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Posts by skysoulmate  

Joined: 10 Jan 2010 / Male ♂
Last Post: 15 Feb 2019
Threads: Total: 13 / In This Archive: 13
Posts: Total: 1250 / In This Archive: 956
From: US
Speaks Polish?: Yes, but kiepsko :)
Interests: aviation, gliders, scuba diving, travel

Displayed posts: 969 / page 5 of 33
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skysoulmate   
10 Aug 2011
Law / Why are the Poles following the Swiss Franc? [17]

So, please tell me why is the Polish media following the Swiss Franc?

When several of the Central and Eastern European countries were beeing integrated into the EU lots of Poles, Czechs, Hungerians, etc. took out mortgages denominated in Swiss Francs, at the time it was a good move as the interest rates were pretty low and the Franc was relatively stable but since then it has gained against most currencies and rates have gone up, a double-whammy for those with Swiss franc loans. However, the Swiss Central bank just lower the interest rates so hopefully homeowners with those loans will get a little breathing room. Not for long though, I think the franc will stay strong for a few more years... Just my prediction.

In hindsight borrow in zloty and save in franc would've been better
skysoulmate   
8 Aug 2011
News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

That's incorrect. Monaco flag has different dimensions.
------

It's white for the Polish eagle and red for the shield of Lithuania. From the days when the two territories were in union

Well, sort of. A few words are misspelled here but it has a good summary of the meaning of the colors.
[I]The Flag
by Mr. Jan Rękawek

Poland's national colors are white and red. On the flag these assume the form of two horizontal bands of equal width and length, the upper white and the lower, red.

The origin of the flag colors goes back to the Piast dynasty and relates to the White Eagle on a red field. However, the concept of the state flag in these colors dates from the 18th and 19th centuries.

In earlier times, red and white are found on royal standards and military flags, though not as separate hands.

In the 18th century, Polish soldiers began to wear white cockades on their caps. Thus white was the first color which had a specific meaning, it was the sign of the Polish soldier.

The civilian population, in sympathy with the army, adopted white cockades during the insurrection of 1830-31. At that time, tricolor cockades (red, white and blue) [borrowed from French revolution - my remark] as well as red and white ones were also worn. This lack of uniformity induced the Sejm to pass a resolution on February 7, 1831, adopting the white and red cockade as official.

It was the first legal act by the nation's supreme representatives regulating Poland's colors and making white and red the national colors. After the uprising was suppressed, the red and white cockades were outlawed by the Tsarist authorities, but the colors continued to be used wherever Poles in exile fought for the cause of freedom.

On November 11, 1918, a Warsaw University student. heralding the coming independence, raised a big white and red flag on the Radziwiil Palace, then the seat of the German occupational authority, and today, the residence of Poland's President. The following year, the Sejm of the resurgent Polish state adopted the white and red flag as the official design which remains unchanged to this day.

In many countries, including Poland, hut not the United States, the country's ensign differs somewhat from its flag. The ensign is the flag flown by warships at sea. On land, it is a symbol of government authority. Poland's ensign differs from its flag by having a White Eagle on a red shield in the middle of the white band. Moreover, the ensign used by the Polish Navy is swallowtailed, a characteristic of the warship ensigns of countries on the Baltic Sea.

The raising of the Star-Spangled Banner by the G-I's over Iwo Jima is a familiar American icon. Earlier, on May 18, 1944, an analogous scenario occuned in Italy, when, in one of the greatest battles of the Second World War, soldiers of the Polish Second Corps captured the Monte Cassino bastion, the pivot of the German defense system in Italy.

The Polish flag was proudly raised that day atop ruins of the monastery on Monte Cassino. It was a signal that the road to Rome had been opened.

While the raising of the Polish flag over Monte Cassino has been photographically immortalized, another event of momentous significance has not. Polish troops of the Kościuszko division, serving under Russian command, were the first to fight their way to the center of Berlin at the end of the World War II. There they raised the Polish flag over the Branderburg gate, only to have it taken down soon thereafter by the Soviets who replaced it with their own red banner.

The White and Red flag and the crowned White Eagle, symbols of sovereign Poland, remain the emblems of the Polish heritage which are traditionallly celebrated on May 3rd, Polands's Constitution Day.[/]

Flag of Poland

Flag of Monaco

As you can see the overall dimensions and the thickness of the stripes is different.
skysoulmate   
8 Aug 2011
Travel / Direct flights to Asia from Poland [10]

Yesterday Boeing rolled out the first 787 that's about to be delivered to ANA, the launch customer.

boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=13&item=1633

To answer your question, frankly it's supply and demand. Long distance flights are very expensive to operate and the flights have to be booked up to make a profit. To open a new route an airline has to hire local gate agents, mechanics, rampers, supervisors, etc., etc. To pay for that you'd need basically daily flights or you won't make any money. Many European companies have factories in Asia but those corporations are usually based in Germany, France, The Netherlands, etc. Therefore most Asian flights originate in those countries. There are rumors of SAS starting up a Shanghai service, it'd be eather from Copenhagen or Stockholm, either one is very close to Poland.
skysoulmate   
8 Aug 2011
News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

I don't know maybe it's just me but the Danish flag is simply very nice - very decorative

Yes, it's just you. If you'll have to pick a Scandinavian flag obviously the Swedish is the prettiest, the colors of the sky and the sun, how much prettier can it get??? ;)
skysoulmate   
8 Aug 2011
News / Polish flag was changed by taking the coat of arms? [48]

May i ask why that is, that you can't use the flag with the coat of arms? I understand the respect but seems a little extreme...

