@Befranklin: you live in the US and I live in Poland where I do all my shopping so I got to know ;).
InPolska, you are right I currently live in the US but have been to Poland many times, I guess my wife is unusual and and her breast are on the larger side for normal breasts here in the US, (usually a "B" cup). I have bought bras for most of the women I have dated and find it a challenge to buy a good fitting lovely bra to handle my girls. I guess I'm biased with Polish women as it was really hard for me to find an unattractive woman in Poland, while here in the US we have many. I think one of the reason for this is that while I don't find youngish, (between tween - 50) Polish very physically active, they still tend to be less heavy, (thinner looking/normal) than women in the US. I think that is because of our overly processed foods and the amount we eat here so therefore Polish women tend to more attractive in that respect. Just my 2 cents.
@Befranklin: Hi! I agree with you. You know, what does basically pi### me off is when I read (or hear) people who don't live in given place, often have never been there or at best for a couple of days/weeks (on top of that most often with no knowledge whatsoever of local language) pretending to know better than locals because they have read it on the net or they had ONE experience.
There are a lot of such people not only in PF but also of course in all fora. I read not long ago about a Western European girl who spent 3 days in Poland as a tourist writing that Poles do not use curtains in their windows (??????), just to give an example of BS to be found on the net. Of course, the curtain thing is no big deal ;) but giving falso info about people and about places can be very harmful. I live in Warsaw and therefore do 99% of my shopping there so trust me, I know what (normal) stores offer ... I don't go to specialized stores (not only for bras but for everything else) ;).
I used to live in the US (in my youth) and basically I loved it but it was looooooooooooong time ago so I would not tell people who now live in the US that it's like this or like that over there ;). Common sense that people who live in an area or who are from there know best.... It is just like some in PF pretending the famous Rainbow is guarded by cops and police dogs 24/7 and when we live in Warsaw, we know it is not true.
Have a nice day! :)
PS: my comments are general. If someone feels concerned, not my problem ;)
@Jon: the problem is that such people never want to hear/read from people who live, work, are.... from given area.. Re the curtains, of course, it's no big deal but in some situations, it can harm a reputation and it is terrible. It is just like those claiming the ... Rainbow is protected by police and dogs 24/7 when everybody living in Warsaw can say it is not true ;).
It could be that people do remember the first piece of info they have read/heard, whether serious or BS. Could be but if they were intelligent, they would check among people who really know....
Well, no way to change this way of thinking and acting! ;(
We need to remember that two people living in the same town and even the same street can have vastly different experiences due to unique individual circumstances. Harmless example is the bra story. We have one example of someone that buys them in general stores (InPolska) and then there are other women that I know here in Warsaw that NEVER buy bras in general stores and only get them in speciality stores. I don't think this tells us anything particularly useful except that women wear different bras and/or that every woman may have her unique shopping preferences.
Another recurring theme is the subject of Poles dating or marrying foreigners. Every individual is unique and you can't put them all in the same basket. I know some incredibly nice Poles (men and women) and I also know some horrible ones. I can say the same about ANY nationality, and nobody is better or worse than anybody else.
People are people. I am married to a Polish woman, and I don't go around writing blogs about it. Your perception of marriage is far more important than your perception of the nationality of the person you want to marry or are married to. Problems happen when you become obsessed with the nationality issue.
At the end of the day, marriage needs communication, mutual compromises and a lot of work if you want it to last. That is true for all marriages. I am one of those people that believe marriage is a lifelong commitment. Some other people believe marriage can be opened and closed at their convenience. These are the kind of difference that you really gotta pay attention to.
A Canadian friend of mine (male) had just run into a group of Polish women while travelling in a another country. He wrote to me saying he is totally blown away by how "feminine" they behave. I said to him people are people, and novelty eventually wears off. Everyone and everything is new and interesting when you start, then you have to work on keeping it going. I think I bummed him out, but as they say, keep it real. Today she can be your "Polish girlfriend" and tomorrow she will be your "girlfriend". Put boyfriend, wife or husband in the quotation marks and this is still valid. Unless you are obsessed with the nationality issue, in which case you should report to your local shrink.
