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Posts by Matowy  

Joined: 4 Jul 2009 / Male ♂
Last Post: 3 Jul 2010
Threads: -
Posts: Total: 293 / In This Archive: 190
From: United Kingdom.
Speaks Polish?: Only a little. Maybe 2% or so.
Interests: Few and far between.

Displayed posts: 190 / page 5 of 7
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Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Travel / Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective [269]

You're right As I mentioned earlier we prefer the word Persian over Iranian.

I had heard that story before, but I was under the impression it was a bit fabricated. "Persia" sounds so much nicer, they should change the name back =/
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Travel / Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective [269]

The irony of life, Darius, there is indeed a member of this forum who is seems very racist ( an understatement) and who bears almost the same "name " as yours , he probably does not know that Darius is a typical Persian name and neither does he know where and what Persia is !
It is really funny!

There are two very racist members here who share his name, actually. ;) One has the exact same name, the other has the Polish equivalent.
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Life / Mixed race girl in Poland, good idea? [149]

According to Western standards. You judge them by standards of other culture. This is racists.

I stressed "liberal, cultured, from Warsaw" for a reason, and they are mostly more knowledgeable about the world than I am. They DO know what they're saying, and aware that their casual terminology carries with it incredibly hateful connotation, they just don't seem to care. I don't often discuss topics of racism with the average Pole, so I don't know about general attitudes. I simply note that some of the most intelligent, liberal and worldly people I've ever known that are from Poland have no issues with being racist.

Seriously though - I don't pretend that we are innocent island of tolerance in the racist world. I simply state that even developing racism takes time. We never got that time.
Maybe in 20 years we become a racist nation - who knows?

Racism is not an acquired viewpoint, it is quite primitive and natural, hence why it is so common. Poland may not have racial stereotypes yet, but it's perfectly possible for someone to hold prejudices based on race.
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Travel / Poland from a Persian Tourist's Perspective [269]

I have thought that Persia no longer exists?
Isnt it called Iran now?

Yes, but the people are still referred to as "Persian". They get rather pissy about it, actually. The language can also be called "Persian".
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Life / Mixed race girl in Poland, good idea? [149]

I don't deny that there are some REAL racists in Poland. But most of this so-called famous Polish racism is just a misunderstanding on the border of cultures and languages.

I don't agree. I've heard incredibly liberal, cultured, sometimes gay Poles from Warsaw casually drop extremely racist terminology in their speech with such stunning ease, and I don't mean words like "black" or "brown". These are people I would categorize as "open-minded". "Brown" is not a racial or ethnic designation anywhere, so it's not really racist to refer to someone in that way; it's mostly just rude. "Black" however, is a racial designation, so nobody bats an eyelid if someone is referred to as "black".
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Life / Mixed race girl in Poland, good idea? [149]

...but spoke about Poles and I wonder who these Poles want make a good impression on? The very people they don't like?

Different cultures will exhibit racism differently, even if they have the same amount of racism. He was commenting on the way in which racism is expressed in Poland. In some places, racism is subtle, and in others it is blatant, but ultimately it can be simplified into; some people are racist, some aren't.

I think it has little to do with where someone is from, as much as it is to do with what someone is like. There are good and bad people from every place, and there are open-minded and small-minded people from every place as well.
Matowy   
7 Mar 2010
Love / Long-distance attraction. I am attracted to a Polish guy. [42]

In my opinion, being direct in this situation would pay off. You're both busy adults with little time to waste on games, and with this physical separation things can deteriorate FAST. Tell him what you feel, ask if he is interested... time is of the essence.
Matowy   
6 Mar 2010
News / Mass immigration to Poland - article and response [479]

Britain should send them all back. Europe is for Europeans, not for Africans.

Similarly, Africa is for Africans, not for Europeans:

Europeans did eventually leave Africa, after they had raped it of resources and labour, that is.
Matowy   
5 Mar 2010
Law / Using Paypal to send money to Poland [12]

Paypal deducts money for international transfers (sometimes), and the amount it deducts is something around 4% or so. This is reasonable compared to the standard rate of most banks.

I have managed to sometimes prevent Paypal from deducting this fee, by sending money in the same currency as it will be received as. I.e. sending USD to a Polish Paypal account will convert the money into PLN (this is what costs, I think) but sending zł to a Polish Paypal MIGHT not deduct any money at all. This is very hard to determine, because sometimes it does deduct and sometimes it doesn't. I don't know why.

EDIT: If you want to compensate for the deduction fee, then simply add 5% to whatever it is you will send. I trade on Paypal quite often, and usually I end up short if anything less than an extra 5% is sent.
Matowy   
5 Mar 2010
Feedback / No joke, but how do I LOG OUT? [19]

You cannot escape.

