just to be faced by incessantly barking dogs. I would gladly shoot the fokkers.
Dear guys, you must understand one thing. Keeping a dog is a sign of Polish individualism. When you buy/build a house, you do it to stay away from your compatriots. To make that distance bigger, you put a fence around your property. Then you get a dog to protect the fence and property within. At last, you may feel safe from intruding Polish neighbours, families, acquaintances, friends, anybody.
And now we may easily switch to another aspect of hard life in Poland - intrusive neighbours, family members and other people too. Shorty speaking, Poles can be and like being nosy and prefer not to mind their own business. :)
these dogs are not stray, they always belong to somebody,
I was staying in a rural area in the Beskids some years ago, and on the way back to the airport we ran over a dog. I was shocked that the guy who was driving us didn't stop, but he explained there were many stray dogs in the area and he doubted it belonged to anybody. To be honest there were dogs running around everywhere, and I've noticed this in other rural areas too.
Very common to see kennels outside and dogs on long chains. I found that to be quite strange as dogs are usually kept inside the house in the UK.
In the US, there essentially is no real intimacy (save the rawest and most physical!) because there is no true distance!
Old joke: What does a European call a person to whom they can share their innermost feelings, emotions, or tears? - Their friend. What does an American call the same person? - Their shrink! LOL
My point is that you are for some odd reason perturbed by Poles, perhaps other Europeans as well, who don't say "ty" aka "du", "tu" etc. right off the bat as is everyday normal in the US. Try to accept their culture and much older history, remembering too that even the Brits, along with the rest of Europe have a monarchical tradition which bowed to their royalty; Americans kicked out ol' Georgie Boy during the Revolution, and vowed thereinafter NEVER to bow anybody again, but simply a firm, homespun handshake followed shortly by the first name to show that everyone's "equal".
Poles and most Continentals still don't feel that way. So who is to say who's right? We're not talking civil rights violation of women or shrinking heads or similarly savage behavior:-)
Well Sergiusz - if there were more people who were actually trying to modernise instead of acting like Lucrecia Borgia, then we wouldn't have to make Poland a special case.
As it is, when you actually know or are introduced to a Pole, your species is the most hospitable on the planet. On the streets and in the shops/airports etc - people are just plain stone-faced, making the daily grind bloody hard work for no apparent reason. So yes, Poland could improve itself, and I see your point - that we could be talking about Britain and it's yobbishness, and how to improve that. But this is a Polish forum, so we're talking about Polish "problems" and culture. Supposedly. Try telling Crow that.
Many of the "worst" aspects of living in Poland would seem to me, a seasoned professional visitor abroad for many years, to be none too different from the same complaints I can recall about any number of other European countries, (at least regarding the service sector) namely France, Germany, The Netherlands, and much of Scandinavia:-)
Living curently in Sweden but i'm born and raised in Poland during 70-s and 80-s in normal working class family. Frequently visiting old home country both for pleassure and business. For moment I would never consider to move back if situation do not force me. Poland och Poles stuggles with many problems currently and it will take many decades to swift the course.
Biggest problem for this poor country stems from WWII, during ocupation the elites where exterminated as a whole. You must understand thar killings where not ramdom, everything was well planned by both of aggressors, higher educeted people, leaders, military officers where hunted and killed systematically from day 1.
The gene pool of Poles was heavy imparied, country became populated mostly by simpletons and peasants, the few resource full that survived escaped country. To this add decades of communist occupation where degeneration accelerated. During PRL the mediocrity was promoted at every lever of society.
The result can be witness today: -Corruption at EVERY level of goverment included law enforcment, judical and medical system. If You do not have any significant connections You have really small posibility to be successful in any way.The offspring of former communist elites are in charge today and they are doing well protecting each others.
-Suffocating bureaucracy of the worst kind to torment the population. Try open a small business in Poland and run it leagally, its a matter of time before authorities will suck You dry or if You resist they will try to destroy You.
