Fellow expats: Polish people compared to Czechs/Slovaks?

Hello everyone! Currently living in Bratislava, I am looking for a new job and wondering where to go. I've always been drawn to Poland for some reason (for the UK and USA you could say it's the movies, but haven't seen so many Polish movies except that cartoon with the dog Reksio). Apart from that the name Warszawa just rings something in my heart... On the superficial level I just find most Polish women much more beautiful than Czech or Slovak ones and they dress nicer too. It was always the Polish and Italian crowds on airports that were like a fashion show, so pleasing. I don't expect someone working at a store to be "How was your day?", I realize that's an American thing and not even there it's everywhere. I'm European too and Bulgarian store owners are not like that as well.

The thing is in Prague and Bratislava they can be openly hostile to you, the Czechs more so, the Slovaks less so. Maybe again it was just a bad period in my life where I attracted rudeness? Lastly I feel much better here in Bratislava. Still the city has too little and too few parks, is it true that Warsaw has more? I need greenery. From a far the Polish vibe seems more down to earth, not in your face friendly but somehow more laid-back than Slovaks and Slovaks come off as more laid-back than Czechs. I have to chose between Prague and Warsaw for work as not enough jobs for my languages here in Bratislava. As I said I've only been drawn to Poland from all foreign Slavic speaking countries as a kid for god knows what reason and not CZ or Slovakia... should I follow my feelings? Also someone told me that the norther in Europe you go, the truer the words "bigger country - bigger hearts", so Germans = friendlier and more open than Austrians, and Slovaks more closed off than Poles, is that true?

@BulgarB

If you are going to come to Warsaw, then you will have to flush all those silly, juvenile, romantic delusions out of your system, grow up and start thinking like a responsible, rational adult that is able to make his way in the real world. Warsaw is not a city for silly dreamers, and you are going to turn a lot of people off with the sort of kiddie nonsense you have been writing. It's very down to earth, in the sense that is very down to business. Money talks, and bull$hit walks. If you are looking for "friendly" and "laid-back", then you are probably barking up the wrong tree. It's a good city to live in if you are earning enough to enjoy what the city has to offer. If not, not so much. The language of Warsaw is money, more so than any city in Poland.

By the way, your English is rather good. Great job! Keep up the good work!

Perhaps it would be fine to send him to Poznań which has lots of parks and is apparently not so busy as Warsaw. Personally, I am based in Warsaw, but if I were to move to another Polish town, I would choose Wrocław (it has the Szczytnicki Park among others) or Gdańsk.

But altogether Berlin may be a most appropriate place for him. Lots of parks and lakes there and also other attractions. Plus East Germany is a bit different from West Germany. Have you ever been to Berlin, Dominic?

if people are rude to you in Czechia and Slovakia they will be even ruder in Poland, trust me.

Roz, I'm surprised to hear that people were rude to you in Poland.

nobody important Z., and I haven't been to Poland for a while.
However tbh Polish shop girls should take a prize for being laughably rude.

@BulgarB

You started a similar thread on this forum a couple of months ago, and this is what I answered:

"If you are expecting people to dance around you and kiss your a$$, then Poland is the wrong country for you."


If that's the case, the problem might be with the OP, rather than with the Czechs and Slovaks.


Dozens of times, back in the eighties when it was still divided. But visiting it recently, I hardly recognized the place. It's a totally new city, with a totally different type of energy. The OP seems a bit eccentric, and eccentrics are probably tolerated more in Berlin than in Poland, the Czech Republic or Slovakia.

BTW, I lived in Wrocław for eight years, and think it is by far the best city in Poland. I used to live in Skierniewice, but I was not that charmed by Warsaw. In Wrocław, the Japanese Garden and the Botanical Gardens are much more interesting than Park Szczytnicki.

well that is kind of what I meant. If you are looking for/sensitive to rudeness you can find it anywhere.

That's not exactly what I meant. Both on this and his previous thread, there was something in his posts that came across as antagonistic. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm not the only one to pick up on it.

