Travel / Information on Gliwice needed [41]


I'd say the city center offers all this, pretty much. The Rynek (the city's main square) is cute, many restaurants and bars there and the surroundings.

Once, I went (walking) to the stadium, to watch the local team play, and then back (still walking) to the Centrum, and had dinner in a Mexican restaurant. But if you'd rather have Asian food, or kebab, or pizzas, or Polish food, you'll find all this.

If you like shopping, Forum should be fine. It's a modern mall, with a cinema complex, 10 minutes (walking) from the center. Lots of buses too. Public transportation is quite developed anyway.

I advise you to get an apartment in the city center, and avoid the northern parts of the city. I've been told they are not always safe + too many Górnik Zabrze fans (Gliwice's main rival and neighbour) ;)

What do you mean exactly by 'traditional apartment'?
I remember, one of my friends was living in a very nice flat, in a nice (kinda posh) street. It was about 80m², and she paid like 2,000zł monthly. But it probably didn't include heating and the Internet.

Probably it was more 2,500 in winter. Not really sure. But I'm guessing this is the kind of prices you should expect there for a nice place in the center.

I had a smaller place, 37m², in the center as well. The rent was about 1,200zł+heating+gas, but TV+Internet included. Kinda cool. I liked it there.

Travel / Information on Gliwice needed [41]

Gliwice is a nice place to live. What would you like to know exactly, Mariuz?

News / Poland, The Starbucks report. [42]

I agree 100%. Sick of those big, soulless chains. I'd rather go to a local café, with that little something...history and life.
So sad to see McDonald's and Starbucks everywhere I go.

News / Poles most worried about independence in 23 years - poll [8]

And why the hell would Russia attack Poland? They're not even attacking Estonia, which would be much easier.
Polish medias can get quite paranoid, and people tend to believe anything they see/hear/read, unfortunately. (as pretty much everywhere in the world, this does not just apply to Poles)

Language / Useful phonetic English to Polish - maybe / Cichocki. Ort. [6]


Something like: CHEE-HO-TSKEE.
(that's actually the English pronunciation)

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]


'very simplified', I doubt that, but yeah, not as hard as it used to be, very probably. *phew*
It hasn't simplified enough to me, that's what I mean ;)

Language / Is there a traditional expression used as a welcome? [18]



Was Old Polish easier by any chance? Dammit, I was born much too late it seems... ;)

News / Don't let Poland become like my country, France. [630]


Erm, what? 13 million Muslims? Out of a total population of 66M? Which means that 20% of the French are Muslims. Which is ridiculous.
I checked different sources, the number of immigrants in France vary from 6 to 12 million. And they are not all Muslims/Arabs.
The guy who wrote this was obviously very well-informed on the subject, which gives a lot of credibility to the rest of his 'analysis'.


No, not even half. But I'm guessing a quarter of that amount would still be a substantial number to you, so let's just pass.


Those banlieues, guettos, that this very government created. They made mistakes, big ones, easy now to blame everything on immigrants.

I've been in school with Muslims, and none of them is anywhere close to promoting the Sharia law.
I'm well-aware of the extremists who do tho, but let's not paint everybody with the same brush, that wouldn't make much sense.

News / Don't let Poland become like my country, France. [630]


Poland is right in the center of Europe, and belongs to the Western world. Loads of outside interference for Poland I'm afraid.


Multiculturalism is nothing new.
We'd still be living in the Stone Age if it wasn't for multiculturalism.
It's a natural evolution of human history.

News / Don't let Poland become like my country, France. [630]


Oh, true, so, how's it been? Where are you again?


Pas sûr de comprendre/Not sure I got this.


What is the problem to you?


Being a patriot is not wrong, even in France. Being a nationalist, on the other hand, may cause trouble.
And where did you get that waving le drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge in France was seen as...inappropriate?

Fais-tu au passage une quelconque allusion à "l'affaire" Dieudonné par hasard ?

Life / IQ level of Poland compared to the rest of Europe [7]


Of course they are, and they can be dangerously misused.


Indeed.

Life / IQ level of Poland compared to the rest of Europe [7]

I prefer Wulkan's link ;)

Anyway, dunno if all those 'stats' can be taken seriously.
Honestly, how do you calculate Russia's average IQ?...

News / Poland has the most dangerous roads in Europe [34]


Luckily, in 10 years, the attitudes will have changed too.

News / Poland has the most dangerous roads in Europe [34]

Monitor, you can't put the sole responsability on the quality of roads. I'm sure it has a minimum impact on the figures.
Responsible and civic drivers wouldn't have that many accidents, even on disastrous roads.
You just need to have a quick look at how Poles (at least many of them) drive and you'll understand the ranking.

Even my (female) Polish teacher, who seemed very nice and responsible, was probably not so nice and responsible when driving.
She didn't even know that the speed limit on Polish highways was 140km/h. She told me that when she was alone (in the car), she would drive faster than that, without hesitating, because 'everybody does that', that was her argument.

News / Poland has the most dangerous roads in Europe [34]

I agree with normaldriver, it has a lot to do with Polish drivers and their mentality when they drive.
If you're a pedestrian, you need to be very careful when you cross a street, cuz drivers usually don't give a sh!t about crossings, and they drive too fast.

Once, I was driving my cousin's car, with her, and she found odd that I let pedestrians cross the street.
Another time, in another town, a big SUV overtook us on the right, on the SIDEWALK. How crazy is that?
These figures are scary but they don't surprise me. They're a total shame for Poland tho.

