Poland-My 9-day experience

Do you seriously mean what you write here, or are you just in a state of hate and bitterness? As other posters in here mentioned, your level of debate is of an high-school student. I even think you have to search a bit to find one THAT unhappy and tormented.

This is not a my country/your country debate, AussieSheila, I would LOVE to go to Australia. I know for a fact the people are friendly, the food will be great and the sights will be awesome. IF I GO THERE WITH THAT ATTITUDE. If I go there with your attitude, then the people will be miserable, the food will stink and everything will be too close to the water. I'll get bored after the first day!

This HAS to be your first country outside of Australia, and the cute guy at the restaurant just left you, after breaking your heart. And then you decided to log on here and use your valuable time at the POLISHFORUMS.COM, to tell everyone that your vacation SUCKED!

We can't help you. You will encounter this everywhere you go. In every European country you visit, you will find crappy parts of town, run down houses, small old towns and girls who look like hookers. I'm really awaiting your report from countries like England or France! They should be really fun.(Please come back here and post a link to them from other debateforums after your visits).

You actually went to Chorzow, but did not go to Crakow??? Who the hell was your guide???? It's like saying, hey let's go to Australia! Where do you want to go? Sydney or Melbourne? No, let's go to Adelaide!! (More crime, dirty, nothing happening etc).

Is this your sister posting here?;

"Reasons why Sydney is the worst city in Australia"....

au.messages.yahoo/news/localnews-nsw/272/

What about this poster a bit down on the above site;

"Yo dude, so your out of there. Now we have to ask where are you going to go? Melbourne - a cold wet Sydney wannabe but with better cultural icons?

Adelaide - the people aren't so rude but they speak funny and the water is pretty bad.
Perth - a hot sandy Sydney wannabe, but the public transport is great. Darwin - its got its charms and the people are friendly, but from the sound of it your a bit xenophobic, so perhaps its very multicultural nature will challenge your limited outlook. Brisbane - you might fit in in Ipswich but the place is full of Victorians and Mexicans from below the border so they might be rude. Canberra - its safe and souless and the infrastructure's great and the housing's affordable, but its only 3 hours to Sydney so perhaps you won't be safe from the gangs! Maybe Hobart, not many jobs but its pretty white and insulated? Then again perhaps you'd be better off in the country? Wherever you do go though, you need to learn to accept diversity and if you do want to change things get involved in the community you belong to".

See, it's not all peaches and cream in your backyard either, so maybe you should just say, "I'll open my eyes and my heart and accept whatever I find in the world, and I will not go on forums and post bullc*ap about other peoples home country!".

Anyways, bless you AussieSheila, I hope you will go back to Poland and VISIT CRAKOW!!! Especially in the summer with festivals, carnivals and concerts. Who knows, maybe you'll have a good time and meet another cute boy! Then go to any of the 13 places in Poland on the Unesco world heritage list, like the historic centres of Warsaw, the old town of Zamosc and the salt mines of Wieliczka to mention a few. Even outside of that list, you will find medieval towns with amazing history and architecture, over 500+ castles spread all over the country (You can even spend the night in many of them!), the snow covered mountains of Zakopane with amazing folk music and dance all year around, all this in the space of a medium sized European country! Hey, why am I even writing all this down for you...you can do this yourself! Just please stop pissing in our well.

And if you are serious about experiencing a nice country again, then please check out this link: staypoland.com/poland-attractions.htm

Again, Chorzow...really??

Dariusz

Well, lovely post but still no waves in Baltic Sea ;)

I will remember this forever:

An Aussi went to Poland and complained about the lack of waves. ha, ha............

Well, here's my experience. Walked home from a party tonight, had some guys yell czarnuch at my friend from an overpass, that was followed up by them throwing a bottle at us. Eight of them ended up in front of us, they managed to figure out that we were Americans and had no problem with throwing down and decided the best course of action was not to pick a fight.

