EXPATS in POLAND: 10 things you miss / don't miss about home . . .

I've been living in Poland for almost a year now. I'm originally from Ireland, but I worked in London for the previous 10 years. Anyway, in no particular order :

10 Things I miss : -

1. Salt and vinegar crisps (I don't really like them anyway LOL).
2. Bacon. (can't seem to get the proper stuff. I'm thinking of buying a pig to make my own!)
3. Magners or Guinness (ok I can get Guinness, but its a pale imitation).
4. Sunday papers. (ok I can get on-line versions, not the same though).
5. The craic / banter (my Polish is not good enough to charm anybody . . .yet).
6. Gaelic Football (ok, I know, I was never gonna play county standard in Croke Park anyway.)
7. The bookies (I think this will appear in both lists!)
8. The local pub. (not quite the same priority attached to meeting yer mates in the afternoon/evening in the bar for a good session)
9. Live music. (Gigs and the like, kinda follows on from no.8)
10. Me Ma. (she's scared of flying and I told her it would take too long on the boat from Ringaskiddy!)

10 things I DON'T miss : (again in no particular order)

1. Traffic Jams. (2 hours getting to work in the morning . . . self explanatory)
2. Tube trains. (have you ever tried to get on the Central Line at Tottenham Court Rd at 5:30 on a summers evening?)
3. White Van man. (anyone that lives in London will recognise this one . . . drives a dirty 15 year old Ford Transit, wears a scruffy England football shirt, reads 'The Sun', used to hate the Irish "cos they come over ere taking our f***ing jobs . . . but now strangely has it in for the Poles or any other foreigner!)

4. The bookies. (told ya . . . a double edged sword this one. Who cares who won the 3:45 at Kempton anyway?)
5. People talking about how much their house is worth. (this seems to be national obsession . . . yadda yadda)
6. Speed cameras. (Sadly, Poland is quick catching up with this though)
7. Traffic wardens. (ever been clamped in London? The b***tards!)
8. Commercialised pubs. (Wetherspoons. I rest my case.)
9. Getting ripped off. (There's always some scam merchant on every corner.)
10. Mortgages. (OMG how much a month for THAT??)

I could go on . . .

Anyway, just my thoughts. What do you miss about Poland or Expats, vice versa??

This has been done before I think


Damn I miss them as well


Agreed


there are a few around.

Go to empik


Online

Ten things I miss.

1,2,3,7,8,9. These are all here.

True but i love the pubs here in the summer when they have a wodden floor area outdide with a marquee and Tvs in there

are you a spurs supporter by any chance?

Aw.....just a wee bit homesick...big fella'...?

Had some Shaws bacon for breakfast this am......can still taste it.....did the aroma reach Poland yet?....:)

Plus nobody can slobber like the Irish.........don't know what it is....not the English/Welsh/Scots/USA/Canadians...........its just bizarre.....

Is slobbering common in Poland........?

All right heres mine I am from the USA.
I miss
1 Good Pizza(without ketchup!)
2 Mexican food/thai food/Indian food
3 good fresh fruits and veggies year round
4 my family/friends
5 my gun
6 watching baseball
7 more efficient government offices
8 being able to tell off clerks who don't do their jobs properly
9 good customer service
10 being paid on time
11 California Green
12 Jamming with my mates
13 American Spirit cigarettes
I don't miss
1 American television
2 being bombarded by the media i.e. news about stars, weght loss etc.
3 people saying "let me tell ya something"
4 traffic(but I don't drive here)
5 American Idol
6 born again christians
7George Bush
8so called patriots who support the war and say "we should just nuke Iraq"
9commercials on T.V. every 3 minutes
10shiny happy plastic people

I must be hungry I miss a lot of food

lol! :-D

Not missing TV programmes eh? You know what my 2 fav American tv programmes are? Maury Povich & O'reilly on Fox. Trash TV at it's BEST!

What I miss from Poland.. hmm..