Unless you are obsessed with the nationality issue
It can be an obsession to some, or it can simply be a logical and practical consideration. Even people of the same nationality and religion can come from differently run homes and have vastly different likes, dislikes and priorities. If different nationalities are combined, the differences are mutliplied. In general, the more common values, customs and preferences two people share, the more likely their marriage will endure. Although there is no guarantee, and it still takes loads of goodwill, elasticity and willingness to compromise. Such things as child rearing, spending habits, preferred pastimes and food prefences can become major problems in some cases. Also, one should never forget that one is not marrying just oen other person, but his or her family as well. And men are advised to remember that theri beautiful young bride will most likely end up in years to come looking much like her mother does at present. It's worth thinking about.
I think the OP makes a great point on why so many English guys would love a Polish wife/girlfriend. I have been to Poland (Krakow) and am due to return again in 4 days time. The girls I met face to face were not stunning like a fashion model, but attractive in the "girl-next-door" way, and they were friendly, chatty and helpful, just the kind of girl I would love to have as a girlfriend. Speaking personally, I prefer the so called "flat chested" girl, even if she did like to wear a padded bra. I have to say, I love my visits to Poland, and am trying to learn the language and learn as much as I can about the culture too. I really hope and wish that my future girlfriend will be a nice Polish girl!
Gosh girl you just made me feel so ashamed of being polish too. Reading this made be burst in tears of laugh and embarrassed. I am polish, quite proud of that but I would never post sth so haughty. What the hell is wrong with you? Looks like someone has really low self-confidence to make it up like this. I agree with the fact that Poles, consider the education system, are well educated including general knowledge. However degree doesn't mean person is inteligent actually.
From my experience I work well with British people ( not only men) because of similar sense of humour but tbh it's rather far from what is tend to be sense of humour in Poland ;-)
I've found that Brits aka the English can appear to laugh at themselves more readily than certain nationalities, seeming to be more ironic and sarcastic.
The key difference though (among many) between Brits and Poles is the degree to which the latter respect the almighty Catholic Church along with the ever present trappings of religious imagery throughout the country. Most Brits, both Catholic and Protestant, keep a distance to overt expressions of organized Christianity in my experience:-)
Maybe this is why the late, great Andrzej Wajda occupied almost a folk hero-like status in Poland; he touched the soul of the country's fractured relationship with their faith after Communism (as well as after its collapse)!
"Brits" INCLUDE the English, the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh, as opposed to the English-speaking Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, whose separate political as well as cultural and social identities were forged long ago:-) I already got it right!
Apropos the present thread, I just finished reading a most enlightening article written by an American-born German journalist Robert Kunzing in this month's issue of "Nat'l. Geographic" entitled THE NEW FACE OF EUROPE. It featured the following countries with the most rising numbers of migrants, particularly from Syria: Germany, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, and France!
It strikes me that the very words "Polish", "British" etc. are having to be seriously rethought, as within the next decade (if not even earlier), such labels will mean little any longer:-)
Lyzko I really am surprised at such an ignorant comment from you. The Irish are not British. If you are referring to Northern Ireland, then you should say so. The people of Northern Ireland are divided broadly into the indigenous Irish people who are no more British than Poles were ever Russian or German or Austrian, and the descendants of lowland Scots who were planted there during the 16th and 17th centuries. They have largely intermarried with each other and have not a drop of Irish blood in their veins. They call themselves British but everyone born in Nothern Ireland is legally an Irish citizen.
Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, whose separate political as well as cultural and social identities were forged long ago:-)
And there you reveal that you are after all, a typical American. Long ago indeed. My dear man, four hundred years or so does not count as 'long ago' in Europe. Ireland's social and cultural identity has been forged over thousands of years. The Gaelic culture was already long established when the English arrived on our shores in the 12th century.