Berlin, hm? Look I've got a winter hat with the Swiss cross - it got me angry looks by Muslims when in Belgium and the Netherlands. Berlin is full of them too. They are not accepting at all, when they see something resembling a cross, they see red lol. Apparently everything offends them hahaha

As far as communication with people - at work the Polish females are treating me in general more warmly than Slovak ones. Slovak ladies are distant, Polish ones oogle me literally :D Not sure about the guys, one Polish guy was quite nice to talk to, the other is a bit of a Bugs Bunny-like clown (he's great comin relief in the boring corporation!) and the third one is weird lol. Again you have jerks and bi-chiz everywhere. In the expat groups online, most complains about rude waiters and shop assistants come from people in Prague and Bratislava, didn't see much similar posts in the Warsaw Fb group.

Eccentric - me? No, I think life is all about wine, women, BJs, sports/recreation, enjoying food, which includes park and nature. What's so eccentric about that?

BTW, I'm surprised Czechs and Slovaks can be negative or depressed - they live in so good places (well Bratislava is too industrial and a bit gray but all other cities are picturesque). There's always someone that has it better economically or whatever, but there are people even worse, so?

More like an obnoxious weirdo. There isn't a country on earth where you will fit in, least of all Poland. You really have to get your head out of your a$$.

Ireland?? We're very friendly and we have a high tolerance level for weirdos :)) We call them 'characters' and they are beloved by all. Obnoxious ones, maybe not so much, but the OP doesn't sound that bad to me. Why is everybody having such a go at him?

He's not a "character", and yes, I do know exactly what you mean by that. He's more of a creep. You seriously don't pick up an antagonistic vibe from his posts? He's pretty darn full of himself. My guess is that he would land one in the kisser PDQ in Ireland.

I only see one post by him, does he have another user name?? He sounds a bit young and daft which is fine if he's twenty-something. I doubt anybody would punch him in Ireland. If somebody is a bit 'up themselves' they generally either wind him up big time for the craic or just ignore him.

There's two posts on this thread, and he started another thread back in November called "Are Poles as unfriendly as Slovaks". It's listed in the "Similar Discussions" down below. Sorry, but I get the impression that he's an active trouble seeker, and that he doesn't take the hint when people ignore or avoid him, which seems to be exactly how the Slovaks he currently lives among have been treating him. Your mileage may vary.

The "wine, women and BJs" part is def. eccentric. could be a laugh or really annoying depending on one's mood.

I think he means that he drinks by himself at home and watches naughty movies while trying to suck his own tool.

No, I meant are the Poles as grumpy and dour as the Czechs and Slovaks:

"The first thing a foreigner will notice on arrival at the airport, train or coach station is how fed-up the Czechs look. The surly Customs officer frowns at you and you suspect that he probably knows about the contraband chewing-gum in your suitcase.".. copy-paste deleted

Probably more grumpy, no one in Poland walks down the street thinking "A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet!"

Poles are much better in private than in public and they need to warm to you before they're friendly but then they're fine.

My limited experience with Czechs is that they have a bigger dose of Mitteleuropen brusqueness (bordering on German...) but not that they're grumpy, I've really enjoyed a lot of Czech series and movies and comedies and find them a lot warmer and.... humanist (for lack of a better word) than Polish.

My limited experience with Slovaks is that they're kind of in between Poland, Czech and Hungary in various ways with some of the faults of all three (and some of the virtues).

Lol, I guess it's all about luck then? Maybe each one of us just clicks more with people from some societies more. Most Polish people I've met are way warmer to me than Czechs and Slovaks. I don't seem to trigger hostility in Poles usually. Of course I don't expect Latin American or even US/Canadian friendliness, but still those I've met so far have been way nicer than Czechs and Slovaks.

Smiling too much gets you wrinkles.

Zeman is again elected president of Czech Republic.

At the critical moment support arrived from representatives of cultural elite from Serbia, call to Czechs to vote for Zeman and, Zeman`s victory was secured.

On the other hand Polish people strive to get the f out of Poland as much as Bulgarians, Czechs and Slovaks want to leave their countries. In the Netherlands every third or fourth car had a PL number plate lol. So maybe I'd better look for a job in Germany, they have green, beautiful cities. Of course I'll visit Warsaw one day for vacation as I think it has much more to offer a tourist than the overrated Prague.