The most dissapointed with Poland are those who have Polish origins.

I also find it odd how it's the expats (mostly brits) on PF who quickly step in to judge foreigners of polish decent. Poles are actually quite interested in americans, brits etc. of polish descent who come to poland to live/work or just to vacation in the country of their ancestors. There's never any anger or hostility towards such people - after all, almost every pole in poland has a family member abroad.

Also, poles who left poland during the commie era or after poland joined the EU always sent money/care packages to their families back home, so there is a STRONG/friendly connection between poland and the worldwide polonia.

The whining foreigners on PF are quick to point out these people are not polish and try to make them feel like sh!t for trying to learn something about where they're ancestors are from. Clearly they never been to the US/Canada where many people are interested in the origins of their ancestors.

Polish-americans are polish-americans, not poles - just like italian-americans are italian-americans, not italians --- they know this well. To many americans their ancestors' backgrounds are part of their culture.

Havok wrote:


honestly, this question deserves a thread of its own.

bolle wrote:


this i most certainly cannot agree with. i have found myself in many situations where a pole judged me because I am american even before i opened my mouth and when i did, it was only downhill from there. it used to happen in class as well. i remember having to notify a school director about a year ago that i couldn't do one of their contracts anymore because of the horribly flagrant america hater I had in my class....and he was in his 40's. he literally confronted me the first day of class, demanding an answer to "why poland isn't in the VWP? we're an EU country! I want to go there but they won't let me! this stupid country won't let me visit!" after a few more classes of similar treatment I had to resign before saying something I would have regretted.

I've been to Poland three times, and have altogether spent about eight weeks. Happily, I never met anyone who treated me badly as a American with Polish ancestors. People seemed genuinely pleased I was there, and attempted to show me the real Poland.

One family even made their traditional Easter foods in June, so I would know what their Easter was like. Others rode me all over the countryside to help me locate the places where my family once lived. True, I'd made friends via the internet before I arrived, but even strangers were marvelous.

The only place I have encountered a bad attitude towards those of us of Polish descent is on this forum. I am sure there are some in Poland, too. But for the most part, I was welcomed by native Poles with open arms and lots of curiousity.

You keep forgetting the "Potop" and Polish ulta-patriots

There is a saying or more an poet (Can't remember his name sorry) that went like this: "There were two birds in a cage, the one had experienced freedom and wanted to fly in the heaven and never live in the cage again. The other couldn't understand that bird as the cage had been all his life and was safe for him and no hawks would ever eat him" I would add an bird that got away and had been in an earlier cage which maybe was a bit "worse" or not that beautyfull but it had it's owner which took care of the bird inside very well. Until he died and his child took over.

That's my thoughts

It's because Poland is still being controlled by communists and they want their country back.