Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


Nope. It's a brain naturally processing information proceeded by logical action. Never taking someone's word for it, that's stubborness, fear, untrustworthyness, survival instinct, or some combination of those things.

Crows are very weary and careful birds, always on the lookout and they spook very easily and they act that way to protect themselves from predators. And every single one is the exact same way.

USA, Canada / Living in Poland - prospects for Alabama guy ... need some advice! [146]

If you don't want to go to a dump like Arkansas......don't go to Arkansas.

Excluding Alabama, that leaves 48 more.


i don't really know how this has anything to do with your decision of where to move. if you had enough money saved to live in California for a year without having to work, would you go there? you don't seem to be moving because your family doesn't have enough time to play Scrabble.

you gotta stop looking at poland like a big long vacation, especially because no matter how much your wife wants to stay in the USA, if you bring her back to her country and her family for a year or two, you just might get stuck there.

it is YOU who is taking all the risk here. stay in the USA, you keep your language, you keep your familiarity, you can still handle business on your own and for your wife, AND your wife wants to be in the USA anyhow. go to Poland, you lose your language, you will be utterly dependent on your wife to do completely basic things every single day and you gotta find a job you don't hate and because you won't teach English, options are limited without being able to speak any Polish.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


back to that again?! duuuuuude......

next time I disagree with you, do your very best to lay off the same ole' personal attack you insist on bringing up EVERY SINGLE TIME.

holy crap, just more evidence as to how boring you must be at social gatherings.

"did you know that the number of doctors going to the UK for work has declined 34% over the last 3 years? yeah, yeah, and Finland has seen a 17% increase in pumpkin production as well.....probably due to the new farming regulations the state has imposed upon them but that's ok because they've seen a steady influx of migrant workers there over the past 6 years, up 14% from last year....."

you must have to read this crap for a living, it's just far too boring to read up on for pleasure.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


nope. i'm pretty sure you just read a lot of boring crap.

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


seriously dude, I could swear you spend more time reading rules and regs of the EU and other bureaucratic crap about Poland than anything else....you must be incredibly exciting at parties.

"and do you know what minimum wage is in Sweden according to the ABCXYC Bureau of Statistics as of the second half of 2010? yeah, yeah guys, it's 13% more than in Norway, but their retirement program is such that....."

lordy lord.....

Life / Is Poland a poor country? [578]


countless doctors/dentists go to the UK for work, they travel back and forth all year while maintaining small private practices in Poland. they make $hit loads more in the UK, regardless of what airfare costs getting there and back. FACT.


yes.


of course it does. how can it just be the dumb ones going there.....if you were educated and were worth 10 times more elsewhere, the smart thing to do would be to go there and make that money. and yes, improve your english as well. +2

It's funny but it's just like life in the USA. Granted people are moving around within the same country, but people that grow up in Nebraska and become doctors, lawyers, dentists......don't stay in Nebraska. They go to where the money is which means the big cities which are often times thousands of miles away, regardless of where mommy and daddy live or where they grew up. It's the logical thing to do. With more and more educated Poles these days that also speak English, you'd be a fool to not pursue a life elsewhere if it meant you earning far more and gaining a huge improvement in lifestyle.

I'm so sick of having this utterly simple, blatantly obvious conversation. do dupy.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


it is the question, and title, of the thread. it's not about whether individualism is good or bad in Poland, it was asking if they are individualistic.....or not.


I still can't agree with this. Communism, as hard core as it can be at times, is still not North Korea. I mean.....have you seen any documentaries on the place? Footage of how they live? It's siiiiiiick.

North Korea still considers Kim Jong Il's dead father as the ruler of the country which is a perfect opportunity to literally do whatever they want with their people because any decision those in power decide to make can be accredited to a dead person's wishes, and who could argue with the supreme being? Starting to sound dangerously religious, isn't it. I'm not the first person to make that suggestion about North Korea, but i digress.


again, why are you talking about, and comparing Poland to, the West. totally off topic again, dude.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


again, totally off topic.


Off topic but.....Poland IS a socialist country and North Korea.....are you kidding? Try totalitarian.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


I just don't see how one would think that. How can a society be individuals with no diversity? It seems quite counter-intuitive.


but it's not if so many people are arguing the same point, or even just arguing just to argue. there's no genuine uniqueness to just "disagreeing".


Just saying, "I don't like it when people tell me what to do," very often is completely disconnected to being an individual. Most of the time, it's just a natural reaction to suppression. It's human nature to not want facism but those that feel that way are not suddenly individuals because they think so.

Let's look at say North Korea. A completely controlled society, totalitarian, and surely there are plenty of people that hate living there for that reason. Does that make them individuals?

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]

I still think you're mixing individuality with stubborness or refusal to conform.

