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Posts by Myszolow  

Joined: 28 Jul 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 28 Apr 2010
Threads: Total: 3 / In This Archive: 3
Posts: Total: 157 / In This Archive: 90
From: Zgierz
Speaks Polish?: yes

Displayed posts: 93 / page 2 of 4
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Myszolow   
4 Mar 2010
Life / What is it with the Polish love of antibiotics? And Why do Poles get ill more? [40]

Magdalena,

I agree that Brits often don't dress well for the temperature. But you may have noticed most houses don't have thermometers on the outside either (ours does though). And people don't obsess about the weather forecast either. There's no need, it's always raining. ;)

Seriously though, I do believe part of it is climate related and there is a lot of coal smoke in the air in Poland in winter. When I was heating our house with coal and wood, I found exposure to the smoke and dust gave me a rough throat most of the winter.

It's true that the weather can sometimes kill you in Poland, and that's rarely true in the UK. But why, when Poles often overheat their houses to 25 degrees +, do they wear more clothes inside in winter?

I think the attitude to healthcare is just different. In the UK, parents are encouraged to keep children home if they are ill (and they do), to prevent things passing through the whole class. When my son went to pre-school in Poland, the Polish parents were advised the same thing, but they ignore it (perhaps they don't have an alternative? I'm not judging, just observing).

I read an article in the £ódź newspaper (in Polish, the one owned by the Times. Is it Wyborcza?) a couple of years ago which said that the Polish health system was massively over-prescribing antibiotics. Poles even slagging off English doctors who won't give them antibiotics and tell them to go to bed and rest for a few days. Instead they hop on the next ryanair flight, passing all their germs to everyone else on the plane (nice closed system virus incubation unit) go see their own irresponsible GP who gives them a supply, back to UK (infect more people on plane) and back to work to earn dużo funtów.

The thing is when you don't let your body fight these infections you don't build up natural resistance and you will get ill more often. (A chicken and egg situation).

That, is why Poles get ill more often because they do not take the responsible action of rest and recuperation when they are ill. They look for the quick fix instead so they can be more productive. (I blame the commies for instilling this mentality).

There you go.

Thanks for reviving this thread. I thought it had died without any proper debate. ;)
Myszolow   
1 Mar 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Yes, it will be interesting to find out why Poles behave strangely when they are on the plane.

They never used to until cheap airlines made air travel accessible to "a different class of person". ;) Most of the scumbags used to take the bus, but now it's cheap to fly.

I've never seen a Pole misbehave on BA, LOT or Sabena. The pushing and shoving comes from no allocated seating. If you have a seat number, there's no hurry is there?

I'm not a snob though. I like cheaper tickets too, so I fly budget airlines, but think of it more as a fast bus, than the "luxury travel" flying used to be.

So to answer the question, it's because they have not been trained in the proper procedures. Ryanair always has their announcements in English first and often no Polish speaking flight attendants.
Myszolow   
26 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

You win 10,000 Euro and eat the scratchcard coz they can't give you the money straight away.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8539560.stm
Myszolow   
22 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

geograph.org.uk/photo/905902

A notorious pub sign in England. The name of the pub is "All Labour in Vain" (ie 'wasted effort')

I'm surprised it hasn't been banned (but glad it hasn't - I'm all for free speech).
Myszolow   
22 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Yeah. First thing you do in the morning is look at the outdoor thermometer, shake, and proclaim "zimno" unless it's above 30 Celcius. ;)

"zimno jak cholera" if it's below 15 C.
Myszolow   
22 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Well in context of come and have a bath it's rather a dirty implication don'tcha think? ;)

Mind you I'm sure Tuwim didn't mean any harm by it and it's only the modern PC way of thinking that could ever really find it offensive. It's supposed to be innocent kid's poetry FFS. :)

So to remind others why this is still on topic, you are Polish if...

You think it's funny that Bambo might get white after a bath and there's no possible way anybody could find that offensive. ;)
Myszolow   
21 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Myszolow, it's a reality. If you know areas like Peterborough in England then you can see competition first hand. Many English folk see Poles doing manual labour and they base their assessment thereof.

The Polish legal adviser that I teach even mentioned it. He is not happy with some of the ambassadors that Poland has sent but life shouldn't be about judging.

