Im a Black American Moving to Poland. Worried about adaptation.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics have shown that between 2001 and 2009 the population of England and Wales increased by 2.45 million to 54.8 million.
However, the numbers of white British people actually fell by 36,000 in that period, while the group of people the ONS classify as non-'white British', increased from 6.64 million to 9.13 million. This group includes everyone from Chinese, black African, Pakistani, mixed white and black Caribbean as well as Australian, Canadian and European.

The proportion of the population in England and Wales that is from an ethnic minority group has increased from 13 per cent in 2001 to 17 per cent in 2009.

The figures have once again opened up the debate over whether levels of immigration were too high over the last decade. Of the 2.45 million extra people in the country, 1.75 million came from net migration, while 733,900 came from births.

The net migration figure would have been far higher had the white British population not suffered from a net migration fall, with 396,000 more white Britons leaving the country than returning.

I am so jealous that you are moving to Poland. It is a beautiful country. I was there this August with my Polish boyfriend. His family and friends were super nice to me. If you learn to speak the language, they will even love you more. I would say, go ahead and not to worry about the move, you will appreciate life so much more. Ever since I got back to the states, I have been thinking about the days we spent in Poland, and I want nothing more, than going back one more time. Good luck, I am sure you wont regret it! :)

Hi! I'm born, raised and educated in Poland, over 20 yrs in US.
There is plenty of generalization around our nation. Unfortunately, part of this is our national character.
Poles are intolerant, lack compassion, ultra catholic ( related to age and location ), racist, nurture grand ego, narrow minded.
All above are conditional factors related to your location, bigger cities are generally better. Your social circle may reduce or increase listed factors...
Be aware, prepare and good luck!
To be more optimistic, young generations experienced other cultures and nations, they are like other young people in developed European countries...
Cheers!
marius.

John Godson is a black parliamentarian.
I think, if you too learn the language, you should adapt fine to Poland:-)

LOL, The Polish Obama! I'm not sure how that helps her.

For several things, he's a high-ranking BLACK in Poland (though Nigerian by birth and descent, if I'm not mistaken), he speaks Polish fluently and as the only such member of parliament, he's more than likely to be or become a role model for other African immigrants!

That's a pretty auspicious start, I should think:-)

Innych takich posłów Sejmu nie ma, prawda?

You say that like it's a good thing. Do you want more Africans in Poland?


Killion Munyama.

Certainly no bad thing.

Mr. HandsomePole, For you information, Poland is one of the last options for Africans who want to go abroad and most of them who come here don't stay. Secondly, about 75% of Africans who come to Poland are students. Which mean that their families back in Africa are not miserable (As you might think). Same as only well to do polish families can afford to send their kids to go study in the US or other places out of Europe. Africans don't have easy access to free education and scholarships and you guys do.

On the other hand, if African should shut their doors to the world, and demand the reimbursement of more than 200 years of mass embezzlement of it's natural resource wealth, then the future of the world's supply of oil and minerals (diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver etc... ) is in doubt, because it is a fact that Africa has more natural resources than all the other continents combined and these resources are being robbed even right now under the disguise of economic aid and poverty reduction.

I wish africans would wake up, but that is another topic.
Please, do your homework. Europe is the one continent in the world whose natural resources are almost completely non existent today, and you depend on the outside world more than others to survive.

One could write a whole thesis on this subject, but that was not the point of topic.

Many of the writers above are right. Poland is a beautiful country to live in, (if you have an open mind) and understand that you will need other foreigners to truly fit in. I have been here for three years now, and I love my polish friends and my wife's family, but I still don't find their jokes funny. Bigger towns in Poland like Warsaw and Krakow have a large expat community, and you will fit right in, but moving to a smaller town will definitely be a challenge. People will stay at you all the time, (kids and adults alike), and walking on the streets will sometimes disrupt traffic... (almost). Some people will want to talk to you, (just to be nice) and others will think like Mr. HandsomePole.

This post is 2 years late... I know... hope all went fine for you...

Yeah,demand it from POST COLONIALS (UK comes to mind) and leave Poland alone.On a side note why don't we brand UK as POST COLONIAL COUNTRY like they brand Poland post communist in their press?

don`t worry. Just be natural and don`t pretend to be White, when you are in fact Black. It is so because Poles likes natural behavior. Natural, you can be even exotic to them

There is the belief that minority migration(s) to homogeneous, majority societies can actually damage the social peace if those immigrants/migrants don't make every concerted effort to ADAPT to their new society, linguistically, socially and spiritually. Every nation is imbued with its own distinct ethnic, religious and social traditions, long the staple of their cultural value system.

It is understandable to a degree when certain members of such a small and homogenous society, e.g. Poland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, even England etc.. (including much of the Mid-Western US, incidentally!!) become a bit rattled by boatloads of foreigners arriving on their shores, a large number of whom unfortunately DON'T see it as their business to adapt, but instead that the host nation should adapt to the guest arrival .

These lot only give the rest of those willing to do whatever necessary to integrate a permanently bad name.

Hi 'nitajez'! So did u in the end move to Zielona Gora?

This is one of the most ignorant threads I've ever read. It's so interesting how people from homogenous countries get a little exposure to a different, diverse culture or society and decide that they know everything about it. Only an idiot would assume that all black Americans go to different countries expecting to be treated like royalty. Why would they expect that when they're not treated as such in their own damn country?! How stupid, condescending, and racist can you be GrzegorzK? Most black Americans I know are far from arrogant. Not nearly as arrogant as you've proven yourself to be by posting the ridiculous ******** that you just did. I've met so many egotistical, wannabe know-it-alls from eastern Europe, it's really starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth about the whole region.

post slavery insecurity


region? I would like to see the boarders of this region

Whites have a superior culture. Poles aren't claiming asylum in Africa.

Don't do it. Seriously. It willl be the biggest mistake. Maybe the first year of stares - hopefully no more - will be an interesting experience, but then, it'll grate; you'll feel you'll won't be able to leave your front door without being stared to death. Don't do it. I'm a mixed-race man married to a Polish woman, staying here because I'm loyal to my daughter. It's no picnic. Btw, I'm living in one of the bigger Polish cities.