Monitor, I'm really not sure that Serbia, Georgia, and Romania's roads are better developed than Poland's. It really is about mentality.

I'm actually surprised to see that France is not so bad. The French are clearly not the most 'civic' drivers in Europe, but we're doing well in that ranking.

Maybe it's due to all the radars we have now...

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


Oh, then that's why there are almost as many Swedes as there are Poles in Norway...

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


Then many people in Poland are not poor.


The same BMWs and same houses (more or less) as in Ireland I guess.


Thanks for proving my point.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]

I'm not the one making the comparison.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


Romania and Bulgaria are poorer. Their HDI is not very high (just 'high'), and a Pole, on average, earns twice as much as a Romanian/Bulgarian.


What is poor? Ever been to Poland, Milky? When you drive a BMW in the alleyway of your own house, you're not really poor, are you?

Yes, on average (because it's all about stats), Poles make less money, but life is not as expensive as in some other EU countries, so on the whole, the gap is not that huge.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]

Of course not, Poland is not a poor country, by world standards. If you compare it with world powers, there may sometimes be big differences (and actually not in Polish big cities), but on the whole, I'd say Poland is a medium-rich country. Its HDI (Human Development Index) is stated as 'very high'.

And to be honest, I just saw an ad on a Polish page...seriously, what poor country has a big chocolate brand giving away seven Playstation 4s...? ;)

USA, Canada / I embrace the term "Polak" or "Pollack" in the US [33]

Enforcer
Szczelec29
=Wariat (suspended)


No, there is nothing like hating something/someone by nature.
Polaks have other problems than having that fixation about cops and America as you have.

USA, Canada / I embrace the term "Polak" or "Pollack" in the US [33]

A shrink could help with this identity crisis you seem to be facing.
If people focused more on what they have in common than what divides them, things would be much easier.
Nothing abnormal to feel better with your likes, but no need to create segregation and borders when they shouldn't exist.

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]


Why do you need to be aggressive?
For my part, I've never been subjected to any German racist propaganda (may I remind you that I'm partly Polish too).


Then we agree, it's a stupid debate, since there is no debate. People would belong to communities, yes, very probably. Nations? Not really.


Born east of the river Elbe, maybe not, but southwest of the river Sekwana, maybe they do (some), as I once read that Christopher Columbus might actually have been Polish ;)

Talking about Christopher Columbus, another good example of 'nationless' hero.


Don't worry, I would never claim Kopernik to be German.
But his mother was Barbara Watzenrode, and he was born in Toruń, Prussia, where most of the population spoke German. That's all I'm saying. Silesian/German mother, Polish father. I don't think you can call that racist.


Maybe his early works were written in German. I think I read that a few times. I'll try to find more info tomorrow (it's getting late now).


Yes, his music is largely inspired by Poland, and he very probably was a Polish patriot. But still, he spent most of his life in France ;)

No worries tho, we have Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, etc. They are good too. We don't need to 'steal' Chopin.

One of the Frenchies' favorite celebrities has been Jean-Jacques Goldman (singer, songwriter) for years now. Born from a German mother and a Polish father.
He makes very good songs, I warmly recommend you to listen to them ;)

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]


Yes, and also that people back then didn't define themselves as 'nationals'. Nationalisms arose much later. Copernicus was born in the then Kingdom of Poland, spoke German first, but then learnt Polish (and other languages). What matters is what he brought to science and all mankind. His 'nationality' is a useless debate.

Miłosz and Mickiewicz were Polish-Lithuanian, and Chopin was Polish-French. But what they did to the Polish culture (and actually more than that, mankind as I said) is what is really important.

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]

They are interdependent, but a civilisation can contain several different cultures. A civilisation is usually considered to be 'bigger' than a culture. That's the case with our Western civilisation. It originated from the Celtic, Latin, Germanic, and Slavic cultures.

Some would say that there is a separate Orthodox civilisation, but I don't really want to start that debate ;)

History / Slavic vs Germanic thinking.... and the philosophical differences [251]

I'd say more culture than civilisation, if you're asking me.

Life / My Słowianie (music video mocks stereotypes about Poles and Slavs) [46]


I really hope they don't ;)

News / What is the population of Poland's non-european minority? [142]


Then why don't you wait and give others lessons when you really are home?

News / What is the population of Poland's non-european minority? [142]

And America for Americans, follow your logic and go home, Pieróg.

Life / Why are Polish people so obsessed with race? [160]


Obraniak, Perquis, Olisadebe, Boenisch, Guerreiro. That's just for football. You also have Xu Jie, Wang Zeng Yi, and Li Qian (tennis table), Joe McNaull, Jeff Nordgaard, David Logan, and Thomas Kelati (basketball), Arsen Kasabijew (weightlifter), Mamed Chalidow (martial arts), Yared Shegumo (marathon), Stéphane Exartier (skiing), Karolina Szwed-Ørneborg (handball), Jean Boutes, Merab Gabunia, David Chartier, Cédric Vaissière, Léandre Billaud, and Alexandre Beccuau (rugby), Babatunde Aiyegabusi (US football), Rune Holta (speedway). They all represent Poland, how cool ;)


It's already the case I'm afraid. Szczęsny, Glik, Wawrzyniak, Piszczek, Sobiech, Szukała, Krychowiak, Sobota, Nowak, Teodorczyk. Damn all the obcokrajowcy ;)


If you can't see any difference here, then I advise you to visit your doctor ASAP. This could be serious.