Add this to the stares, the not so subtle racism, and the outright offensive behavior...

One thing can definately be said, Poland is an overtly racist country.

The one redeeming factor is that quite a few people have mouths much bigger than their balls.

f*ck 'em.

I think you just got unlucky, convex. It was night time, after all. They do see skin colour quite a bit but rarely get violent over it.

No, didn't get unlucky. This is the culmination of two weeks of being here.

It's not curiosity. There is no excuse for it.

This is Wroclaw, not some hick town. No excuse. We weren't looking for a fight.

With that said, we're both big ole southern boys, and have no problem with fighting.

I have never had any doubts about that.

Convex, it could be 10 mins of being here and being in the wrong place at that time.

They tend to run their mouths but back down come the critical moment, I've heard. I've only had one episode where my friend went behind me as a bouncer was pursuing him. I looked at the bouncer with a look that said, 'just you try it, pal'. We had the bigger numbers on that occasion.

Me. Many times, including Wigilia and Easter Sunday. Those of you who live live here know how unique an experience it is. Ah, I love living in Danzig. :)

Well, carp has a fitting anagram but I like the uszki (little pierogi) that go with red borsch.

Hmm AussieSheila I think you took a whistlestop tour through the country and saw nothing. 9 days is too little time to see the places you visited and see them effectively. You've missed a lot and probably spent too much time on the road or rail travelling.

I'd urge you to return to Poland but put less on your schedule and spend time visiting and appreciating Polska.

The architecture in PL is beautiful but if you're comparing it to Australian architecture it's completely different so comparison is no good.

There is much in Poland that needs improved and many will agree with that but Poland has been growing onwards and upwards in the last 20 years.

All I can say is that it is sad your experience of Poland was so poor but I don't think you experienced it at all.

norwegian and not polish, btw. (but i saw someone else already mentioned that.0

Eh, Norwegian and not Swedish btw ;) ;)

I was born in Poland but have grown up in Australia. We left Poland when I was 5, lived in Italy for 3 years and then migrated to Australia. My extended family has lived here since just after the war.

I am saddened by the continuing ignorance from people everywhere in regards to Poland. I am really starting to find this offensive. They have an ‘image’ in their minds and they don’t want to shake it. People still hold onto silly ‘cold-war’ propaganda. This, unfortunately is fuelled by the most ignorant self-validating attitude of “They are bad/poor/miserable THEREFORE I must be special/good/happy”. Sadly human nature is such that if we are lacking a sense of validity we easily get sucked into these simplistic ‘my team is better than your team’ means of attaining this psychological problem. These ideas are hard to shake as we depend on these kinds of thoughts for well being. Worse, we seem to distort our own sense of self and heighten it, and also simultaneously diminish the worth of the ‘other team’ so as to make them look far worse then they may be.

If there is a “post communist” mentality in Poland I propose that there exists a “post-cold war” mentality in English speaking countries which is equally as harmful to all concerned. Naturally, this is only one layer of contributing why there is disharmony in interaction between former Soviet nations and the “West”, albeit an important one. (I put “West” in parentheses as I think this is a loaded term).

I don’t want to engage with the sillier side of AussieSheila’s post, but I want to attack the underlying presumptuous attitude in her, and others that I have encountered. She is clearly a teenage girl (or has the maturity of one).

The following incident, and another which I will not talk about as it is similar, sparked a process which led me to thoroughly consider my Polishness, my Ozziness and just what the hell is going on in the minds of people that they react so badly to Poles, who I consider cultured, civilised, well educated, and generally having a wit that could show a thing or two to the Irish (famous for their wit, apparently).

I was at MY local bar, one that I had been visiting for 10 years+ and a French girl, who was on “Find-an-Ozzie-Romance”. She lovingly and sexily looked into my eyes and asked me if I was Ozzie to which I replied “Yes”.

She then asked me if I was “Ozzie born and bred?” to which I replied that I was born in Poland.

