Life / Mixed race girl in Poland, good idea? [149]

Hi jemma,

Do you mean just visiting, or coming to stay for a while?

In bigger cities, like warsaw and krakow, there are quite a few Black/MR people, so being mixed race wouldn't be a problem, I imagine.

In some of the smaller towns you might need to get used to being stared at, as there aren't many (if any) Blacks in some of these places. However, the staring is more from curiosity than 'hate-racism'.

Another thing to remember is that many people have never met a Black/MR person and , as English is their second language, might not realise they are being offensive when they call you 'n*gg*r', they think it's something people do (they've seen the films with rappers etc). I recently had to explain to my class that it wasn't a good idea to use the word. Some were shocked.

I think you'll have a good time.

Life / COMBATING "POLACK" JOKES [460]

What will be interesting is IF people stop telling Polish jokes whether Polish TV will stop using comedy material with stereotypes of other nations ethnicity (Russian gangsters, stupid Americans, Blacks etc).

Occasionally it's a matter of the pot calling the kettle 'ethnic'.

Life / Doctors taking bribes in Poland [76]

It must work for some patients. My wife's grnadmother had an appointment at a local clinic and had to sit for over 2 hours past the appointment time because other patients were just able to walk into the doctor's surgery in-front of her.

Pretty disgusting, really, especially as she wasn't the only old person waiting.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

... if you think a 30 zloty bottle of whisky from Biedronka is actually worth drinking!

... you think mending each individual pothole, rather than just resurfacing the whole road, is actually a more economic proposal.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]


Having lived in Glasgow and Belfast, I don't think that's a solely Polish thing.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

Maybe Seanus thought it was a ... tongue... in cheek comment.

I'm blowed if I know what's going on in his head.

Life / Typical Examples of Polish Parking Entitlement (post yours) [57]


No, he was lounging around outside TPSA building, mówić-ing po Polsku. Possibly French, but even they aren't as arrogant as BMW drivers.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]


Oh come on, we're not swallowing that!

History / Chance of Lwów once again became coming part of Poland [344]


So are the holes in the road in Olsztyn.


Am I to understand it that whilst Polish roads have huge holes, Uklrainian roads have bits of road sticking out of a long, giant hole?

Life / Typical Examples of Polish Parking Entitlement (post yours) [57]

The guy who, just cos he's got BMW SUV, thinks it gives him the right to open his door without checking the distance, while parked next to my car, and then leave his door open to catch the breeze and cause multiple dents with the corner of his door.

History / Chance of Lwów once again became coming part of Poland [344]

If Poland did get Lwow, would the roads get better or worse?

Life / COMBATING "POLACK" JOKES [460]


Funny you should say that.

In 17th century there was a Polish gentleman,John Stercovius, who went to Scotland, wearing his Prussian/Polish clothes. he was laughed at. When he returned he wrote a rather nasty pamphlet against Scotland.

The Scottish king, James VI, got to hear of it and wrote to his old buddy, the King of Poland. The Prussian chap was arrested and was publically beheaded by sword in Kętrzyn (not sure which was worse, the beheading or having to go to Kętrzyn). Even this wasn't enough for james, and all the pamphlets were seized or ordered to be returned.

So, we Scots take our jokes VERY seriously.

UK, Ireland / Polish people in the UK using the English version of their name? [56]


I have another Kasia friend (and a few more) who went on a course in UK. She wrote her name, Kasia, on her badge and everyone kept calling her Kas-ee-ya.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]


and walking to the front of the queue in the post office to ask about his address.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

You are Polish if you are sharpening a knife while looking for Seanus's home address.

UK, Ireland / Polish people in the UK using the English version of their name? [56]


I don't recall ever having met an English 'Marta' (except, perhaps, one who had Polish/non-British roots). I think to use the name 'Marta' in Britain, is less old-fashioned than 'Martha', because it is 'foreign'.

Mind you, it does sound like 'martyr'.

Has anyone been called '(to)mato'? A friend of mine called Kasia used to get called 'Cashew' (a type of nut).

Life / What is it with the Polish love of antibiotics? And Why do Poles get ill more? [40]

My GP once managed to diagnose an ankle complaint, and refer me to a specialist, without me even needing to remove my high-leg boots.