-Most Poles are small minded, jealous in their hearts, as soon as they have posibility they will steal from You, report to authorites on You or make sure to **** You up in some way as soon as they feel inferior to You in some way. Polish proverb: non shall be better than me! Thats why I quickly allienated myself from my fellow country men as soon as I arrived in Sweden and started to socialize with those. When on immigration another Pole posses biggest risk/threat to You, its a fact!
Once I asked older lady to put her german sheppard dog on leash when meeting them outdoors on a path beacuse i'm have fobia of dogs after been atacked twice in my life. The ***** (human) started to argue with me that it wasnt necessary she just refused to accept what I wast telling her.
-If You do business with them be careful, there is always a plan in their mind to cheat You in some way. In Sweden I always hire swedish proffessionals even if it is more expensive but You will get work done whitout hickups.
-Personal hygien... Baltic beaches are flooded with cigarett roches, beer bottle caps and if You just enter 2 meters into vegetation away from the beach its alway outdoor latrine. Been at holiday at many Baltic resorts.
-Generally they are a sad bastards, my wife noticed that customers in shops/malls never smile at each other or say something friendly or ask for free way if I blocked the passage, usually they permeate their way.
-At work place there is unhealthy way of conduct business, specially if You are a manager of some kind, at instant You are transformed to a semi-god with super powers and limitless knowledge. I could NEVER imgagine myself work at polish work place. Threats, anger, shouting and cursing is normal way of conducting business., not only at work shop but at office also. Had visited many factories in Poland during my career and meet many people in different positions and I have seen those patterns everywhere.
-Current state of food produced in Poland and sold to natives: POISON!! Food quality started falling really fast when Poland entered EU. I always check the ingredients on packages and its mind boggling how many additives and chemicals they are putting into "Kielbasa" and other processed foods, once I counted about 22 different ingredients used for this sausage, most of them I could not even pronouce. And it is getting worse for every year, accelerating.
I think this issue is biggest threat polish population, they are beeing poisoned as a whole nation on a grand scale. (substituting normal salt (natrium chloride) with calcium chloride (normally used on roads during winter for fighting ice) during production of chees at dairys because its cheaper is one small example)
All of abowe have been experienced by my self and members of my family. For every statment abowe I have life experience to back up it with
Sorry for bad spelling and grammar but english is my third language.
If we are talking about specific Polish ways of acting then one of the most frustrating is when they give notice at work - whatever is in their contract they will do the following
Come to your office and tell you face to face, followed by a normally pleasant reply from me wishing them luck and understanding their need to move on, emigrate or whatever.
The next day you get a doctors note covering their whole notice period and you never see or hear from them again.
This happens whatever your relationship with the employee - can be someone you have trusted and encouraged, not just random chancers.
I am thinking about it because some guy who did this a few years back just asked me for a reference and was surprised when I said no, even claimed I am legally bound to give him one !
I reiterate my prior question as to whether or not you've learned any Swedish since living in the country:-) Although many years since I was there, I recall even during the '90's many younger Poles were already moving to Sweden, both to work as well as to live.
It's because Poland discovered that defecating is not optional. The second discovery after that was that most people would rather pay than s**t in their pants.
@ Lyzko I did arrive in Sweden as a teenager, it is really tricky age to handle changes like moving to country with whole different culture, language and behavioral patterns. You know it is not only how to master language but also how to inetract with this culture, but language is the key that opens doors to others cultures. This part I did understand really fast and I did set my mind to achive assimilation.
One year living in sweden just to master enough swedish to attend education with indigenous population (elementary school).
But everything accelerated when I entered the higher ed. Five years with DAILY interaction with swedes to master language AND understanding of their culture.
As of today I do fluently mingle with swedes at the equal level. Last 10 years I get here the same feeling "I'm home" in sweden as I get as soon I enter the polish soil.
addendum, traffic situation is really bad at polish roads. And I'm not talking about infrastructure, it is improving fast for every year.
The problems lies inside heads of polish drivers. Most of them posess poor driving skills, aggresive attitude, really bad judgment of occuring situation and non existient risk assesment. But even this situation is improving slowly as those idiots continue to kill off each others on the roads. Sad part that tons of innocent people are killed on polish roads.
