Travel / Poland Travel Help, first time visitor from Singapore - ways to cash withdrawal, cost of meal in McDonald ... [58]


When you buy a Kebab you can get either hot or mild. The hot sauce is quite firey so you might enjoy it. You will find that there's a lot more choice in Krakow. Also if you go the Stare Miasto there you will find plenty of suitable souvenirs to take back in quite a wide range of prices. If you want to bring someone a really special gift you should consider some amber jewellery which is a Polish speciality. Good shops will give you a certificate of authenticity to confirm that it's Baltic sea amber. There are some really beautiful pieces and also crucifixes, rosaries etc if you know anybody religious who might appreciate that kind of thing.

If you are buying vodka, I would go for Żubrówka, especially the Bison grass one or the oak. Another lovely Polish drink is Miód Pitny, a wine made from honey. It's produced in some attractive souvenir type bottles which make a nice present. Regardless of brand, there are different concentrations of honey available in the drink. The most popular one in Poland tends to be 'dwójniak'. The strongest concentration of honey is in 'półtorak' but it's extremely sweet and not very alcoholic. The 'dwójniak' has a superior flavour in my humble opinion!

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


That's right. Citizens of the Republic of Ireland living in the UK have the same voting rights as British nationals.

Travel / Poland Travel Help, first time visitor from Singapore - ways to cash withdrawal, cost of meal in McDonald ... [58]


With Paul being from Singapore I don't know that he'd enjoy the Polish version of Chinese. I imagine he's accustomed to a more authentic cuisine but he'd certainly find it interesting!

Paul, the cheap 'Chinese' places are usually called Bar Azjatycki or something of that kind. You can eat in or take away. You generally get meat or fish with a choice of either a hot (spicy) or sweet sauce and a weird mish mash of veggies that don't bear any resemblance to the usual Chinese, they're often just a mix of frozen veggies just boiled, or it could be white cabbage and a sort of coleslaw. Then you have a choice of boiled rice or frytki (fries) and that's it. That's been my experience anyway. Others may know differently. There are more authentic places but they're proper restaurants and more expensive. It's worth trying the Asian bar type as it's a real local experience so it's a bit of fun.

Zapiekanka is really just a bread roll with a bit of cheese, a snack more than a meal and watch out because they'll usually drench it in ketchup without asking you if you want any, they just assume you do. The jedzenia domowa places are ok. You may find the cuisine everywhere more salty than you're accustomed to.

Travel / Poland Travel Help, first time visitor from Singapore - ways to cash withdrawal, cost of meal in McDonald ... [58]

Paul, why don't you ask for some advice regarding your tickets in your place of work. It would be much quicker and easier for you to talk to one of your colleagues. Also, I don't wish to sound rude but you really are obsessing over a very trivial matter. You're worrying about one złoty which is approximately 25 cents, come on, you're on a working holiday. Enjoy your time in Poland and if you're on a tight budget and want to save money, don't eat MacDonalds! A good kebab from a street vendor will only cost you about 10 zł. Eat like the locals. Smacznego!

Law / Child maintenance - at what age can I stop paying child support in Poland? [9]

No problem kpc21 and thanks for the info:)

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]


How do you know Smurf's age??


Sounds more like America than Poland. Anyway what do you mean by self-defence units? Do you mean vigilante militia or what?


Was it ever in style? Really Polly, Poland missed out on the whole social and cultural revolution of the 1960s due to being part of the Eastern bloc. Of course there were always small pockets of that kind but the nation as a whole didn't experience anything like the shift in attitudes that occurred in the west from the 60s onwards. Note I didn't mention the sexual revolution because it seems to me that they've always been a bit free and easy in that respect. They like to keep an air of outward respectability but they're not that prim and proper no matter how much they rattle their rosary beads.

Language / Problems Polish People Have with Learning English [63]


Understand anything would be a start!

Language / Problems Polish People Have with Learning English [63]


Absolutnie tak! My understanding is that whilst the sz and cz should be clearly audible as distinct sounds, neither should be stressed and in general the stress in Polish words seems to fall on the penultimate syllable. Mr Atch is very big on not running your sounds together. His two golden rules for the learner of Polish (poor me!) are pronounce every sound in the word and don't fudge your word endings. He's also very fussy about the difference between the si and sz sounds and the ci and cz which to be honest I really struggle to hear. I can hear the difference in the sounds in isolation but when they're in the middle of a word it's a different matter. Sometimes it's obvious but sometimes I just can't see the difference at all. Similarly he struggles with the vowel sounds in English and claims that he can't hear any difference between for example bug and bog, not that it bothers him in the least!

