UK, Ireland / Why Polish people decided to move to the UK, and their experiences. [46]

The UK and Ireland were among the first countries to open their job marekts to the EU newcomers who joined in 2004, and that was the was a major consideration. The second was the English-speaking environment. More younger Poles are learning Englihs at school than German, French, Italian or the Scandinavian tongues. However, had Germany opened its job market in 2004 with no strings attached, probably the brunt of the exodus would have headed for Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, etc.

Genealogy / Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish. [231]

This may evnetually change, perhaps even by mid-century, but for now, despite the inroads made by China and India, it is still the USA, not wimpy Europe, that makes the world go round(to paraphrase 'Cabaret')!

Life / School and stadium violence in Poland? [21]

Poland was never one for 'aping' the Third World, so I doubt if Brazil or Pakistan have made any impact on Poland's copycat popculture.

BTW, I had orginally intended to mention only school violence and threw in the stadium business as an afterthought. In your mind, does classroom unruliness and school violence in general have the same roots as stadium hooliganism?

Genealogy / Trying to locate my grandparents names, where to start the search? [19]

What are the names?

Genealogy / Najgebauer help please [24]

I'm not 100% sure this is the place to go, but the Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation are said to assist victims of Nazi crimes. Maybe they can advise you as to who can help you in your quest.

fpnp.pl
informacja@fpnp.pl
tel. +48 22 695 9941

Food / Garlicky butter-cheese spread - this is a trick I learnt in Poland. [16]

The quantities given are enough to spread more than a dozen slices of bread or toast. Depends how thinly or thickly it's spread.

Life / Passing your Polish language and culture to your kids [74]

Definitely, start 'em young! I once saw a 3-year-old girl of mixed Brit-Lebanese parents in Warsaw who flawlessyl turned from one person to another in the same sitting-room, answering dad in English, mum in French, granddad in Arabic and the nannny in Polsih. It was normal, automatic with no effort or exertion detectable.... In America, foreign langauegs are taught too late, in secondary school if at all. By then it's merely a make-work exercise of little practical value.

Life / Ecco Walkathlon. What a contrast - the modern Poland versus the primitive loonies. [17]

Are 'non-religious fundraising events' somehow superior to religious ones. If so, in what way? I should think the main thing is for the funds raised to go and help those for whom they are intended. High-overhead charities -- regardless of whether religous or nonreligous -- waste a lot fo the proceeds on administartion, paid outsourcing, celerbations, etc.

Law / Problems with Polish Bureaucracy, residency [17]

Well, I am constantly hearing complaints from PolAms who want to get Polish citrizenship through their Polish-born parents or grandparents who are given the run-around by Polish consualtes in the USA and officials in Poland. They often have to wait for years for simple confirmation.

Law / Problems with Polish Bureaucracy, residency [17]

Thread attached on merging:
Debilitating Polish bureaucracy?

Poland has been part of East Central Europe known for its expansive brueacracy going back at least tio tsarist and Habsburg times. It is every well and alvie today, making life a nightmare for many Poles, as the media reprot almost daily. And yet tiny Slovakia has manaegd to break out of that mould and make itself attractive to foreign investors. The PO claimed to have created a 'single window' solution for businessmen, licence-seekers and other applicants queuing in administrative offices but not much has improved. Why are Poles having such a hard time chucking out the red tape?

Po polsku / Przyjmowanie Komunii świętej w kościołach w Polsce [43]

Skoro większość Polaków jest ochrzczonych (w sensie społeczynm to się nie liczy, bo rodzice decydują za dziecko), przystepują do I Komunii św. i bierzmowania oraz chodzi na katechezę, skąd taki niski poziom wiedzy i świadomości religijnej wśród Polaków?

Po polsku / Przyjmowanie Komunii świętej w kościołach w Polsce [43]

NoreenB, nie jestem teologiem, ale chyba masz rację. Jeśli dobrze pamiętam lekcje relgii pod czujnym okiem Sióstr Najczystszego Serca Maryi w Detroit, aby popełnić ciężki grzech (a chyba także świętokradztwo) musi być poważne przewinienia, trzeba być tego świadomym i mimo to je popełnić.

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

Hey, pigs not only eat their own and other animals' (and human)
excrement, they'll also gobble down carrion and their own piglets not to metnion all manner of garbage, but nothing is tastier than pork: succulent roasts and chops, fragrant smoked ham, juicy kiełbasa, sizzly, bacon, gouremt pork loin, and ideal mince (for gołąbki, etc.)!!!

Food / Polish recipe for booyah [26]

Sounds a bit like mulligan stew, where you threw everything you've got on hand into the stewpot.

Food / Polish recipe for booyah [26]

Anyone know what the ethnic origin of booyah is? It certainly isn't Polish, but may well be fancied by Polish Americans in some areas.Never heard the term in Michigan.