If lots of people, let's use your example of Polish farmers, all refuse to conform to a new set of laws or standards because they like "the old way" better, it doesn't have any relation to being "invidividualistic". It's simply a refusal to change, nothing more. Now, if farmers decided that they wanted to do it in some new, unique way, they'd be on to something.

I think you'll need to provide me with some new examples of individualism in Poland if we're going to get on the same page.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]

I don't really think I understand what you're saying here.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


I'd describe that as old fashioned and stubborn....or like you said, "pig headed", not so much "individualistic".

I guess we are using different defnitions here because to me, for someone to be an individual, they must be unique, have independent thoughts and ideas, and it must be easy to pick them out of a lineup, not just someone who "fights the power". Anybody can be stubborn and fight the power, especially because you don't even have to be right.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


I still wonder where this idea of Poles being individualistic comes from.

I felt as though Poland was a land of "the same". People watch one sport, eat the same food, TV is always a spinoff or complete ripoff of another show, I can't think of anything "Polish" that spreads throughout the world today that people clearly identify as "Polish" that can be accredited to this Pole's inviduality/ingenuity/artistic ability, the entire country is white and almost entirely Polish, most of the architecture is the same boring run down looking thing....I just don't see it.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


case and friggin' point.

keep this in mind the next time you read an article or hear from a friend who has a friend who has a friend that was harrassed at an american airport.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]

you gotta be kidding me. if you're going to compare the rights of Americans today vs. the rights of Poland today or any other time in history, you gotta come up with something better than that.

i've flown several times since the whole TSA step up, and i get nothing more than the usual metal detector, not even a pat down.

no country today has more air traffic than the USA and 11 years ago we had planes fly into very important buildings....so yes, at times airport security here is going to be extra cautious and because it's America, everybody is going to stomp their feet about it and blow it out of proportion.

but the shoe thing is still really annoying. that's literally the only difference i notice at the airports now.

So much of the airport security complaints come from people that can't follow simple instructions. I can remember about 4 years ago, flew home from Poland to Newark airport to visit my family, and while sitting at baggage claim waiting for my stuff, a police officer was berrating a guy, clearly not from the USA, because he simply refused to do what he was told. He was instructed to not walk somewhere, not cross a line on the ground, he'd do it anyway, and i even remember him trying to walk away at some point which obviously really pissed off the cop. He then pretended he couldn't speak English and that's why he didn't follow orders. When the cop pulled out his ticket book and mentioned the cost of the fine, lo and behold the guy spontaneously learned how to speak English and began trying to explain himself. I will also mention that he was with another guy who kept barking at the cop as he was trying to address his friend, and I'm sure if you asked either of them what their side of the story is, it would be that airport security is completely unreasonable and paranoid and that the USA is this and that.

Try going to Israel, they make US airport security look like a day at the spa.

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]


I've heard of him. A Jewish carpenter that lived in the middle of the desert over 2,000 years ago.

What makes him any more special, that you can prove, than anyone else? You don't actually believe he turned water into wine, or that he parted the Red Sea, or that he could heal the sick with his bare hands, or that he walked on water, or that he literally died and resurrected 3 days later, do you? And surely you must not think that he was the first guy to think The Golden Rule was a nice concept, right? What about the man that lived inside a whale, Noah and his Ark, or better yet, the talking snake?

All that is contained in the same book that you hold so sacred. With all that BS the Bible is full of, what makes you think anything written about Jesus Christ is actually true?

You know what is more likely? He was just a charismatic man that had a lot to say and people made a God out of him. Oh, and then decided to write about him decades, or even centuries after his death.

Ever hear of the game telephone? Imagine a couple hundred years of telephone amongst ignorant, illiterate, completely uneducated peasants in the middle of a desert and then you tell me, do YOU know him?

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


What I gather online is that regardless of your visa, if you have spent 5 consecutive years in the USA as a resident with legal papers, you can apply for citizenship. Work visas are generally shorter than 5 years so like I said earlier, if your company decides to keep you longer or resign you or something, you can go ahead and apply. I don't have direct experience with this but from what I see online, that's the deal.

I'd imagine a lot of young people get a study visa and while in school, get married to an American and obtain citizenship that way. As long as you carry something like a minimum of 6 credits per semester your study visa is still valid, you don't even have to be a full time student. You can also work on a study visa.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]

you're making general comments about immigration.....i don't know where you're going with this.

my point is that if you get a work permit to work in the usa, attaining citizenship is very doable if you are a good worker and obey the law.


what kind of visa?

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]


The main difference, aside from the high frequency of occurence (go figure, men sworn to celebacy for life tend to be gay or sexual deviants) is that these guys are usually sent out to hide in Europe somewhere and are never prosecuted. If a doctor or anyone else for that matter was caught molesting a child, you can be sure where he/she is taking up residency.