I wasn't saying it's not true, but we all know the truth hurts - particularly since there aren't many Pakistanis or blacks in Poland, so they do tend to look down on them. can you imagine Murzynek Bambo being allowed to be read in UK schools? I can't.

"Mama powiada: „Chodź do kąpieli”,

A on się boi, że się wybieli."

First time my wife read that I was quite surprised - I'm not a PC type, but it made me laugh and tut.
Myszolow   
21 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

you dislike being compared to Pakistanis in the UK as an immigrant group

Oooh, that one's gonna hurt a few. Some friends of mine hired a Polish au pair. I'd love to have seen her face when she met them first time - they're Nigerian.

It didn't work out. :)
Myszolow   
19 Feb 2010
News / What the Polish government do to bring back home Polish immigrants? [116]

This is one example of why i say people in uk are ruled by money.

I would disagree with you, but seeing as I live in the UK I can't afford it. ;)

I think people everywhere are increasingly ruled by money, and it sucks. But Poles talk about money all the time. They go to extreme lengths to save money. Maybe not all of them, but most of the ones I've met are pretty bloomin' oszczętny.
Myszolow   
18 Feb 2010
News / What the Polish government do to bring back home Polish immigrants? [116]

Well you have to get a feel for the situation before you can propose such major cutbacks. ;)
Anyway, without the bush, the joke wouldn't work.

I still think a large number of the people who came to UK to "work for a few years and then go back to Poland and retire/start a business/build a house" will stay for good. If you make it, life is a lot easier in the UK. It's also easier to make it.

Got a friend who is a nurse who "can't afford" to move back to Poland. She got used to a different level of lifestyle. Although her long-term "pension fund" is an apartment in Polska.
Myszolow   
18 Feb 2010
Life / Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated? [97]

In Polnad you pay for what you order, and you give the tip if you want.

Poles never tip. It's rude to tip. ;)

I can remember when I went to Rhodes I hired a moped. Went into the rental place saying "kalispera" good afternoon in Greek. Told them I'd spent some time in Thessaloniki a few years ago. Got me a moped for something like 3000 drax/day.

Went back the the accomodation and told my neighbour about this great moped hire place. He was your typical Brit - not a word of Greek. He was charged a lot more. Something like 4500 drax/day.

This is perfectly normal. What's the problem. If they think you're a foreigner and not savvy they'll take you. You just have to appear more savvy. It ain't rocket science. ;)
Myszolow   
17 Feb 2010
News / What the Polish government do to bring back home Polish immigrants? [116]

When you get a taste for travelling, you often don't look back.

Very true. Since it is possible to run a household on one good salary in the UK, once the immigrants who think they're here for the short-term get decent positions worthy of their education, there will be no going back - plain and simple. Life is easier elsewhere - for now.

Anyway, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

I always think a hand in the bush is worth more than either of the other two options. ;)
Myszolow   
15 Feb 2010
Law / The 'Secret' of Poland's Economic Success [83]

Just wait. You can't give people making 2500pln a month loans to buy 500,000pln flats without the bottom falling out eventually. So many people are overextended on credit in Poland it's going to be really ugly.

All we need to do is package up those loans, securitise them into a structured investment vehicle and sell them several times to other people (banks) and we can have our very own sub-prime crisis po-polsku. ;)
Myszolow   
15 Feb 2010
UK, Ireland / WHAT IS SO SPECIAL LIVING IN U.K [90]

It's kind of hard to lament the closing of pubs to be honest. Yes I enjoyed going to them when I was a teenager (from 14-24) but the booze is overpriced compared to elsewhere.

They won't all close. But anyway, pubs were all about drinking and smoking and playing darts and pool. They're trying to stop people drinking and smoking now because they're bad for you.

Playing pool and darts isn't, but I bet some smartarse will try to ban that next. :)

If you've got time and money to have any fun, you can't be working hard enough to fill Gordon's coffers with tax money. :(
Myszolow   
10 Feb 2010
UK, Ireland / How to get a British phone chipped in Poland. [5]

If you're lucky you might find it works without bothering.

