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Do Poles drink before noon?


OP Polonius3  980 | 12275  
12 Sep 2012 /  #31
Unlike the penurious Brits who prefer drinking on an empty stomach because that's a cheaper high, the traditonal Polish way has been to ply visitors wtih more delicacies than they can posiblły consume. There is no rela driunking in the Western since, it is mainly zakąszanie - following each nip up with a bite-down (morsel of food).That greatly increases one's staying power in terms of alcohol consumption. Anyway, apprently you have never experienced the gościnność, cordiality and bonhomie of a Polish-Polonian family reunion. It's not just a bunch of relatives dropping round -- it is a major family event planned for well in advance. It's not even because the CIocia z Ameryki may offer to buy your teenaged son a Jaguar or Porsche...
pawian  219 | 24592  
12 Sep 2012 /  #32
Keep drinking. Keeps the hangover away.

Did you know that hangover can be fought with klin/clean?
delphiandomine  86 | 17823  
12 Sep 2012 /  #33
Unlike the penurious Brits who prefer drinking on an empty stomach because that's a cheaper high, the traditonal Polish way...

You really are an amusing one, not least because none of this actually appears to be based on reality :)
rybnik  18 | 1444  
12 Sep 2012 /  #34
There were plenty of cold meats, sausage, pasztet, things in aspic, pickled mushrooms and plums, ćwikła, jaja w majonezie, , maybe herring and naturally a ruby-red nalewka in a crystal decanter poured into crytsal shot glasses

Your reference to crystal reminded me of my recent return to Poland where I met some cousins for the first time. They were very particular in their decanters. When I presented them with their bottles of scotch, they immediately transfered the liquid into bright shiny crystal decanters. They told me that that's how it should be done :)
OP Polonius3  980 | 12275  
12 Sep 2012 /  #35
Everyone's got their own reality. The above images have been drawn not only from personal experience, but also first-hand reports of relatives, friends and even strangers who visited Poland for the first time. Often this was the first family contact in 50-100 years. US-born Polonians were usually visitng Poland for the first time and looking up long-lost realtives they had never seen before.

Those were frequently highly nostalgic and emotional meet-ups--typcially the Polish relatives recalled the parents or grandparents of their PolAm visitors sending them relief parcels after the war. My family actually sent a horse to relativs in Bydgoszcz. (Not physically, because the animals came from a European-based supplier.) One could send most anything through Pekao (the predecessor fo Pewex) building materials, ready-to-live-in flats, cars, textiles, foods, etc and, of course, cash. That is a whole wealth of experience you have never been privy to and therefore cannot comprehend and appreciate.
sobieski  106 | 2111  
12 Sep 2012 /  #36
When I go back home, my sister picks me up from the airport, but the next day life goes on. She and her husband to work, kids to school...Life as it is.
kaz200972  2 | 229  
12 Sep 2012 /  #37
I can't speak for the habits of Poles in Poland but I was quite horrified to see my ex's friends drinking vodka/spirits at breakfast on a very regular basis. In the factory where I worked, there were occasionally problems with people being drunk or drinking at work, the guilty were sacked on the spot. Alcohol abuse is quite a problem in the Polish community in the UK.
OP Polonius3  980 | 12275  
12 Sep 2012 /  #38
You must lead a very prosaic and pedestrian life devoid of higehr values and the abiltiy to expereince deep nostalgic emotion. Everything is so dull and humdrum. You talk about someone getting collected at the airport and life goes on -- I was referring to what have often been long-.awaited, once-in-.a-lifetime pilgirmages to the ancestral homeland. Visting the old family homestead and seeing one's Polish urname on family graves can be a moving experience. Touching base with long-lost relatives many didn't know existed opens up an entirely new dimension. These are often expeditions planned and saved up for years, eagerly anticipated by both sides and subsequently talked about for years to come. Plenty of snapshots, camcordings, souvenirs, personal observations and memories round out the picture. If you think of ordinary back-and-forth commuting, you have truly missed the point. It wouldn't be the first time!
teflcat  5 | 1024  
12 Sep 2012 /  #39
There is no rela driunking in the Western since

Do you have to be drunk to understand this?

That is a whole wealth of experience you have never been privy to and therefore cannot comprehend and appreciate.

You could say the same about not actually living here.
Harry  
12 Sep 2012 /  #40
none of this actually appears to be based on reality

It probably was based on reality, but reality from several decades ago. Poland has moved on a heck of a lot in that time; Polonia, of course, have not.

Do you have to be drunk to understand this?

Or perhaps just drunk to type it?
OP Polonius3  980 | 12275  
12 Sep 2012 /  #41
Sorry, the typo-creating software has kicked in again.
It should've read: ... No real drinking in the Western sense.
InWroclaw  89 | 1910  
12 Sep 2012 /  #42
Yesh ash dush Britsh.
Wroclaw Boy  
12 Sep 2012 /  #43
Do Brits in Poland drink before noon?
jon357  72 | 22778  
12 Sep 2012 /  #44
I suspect rarely, though if the kieliszki are being handed round it seems churlish to refuse.
sobieski  106 | 2111  
12 Sep 2012 /  #45
You must lead a very prosaic and pedestrian life devoid of higehr values and the abiltiy to expereince deep nostalgic emotion. Everything is so dull and humdrum.!