News / Letter from the UN to Poland to Promote Abortions and End Traditional Family [37]


Not 58% of Poles, 58% of those surveyed. Not quite the same thing.

News / Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]

I wonder who wrote his address for him - or did he speak extempore? That would take a bit more work alright, Mama and Tata would have have to rehearse him thoroughly. He's starting the right way for a political career anyhow, do any of them ever write their own speeches?

News / Poland may take the EU to court if they step up pressure -- Kaczyński [89]


Nice one Smurfy! I did the same thing to InPolska once. It came out as 'I have no respect for anyone' - a great wheeze altogether. I should point out that the original was some long winded blather about how she had no respect for anyone who did such and such, thought, x, y, z etc. so it was especially satisfying.

back on topic please

Language / Problems Polish People Have with Learning English [63]

I've noticed that many Polish people apply Polish rules of stressing the penultimate syllable in a word sometimes rendering an English word almost unintelligible other than by its context within the sentence. Recently someone I know used the word 'commit' but pronounced it as 'comet' as in Haley's Comet. It really took me a moment to process what she was saying.


Yes that's a problem. I know of a teacher of English at the University of Warsaw who taught her students to say the musical instrument 'cello' as 'sello', probably not recognising its Italian origins and associating it with the word 'cell'.

Law / Child maintenance - at what age can I stop paying child support in Poland? [9]


Thanks Delph, I thought that might be it. We also have the same system in Ireland with the PLC (post Leaving Certificate).


I think that's been changed and you can take the Matura but it's a long winded process, takes about two or three years of study. It would be very discriminatory and unfair to map out someone's life for them at such a young age and effectively bar them from continuing their education and development.

Law / Child maintenance - at what age can I stop paying child support in Poland? [9]


Who stays in secondary school till they're 24?? Could you clarify Delph?

Life / How much it will cost approximately to have a dog in Poland? [12]

Erika you should think about the temperament/personality of the breed too. That's an important factor that people often don't consider. How will this breed of dog fit in with your lifestyle? How much exercise and mental stimulation do they need, do they like being around children etc. Maltese terriers in my experience are true lap dogs in that they need only moderate exercise and are happy to be indoors but they can be rather irritable and snappy especially around children, they don't like vigorous play or rough handling. Yorkies on the other hand are great little characters, quite feisty and adventurous and they can walk you off your feet! They're very energetic and half an hour after a walk they can be whining to go out again so be warned.

If you're in an apartment bear in mind that you will have to be prepared to take the dog out to the loo at any hour of the day or night. It's not uncommon to look out the window at three or four in the morning in Warsaw and see some unfortunate dog owner taking Rover out for a tinkle. Also are you going to be at work for long hours? If so that's not really fair on the dog.

Finally are you permanently settled in Poland? Because it's really not fair on a dog to give him a home and then move on a couple of years from now, maybe not being able to take him with you and end up putting him through the stress of being re-homed.


When I had a Yorkie many years ago I used to just trim him myself with a scissors.He looked like a little bottle brush when he was freshly coiffured! His coat grew back very nicely and looked just shaggy and natural. I had his nails clipped professionally though.

News / Polish girl, 16, found dead at school after complaints of racist bullying [29]

I wonder how big the school is? I think one of the problems is that teachers in secondary schools don't really engage with their students on a personal level. It's just about delivering the curriculum. If just one teacher noticed and managed to connect with the girl it could have made the difference.

News / Polish girl, 16, found dead at school after complaints of racist bullying [29]

It's not clear from the link Smurf if she committed suicide or died of natural causes, it just says sudden death. Very, very sad in any case. She was a beautiful looking girl. I thought her face looked very thin in one of the photos, could she have had an eating disorder I wonder. That can affect the heart. It's also quite possible that she was bullied mainly by other girls who were jealous of her looks and used her nationality as an excuse.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]


It is generally accepted that Michael Collins was a key figure in the development of 20th century guerilla warfare tactics. Of course the 'old IRA' in which my paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother served, was a very different kettle of fish to the Provos but that's where their origins lie. And it's pretty well known that the IRA have been training Arab terrorists for many years.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]


Thanks for mentioning the IRA. It perfectly illustrates the point that a small group of extremists do not represent an entire nation or ethnic group. Back in the days of 'the troubles' in the 1970s and 1980s, there were many Irish people living in the UK. Very few of them were terrorists. In the same way that a tiny number of Irish people were die-hard Republicans, an even smaller number of them were terrorists. Muslim does not equal terrorist.


