Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures

And most importantly - why would humans even try to eat something that doesn't look like edible in the first place? ;)

People eat Flaki, that certainly doesn't look edible to me.

flaki is essentially haggis made into soup......although i would have to be damned hungry to have either....

I think haggis is a kind of kaszanka rather, flaki it's a tripe soup:

Flaki has been consumed on Polish territory since the 14th century. It was one of favorite dishes of King Władysław II Jagiełło.

The method of preparation may vary slightly depending on the region. Some common ingredients include beef tripe, beef, bay leaf, parsley, carrot, beef broth, and spices to taste, including salt, black pepper, nutmeg, sweet paprika, and marjoram. Ready-made convenience-type equivalents of the labor-intensive flaczki are available. Sometimes pork tripe can be used instead of the beef tripe especially in the ready-made versions of the dish sold in Poland.

haggis is tripe too i am sure, perhaps mixed up with some kaszanka type stuff...mind you I only tried it once ......

And most importantly - why would humans even try to eat something that doesn't look like edible in the first place? ;)

It is hopefully a deterent for inquisitive children, adults should know better.

mcm1: 'Blue isn`t typical colour of food' therefore it is meant as a warning signal for us humans not to eat it,Poland believe their colour is more suitable as a warning.

Why choose these colours at all?

Yes! That is why I have never tried blue curacao drink - looks like window cleaner! :):)


A thin layer of snow causes havoc in Britain and makes media excited. Even in Poland.

On Monday, it became what was expected - snow showered Britain. The National Meteorological Office weather raised the warning level from announced over the weekend the third for the fourth (on a five-point scale). This step was synonymous with a state of emergency. Therefore social assistance and health care was called to help organize high-risk groups, primarily for the elderly, the disabled and children.

Many of the difficulties associated with snowfall had the drivers. British road services announced that as many as 16 thousand. times reported their vehicle crashes caused by the appalling weather conditions. As noted, on Monday the average number of such interventions is 10.5 thousand.

Especially difficult was in Scotland, where it started snowing early as the weekend. To the east of the region Aberdeenshire cars moved at an average speed of 20 km / h. The roads were very slippery.

tvnmeteo.tvn24.pl/informacje/swiat,27/stan-wyjatkowy-na-wyspach-potrwa-co-najmniej-do-piatku,73215,1,0.html

Not long finished reading this book and I really enjoyed it! In fact it only took me a couple of days to read, as it was a bit hard to put down! It's set in 1997 Poland, and starts with the writer asking his girlfriend's father for her hand in marriage. The answer he gets is 'no' , highlighting the first of many clashes of culture! For those that aren't aware, 'no' in Polish doesn't mean 'no' as an English person would understand it!

This book would appeal to anyone who wants to know about Polish customs/history or just everyday life in Poland.
Poles especially, might enjoy reading about how their country is viewed through the eyes of a foreigner.
All in all, I give it a big thumbs up, and yes, it's funny!

First of all "no" wouldn't be use in such situation. A person who would say "no" for the request of a daughter's hand must have been highly unarticulate...

I don't know this book but judging it by the bit in your comment one should treat it light-heartedly.

Pawian, try this: 1/3 vodka, 1/3 blue curacao, 1/3 orange juice, slice of orange, ice. What color would it be, then? Serve it to your wife, she'll love you for that!!! :-)

In theory, such a situation is possible that a reserved uneducated Pole may reply no meaning yeah or OK to his wannabe son-on-law.


Thank you very much but my wife doesn`t drink. Her brotehr, either. Some inborn genetical deficiency, I suppose.

To clear up any confusion, here is what is written:

" Chciałbym prosic o reke Panstwa corki?" " May i have the hand of your daughter in marriage?"
Horror of horrors! Marzena's father replied, calmly, " No".
What i did not know at the time is that " No " is Polish vernacular in this region for, " so - well then..."

pam and pawian, can you imagine such dialogue:

- May I have the hand of your daughter in marriage?
- Yeah.