Snowy holidays
Polish foodstuffs
Hearing the language every day

I knew you'd catch that one Sparrow

Oh God no chance. Celtic if you must know. Naw, TCR is next to Oxford Street and pretty much all year round its packed with tourists, students, shoppers, etc. I used to work around there and getting on the tube at 17:30 means risking a few broken ribs, asphyxiation and having your nose shoved up somebodys armpit until you reach Stratford.


Yeah the aroma must have arrived over here last night . . . cos I work up this morning with plans for the next door neighbours pig.


Naw, we're the best at slobbering hands down. After 35 shots of polish vodka, I can speak fluent pigeon Polish.

English Mustard
Bisto Gravy
English Pubs
Taking my boat out into the English Channel deep sea fishing
Clay pigeon shooting
The January sales

I could go on and on but it would only make me feel homesick so I'll guess I will stop there "sob, sob, sniff, sniff"

good australian steak, meat pie, dim sims and the good old vegiemite.

why do you yanks love guns so much? haven't you seen enough bloodshed in your own schools yet?

Not every American owning a gun is gonna shoot peeps down. It's a constitutional right.. unless you're American you just won't understand what that means to them.. That being said I'm not pro :)

The right to be scared for your life that you have to have a gun?....sport....naw.....no other reason........still the wild west in places with a very....very thin veneer of civility...IMHO.

Sorry am off thread.

theyre still afriad that we're gonna ask for the country back F... simple as that...

What I meant is that it's encrusted deeply into American life, we can't understand what it means to them. I'm not advocating it, I'm be pro-gun-control. But I'm not American so it doesn't matter. It's their problem.

And I really really miss Polish bread! It just isn't the same abroad....

Neither can many of us Sparrow.


I knew I would catch somebody. Its a joke playing on the stereotype that all Americans have guns. In fact I know of very few people who have them. But my friends think like I do. Its an archaic law in the US constitution stemming from when there was no standing army to protect anybody from wild animals Indians and the British. I fail to comprehend my fellow yanks who believe it is not the main reason we have so many murders.

Sparrow thanks for sticking up for me though you seem to be quite an open minded individual.


You can have it Bubba but you have to take Bush with it. And if it means public health care that would be great

what is with English bacon, all my friends that have lived over seas have mentioned it...hmm strange

we dont actually want either... which is why we cant understand the americans' need to carry guns...

public health care is a brilliant idea... in theory... depends who you leave in charge...

That was something I was pondering the other day. Salt and vinegar crisps! I can't find them! And I'll have to echo the bacon statement as well!

I miss beef burgers. A 6-8oz lump of meat topped with BACON and cheese. The burgers over here I've had are thin and more like ham?

I can't say I miss much else apart from my friends.

I like the fact Carlsberg lager is is over here.

I was wrong. You lot are right.............. No salt 'n' vinegar crisps in Poland.

Yeah a good burger! Polish burgers are almost yellow! Half bread, half???? sadly McDonalds is the only thing thats even close.

Is there any future in importing salt and vinegar crisps? Would the Polish ever eat them?

i think i might ship a box or 2 over

It's quite strange that lots of food gets drenched in salt and vinegar over here but they haven't done it to a potatoe yet!

Ill be your first customer!

what is your brand of choice uk

Salt and vinegar mcCoys

Seriously pubs should sell them here You should get in contact with them

Miss
1. Mac & Cheese
2. Good Roads
3. Automatic transmissions
4. Starbucks
5. Stop Signs
6. Elevators
7. English TV
8. Having Something to Do
9. My full service Salon
10. My BIG American Car

Don't Miss
1. People whining about everything
2. People demanding
3. My Job
4. Bad Coffee
5. Stop Signs - I'm getting used to driving balls to the wall
6. Elevators - Lost 6 lbs already!
7. My Cell Phone
8. Fast Food
9. Telemarketers
10. My BIG American Car - Wish I could have taken my driving test here when it comes to parking!