Not necessarily. According to Imam Dr Umar Al-Qadri who lives in Ireland:

'Ireland, he also felt, was "quite different to other European countries". In Ireland, Muslims are not alienated, even if "a very small number" had become radicalised.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, he says, puts the number at 30.'

irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/ireland-s-muslims-don-t-expect-major-backlash-after-paris-1.2432212

I would say that 30 radicalised Muslims out of a population of 75,000 of them, is not too bad.

UK, Ireland / A new mayor in London: opinion of Polish people in the UK? [317]

Most intelligent people know that Muslim does not equal Islamic fundamentalist. Muslims have been integrated into British society for years going about their business, involved in local politics and doing normal jobs. I don't see what the big deal is.

Re Jemima Goldsmith/Khan there was a rumour years ago that she was Princess Di's half-sister.

Love / Polish Wedding present - how much money for the couple? [40]


You were saying 400zł for your nephew's Communion. It is really shocking if Poles are now spending more on a Communion present than a wedding present!

@AussiePol, what would you spend on a pressie for them if they were living in Oz? Give them the same if you can afford it. Around 400zł would get them something nice. Half that would be ok too if you're a bit strapped and a nice card.

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


What about Mardi Gras and what about some holiday resorts in the Med, or Saturday night in Chester, England when girls are literally staggering around the streets in mini skirts and no knickers??? Public indecency is not a gay issue Adrian, it's a public disorder issue and needs to be treated as such. Nobody should be going around in public displaying their bits and pieces (ooh missus!).

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]



If your police force and government don't have the balls to deal with it, that's their problem. Nobody should be allowed to violate public indecency laws whatever their gender or sexual orientation but this is not a gay issue, this is a very poor policing issue.

Yes, I'm going to give the example of Ireland again, as you're talking about America I reckon it's ok. About two years ago there was a problem with gay guys cruising a beach during the day, completely nude, in the coastal suburb of Clontarf where families regularly picnic etc. The Gardai simply went down there and had a word, no arrests, nothing, just told them 'lads, this isn't appropriate in broad daylight with kids around' etc and it stopped. Proper community policing. America is vast and therefore your problems are vast, it's a big old mess, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is the same.

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]

Are these pics from the Chicago parade? Do you not have any laws regarding public nudity? Why don't the police simply arrest people if they're in violation of the law? Also this has nothing to do with Poland. This is a Polish forum. I don't believe such things are going on in Poland??? Certainly in Ireland gay pride events are more like St Patrick's Day than anything else. A few trannies and drag queens yes, but it's a family day out for many. Take a look at how different it is from the images you've shown. As you can see the Irish Garda Band participates!

thejournal.ie/dublin-pride-parade-2014-1543451-Jun2014

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


Well to be entirely honest Polly no I wouldn't, really I wouldn't. I'm just not interested in that kind of thing.


What goes on on this forum is pure nonsense for the most part and as for the rest of the world I take it all with a pinch of salt.


And not doing a very good job. I think you're not being entirely honest there. You tell yourself and the world that that's what you're doing but it's not true and in your heart, you know it's not. Your poor old pet, what'll we do with you?

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


Yes but where do you 'run across' such a term? The reason you keep stumbling across these things is because you actively go looking for them under the guise of worrying about the state of the world, when really you simply have a morbid fascination with sexual perversions of various kinds.

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


But my point is what are you doing looking it up in the first place?? I shudder to think what your internet search history looks like....

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]


What in the name of all that's normal are you up to????? What are you doing 'trying to find out' such things? God Almighty I think it's time to petition St Jude about you.


Precisely.


Except that they don't as a rule, not unless, like yourself, they have an unhealty preoccupation with the subject in the first place and go around actively seeking such information.


Such as yourself.


One sick individual anyway.

News / Does democratic Poland guarantee it's LGBT citizens respect for human and civil rights? [1169]

Ah Crow, come on now, England is not going to invade Poland!

Life / Where to buy floor tiles in Warsaw Poland [7]


Re Conforama I don't think they're in Poland anymore. I believe they closed their Polish stores and are now concentrating on the south of Europe.

Just checked - they were bought out by Leroy Merlin.