Everything this guy says I feel about Poland

That`s good, it means that the English managed to teach the Irish basic manners or even royal courtesy during the time they controlled Ireland. :)

Fortunately, I live in Poland, not Ireland, and I am not obliged to respond to morons who have nothing else to do than bother people by saying their stupid hello to strangers on the beach. :)

Besides, I was born and raised in southern Poland which once was the Austrian partition. Did you read anything in the thread Heritage of partitions in today`s Poland? Austrians can be very antisocial and so am I. I just follow certain patterns imprinted during 123 years, so don`t blame me. :):)

Another thing. How should I know what they want? Despite age, I am still attractive to people of both sexes, so I am constantly approached and tested if I am ready for a more intimate relationship, by males, females and mixes. In the past it used to be funny but I have been fed up with that for more than a dozen years.


YOU say so, but my experience is different. When I sometimes respond to hello, they always go on and a series of questions and comments follow. We are having wonderful weather, aren`t we? Where do you come from? Really? It is a beautiful city, I went there on a school trip decades ago. And what do you do for a living? Oh , I see, it must be a stressful job to teach those rascals today. So you probably don`t earn too much? Quite the opposite? Darling, you are the man of my life! I want to have a baby with you!

It always starts with silly hello and then you end up with 5 kids - your own if you meet a female or adopted if a male.

Thank you very much. I prefer to be antisocial on the beach.

All of us on PF are already well aware of this.


That is your way, but no need to be rude to Atch.

See... this is where doug misses things in his blind fury that Polish people don't act like Brits all the time. There is an interaction that's subtle (but real) but based on keeping your distance and not infringing on the other person's personal space (when they may well wish to be alone with their thoughts rather than pretending to be long lost acquaintances).

When in Rome.... (I guess Doug and your version completes that with 'insist that Romans do it just like you did at home, dammit!)

Thinking in British or American or GErman terms (and expecting British or French or Danish behavior) while living in Poland is the least productive strategy possible....

Complain in private to friends, but maintain some dignity in public while you're learning how things work locally.

Doug is sort of torn, when I came back in March he was very disenchanted with PiS rule over Poland and decided to leave. Now he is trying to convince himself that his decision was justified and dropping Poland after so many years was a good move, it is a common psychological mechanism. I suppose I know how he feels, not too good, In result, I can`t be really angry at him.:):)

You're not a very good judge of the Polish psyche then are you? A Pole will often come and stand right next to you on an empty train platform, or a couple will come and sit right nex to me and the wife in an almost empty cinema.

Tell me that isn't a fact, or I claim my 5 pounds.

Oh, someone just didn't reply to your hello. They might not have heard you or they might have been intimidated by a foreigner. Or scared. Or even rude. Or they wanted to be left alone.That's all. It's not a tragedy really.

Personal space is sometimes physical and sometimes mental.... Polish people are mostly pretty good at staying out of the latter even if they don't pay much attention to the former. One place they might want to pay attention the physical space is when they're walking by themselves in a secluded spot with their own thoughts which don't include greetings and/or small talk...

Oh Kaprys, pleeease........holiday makers or locals walking along a beach are not rainforest tribes!!!


We did have our own royalty, you know :)) And it wasn't the English but the Normans who introduced the term 'salut' to Gaelic Ireland. I've already explained that Pawian. Somebody is not paying attention in class - worse still, somebody is trying to be a smarty-pants just for the sake of being cheeky, rather than having any valid point to make. I think you're picking up bad habits from your students..............which in turn leads us to speculate on your classroom management skills..........

I just bloody hate when some stranger starts talking to me, on the train, or in the line to some office, etc. So, when someone would "hallo" me, out of the blue, I'd think "another damn talker" and look away, hoping he will think I am rude and leave me alone.