But really, come to think of it I do not even know... if you use Firefox then a last resort measure is to:

Leave this page

Go to Tools > Clear Recent History > Make sure ''Cookies'' is checked > OK

This will erase all your website history, and clear stored usernames, passwords and form information (so don't use it unless you have all your internet info committed to memory). It will also log you out.
Matowy   
4 Mar 2010
Life / COMBATING "POLACK" JOKES [460]

Even with modern technology and heightened social mobility, people can still find ways to be ignorant.
Matowy   
4 Mar 2010
Life / COMBATING "POLACK" JOKES [460]

They were making Polish jokes on the radio here today in Chicago

Such jokes are acceptable in a personal space, but on the radio?! That's extremely unprofessional for whichever radio station did that.
Matowy   
3 Mar 2010
Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

Well you surprise me Torq, now you,re a psychologist.

It doesn't take a psychologist to see that you are insecure in your own self-worth, so you like to history and genealogy to to derive some sense of self and self-worth from your ancestors who you didn't know. Psychology? Barely. Your inferiority complex is very common and easily recognisable, as it is with many who allow ancestry to influence their self-perception and opinions.
Matowy   
3 Mar 2010
UK, Ireland / Are polish girls in the UK cheap (to hire?) [35]

After knowing the standards of British girls, I would never want to place the title of "cheap" upon any other national group. Polish girls seem to be pretty strong. British ones are just cheap in every sense of the word.
Matowy   
2 Mar 2010
Language / men.male - Polish pronunciation? [8]

so the sound will be 'mensh chee-na

No.

Mężczyzna - Break it up into:

Męż - Czyz - Na

Men-ż-chiz-na - As per usual, the emphasis goes on the "iz" sound.

*The "ę" sound seems to be a matter of personal taste, but for simplicity in text I use the "en" form.

ivona.com/online/editor.php?tmpl=15 - Use this for pronunciation. Polish is much more linear in pronunciation than English, so it's pretty accurate. Just type in the word you want, select on the right Jacek, Maja or Jan, and press the play button. Ewa is very high-pitched and misses some key nasally sounds in Polish, in my opinion. For some laughs you can also type in Polish sentences and select a British pronunciation.
Matowy   
2 Mar 2010
Law / To know about the Jatux company in Poland? [33]

Hm, why would an established and easily traceable company commit fraud on such a large scale? Unless they hope to rely solely on the language barrier blocking foreigners from research or legal action (but most fraudsters are not this stupid).
Matowy   
2 Mar 2010
Life / COMBATING "POLACK" JOKES [460]

Especially when this is done in mass media like TV or motion pictures. Its called "the Big Lie" technique.

This is a good point, but it doesn't change the fact that you are being too serious about this. If someone is stupid enough to believe something irrational, then that person will be their stupid self and cling on to their belief no matter how much you demonstrate they are wrong (this is known as the "No true Scotsman" fallacy). So, quite simply, it's pointless for you to be so against ethnic jokes because of the hypothesis that they reinforce stereotypes. The mentality that allow stereotypes to exist will not disappear even if you get rid of stereotypical jokes/humour. You cannot change anyone's nature but your own.
Matowy   
1 Mar 2010
UK, Ireland / Britain... What the Poles did for us. [444]

It's important to have an enemy to fight ;) (in communism)

It's important for any self-proclaimed entity to have an "enemy". It's how they define and justify their existence. The U.S is a prime example of this mentality, as it never seems to run out of "enemies of freedom".
Matowy   
1 Mar 2010
UK, Ireland / Marrying Polish Woman in UK/London [100]

You should consider moving to Dublin after you get married, just to annoy RevokeNice :)

Get a second home in Manchester as well ;)
Matowy   
1 Mar 2010
History / The WW2 Hero.. Henryk Sławik (1894-1944) [17]

I wanted to say that Slawik was an Polish Hero and Poles have a right to be proud of him!

What, so they can usurp his achievements and pass them off as their own (however vaguely)? It is an insult to such people to attribute their deeds to their nationality or other such irrelevant factors. He did good things because he was a good person, not because of his nationality.
Matowy   
1 Mar 2010
Language / men.male - Polish pronunciation? [8]

Do you mean the Polish word "Mężczyzna" ? Like all Polish words, it's simply a matter of knowing the components to be able to pronounce it. If you know how to pronounce "ę", "ż" and "cz" on their own, then you can pronounce this word.
Matowy   
1 Mar 2010
History / The WW2 Hero.. Henryk Sławik (1894-1944) [17]

There are certin kind of people, plenty of them to be honest, who will notice someone nationality when said person do wrong,and before you ask - kick his dog for fun!

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

The same people tend to downplay role of nationality when "hero" factor comes into the play!

Good for them?