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Posts by Atch  

Joined: 1 Apr 2015 / Female ♀
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Last Post: 24 Nov 2024
Threads: Total: 23 / In This Archive: 12
Posts: Total: 4275 / In This Archive: 1888

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Atch   
12 Aug 2016
Genealogy / How many Jews lived in Poland and did they ever convert to catholicism, if so when? [62]

Jews are not Hebrews - and the Irish are not Celts. Does that make them any less Irish? A rose by any other name etc. Not sure either that I get the point of how alleged Jewish anti-Polonism has any relevance to their Hebrew origins or lack of them.

Anyway what does your post have to do with the thread? The question posed is whether any Jews converted to Catholicism.

Christians and Jews share identical roots, though "separated at birth" so to speak:-)

We were taught that fact in our Catholic school in the UK

When I was about six I became aware of 'Jews' and asked my mother what they were. 'Oh they're another religion' she replied. 'How are they different from us?' I asked. 'Well they don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God so they're still waiting for the Messiah', she responded. And that was it. I remember thinking 'the poor things, they must be getting really fed up waiting, pity they didn't realise that Jesus was it'. She then went on to recount a tale of 'a lovely Jewish girl' she was at school with. There was a Jewish community in the town where my mother grew up and the Jewish children all attended the local schools which were of course Catholic. The Jews whom I knew when I lived in London pretty much without exception told me that in the absence of a Jewish school, they would prefer their children to attend a Catholic school than a non-denominational one. They seemed to identify with Catholics more closely than with Protestants. They were certainly very fond of Irish Catholics. I think it was the perception of shared suffering and persecution for religious beliefs. They didn't know that much Irish history but they had the basic idea that Irish Catholics had a bad time of it from the Brits.

By the time I was about nine I was interested in whether you could marry someone of a different religion so naturally I went to the fount of all wisdom once again, my dear mother. 'Can a Catholic marry a Jew?' 'Oh, yes they can but other Jews don't really like it. They get very upset'. She then went on to tell the tale of another 'lovely Jewish girl', I think she was an older sister of the one my mother was at school with, who married a Catholic and the parents held a funeral for her 'and they never spoke to her again, it was very sad' she concluded. But there was no condemnation on her part. She accepted that this was a part of their belief system, wasn't it an awful pity etc. but that was their religion. She also mentioned something about how you couldn't blame them because they'd lost so many of their people in the Holocaust and they didn't want to lose any more. Children of a Catholic/Jewish marriage would be raised as Catholics at that time.
Atch   
10 Aug 2016
Food / Golabki - Oven or Stove top [11]

As you posted many hours ago I'm assuming that the gołąbki are well and truly cooked by now! I learned how to make them from my Polish husband (and he's first generation Polish, grew up in Poland). I've never heard of them being baked in the oven. I always make them on the stove top which is how his family make them. Don't know if it varies from region to region.

Here's my method. I cook the cabbage first, boil the whole thing in a huge pot. You only want to parboil it to soften the leaves as they need to be firm enough to handle without breaking. Then let it cool and separate the leaves.

I make the filling with mince (pork is more authentic than beef but I sometimes use a mixture of beef and pork, beef for the flavour and pork for the fatty element which adds additional flavour and moistness) cooked rice (again you should only parboil it, it should still have a bit of bite), grated onion and a little seasoning. I use black pepper and a tiny bit of cayenne and sometimes bind the mixture with an egg. Although I use lots of garlic in cooking, I never use it in gołąbki and the 'real' Polish recipes I've seen (not Polish American!) don't always have garlic so I'd say it's not an essential part of the dish and is up to personal taste. I would also never use Worcestershire sauce as it's absolutey not traditional in a Polish dish. It's an English sauce with a very distinctive flavour.

Regarding the sauce, it's generally fairly thin and I make my mine quite watery because my husband prefers a thin soup consistency for it. I make the sauce with two tins of whole plum tomatoes which I mash, then add quite a good dollop of tomato puree and about two litres of water. And yes the pot sould be absoutely stuffed with them, barely room to put on the lid. You can put a plate on top to weigh them down during the cooking process.