Funny, the specialist was an obnoxious git who screamed that I should tell my GP to go back to school.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]


I was in a post office line once when the assistant was obviously a trainee and was doing her (very slow) best, whilst a superior was screaming at her (but not helping). We'd been in the queue well over 30 minutes (and it wasn't a long queue). Some guy went straight to the front, with a coccky grin. The guy being served blocked him, I dived in for my turn and blocked him... and then gave him a look which said he was a brave guiy if he was going to try it. The glares of pure malevolence from the rest of the queue may have deterred him (of course, nobody said anything).

Life / What is it with the Polish love of antibiotics? And Why do Poles get ill more? [40]


Funny thing, in UK as the temeperature drops the skirts get higher. In Poland, the waist band of the jeans gets lower.

Love / Polish poem suggestions to get my girl back [21]

cool. dzięki

perhaps my male brain kicked in whilst typing ;-)

Love / Polish poem suggestions to get my girl back [21]


Oh, thanks. That's useful.

Actually, I think it was just a typo, as I was typing with the book in one hand and trying to do all the Polish letters with the other hand. So where was the mistake? Should it be 'widziałam'?


Glad you like it guys.

Love / Polish poem suggestions to get my girl back [21]

Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska

Miłość

Nie widziałem cię już od miesiąca.
I nic. Jestem może bledsza,
trochę śpiąca, trochę bardziej milcząca,
lecz widać można żyć bez powietrza,

Love

I haven't seen you for a month,
And nothing. I'm perhaps (a little) paler,
a little sleepy, a little more quiet,
but it seems one can live without air.

History / Polish hatred towards Jews... [1290]


Considering that the British press (The Sun etc) regularly use phrases like 'kraut' or 'jerries', 'hun' to refer to Germany (including, a few years ago, having Gazza - remember him?- in a tin hat, saying, "achtung, for you the european cup is over!"), then why should it be a surprise?

History / just before the war the Polish/Ukrainian szlachta learned Ukrainian [243]

He also served with the Red Army and was trained as NKVD for a short time, before he fled to American Zone.

History / just before the war the Polish/Ukrainian szlachta learned Ukrainian [243]


It was more a way of suggesting why some people thought about Ukrainians (getting them mixed up).


Lotnik was a Polish partisan but he writes about fighting with Ukrainians. While he has an obviously pro-Polish viewpoint, he makes it quite clear that both sides were doing pretty much the same thing to each other. He actually mentions some of his comrades mutilating Ukrainian corpses.

UK, Ireland / Scotz barszcz magazine [10]


How much will yopu pay me to answer that?

Interestingly, it is historically based in Polish culture. The Scots had a huge population in Prussia/Poland during 16th/17th/18th centuries, and were often merchants and travelling salesmen. They were despised by many local merchants because they (allegedly) by-passed customs and trading laws and undercut the locals. They were occasionally noted as being "worse than jews' in their economic dealings.

Thread attached on merging:
Scotsbarszcz magazine

The latest edition of the Scots/Polish magazine "Scotsbarszcz" is on-line.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]


...if you are a shop assistant and don't look a customer in the face whilst serving them, but continue talking to your friend who is standing behind you.

... if you are a retired shop assistant and lament the day assistants stopped standing silently, one step behind customers, follwoing them around the shop to make sure they didn't steal anything.

... if you tell a customer "If you don't like it, go somewhere else", forgetting the fact that these days they DO have other places to go.

History / just before the war the Polish/Ukrainian szlachta learned Ukrainian [243]


You may be right. However, the fact that a number of old people have used this story suggests that it is imbedded in some kind of consciousness and is part of a 'folk history' (whether true or not).

It can't be denied that there was a sizeable collaboration between nazis and certain elements of Ukrainian nationalists (although the soviets often downplayed it in their own accounts), mainly as anti-soviet (perhaps anti Polish) expression/action.

In the minds of many Poles Ukranians are in a lose-lose situation, historically. If they fought on the Red side they were collaborators with the murderers and oppressors and if they fought on the nazi side, they were collaborators with oppressors and murderers.

Have you read "Nine Lives" by Waldemar Lotnik?

Interesting article in today's press:
scotsman.com/news/To-half-of-Ukraine-he.6117523.jp

This might explain a few things

warsawuprising.com/paper/rona.htm

(as well as this there were SS affiliated cossack units in Warsaw).

History / just before the war the Polish/Ukrainian szlachta learned Ukrainian [243]


I've heard the term "and then the Ukrainians came" used to end a narrative a few times. usually it was about WW2 when Ukrainian auxilliaries were let lose by the Nazis onto the Poles, such as during the Warsaw Uprising. There is usually a silence, so people can 'imagine' the next bit.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

... and spell it in small case too.