Just for kicks, last summer I put a "Tak Tak" card in my British O2 phone and it worked fine. Give it a try. :)

In the same way that when roaming you can select whichever network you like (or auto strongest signal) a UK phone might accept all Polish networks for PAY&GO.
Myszolow   
7 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Seanus:
you are shocked when you get nothing after asking for 'all exclusive' rather than 'all inclusive'

I don't know what that means.

I think he means if you pay the lowest price for something you expect to get the extras included when they've not been paid for. But doubtless he will be along in a minute to correct me if I'm wrong. ;)
Myszolow   
5 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

you think it's more important to close the shop/school/office door behind you than hold it open for the person who is only two steps behind.

you will waste a whole day to avoid spending 5zl

you will ask for outrageously enormous favours without ever expecting any payback

you like Ptasie Mleczko (yuck)

you think Polish food is the best in the world

you have a good sense of humour as long as the joke is not about you or your country

you buy children birthday and christmas presents from a supermarket

you have to live with your parents and grandparents but you pretend you like it
Myszolow   
4 Feb 2010
Life / Lack of Spacial Acuity in Poland [69]

Ah. Just because they drive on the right incontinental Europe, they think it's right?

The reason for driving on the left is so that you can draw your sword with your right hand and fight your enemy to the right. Well that's allegedly how is started anyway.

Mind you, if you try that these days you get in all sorts of trouble. ;)
Myszolow   
2 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

You are Polish if...

Well I certainly didn't interpret that the way you did frd. I thought it was a list of someone's observations of characteristics commonly exhibited by Poles.
Myszolow   
2 Feb 2010
Life / You are Polish if... [433]

I can spot a Pole a mile off.
A lot of these apply to me - I am English, but have spent quite a bit of time in Poland.

Still many do not. Paper towels are WAY better than cloths, which just spread bacteria around.
Myszolow   
2 Feb 2010
Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

But typically, they want to try out their English on me/speak only English when we are together. Whoever noted that same thing/issue in their recent post is correct.

You need to mix with a different bunch of people then. Try and find some who don't even know English?

Trouble is, if you're not interested, there is no real incentive to learn Polish unless you have to. So the key is to put yourself in situations where you need it more often. It can be stressful, but it is rewarding.

Not much English is spoken na wsi. But if you're a city dweller it might be a bit of an effort to get to the countryside.
Myszolow   
1 Feb 2010
Life / Do you think a smoking ban would be a good thing in Polish restaurants and Bars? [217]

And yet again you fail to answer the question: why should one group of people have the right to dictate to other persons which legal activities they can allow on their property?

Good question. In an ideal world - nobody should be able to do that.

But your argument is rather shot up Harry by the fact that the governments have changed it so that smoking becomes illegal in certain specified places. This means it is therefore no longer a legal activity in those places.

Yeah the whole socialist nanny state thing sucks, but we've all got to cope with it or vote them out and kill all the PC-spouting lefty idiots.

The best story I heard was a self-employed tradesman (plumber or something) who was smoking alone in his own van. He was stopped and fined for smoking in a workplace. Now that, in my opinion, is really taking the ****. You can allow yourself to get wound up about it, but what's the point. Poland is one of the least PC countries I've spent time in and it's one of the things I like most about it. I think it's only a matter of 20-30 years though :(
Myszolow   
30 Jan 2010
UK, Ireland / Dialing a polish mobile from a uk mobile in Poland [7]

My mobile provider changed automatically from Vodafone to Plus when I arrived and Ive had no problems calling home, but this is a problem for sure.

Are you sure you have international calls enabled? Sometimes you are only allowed to call back home. Just a thought. Might be a block on your provider. Alternatively, are you able to call any Polish landline numbers? If they don't work either, you may have a block.
Myszolow   
28 Jan 2010
Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

Another interesting fact is that an estimated 1% of the EU population speak Polish as a foreign language.

And most óf them are from na wsi. Théy simply speak Polish as if they were foreign. ;)
Myszolow   
28 Jan 2010
Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]

Your wastefulness was fixed. Two words with the same meaning, pfft!

Not really. We use the word grill to mean what I believe in the US is known as a broiler.
It's like a kind of oven that radiates heat from one side only. Most domestic ovens in the uk have one built in.

American barbecue sounds very nice too.