The catholic church has proven to be above the law for as long as it has existed. If someone from your family was sexually assaulted by a priest, you'd want him in jail more than anything, but you know how slim the chances are that he'd even spend a single day behind bars.


And how exactly did Catholicism get started?

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


Then the general feeling is incorrect.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


who said anything about staying long term?

if long term is your goal, you go on a work visa and you can stay as long as the company wants you there. work visas have to have an expiration date for obvious reasons, but they can easily be renewed by the hosting company. America doesn't kick out tried and true, law abiding tax payers that enter and stay legally.

If you decide to stay, you can marry an american citizen which is the quickest way to citizenship or wait till you are there for 5 years and apply for citizenship then. Whether you go single or with a family, citizenship is no more than 5 years away if the USA is where you decide to live.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


the fact is, people enter the USA through 2 countries mainly on foot or in the back of a van, neither of which provide any documentation of their arrival, or departure. even if they got a visa and flew directly onto american soil, once they overstay, they're not going to try and leave by plane from the USA, they're gonna skate over to Canada or Mexico. keeping track of in and out is a tough job.


Ironside?

It's amazing what flies on this forum as long as an American doesn't write it.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


you've got it all wrong, dude. gotta read.

the USA is pretty mum, at least as far as I've been able to find out, about how many poles each year actually overstay. the "formula" they use is the percentage of those that get refused a visa when they apply. The maximum used to be around 10% a few years ago.....it is now 3% so if Poland, in 2012, has more than 3% of its applicants get refused a visa, they remain out of the VWP.

Language / The most effective methods to learn the Polish language? [56]

My 2 groszy:

hammer the grammar. polish is so grammar intensive that if you don't get it down pat, you will struggle forever (and poles will struggle to understand you).

I absolutely hammered grammar for the first 2 years. I'd write down word after word that one would use on a daily basis and then throw every preposition at it and case to make sure that i could use it in conversation no matter what word I would use it with or what preposition.....that's when you've actually learned a word in Polish.

In 2 years, my vocab was still small but I could conjugate everything I knew just like a Pole. During year 3, I was easily able to pile on new vocab and simply memorize it to learn it because if I remembered what the word meant I could drop it into a sentence in any situation and it would come out grammatically correct. My vocab easily doubled during my 3rd year because i had the base to build it on.

After that, go nuts with conversation. You can then start to learn through osmosis much more and your fluency will pick up. The key though is to put in the hard times in the beginning, otherwise you're on a road to broken Polish.

My wife still laughs at my Polish because I'll come out with an absolutely beautiful sentence in Polish with complex verbiage and perfect conjugation/case endings, and then in the next minute, I'll have no idea how to say the simplest thing because I can't think of the damn word. What fails me is simply not knowing a word, but nearly never because I can't conjugate it, and that's just a matter of simple memorization. That's the point you need to get to if you want to speak Polish well.....where all that's left is memorization.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


No argument there.


I'm not arguing that either (or agreeing, just sayin') but you will surely get some flack for that comment. A lot of people on here think the refusal rates are completely unjust and unfair.


Yep.

let me ask you this MoOli, from what you're saying, you would agree with the current policy the USA has in place? the screening process is working? it's "justified"? if the ones they're stopping are bound to be illegal, they should keep them out, no?

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]

It's all man made. I'm sure there are plenty of religious people that have invented lots of "gadgets" that do more harm than good, starting with the guillotine. This is a stupid conversation.

USA, Canada / Getting a VISA to USA by a Polish person nowadays [339]


I think they will eventually relax the restrictions on Poles but I think mentioning their cooperation in wars and offering their military simply doesn't apply.

Poland is not part of the VWP because their Visa refusal rate is too high, whether that number is justifiable or not. It's a simple rule of the VWP that Poland cannot satisfy. A completely seperate issue.

If they've been offering support to the C.I.A., providing military support in Iraq, etc., well that's great and it's appreciated by American soldiers I'm sure, but the military doesn't make immigration laws.

So many Poles on this forum insist that Poles no longer have any interest in going to the USA now, that they're way better off going to another EU country for work and travel, cheaper flights, that the US economy isn't what it used to be, on and on.....so why be concerned about it? 90% of them get travel visas anyhow.

News / SUNDAY WITHOUT MASS IN POLAND - Judaeo-leftist Wyborcza gloats [165]


It also gave us computers and the internet......so I'm assuming you're entering your posts on PF through mental telepathy.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


That's nice.

I prefer those things, plus the other things.

Life / Individualism in Polish culture...Is it almost Nonexistant? [170]


no, it's not "just about", but yeah, i kinda relate freedom a little bit to whether or not someone has their foot on top of my head telling me what and when i can buy basic essentials for every day life.