You make it sound as the second coming of Christ. Someting like the Mayflower arriving in America.
I am going home twice / three times per year, and in between my family is coming over. It always is a nice time. But nobody treats this as a pilgrimage.
Harry  
12 Sep 2012 /  #46
Do Brits in Poland drink before noon?

Nah, Sunday brunch at the Hilton kicks off at 12.30 sharp.
rybnik  18 | 1444  
12 Sep 2012 /  #47
was referring to what have often been long-.awaited, once-in-.a-lifetime pilgirmages to the ancestral homeland. Visting the old family homestead and seeing one's Polish urname on family graves can be a moving experience

I remember the first time I saw my surname on a gravestone in Rybnik. It was of my paternal grandfather. It was a very moving experience one that I will never forget. All those things you alluded to were very true in my case when it all went down in 1978 - very deep, very real, deep-in-the -gut emotions.
Wroclaw Boy  
12 Sep 2012 /  #48
Having a few beers in any decent major Rynek right bang smack in the middle of a sunny day is an absolute necessity IMO.
grubas ***  
12 Sep 2012 /  #49
Not when you have something to do later that day but if it's your day off then I agree.
Lenka  5 | 3471  
13 Sep 2012 /  #50
I dont't see what's the problem.If you don't have to work or drive then you can do what you want.Is it beter to drink after noon even if you go to work at 6p.m.? I rather avoid drinking before noon but not because of some "magic hour" but because my head aches when I drink so early.
OP Polonius3  980 | 12275  
13 Sep 2012 /  #51
But if you were reunited for the first time in 50 years (never knowing if you ever would -- venturing behind the iron cut'rtain was a spooky expeirence to many Polonians before communism collapsed) or were in Poland for the first and probaly last time -- that's a whole different ballgame than visitng every year. I tried to covney in words (and words are always poor substitutes for the real thing!) the overall ambience of what many Polonians experienced.
sa11y  5 | 331  
13 Sep 2012 /  #52
Yes Polonius, we understand, then you probably drink 24/7. But looking at ease of travel in last decade there is really no reason not to see your relatives a bit more often than once in 50 years. The bottom line is - most Poles don't drink before late afternoon/ evening.
sobieski  106 | 2111  
13 Sep 2012 /  #53
The bottom line is - most Poles don't drink before late afternoon/ evening.

Most Poles I know are still at work late afternoon, and quite a few later on as well. At least in my office they are. I do not think they are in for a drink at that time.
rybnik  18 | 1444  
13 Sep 2012 /  #54
Having a few beers in any decent major Rynek right bang smack in the middle of a sunny day is an absolute necessity IMO.

Oh God Yes!
sa11y  5 | 331  
13 Sep 2012 /  #55
Sobieski, i was thinking weekends, friends gatherings not weekday drinking.
sobieski  106 | 2111  
13 Sep 2012 /  #56
Aha, here you have a point.
I still do not see why a Polonia visit should be treated as a Papal one?
The rich relatives coming back to the old Polska B and showering it with gifts? How patronizing is this. Buying a car for the poor cousin....

Polonius, in which Skansen are you living?
Des Essientes  7 | 1288  
13 Sep 2012 /  #57
I still do not see why a Polonia visit should be treated as a Papal one?

What a stupid hyperbolic comparison. Do you not see that it is perfectly understandable that when that Polonians travel thousands of miles to meet their relatives in Poland it is a great event for the family involved and yes they may take off work and drink before noon to celebrate it?

The rich relatives coming back to the old Polska B and showering it with gifts? How patronizing is this. Buying a car for the poor cousin

Buildng a strawman and then condemning Polonians is stupid practice that is all too common for the bitter Western-European expatriates who post here.
Harry  
13 Sep 2012 /  #58
Sobieski, you just have to remember that Polonius is living in the Poland of several decades ago, and a Poland that barely existed even then. You live in Poland, you know the country as well as the rest of us here, let's just let Polonia live in their little dream world.
RevokeNice  15 | 1854  
14 Sep 2012 /  #59
What a stupid hyperbolic comparison. Do you not see that it is perfectly understandable that when that Polonians travel thousands of miles to meet their relatives in Poland it is a great event for the family involved and yes they may take off work and drink before noon to celebrate it?

It happens the world over. When family members meet up after such a long time, the host tends to put on a bit of a spread and the drink flows until the early hours.

Neither Poland nor Polonian's have a monopoly on such activities.
sa11y  5 | 331  
14 Sep 2012 /  #60
Des Essientes
Well, I travel few thousands miles to meet with family in Poland, yet I respect their schedules and family meetings usually occur on weekends and evenings. With a high (for Europe) unemployment, people tend to take their jobs seriously and not take unplanned leave. Some actually plan leave at times when relatives come, but it's usually just regular family gathering with catching up on stories and stuff. Then I would say they may have a beer or or glass of wine in the afternoon. The point is - the question "do Poles drink before noon" to me is a question if this is done on regular basis. I would say - in the morning, no - not even on family gatherings. In the afternoon, occasionally - weekends and holidays if friends and family are around

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