I layer the gołąbki in the pot and then pour over the sauce which I've already brought to the boil. Then I simmer it on the lowest heat for an hour or two.

Anyway that's how I do it, hope yours worked out ok. Smacznego!
Atch   
5 Aug 2016
Genealogy / How many Jews lived in Poland and did they ever convert to catholicism, if so when? [62]

Do you mean that they emigrated from the UK?

I don't think it's odd that they were born in America though the German accents would suggest that wherever they were born, they were subsequently raised in Germany or a German speaking country. What I do find odd is that their child was born in America around 1943/44 as this was during the war and I imagine it would have been difficult to be travelling backwards and forwards across the Atlantic during war time. Could the husband have been travelling on official business, was he a member of the diplomatic service or other state body?
Atch   
4 Aug 2016
Travel / World youth day - Częstochowa, Poland [34]

My impression is that couples seeking a divorce have to go through several steps including a reconciliaton period..

No Polly that's not so. There's no requirement for an official reconcilliation period. There's the usual steps of filing various papers and one party can hold up the process considerably if they want to be awkward by not filing their bits but about six months for the whole process is quite common.

A man stole a porno mag (

Thank you Ziemusz. You see what a good translator you are?! Class stuff. It's like something from Alternatywy 4 :))
Atch   
4 Aug 2016
Travel / World youth day - Częstochowa, Poland [34]

Couldn't you do that yourself Ziemusz? Is it something about somebody getting a refund on some porno mag he bought? I don't really want to copy and paste it into Google Translate, though I imagine the results would be fairly mirth provoking seeing as Google translates Pan as 'the Lord'!!

"overwhelmed by the generosity of the Polish people" who opened their homes to them.

Hospitality is not unique to Poland though Polly. Not denying for one moment how generous Polish people can be in that respect but I had a friend who visited Cuba and was equally overwhelmed by the generosity of her hosts who were really very poor people. Also you must bear in mind the people you're referring to are all practising Catholics who are hosting each other for a major Church event.

But it's the attitudes which prevail in society that count. Without having a go at anyone, I really think that young people in Poland are not being taught about caring for the welfare of others. I don't think it's part of the ethos of the education system. I think the legacy of Communism is still there, the state will provide, it's not your business, but it is your business and people need to learn that and they need to learn it from their earliest childhood. It's not about money, it's about awareness of the needs of others and about compassion and reaching a hand of friendship and human warmth out to the elderly, the poor, the lonely.
Atch   
4 Aug 2016
Travel / World youth day - Częstochowa, Poland [34]

Pope Francis held Poland up as a model for emulation.

"Poland, with its rich cultural and spiritual heritage

And its 24 hour alcohol shops, sex shops and video booths where it's openly advertised that you can view porn at any time of the day, hardcore porn mags displayed at childrens' eye level in kiosks, contraceptives displayed in supermarkets at children's eye level, brothels clearly visible, divorce available at the drop of a hat, no culture of volunteering or helping others and no sign of this newly prosperous society developing such a culture either. Yes a great example of Catholic values. I wouldn't like to see it emulated in my homeland I can tell you.
Atch   
3 Aug 2016
Life / The miserable life of retired old pensioners in Poland [10]

Yes, and not only that but there is no culture of volunteering or helping the elderly unless they're your own relatives. You know how in the British Isles there are loads of volunteerng groups like Friends of the Elderly, Alone etc. Then there's the services like Meals on Wheels. There are day centres and places for elderly people to meet, get a hot meal, socialise. I don't think there's anything like that here is there? It seems that unless it's organised by the local priest, there's nothing here in the way of support for the needy elderly in the community.
Atch   
1 Aug 2016
Travel / World youth day - Częstochowa, Poland [34]