But Ireland is one of the British Isles, is it not? What adjective can be used to include residents of the UK and Ireland (as well as the Crown Dependencies)? Maybe British Islers?
What adjective can be used to include residents of the UK and Ireland (as well as the Crown Dependencies)
But why would you need a single adjective to encompass Ireland which has been for most of its history,an entirely separate and sovereign nation? I don't have a problem at all with the geographic term the British Isles, but I am not British and will not accept being referred to as such.
That is akin to suggesting that there should be a single, commonly accepted term to describe all residents of the American continent be it the USA, Canada or any of the South American countries.
Incidentally in official documents drawn up jointly by the British and governments, the term used is 'these islands', so if that's good enough for us and our neighbours then it can be good enough for you, you cheeky foreigner!
British and governments
Woops! I meant to say British and Irish governments.
I don't have a problem at all with the geographic term the British Isles
That's a very interesting problem which once upon a time Poland had been faced, too. In the 18th century the country consisting of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lituania (united together in the Act of Union of Lublin in 1569) gradually started to be known as "Poland". The people living in those coutries started to be called "Polish" in the broad political sense. While the Lithuanians or Ruthenians could specify their ethnic identity more precisely, this was not possible for the Polish people "proper". So the new term "Crowner" [Koroniarz] had to be coined for them and the Kingdom (of Poland) started to be referred to as "the Crown" as opposed to the "Grand Duchy" inhabited by the Lithuanians.
Terms describing someone as "natione polonus gente ruthenus origine judaeus" were commonly created at that time.
Notice, however, that similarly to the British and Irish governments, the use of political terms such as "British Isles" was avoided; the term "Poland" was never officialy applied to the whole Polish-Lithuanian entity. Even after 1791 when the country became unitary, the term "Both Nations" began to be incorporated in the names of central offices ("Komisja Policji Obojga Narodów", for example)
Hi Roz! Yes I like that as well. We are neighbours after all and there is a bond between us. Actually the whole Brexit thing is really raising all that in a big way. We're like a couple who had a long and volatile marriage, a legal separation with initial animosity followed by a mellowing but now we're facing the final divorce decree. Of course in a truly bizarre twist, the citizens of Northern Ireland will be both British and EU citizens. How is that going to work in practical terms I wonder?
@ Roz do you mean you don't agree or you don't know what I'm on about, to use that lovely bit of vernacular.
I mean the old Common Travel Area etc. We'll be fighting very hard to keep it and apparently all the EU members have been and will continue to be briefed on the importance of it, but it will be hard for other EU nations to accept the Irish having special rights and privileges within post-Brexit Britain. Also there's our trade links which are in serious danger. That's one area where we can't broker any special deal or retain our present system which suits us both so well.
yes I meant the old common travel area, and the way that an Irish citizen also counts as a British citizen and vice versa. ......be a bit of a bummer if Brexit puts an end to that.
Well, at the risk of taking this thread too far off topic (bless me Mods for I have sinned) both the UK and Ireland are very anxious to preserve the Common Travel Area. The problem is Enda Kenny is a complete wuss, but maybe he'll be gone by the time we get down to the nitty gritty of negotiations, not that there's anyone of much use to replace him. I think it's very emotive because so far Ireland has largely seen only benefits from EU membership and now for the first time, we're seeing a very big negative. Something that was 'ours' long before we joined the EU, which we negotiated with Britain and which has worked for our two nations for nearly a hundred years, is at risk of being taken from us. It brings home the fact that EU membership does compromise one's sovereignty.
I've never found Polish women attractive. Neither physically or in personality.
The reputation of Polish women in the US is poor, but there are exceptions. Yes Polish women work hard but it comes at the expense of habitual dishonesty.
Just my experience, I have met a few decent Polish women.
"...habitual dishonesty..."..hmm? interesting point. If it were true would it be worth all the good bits? Totally amazed by how much blokes have to say about ...bras in this thread!!! .