Most countries have similar rules. Swedes like to use a flag with the royal insignia which is supposed to be used for official business only, in the US you'll often see flags with military emblems added to it, same in Poland. We all like to pick what looks the best to us.
skysoulmate   
7 Aug 2011
USA, Canada / TOP 500 Young Polish Innovators program - short internships in USA [14]

I didn't want to sound proud or haughty - i'm just really really happy :) and thankful for such a great project :)

You didn't sound proud or haughty and congrats to you! I'm not as frequent here anymore but hope to read about your experiences, hopefully they'll be mostly positive. Good luck to you!
skysoulmate   
25 Jul 2011
News / Wroclaw man helping police after recent events in Norway [48]

Posted by Torq:

It will once again confirm one of the main leftist dogmas, that Poland is The Source of All Evil in the World.

Updating the news and denying the Polish connection will be laughed at - it's too late.

Torq, with all due respect I beg to differ. PF isn't exactly a major news outlet that people look up when thinking of the latest and most up to date news. Besides, google, yahoo, etc. search functions continuously update themselves so if the subject line is changed there won't be any confusion whatsoever. I bet you there will be people interviewed and maybe even arrested in the UK, US, Czech republic (that's where he tried to buy a gun but failed), and many other countries.
skysoulmate   
25 Jul 2011
News / Wroclaw man helping police after recent events in Norway [48]

But nice to see on the front page that a Pole knowingly helped a mass murderer, even if that's BS.

Well, Szwed didn't do anything wrong, he posted a source without any personal views attached to it so we could judge ourselves.. I wish the article stated "for allegedly helping the terrorist..." but that's not Szwed's fault.

Maybe the allegedly can be added to the subject line?
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

[pip said this:]

In Iceland it is very important to maintain the language as much as possible. Computer is a new word, however, in Icelandic they have literally translated it to be "box with numbers". Poles can do the same but they choose not to.

True but they also come up with cute names for volcanoes, i.e. Eyjafjallajökull. :-))

I struggle pronouncing it and I speak another Scandinavian language fluently. Island is a tiny nation and they're protecting their language but I don't think we need to.
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

Most anglophones can't properly pronounce "si" sound.

True but this lady is my friend's wife and she speaks Polish pretty well, it sounds like eastern Polish to me but I understand pretty much everything she says (whenever she wants to practice her Polish). Her family came to the US from what would be Ukraine today but she says her entire family was Polish.
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

Babusia, although I've never heard such diminiutive, is probably the real origin of the word busia.

Interesting, my mom called her grandmother babusia, silesian background. Note that busia and busha are different words, I've heard a Chicagoan lady use the busha word, it had a strong sh (or sz) sound to it as in the russian devushka (girl).

Very, very sorry for your family's horrible loss.

It's life and my family has moved on (his wife never did, she died as a single "widow" although she never called herself a widow, she believed he'd come back because his last letter said he'd be back soon). I'll cherish that letter, my mom already told me that one day it'll be mine. For one, I'm in the military (like he was) and I like history; my sister - not so much.
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

And, I see your point, too. Russia dominated Poland for far too long. One reason why one set of my grandparents had Russian citizenship, instead of Polish.

A relative of ours died in Katyn, my mother still has the last letter he wrote to his then wife. Yeah, the less Russian influence the better. I know languages soak in words from other languages but Busha sounds purely Russian to me.
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

I also wanted to clarify that although I never heard of Busia or Busha, I think it is cute.

I see your point but I don't like it. It's like leftover from Russian filth...
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

That's a very logical explanation and I was thinking the same. A bastardized Russian/Ukrainian word en vogue with the American Poles. Go figure... ;)
skysoulmate   
23 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Polish-American mutilation of the Polish language [75]

hahaha......word choice is everything. Would have been a cute thread if titled "Funny Polish-American Adaptations of the Polish language."

Inserting the word mutilation into the thread title shows the intent to discredit a whole group. As said by others, languages always change. Otherwise, a lot of folks in Europe would be speaking Latin. Oh those disrespectful French, Italian, Germans and Spaniards! :-P

Amen, those are funny words and to talk of mutilation is just silliness. It also applies to every language out there. Plenty of "swenglish" words in Swedish, no harm done.

In Amero-Polish "busha" must be by far the weirdest word. The Russian word Babushka became Babusha -> Busha. It's more Russian than Polish yet half the Amero-Poles claim it's a Polish word? What happened to Babcia??
skysoulmate   
21 Jul 2011
Feedback / PolishForums Motto? :) [149]

That would exclude a huge portion of our membership. ;)
skysoulmate   
21 Jul 2011
USA, Canada / Study in America. Is Polish financial aid/loans available for Polish students in the US? [10]

I thought it was strange she was so specific about studying in Vegas. I'm guessing someone she's yearning for already lives there. :))

Either way, her best route might actually be to apply for a scholarship in a German university, they'd take care of the F-1 visa, all the legalities, etc., and she'd end up with a degree good for Europe and the US.
skysoulmate   
21 Jul 2011
Work / 20 years old moving to Poland from Canada, is it hard for me to get a job in Poland? [20]

Get the degree, then think about moving - you can use the time to learn how to write in Polish too, which will help you immensely.

There are several threads here where you could practice your written Polish. You say you can't write in Polish but I bet you know more than you think. You do realize English and Polish use the same alphabet, right? It's not Chinese or Japanese with a different alphabet altogether.

You can write in Pinglish on those threads and they'll correct you fast enough, trust me on that one... ;)

Rozoomiesh mnee?
skysoulmate   
21 Jul 2011
Feedback / PolishForums Motto? :) [149]

...Life is not measured by the number of posts we make but by the admins who take our banned status away...
:-))

...and the original of course:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away...
skysoulmate   
21 Jul 2011
Feedback / PolishForums Motto? :) [149]

The more I think about the current motto the less I like it. Who're you calling ugly convex?? ;)