History / Poles back to the Elbe (Łaba)? [28]

Germany waged WW1 entirely beyond German soil, leaving Polish, French and other lands in ruins. The Allies made the big mistake of agreeing to an armistice. It should have been uncondiitonal surrender accompanied by considerable truncation of German and Austrian territory. All neighbouring countries -- France, Benelux, Poland (to the Elbe), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Denmark, etc. should have received generous chunks of pre-war German/Austrian territory. What was left of Germany and Austria should have been occupied for at least 10 years (better yet indeifnitely) by the victorious allies. Barring that solution (occupation), wimpy France should have agreed to Piłsudski's proposal of a joint pre-emptive strike agaisnt Hitler's Germany. Barring that, Hitler's illicit remilitarisation of the Rhineland should have provided cause for such allied occupation and perhaps even the final dismemberment of Germany as a perpetually festering hotbed of aggression and warmongering since time immemorial.

Food / Good way for crunchy fish crisps [4]

Karaski w śmietanie (crucians stewed in sour cream -- kak nazywajetsja eto pa russki?) are frequntly found on the pages of Old Polish culinary texts as a favourite Wigilia dish. I can't imagine how the Poles of yesteryear (and otehr Slavs) dealt with all the tiny pin-bones esp. when the little fish were drencehd in sour cream sauce. Must've been really messy tio eat?

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

Carp is like game, mutton and other foods -- it requires special treatment for maximum flavour. The meat of an old ram or old stag would also be pretty had to take without certain procedures (salting, marinating, cooking a certain way, etc.). If bred in clean water and properly prepared, carp can be one of the best eating fishes around. Smoked carp is superior in flavour to most other smoked species. The Jews have developed an '11-hour-carp', gently simmered with veggies and seasoning for, yes! -- 11 hours, making all the bones soft and edible.

Food / Garlicky butter-cheese spread - this is a trick I learnt in Poland. [16]

Make sure to share the garlicky cheese spread with your wife/fiancée/GF/partner or
whoever you intend to share close quarters with!

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

Yes, 'rudification', as you call it, is taking place world-wide, but Poland is the best example that it need not be associated only with foreign immigrants. The down-dumbing and down-coarsening of society is largely the result of the cheap, tacky but attractive (esp. to the immature) pop culture that has snowballed over the last half-century. Its debauching MTV, violent computer games, Hollywood slimemongers and ego-tripping celebrities have convinced people that 'anything goes' (the weirder the better) and replaced authorities (family, school, church) and values with seasonal idols and passing fads. These are easier to sell and make a profit on.

In general, people of right-leaning conservative persuasion tend to be more for politeness, civility and restraint as traditonal values than many leftists and anarchists who equate rudeness, vulgarity and aggressiveness with freedom.

Genealogy / The surname "Turek" [11]

TUREK: is the Polish word for Turk. Could have originated to describe someone with Turkish roots or a pure Pole who fought the Turks under Sobieski or maybe a topo nick from such places as Turek, Turkowo, Turka, etc. There are numerous Polish nationality-derived suranmes including Czech, Rusek, Litwin, Niemiec, Żydek, Szwed, Duńczyk, etc.

TUREK: also possibly a diminutive of tur (aurochs), the extinct wild ox that ocne populated Poland's forests. Tur is synonymous with strength (silny jak tur). The son of someone nicknamed Tur could have acquired the patroynmic Turek tag.

Life / Poland, maybe the world's last bastion of faith [67]

Poles as Sunday Catholics? Maybe but I once heard that it was the Welshman who prayed on his knees on Sunday and on his neighbour the rest of the week! The follow-up to the same story alleged that the limbo (dance) was invited by a Scotsman trying to get into a pay toilet!!!

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

Nothing happens in a vacuum. Every choice produces consequences, every action causes a reaction. The rise of libertinism in the news, entertainment and advertising media and even in the school system provokes an understandable backlash which libertine-liberal leftists may see as a hate offensive. But they fail to see that their libertine offensive disgusts many people who don't want their kids exposed to all that prn and overall permissiveness. This functions not only within a single society. It is not libertine lifestyles that may well speed up the world-wide Muslim reaction to the fith and decadence? Marx once said the capitalists will sell the rope on which they will hanged. Maybe the decadent West is actually libertinising itself to death without realising it.

Genealogy / Jalowiecki coat of arms and title inheritance? [21]

£ODZIA C-O-A: Please bear in mind that heraldry is a rather whimsical pursuit, closer in spirit to astrology and alchemy than to astronomy and chemistry. There are many disputes amongst heraldists, and there are dicrepancies in the way different heraldic artists have depicted of various coats of arms. With that in mind, here is what I have been able to dig up about £odzia. The heraldic experts of yesteryear disagreed as to the origin of the £odzia (boat, ark, vessel) coat of arms. According to one legend, it traces back to Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), but others claim it went all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome. Some even connected it to the mythological Jason’s quest for the golden fleece or the seafaring expeditions of the ancient Slavs. Whatever the case, it depicts a plain wooden boat (variously shown as gold, yellow or brown) on a red shield. It is replicated in the crest (upper section), and the peacock feathers (in place of the more common white ostrich plumes) are said to indicate a somewhat upscale gentry.

£odzia is shared by 163 Polish noble families from Babolicki to Żytowiecki