At this point she made a look like I just took a s%&t in her mouth and said “Oh, so you are from Eastern Europe?”

I replied “No, I am from Melbourne, but I was born in Poland. Besides, Poland is not in Eastern Europe, it is in central Europe.”

She then says, get this “Oh, so you are from DEVELOPING Europe?” And I am thinking, what the f%#k is that supposed to mean?

Then I realised: there were certain stereotypes, unfair ones, which I seem to be held against the Poles by a significant numberer of seemingly civilised people, ie. the French.

These seem to include:

Glum/Depressed
Backwards
Not sociable or friendly
Dirty and Poor
Boring
Lacking in Culture
Part of the “East”
Polish women want to marry foreign men to get money/citizenship etc.

I will not try to address these as I think they have been reasonably well addressed on other posts the forum. I will however, make some general statements that form a loose comparison of what I know about Poland and Australia that will, hopefully, to the body of people who hold the views I have encountered, bring attention to the fact they are being insufferably ignorant.

I will also try to show that Australia and Poland have rather strong historical ties, rather unexpectedly. This is directly aimed at AussieSheila, Irish, English, Scottish people and their mild ‘Ango-Celtic’ pretense. Because there are so many Poles in these countries, and a large proportion of people from them are a bit slow at recognizing that human is as human does, they seem to propagate the nonsense that not only are Poles true to the stereotype and that Poland is a ‘hole’, but that a Pole can’t ever conceivably be an ‘Ozzie’ (the bane of my existence! Lol).

But first, a very curt but accurate social history lesson and commentary as it relates to identity in Australia. This will illustrate how farcical the notion of Australian “identity” really is. The point of this is to share my frustration with you and give you a bit of background as to why I have decided to write this mini essay in response the embarrassing “Ozzie” Troll encountered.

Australia is a stolen country. It is dominated by white, Anglo-Saxon and Celtic peoples. Namely, the English, Scottish and Irish. If don’t have a name that sounds like it is from one of these countries you are identified as not being ‘Australian’. The current prime minister was born in Wales, I noticed that she winced a little bit when quizzed about where she was from. There is this stupid thing here that if you are born here and you have the right name then you are “Ozzie” and if you are not and don’t have that name … well you really are not “Ozzie”. How bloody ridiculous. Now you tell me who is more “Ozzie”, the prime minister or some dead-beat bogan who was born here, of which there are pleeeenty. People who have an Ango-Celtic name think that if the can use a few banal and trite Ozzie phrases said in “‘Strain” (A bastardization of the word “Australian”, as in “Australian language”) that makes them unquestionably Australian. That they don’t know how many generations that they have been “Ozzie” for, where their family actually came from, and that Australia only became a Nation in 1901 does not seem to matter.

While there is plenty of ‘backwards’ and plainly racist thinking, it is kind of non-inflammatory and accepted because many, especially people from Italy, Greece are easily identifiable and to some degree I believe retain their own brand of Australian culture and identity that is sometimes at odds with being “Australian”. And these people don't give a s#^@t. The reality of the problem is can be seen when it rears its ugly head though, and needs to be dealt with eventually. Such as during the very embarrasing Cronulla racist riots. In my own way I hope I am doing that now, with however few people.

Australians (whoever that is!?!) are not racists, and what I refer to is only a mild undercurrent in terms of how they think. But there is something there, like an annoying humming. And like an annoying humming if it never stops then it can drive some people crazy.

Now, for some general points in comparison I want to make:

-Poland has far more impressive historical architecture than anything found in Australia, hands down. Australia has very little that is truly impressive.

-Australia has absolutely incredible nature. It is not as picturesque as that found in Europe, but it is simply stunning – sublime would be the word best to describe it. People usually refer to it as “rugged”, and that suits it just fine. It is diverse and exists on a massive scale.