That's probably because there isn't a history of anti-Semitism in Catholic Ireland so Smurf wouldn't have been brought up to bear any ill will towards Jews. The Jewish community was relatively small but there have been Jews in Ireland since the 11th century. At one time there were eleven Kosher butchers in Dublin! Apart from one trade war type thing in Limerick I think about a hundred years ago, when Jewish businesses were boycotted, there was never any real anti-Jewish feeling and that was really a commercial thing, not religious. I think Irish Catholics are often unaware of the 'bigger' issues because of being a small island on the edge of Europe.
Atch   
29 Jul 2016
Life / Why are the lines in supermarkets the slowest and the longest in Europe? Usually only very few employees work [18]

Always expect you to have loose change, it's their shop,up to them to have cash in tills to run it.

Here's the phrase Mr Atch gave me for that situation:

'To jest sklep. To Pan/Pani powinna wydać mi resztę a nie ja Pani!'

This thread has already provided two useful supermarket vocubulary phrases for the learner of Polish :) Not that you need it Dolno. By the way the other day when I was rambling on about something, I most unintentionally lumped you in with the 'hysterical' Poles on the forum. You're also an exception, cast in the same mould as Ziemowit, a proper Polish gent!
Atch   
29 Jul 2016
Life / Why are the lines in supermarkets the slowest and the longest in Europe? Usually only very few employees work [18]

Sounds like your last visit to Poland was about ten years ago. I remember it being like that at one time but it's improved a lot. I've never had to queue for more than ten minutes and they have those self-service checkouts now in a lot of places, if you only have a few items.

Polish supermarket owners? There aren't very many. Most of the large supermarkets are French or German, not owned by Poles.
Atch   
26 Jul 2016
Law / Help regarding domestic situation regarding withholding of child's ID in Poland [4]

Well, I'm not a solicitor so I'm not in a position to advise you further but I do know this much. Presumably he took the child with the mother's consent as he claimed it was for a holiday. It would only be kidnapping if he took her without consent. It's classified as retention, he's retaining the child against the mother's will. If they can't resolve it themselves, it has to be sorted out in court.
Atch   
26 Jul 2016
Law / Help regarding domestic situation regarding withholding of child's ID in Poland [4]

They have equal parental rights and equal parental authority (those are the two legal categories that apply in Poland). But, as in any country, if she can't come to an agreement with her husband, then she'll have to file a case in court in order to see that her rights are respected. She'll have to do that in Poland. You really need a solicitor for this.

She should contact a solicitor in the town where her husband is living as that's where the case will be filed. She doesn't need a solicitor to file paperwork, she can do it herself, but it's always better to have at least some legal advice, if not representation. If she sends an email to a solicitor, they will generally give her a bit of advice regarding her legal options, free of charge. The best thing is to ask about the options, ask them for a price for filing the paperwork to bring a court action and another price for representing her in court. They are more likely to reply to her email if they think there is a chance of some business out of it.
Atch   
26 Jul 2016
Life / Polish people and Politeness [84]

temperatures are bordering on tropical. They like it warm!

This is absolutely true. In one office where my husband was working, he was horrified to see that the temperature was 28 degrees during the winter months and the other guys were wearing jumpers - that's sweaters for our American friends :) I told him to find the thermostat for the heating and turn it down one degree per day, nobody will notice, and sure enough it worked! He got it down to 22, still a bit too warm but much better. Going to the supermarket in winter in Poland is torture, it's simply stifling in there, I have to remove my coat and put it in the trolley but you see the customers walking around in their heavy winter jackets and still wrapped up in their scarves, even wearing their hats, while they do their shopping. No wonder they all have colds all the time.
Atch   
22 Jul 2016
Law / Appointing Representative to Receive Correspondence Regarding Temporary Residence Permit in Poland [5]

You can appoint a solicitor to do it. Polish solictors provide a service where they will receive correspondence for you, for a monthly fee of about 100PLN. It's probably best to do that. You could appoint a very trustworthy person but, even the most careful person can mislay something or it could get thrown away accidentally with a pile of junk mail or fall down behind the back of a cupboard or something.
Atch   
21 Jul 2016
News / National Foundation to boost Poland's international image [26]

