Perhaps you could explain, why this would not be so common in Poland?
Because by saying "hello" you indicate that you know someone and if you say it to a stranger you will receive a confused look (as a person will be pondering where you had met and why he or she doesn't remember you) or be ignored (as a person will think that you just took him/her for another person). Of course there are some social situations when you say hello/goodmorning to strangers... but not when walking though on a street.
This is only my personal opinion and limited experience from my point of view of some Polish guys in Ireland.
I meant you're right, raised tone means a question. In my previous comment I meant it's good to know that it can be perceived in a different way by native English speakers.
no patience for anything,
It's quite true and I would also add that many people in my country are short-tempered (they get irritated easly).
Another thing for some Polish people is personal space(i have read that others think this also), this only happened to me twice, once in Poland and once in Ireland.
I've read a book about
body language and narrow personal space is characteristic for people who live in crowded environments (cities) while wide personal space is characteristic for people who live in environments were is a lot of space (villages, towns). You will noticed that e.g. Chinese have even narrower personal space so they tend to approach closer when speaking to a person.