-Australia has very serious mental health issues. Historically it has had extremely large numbers of heroin addicts and overdoses.

-Australia has very, very little culture that is its own – in fact I don’t think such a thing even exists. But what it does have is revered and usually involves WW1 and WW2, the Eureka stockade (which is really the history of workers generally, rather than Australia in particular), some beautiful poetry and other Art. Knowledge of this is not common, however.

-The state which the indigenous people of Australia live is as bad or worse than any 3rd world country. No matter what is said about Poland and its ‘shoddyness’, if you saw how these people live it would break your heart if you had any humanity in you at all. Shameful beyond the worst thing you can find anywhere in Poland.

-Australia is a melting pot of culture and people: 1/3 are English, 1/3 are Irish, 1/3 come from everywhere else in the world. I have pointed out the problem this creates in terms of identity. Poland is relatively homogenous.

Now a little about how Polish and Australian history is linked:

1. The Rats of Tobruk during WW2 were Australian and Polish forces fought side by side and got along famously. One soldier learned an Australian traditional song, without knowing a word of English and would entertain every batch of new Australians he met with it. Famous, funny story. Many of the Rats later settled in Australia for this reason.

2. Pawel Edmund Strzelecki was a very important Polish geologist/explorer and humanitarian. He explored huge tracts of Australia and also discovered and climbed its highest mountain and named it after a American Revolution hero Kosciuszko. A large national park is also named after him. This guy is big deal in terms of what Australia is.

3. There was a Pole on the First Fleet, that is, the first boat that came to Australia. Why does he never get mentioned or listed with the others who were on it?

4. Poles settled in areas around Adelaide very early in the show, just like other settlers.

AussieShiela, you, sadly represent the backwardness and ignorance not of real Ozzies, but of human beings in general. I hope that you eventually grow up and open your eyes and get a educated.

I apologize in advance if this piece repeats itself or there are grammar errors present, it is not well edited.

drop it already, will you? everybody knows that chauvinism is a french word.

Baloney. Australia was settled just like Poland, through migration. Where did the Poles originally come from? Kyrgyzstan?


Serious Pole. You're supposed to tell her that you were born in Australia. She just wanted a bit of fun.

If you're Polish, move to Poland and contribute to Polish society. Don't continue to hang around those lousy Aussies.

wrong, it's quite the site:




booooooooooooooring


or some of the biggest waves in the world. btw. desert is very interesting too.


how do you hate freedom of speech.. oh well.. he can have an opinion too, no? you or i may not agree with it but it is his opinion.


must be really boring as the plains are tens of times bigger then all of poland


as compared to australia, they are pretty small.


which rules specifically?


why be a snob?


but plenty here on PF. lol


he was a polish freedom fighter more then hero in the usa.

I have to take exception to this comparison with Australia since I live in Auss. It is just not worth comparing, this thread is about Poland and not Australia. Australia has its special qualities and it should not be compared to Europe. I think that Australian people have their own particular sense of culture, and yes it can be a bit of a cringe especially when they imitate American culture, like country singing and call it Australian! But there is a lot more to it and I think it is encapsulated in the I am you are-song.

I love the Australian sporting culture and I think there is a lot to celebrate in that, However if one is after some European culture you will be disappointed and I guess that is why so many young Aussies go on European holidays. I think it is unfair to compare Australia to Europe like the Australian PM (Keating) did and referred to it as the backside of the world, or something to that effect. This land is not an identikit of Europe it has its own culture.

Well actually I've checked the meaning of developing countries in wikipedia and according to International Monetary Fund Poland is calssified as developing country. To my suprise Czech Rep and... Slovakia are developed countries!

In other sources there is said that to be a developed country, there must be gni per capita higher than 11 905 USD. Poland has gni per capita 18 072 USD.

Wroclawboy wrote:


me, every time.

convex wrote:


kick his ass, Seabass!