In fairness Chemikiem he probably forgot where he read it. He does a fair old bit of net surfing on sites many and varied :)

But re the foundation, it's absolutely typical of how Poland keeps getting it wrong. It won't do anything at all to enhance their reputation, quite the opposite.
Atch   
21 Jul 2016
Work / Krakow - living and working [18]

Here's a couple of links for you Laura. I searched in price range up to 1000PN per month:

nieruchomosci.pl/wyniki/?ps%5Btype%5D=1&ps%5Blocation%5D=10-15-31&ps%5Btransaction%5D=2&ps%5Bprice_to%5D=1000

otodom.pl/wynajem/mieszkanie/krakow/?search%5Bfilter_float_price%3Ato%5D=1000&search%5Bdescription%5D=1&search%5Bdist%5D=0

do miporta.pl/mieszkanie/wynajme/malopolskie/krakow?Price.To=1000
Atch   
20 Jul 2016
Work / Krakow - living and working [18]

Numbeo is pretty good at estimates like this kinda stuff

Yes, but unfortunately the OP doesn't trust them:

I don't trust Numbeo,

Atch   
20 Jul 2016
Work / Krakow - living and working [18]

What does a person pay under utilities (water, electricity, heating, internet?)

It's impossible to be precise, you can only estimate but your expenses would break down something like:

Czynsz (water and refuse charges): 200-300PLN (but it could be more)
Electricity/gas: 150 ish.
Internet: 60 ish
Transport/Monthly Ticket: 100 ish

So up to about 600PLN on top of your rent.

and what would be costs for it for an average Pole?

An average Pole will have exactly the same costs as anyone else for those things. There are no special deals on electricty or gas just because you're Polish!

You say you want to rent something for around 1,000 so best to budget for another 600-700. It'll be a tight budget but you could rent something cheaper.
Atch   
15 Jul 2016
Genealogy / Confusing on my lineage, Pomorski Hamot - my maternal side is 100% Polish [4]

Hi there. I've been doing a bit of Googling and from what I can see, Harnot is a very rare name. There is some information stating that it was recorded in the Domesday Book. We have a derivation of the name in Ireland, spelled as Harnett which is not common but would be well known, Ireland being such a small country. I would say that your grandmother's French origins would be in the very distant past, back in the days of the Normans. I doubt very much that her father was French. The name, like many modern names has ancient origins but it could have come into your family at any time in the last 1,000 years! Would be difficult to trace. There are quite a few census records, given its rarity, for Harnot in the United States.

Sorry OP, I mis-read the name, I realize it's Hamot and not Harnot. Sorry about that! It might help somebody else though!
Atch   
15 Jul 2016
Real Estate / To buy a property in Poland - a basic starting point needed. Where is a good region to buy and why? Finances. [7]

Hi Jax. I'm no expert but........you know the usual story :-)

My advice would be go for a town rather than a rural property. Rural properties can be very tempting but if you come to sell it later it will be harder to shift and depending on the amount of work needed they can end up being a total money pit.

If buying in a town I would stay away from new developments/posh as they are really all their money in my opinion. I think it's better to go for something older if you can get it as they have much more character. If you're selling it in the future, a period property will always appeal to foreign buyers like yourself. Right now locals have limited interest in them but that will change and I think they will appreciate in value more than the new builds.

Also if it's a holiday home, then think about transport links, access to airport etc.

As to area, you can't go wrong with any of the major cities, but it's very much a matter of personal taste if you're going to be spending holidays there.

The only word of caution I would have is leaving it empty when you're not there. It can be dodgy so you'd need to arrange something about that.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. There are others here much more well informed than I am so hopefully they will turn up soon!
Atch   
15 Jul 2016
History / Poles also killed innocents [32]

British and Irish clowns on PF to jump on Poland in the hope of diverting attention from Britain, France and Italy happily signing the treaty with Herr Hitler in Munich in 1938

I find that pretty offensive.

