Poland As Well? [146]


How dare he oppose the de-Dutchification of the Netherlands! The Dutch government (like several other Western European governments) have clearly elected a new people and those other, older Dutch people should just get used to it.


In American, the word 'cult' is more accurate than 'sect'.

And yeah, he's obviously a jerk and an awful human being, but assuming that he's not trying to outlaw people reading the Koran or burning other people's Korans this is a huge non-issue. He's simply disposing of his own private property in a manner he finds appropriate.

That everybody is freaked out about crazy Muslim reactions just reinforces the point he was trying to make.

Language / Question about podoba sie [23]


The term you want is 'reflexive' and sometimes się is used reflexively as in your first example.

At other times it just makes a transitive verb (one with an object) intransitive (one without an object). At even other times it has no clear surface meaning.

podobać się seems to be in this last group as it neither indicates a direct object nor is their a transitive verb (that I know of) podobać

Life / Polish ghost stories [38]

Not a ghost story per se, but ...weird.

After moving into a teachers dorm on the outskirts of town I started having recurrent dreams of being a soldier in hiding next to a snowy field, not unlike a big deserted field next to the dorm (which someone else independently told me gave him the creeps). They stopped after a few weeks but it was very odd. I also tried putting up posters on one wall and they kept falling down within a day or so (no matter how much tape/glue/bluetac I used. I finally put up a map of Poland (which stayed up) and the dreams stopped.

Not ghosts, but it did feel weird at the time.

My altogether weirder ghost story doesn't involve Poland.

News / Poland hosts lowest proportion of foreigners in the EU [115]

I'm too lazy to check, do they use official figures or educated guesses. The official figures are probably several times smaller than the real numbers.

Love / What do I do? Children of my Polish lady are depending on me for money. [13]

At present you're enabling a lot of bad behavior. If you stop supporting them, they might find another, better way of dealing with their problems so they don't all end up at your feet. Or they might not, but at present they have no reason to try.

Either give an ultimatum or just get out.

Life / INVISIBLE MAN in shops and offices in Poland? [70]


I've done the same thing, especially at the butcher shop, I'll ask if something is available before committing to standing in line. I do try to wait for a conversational lag for that kind of question, many people don't which I find a lot more annoying I'm in the middle of asking fo- "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have bonless pork chops?" -r something when th- "Are they fresh? How fatty are they?" -ey butt right in. That drives me crazy.