Definitely. It reminds me of the UK in the late 70's/early 80's - institutional racism as standard, with many people harbouring a dislike of other colours for the sake of it.

Many well educated Poles use the term "******" in English freely as well, which is....surprising.

It is similar in ways but I wouldn't say it's so overt. At football matches it is and Britain stamped that out quite some time back.

I didn't feel racism in Poland.I felt open racism in Denmark and hidden racism in Sweden and Germany.

Denmark, NI and Spain seem to come out as the 3 most racist countries in Europe, according to polls. Germany? Against Turks, maybe. The indifference of Poles lowers their racist rating. Given that few colored folk live here in relation to other European countries, it isn't really a major talking point.

Danish are openly racist.I have seen some of them ridiculed here by Greeks and now I don't feel condemn for them.

Most visiters to the UK go to London but not York, people think visiting the capital will offer them something special, in a lot of cases this can be true..Barcelona and Prague are turely beautiful...


Thats because it is, in general service is shockingly bad (Wraclaw was much better) and yes, they do make you feel like you're spoiling their day if you dare to ask to be served!

I do however dissagree with the OPs point of view on the countryside and landscapes - I found it quite charming.


Stop being such a p*ssy - who's going to provid the cheeky razor sharp one liners if you go?

AussieSheila

Do you want to know what is my impression about Australia?
People who are f**** too many times, who laugh at everything, who drink any kinds of alcohol, who have no moral rules, write mediocre (nothing more) literarature (silly blogs with stupid but definately witty comments), but they are proud of infected flies flying into their mouths while they are on the trip and stinking dirty dead cats hanging on the trees seen from dirty trains.

Oh, and girls or who love to say to their male or female frieds:
"Can I take your picture? I wil masturbate while watching this."

But Aussies are smart enough to take plenty dollars for sleeping in their awful "cheap" hostels in the contrary to Polish owners who take almost nothing for sleeping in their high strandard hotels.

Who allows you AussieSheilla, to write your opinions on public forum?
You are creating stereotypes. You took a bad part of Poland, nothing more.
So, I took a worse part of Australia.

Torq, as much as you pi$$ed me off being a judgmental prick, you have to realise that the only way to offset the negatives, is not to rip into the unhappy people that post it, but to point out the positive. You quitting like that only makes you a lightweight, and tips the scale in their favour.

So, chill, dude. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, and being able to see the full spectrum is an advantage. Knowledge is power. If you're worried about those that can be undully influenced by internet rantings... don't. They're not going anywhere.

Re: waves: that is the problem I had with my offspring. Given that we only have few weeks a year for our vacation, Poland did not offer the "x-treme" enough activity.. until we found the ice yachting. Spending my golden years spoon-feeding a quadrapelegic is not something I'd look forward to, but.. what the hell, you can't change people. You can only change the way you react to them. Like Darwin said - it's not the smartest or the strongest that will survive, but the most adaptable.

What an inane comment. I walked trough the Old Town with a friend of mine who has lived in Gdansk all her life. I showed her things she had never seen before and we only walked down Dluga and along the Motlawa. That took an hour. Obviously you never even peeked inside St Mary's, the biggest brick cathedral in Europe. During Solidarnosc 20,000 people met there, but I guess you have no interest in either Polish culture or history. BTW, I'm American, not Polish, so I'm not defensive, just amazed by your comments and your ignorance.

And who allows you, noreenb, to write YOUR opinions on a public forum?

Edit: my, my, my, aren't we all upset that sb, in this case an Australian girl, writes sth negative about PL. Immediately the moral majority jumps to their hind legs and start ripping into the poster. Guess they never heard of "don't shoot the messenger". F-Stop is right, better than simply shooting off the girl or write stupid and nonsensical stuff about Australia in a mere attempt to retalliate, point out the positive things about PL. Perhaps with a little guidance from the very same ppl killing her off now, she WOULD be able to be more positive about the Motherland.

>^..^<

M-G (yay!)