The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland

I know one or two like that who earn plenty but don't want to pay for the hot water, even though it's relatively cheap in PL.

But it's when someone says "Kowalski Jan called for you!" or the studes write it on the top of their homework.

Not judging it, just saying it's different.

I find it interesting, the way poles sit there and tell you how **** Poland is and when you agree with them on a point, they immediately ask you, why don't you like Poland? They really do have a lot of complexes. Also the way, you are questioned about everything and as soon as you start to ask the person questions back,they become offended.

Poles like to tell you what you want to hear, just be honest the truth will reveal itself anyway, and then they'll look silly.

Interesting point, warzawski. I've found that to be the case too.

WB, any examples? Poles tend to be truthful about things for the most part (opinions of how they feel or your country etc etc)

Seanus!

What are you doing here?

They said you were suspended.

The way Poles all seem to say "Of course" in answer to something which isn't so obvious.

The way some shop assistants finish what they're doing, albeit taking some time, before serving a customer.

That Polish supermarkets, like Tesco etc still try the old trick of stacking sweet racks and ice-cream fridges by the side of the tills (something most British big stores have stopped) and then there is nowhere to put your basket other than next to the till, where they can't be retrieved when there is a queue.

Today, in Carrefour, I put the basket on the floor next to the rack. No problem, whatsoever.

They just like to appear brainy ;)


But they are not there to assist the customer. They are there to show the world how fecked their lives are cos they can only be shop assistants.

Worst place is Mcdonalds, where the word queue is unknown :D like most places especially the airports Polish folk dont know anything other than "run to the front and push as hard as u can!" :D

Pawian, who is they? Anyway, please stay on topic :)

I find that Poles look for natives to affirm their beliefs about their country. What happens happens and shouldn't be overanalysed. They don't seem to like my 'some are and some aren't' stuff as they seem to interpret it as fence sitting. It's the truth though and Poles are not as homogeneous as they'd like to be in some regards.

cool... let's close this thread then....

My favorite is the condoms next to the candy by the check out in smaller stores. Sme years ago the video place I went to had just a few shelves of dvds (they were still relatively new).

The pûrn shelf was just over the children's shelf (just over the general videos). Of course they occasionally got mixed up so that Anal Adventureland would end up next to Toy Story.

If memory serves me, carrefour are better than tesco. tesco have a hole under the checkout but it means it is so far up the line, past the racks and such, that when there is a queue, nobody can reach them. Upshot is, in Olsztyn anyway, that you come into tesco and find no baskets.


Saw a guy in Lidl last week buying a big 'family sized' pack of condoms and a big bottle of red bull. I couldn't stop giggling (must have felt jealous!)

I think many Poles like to create a quiet atmosphere upon entering a classroom. It takes them a while to build up but I didn't see this in Scotland. They don't seem to acknowledge one another that much, nor myself. When they get into their stride, they are ok.

In business, yes - they are of the opinion, just get the order and someone else will deal with the problem. On a personal level I find them very good listeners, until they get pissed, then the animal is let loose.

Regarding when to shower:


Well, that's one interpretation of dirty sex, it wouldn't be mine but each to their own ;)


Poland, actually as a European I have been stared at a lot in different countries, having been the only white guy there. It is different but as you know in Ireland, it is taken to the other extreme, any eye contact at all is instantly diverted.

Ah, I have gotten used to this here and think it is funny.
Especially when you talk in English, people standing right beside you, at a bus stop for example, will have no problem turning towards you and just looking at you in pure astonishment, very close to your face. Then it is curiosity but I still think it's funny.


No, it is simply a financial matter, we pay for electricity and water and Norway is a filthy rich country, that's all.


That's how change starts!
Rosa Parks would be proud :)

One I still think is strange coming from God's own country, (that's Ireland you heathen;) is the amount of pûrn, in Kiosks, petrol stations...

Well what I mean is, the evening showerer - at what point do they have a shower if sex is on the agenda?

Before? OK, that then means that they will be 'sex soiled' for all of the next day.

After? Then that means they are doing it with 24 hours of grime on their bodies.

You see? ; )

With the morning showerer they are relatively clean to begin with and in any case, will be completely clean the next morning...

"relatively" clean...

Call me mad, call me irresponsible but I just shower when I feel like it :)

You must have noticed that criticising Poland is a game that only Poles can play! If any foreigner says anything which could in any way be interpreted as negative about Poland, it is the duty of all Poles to criticise that foreigner and to 'defend' Poland (even if they themselves have in the past made precisely the same observation about Poland as the foreigner made).

he bribed the mods?


It's like with your mother. You can say that your mother can't cook but if someone else will say that you will go: "co ty k masz do mojej matki?!" It's perfectly understable, isn't it? ;)

I agree with that, Harry, but that is normal. I could go on and on what is "wrong" with Poland and us Poles but I tend to do it at home and among my Polish friends. When we step out of our circle, we are God's gift to humanity, freedom, tolerance, and beauty. I hope you understand that www is not the place to wash dirty laundry. You do your job and I'll do mine, and sometimes you do a splendid one at that. Try giving us a warm fuzzy sometimes instead of a cold prickly all the time. It is all too easy and boring to look at the negative side of anything. I'll cut the story short to illustrate what I mean: A rabbi walking with his students come across a dead dog. The students see only a stinky, revolting, putrid body, and are gagging outloud, but the rabbi says: But look at the beautiful, strong, white teeth. :)

That sounds positively indecent.

One of the many things I like about Poland - perhaps less now, as a lot of things have got smoothed out these last 16 years - is the rough edges: like, when they disbanded the garrison in Gorzów around 1996 you could see guys on the market down by the Warta selling (disarmed) grenades out of a bucket for 20 a pop.

Most of the other things I like are rather less picaresque, by the way ...