Yes, sure.
On condition Mr Zdzisław Dyrman attends it:

He was more enthusiastic about the engagement ring though!!

In classified ads, Poles say about 3 room flats and they mean it. Living room plus 2 bedrooms.

Brits write 3 bedroom flat but it actually means 4.

In the US we would call it "2BR/1BA" for a house or apartment which has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom (toilet with bathtub), a living room (sometimes called a "den") and the kitchen. It might have a dining area as part of the den/living room or a kitchen big enough to have a table in it.

An apartment with one room which serves as kitchen. den and bedroom along with a private bathroom would be advertised as a "Studio".

It means 3 bedrooms, plus living room, kitchen and bathroom ( unless otherwise stated ).

That`s obvious in ads.


and with a shared bathroom would be a a bedsit.

That's how it would be advertised in Poland? or the UK?

I don`t know. There aren`t too many of such dwellings here.


As bedsit. ???

That's what I am asking, you seem to be saying there are none of those here so you're saying it is a bedsit in the UK?

We do have a few small places, similar to hostels, where people have a private room and share a bathroom, sometimes even a kitchen.

Our university dormitories also are one room, often shared by two people, on a hallway with a common bathroom facility.

Other university dorms (also many military barracks facilities) are more like a communalka with 2-4 rooms sharing a common sitting room and bathroom.

Hmm, I think that what I said


doesn`t really mean none, will you agree?


Very nice, however, let me remind you we are talking about places for sale, purchase or let/rent:

Right you said you didn't know because there weren't too many of them. So, no experience of a word for them per you. Sorry if it drifted on you a bit there.


Yes and we rent places like that (first example) in a very few places. They pretty much replaced boarding houses in our part of the world. Universities and military examples were just giving a frame of reference that we don't have places like that in common use by average people, mostly students and soldiers.

Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in various countries celebrate birthdays.

But Poles celebrate both birthdays and namedays.

Birthdays in Poland are celebrated from 1 till 18.

Afterwards, Poles prefer to celebrate namedays. ]



Funny.

Quite convenient, for women of a certain age to get some flowers and drink champagne without drawing attention to their age ;-)

Worth mentioning that I know Poles (even older ladies) who publicly celebrate their birthday. And other people who refuse to celebrate name days.

I have never come across an official apology by a multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer in the Polish media.
British based apology by Tesco:

After a few decades of communism which promoted or even required spying on each other, private reporting on people is considered sth shameful in Poland. Yes, of course, some people do it but keep it secret not to earn the nickname "cable" - informer.

In the West the matter is simpler - reporting on people is considered a praiseworthy act of social duty.

my experience was just an opposite - friends and neighbours supported each other's black market schemes, political jokes and other small rebellions. Of course, there were snitches, as everywhere, and opportunists that didn't mind hurting others to get ahead, but Poles were not as brainwashed about reporting neighbours like Cubans are, for example, where every block has a "patriotic" watchman.

But if a Pole saw a violent crime on an innocent, such as a child being abused, they dropped a dime without hesitation, both then and now.

That said, I would not report somebody that didn't clean up after their dog. I would express my displeasure directly to them, and if they're big and mean, I'd take pictures and shame them on internet. :)

I actually done this to a family that was leaving the beach, and all their garbage, behind them.

When I wrote :After a few decades of communism which promoted or even required spying on each other,, I didn`t mean that spying was widespread in Poland. I only stated that communist system tried to impose certain types of behaviour on people. Whether they obeyed or not, is another matter.


That`s what I meant. That is why, a public address to residents by the authorities requesting to report on wrongdoers is still sth unthinkable in Poland.

Duh.. I realized this after the re-write time-out. I was too excited to share how else you can shame people into picking after their dog. Two photos - one of dog doing their business, one of them walking away. Telephoto lens, low angle... I see a business opportunity! LOL