One of those even killed himself right in front of my eyes here in Sweden while driving to work one February morning. This poor bastard was speeding on road with ice condition and taking over 4 cars WHILE approaching hill. I can imgine his suprise when oncoming car suddenly appeared from behind the hill. Luckily for others he managed to steer his car off road and hit a birch tree, the roof took impact. There was nothing to rescue.
I attribute this problem to poor traffic education, polish mind set and the fact that general accessibility for the broader public to cars is a recent occurrence
Often, as you say, it's responding appropriately to unspoken, indeed, the "silent" yet ever present language of social cues. Swedes, as with most Western Scandinavians aka the Danes and the Norwegians, (I'm excepting the Finns, who are of course non-Germanic), although different, tend to interact similarly in close quarters by frequently maintaining an enviable even keel, a kind of ineffably relaxed social grace in my experience rather out-of-character for Poles as well as other Slavs!
Out-of-control discussion or loudly gesticulating with one's hands, raised voices or the like are still considered rather unsightly in Sweden, where the emphasis has usually been on equilibrium instead of necessarily always "being in the right" about something. Oh the Swedes are plenty opnionated allright, but in contrast to many other groups, they try above all not to take themselves too seriously.
Unlike Poles, Swedes will more often than not, casually switch over to English, particularly the young urban professionals, once they sense that you're not Swedish,
Swedes will more often than not, casually switch over to English, particularly the young urban professionals
It is a real problem here. I befriended an american guy from Buffalo who immigrated to Sweden to start a family over here. His problem was that everyone spoke english with him all the time, he never got any chance to practice swedish with locals. After 4 years living in Sweden he possessed almost no skills in Swedish.
Such a crying pity. And the kicker is, as I've said before, even when the interlocutor speaks excellent Swedish, far too many Swedes will automatically assume their partner prefers English, usually far better (if an educated American native speaker) than that of the Swedes.
So long as your Swedish buddies don't forget that they're practicing their English to the same degree that you're continually polishing your Swedish, you should have no problems:-)
I'm still in touch with one gentleman in particular from Stockholm and we've never spoken a syllable of English since the late '80s, about the time we and our respective lady friends at the time first met!
When last in Poland, more or less around the same time I had been to Sweden, I noticed that liquor establishment aka shops which sell alcoholic beverages much as a liquor store in the States looked pretty similar to the American variety. However in Sweden, I noticed that such establishments were state-run and that owing to apparently sever problems with drinking, customers stood in a line and ordered their wine or schnaps of choice from a counter, so that folks wouldn't be able to indiscriminantly "stock up" on booze as one does in most other places I've lived in. Penalties for violating drinking laws are extremely severe, I was told.
I noticed that such establishments were state-run and that owing to apparently sever problems with drinking, customers stood in a line
The former are still valid, and in Sweden legaly you can only buy alcohol in state owned shops called Systembolaget. But today most of them look like normal shops with shelf where you pick up goods by Your self.
In small towns they still have Systembologet with counter where You order at.
Fun facts: You must be at least of age 20 to be able buty alcohol at systembologet but 18 if You visit pub or restarurant.
Systembologet is only retail chain where I did experience any kind of queuing i Sweden.
I too can remember "A.B" (Aktiebolag). in front of many a business or shop when I was exploring Goteborg:-)
Back to Swedish as a tool in everyday communication, always got that proverbial kick out of Gothenburgers who, perhaps noticing (okay, hearing) that I'm not Swedish, would try to ever so casually lapse into English, expecting me to do the same!
As a favor more or less, I'd eventually give in and begin chattering away in English, only to be "corrected" by my interlocutor for having poor grammar
and in once instance, sub-standard vocabulary, protestations on my end that I was a native speaker, to no availLOL
As I was on vacation, all I could do was to laugh.
The next day you get a doctors note covering their whole notice period and you never see or hear from them again.
Sad but true. Another problem pregnancy- I live in UK ( now) and women work during their pregnancy as normal here. In Poland it is some sort of 'fashion' toget pregnant and get sign off by doctor for 9 months.