One of them being - you always know when you're flying back to Poznan when 85% of the passengers applaud the flight-deck computer on another successful landing. Which is promptly followed by a bump and a groan as the first of many passengers has already opened the overhead lockers and is reaching up for his hand luggage before the plane has even left the runway.

Talk about herding cats :)

The more subtle differences: Ireland/Britain v Poland

The grass dies.

The technology used in house building (this is a whole thread in itself)

Often, when eating in a restaurant, when the stranger at your table is finished eating, they will say 'thank you' to you as they leave or when they leave a shop etc...


I think we have a three way split:

Ireland: Irish people will tell you how **** Ireland is and want to hear how **** you think it is (over a pint).

Britain: British people will tell you how great Briain was (they went as far as calling it 'Great Britain' *slaps forehead*) and don't care what you say.

Poland: Polish people will tell you how **** Poland is and don't want to hear how **** you think it is.

Indeed - back to this guys please!

I hadn't intended for this to be a mini whine-fest. I was hoping for quirky observations really!


Yep, kind of sums it up.

In fact some Poles are quite surprised to see me criticise Ireland - and what's more, not just joining in, but volunteering fresh examples of sh1teness for them to mull over. I think they think I am being really disloyal or something.

Poland, is the mother of all Poles, this stems from your socialist past, that still runs deep in the hearts and minds of all poles. Under socialism the country ( mother) is there to provide. This is exactly why so many Poles go abroad and stay, because the surrogate mother provides an easier life, in the case of the UK higher salary, health system, social benefits and pensions.

The British differ because of,British nationalism, a form of nationalism that promotes the United Kingdom as a focus for national identity, specifically Britishness. In a broad sense it includes political and social movements, sentiment inspired by a love for British culture and history, and a sense of pride in being British. British nationalism is closely associated with British unionism and is characterised as a "powerful but ambivalent force in British politics", as an "inclusionary and civic form of nationalism, emphasising the union between England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland", as well as "embracing strong native national identities

... and how crap Britain is...

Scottish people and Welsh will tell you how crap England is.

English will tell you Poland could be better if it was more like Ibiza and sold fish and chips everywhere.

You think this is that common? I don't really. Sure, it happens, but relative to the Scottish & Welsh slagging their English neighbour for example, I don't think it is particularly prevalent.

Don't you mean England anyway? I've never once heard an Irish person complaing about the Welsh or Scottish.

They are being Polite, but they know its sh-te because there cousin arrived back home from ******** last week, after losing his job, and told them all,how much better Poland is.

This is basic human psychology 101...

This is not really a "Polish" thing! I really think you would experience this in any other country in the world.

Just try walking into an pub in England and start complaining to people there about their food, their culture, their history. And then travel to Germany or Denmark and do the same thing. They would ask you pretty quickly to go to hell! They themselves can of course critizise themselves, their culture and their history, but you can't! Not like some of you do on this forum. This is basic social intelligence, and applies to all aspects of human life, wether it's work, family or your country. This also works even on the highest of levels. Just read international political news, and you will find dozens of articles about prime ministers and presidents of different countries arguing to clean up their own sh*t before they critizise others'. Sweden vs Denmark in the recent elections are fine examples of this.

If one thinks that critizing and pointing out other peoples' or countries' shortcomings is normal and should be accepted on any level, one would find oneself really alone, really fast. Or in worst case in the emergency room with a tooth or two in your hand. This is NOT exclusive for Europe, just try it Nigeria or Japan for that sake. I think you will find that all people's of the world don't like it when foreigners start complaining or pointing out their weaknesses to them. Especially IN their own country. These weaknesses might be true, they might be obvious, and most people are aware of them, but it's a difference of acknowledging them and being told about them in a rude/forward way from some stranger who visits/lives your country.

Do not mistake this for legitimate and contstructive critizism, which I have seen very little of on this forum. From what I've read here it's mostly unpolished, blunt and not really well thought through opinions. With a few honourable exceptions. (Seanus and BB for instance).

If a foreigner living in Australia went on to a "Australian forum" and started threads like "Are all Australians dirty?", or "Why do Australians drink so much?". And then keeps this up, day after day, week after week, month after month, just constantly slagging every aspect of Australian life, wether it's everyday things or the country's history....would you expect the Australians on that forum to go, "Yeah, it's true, we suck", or would you expect them to tell you to go f*ck yourself? Also try this on a personal level with your friends, and see how far that will get you. On the other hand, if there were some meat to this theory, some facts, some statistics, and then use this with a civilized tone and not a suggestive or derogatory tone, I would think the level of debate on this forum would be where it should be! (On these kind of topics).

If you used some of the threads here that have shown a poor choice of words and switched the words "Poland", "Polish" and "Poles", with let's say, "African", "Homosexual" or "physically challenged", people would call it for what it really is, bigoted and unfair. But since it's "Poland" we talk about, well then, the gloves are off.

EVERY country has something that is bad, either it's the red tape in government, bad roads, religious intolerance etc. Most people in here are not Polish by birth, and I would think if I asked them to point by point write down what they would like to improve in their birth-country, this list would be rather long, well into double digits. No?

I know some of the debates here have been about historical events, and both Polish, German, Ukrianian, Dutch, American, Serbian and even people with the possiblity to hold 7 different passports (Harry) have slugged it out. But to say that "all Poles" or "Poles" share the views of half a dozen of posters here on this forum is a bit disrespectful and untrue. Now, if a professor of history from a Polish university started to lie openly on this forum about an established fact, one could broaden the terminology a bit.

And Harry, you have the diplomatic skills of a 10 year old boy, maybe tone it down a bit when you critizise people? It's amazing how far one comes with a bit of humility and respect! (Two way street).

DariuszTelka