Have to say Ziemowit that I agree with Smurf. That kind of silliness is unworthy of a man of your intelligence. There are only two Irish members who post here regularly so it's quite rude of you to suggest that Smurf and I are fools. Speaking for myself I'm not in the habit of 'jumping on Poland' either.

As for us trying to divert attention from Britain's actions, why would we want to do that? We weren't involved in any of it and back at that time in the 1930s relations between ourselves and Britain were pretty cool.
Atch   
15 Jul 2016
UK, Ireland / Polish in Britain - will I get decked if I speak Polish to these people? [63]

attitude

Yes, you're right there. But actually I think that kind of attitude indicates a certain lack of something in the upstairs department. I think you and I would probably both agree that 'intelligence' takes many forms and isn't just confined to the old book learning! There's a kind of mental apathy in some people, which to me is a certain kind of intelligence deficit.

With regard to using a computer, perhaps she couldn't afford to have one when she lived in Poland, I never asked.

Growing up, yes it's quite possible that her family couldn't afford a computer but later on, after she got together with her boyfriend (father of her child I mean), I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't have had a computer. Poles absolutely love their technology, best telly they can afford, mobile phone, definitely computer. However, culturally, working class Polish men can be very controlling with women and she might not have been allowed to use the computer.

said he felt that at 43 he was too old to learn a new language, and he felt that he might be laughed at for trying :(

Yes, you're absolutely right about the age thing and the more general lack of confidence issue. It's amazing how many Poles one meets who understand quite a bit of English and even know some English but they simply do not want to try speaking. And again, the age thing is very much a part of Polish culture, there are so many people who are grandparents in their forties and once your a grandpa/grandma in Poland, that's it. I know a man who's in his fifties now but when he was about 35 he lost his job and he tried to get on to some re-training programme, a kind of sponsored government thing but he was told, 'you're too old'. So that attitude permeates Polish society at every level. Of course it's improving but it has a long way to go.

So to sum up, I suppose we could say, factors that might influence someone's level of English would include:

a) Laziness
b) Lack of confidence
c) Lack of necessity - no motive to learn
d) Lack of opportunity - no means
e) Lack of intelligence
f) Individual circumstances: for example, maybe a woman might be in a borderline abusive relationship
where the last thing on her mind is learning English or computer skills.
Atch   
14 Jul 2016
News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

In fairness Ziem, it wasn't in Paris, it was in north east France, but yes, they thought that the whole of Ireland was part of the UK.

too small

That's why we'll have to bring all our powers of persuasion to bear. Our problem is that although we're quite active EU members, we're 'best friends' with the UK and we haven't really bothered to cosy up to the other states.

Do you know that when the Polish minister for something visited Ireland last year, that was the first such occasion in nine years - and with the huge Polish community in Ireland, that's just not good enough. Ditto this visit by the Italians, first in twenty years. Over half our beef exports go to the UK, where's the Irish beef in Polish supermarkets? Or Irish lamb? Why don't we see some of the huge range of Polish beers sold in Irish supermarkets? (I mean they're not currently being sold, why not?)As a nation, we're not big vodka drinkers but we love a pint, why not a Polish pint? Very lame behaviour on behalf of both Irish and Polish governments in that respect.
Atch   
14 Jul 2016
News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

What I mean Gregy is that the deal struck between the UK and the EU will have to be agreed by all EU members states. As Dara Murphy, the Irish minister for European affairs said, 'a bad deal for the UK means a bad deal for Ireland' so Ireland needs to get other members on board, in supporting a generous deal for the UK during negotiations. That would include the continuation of the CTA. Don't know if that makes it a bit clearer.

As to travelling from Ireland to Britain, the reality is that you certainly can't fly without producing a valid travel document and even the ferries have checks, so I don't see how it would be an issue. The CTA refers to repciprocal rights between Irish and British citizens.