History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]


Really? I thought much of the British stereotype came from WWI/II, no?


They're not bad people. I've never experienced anything malicious from them. It's not the most exciting of countries, but neither is Poland really. Their pub culture is far more developed than in Poland, too - but their standards of customer service are even worse than in Poland.

There's not much difference between the two countries, really. I've been there quite a lot, and there's not much difference - except, weirdly, they adhere to Sundays being sacred far more than the Poles do.

History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]


Not really - they gave Poland a bit of a beating in the first war between them, and certainly more than stood up for themselves in 1968.

They have never really been tested in war - what chance did they have in 1938 and 1968?


History, even Polish history accepts that it was an invasion.


It doesn't matter. They're monuments to the dead.

History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]


Exactly. Criticise the living as much as you want, but leave graveyards alone.


Exactly the same ones. They're also so patriotic that they do lots of community service, such as sitting outside the shop and drinking beer.

Wouldn't it be better to do a day of volunteering on August 1st? Nah...doesn't draw attention to themselves.

History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]


Quite so. Real patriots would work for their country, rather than vandalising monuments to the dead.

History / What do Poles owe to Czechs? [89]

When you think about it, Poland has quite the terrible history with the Czechs - two invasions within 30 years!

I'm certainly not sure what Poland gained by the invasion - though if I recall rightly, Jaruzelski was already in charge of the army at that point, which goes a long way to explain things.

Worth pointing out though - Poland may have assisted in the 1968 invasion, but to her credit, took little to no part in the subsequent occupation as far as I know.

Food / What is your favorite Polish Vodka? [653]


Now *that* is frankly horrible and worthy of criticism.

(thankfully, I doubt the vast majority of Americans, even Polish-Americans would know that Wódka is Polish)

History / Warsaw Rising 1944 - National Disaster or Triumph of Spirit ? [515]


Clean and total freedom? Hardly - it was guerilla warfare.

Food / What is your favorite Polish Vodka? [653]


The ownership changed a while ago, maybe that's why?

News / Fraudsters and common thieves top the crime league in Poland [12]

Well, it is a rather Polish thing to describe small things as "economic crimes" ;)

Interestingly, the freepl site explains that the IPN needed 24 million to buy the building that they're in. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that Poland could use 24 million in a far more effective way, especially given the vast property portfolio that the state has.

Incidentally, if anyone is in any doubt about how rubbish the freepl site really is - consider that it claims to be about Poland, but half the articles are about Germany and Russia. One of their latest editorials, claiming that PO has made institutions part of the party - well, I think we all remember what happened with TVP.

News / Fraudsters and common thieves top the crime league in Poland [12]


Not really - bear in mind that they will use the term "economic crimes" to cover all sorts of things, even if it's rather minor.

Worth pointing out that freepl.info is also the Opposition mouthpiece - what they're not saying is exactly what these crimes are. They will be mostly small, petty things that we would never class as an "economic crime" and are barely worth mentioning. The line at the end of Poland being "full of tricksters and swindlers" is just the usual garbage from Gazeta Polska.

Worth also pointing out that PiS did very little to improve the justice system, instead preferring to use it to pursue their own agendas.

Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

I think there already is some degree of wine making there - the climate is certainly suitable!

No reason why Poland can't at least produce something similar to Bulgarian wine.

Food / Poland's best cheap beers? [72]


Far more drinkable, too. The Polish version is - frankly - disgusting.

Love / Are Polish girls open to foreigners? [78]


Hang on, it's closed down?

I know little about Warsaw, but I thought that was supposed to be one of "the" in-places?

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

Harry, just as an update - BZWBK have a specialist unit who deal in large currency transactions. On PLN/EUR, they'll go closer to the interbank rate than any kantor, but we are talking in transactions in excess of 100kPLN.

Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]


In other words, nothing to do with the EU.


You blame it on that because you simply haven't got a clue how politics works.

It's pretty obvious that the strong brewery and distilling sectors have absolutely no interest in supporting a strong wine sector. They also have a great deal of influence, not least because Polish beers are starting to enjoy strong brand recognition in some foreign countries, but also because the vodka industry is very, very strong both domestically and internationally. Therefore, they have a vested interest (just like in the Good Ol' USA) to maintain their position.

Incidentally, Poland is considered to be far more capitalist than many other European countries.

Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]


You, posting that stuff ;)))

I'm not surprised your students recommended it to you :P

Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]


Except it's not the case, otherwise Hungary, Slovakia and many others wouldn't be churning out vast quantities of wine too. Hungary in particular is starting to really boom - and that's not to mention the vast amounts of cheap Bulgarian wine on the market. Not to mention the availability of Polish wines from the south-east which you can buy easily in the shops. But it simply doesn't have a good reputation, partially because of what Pawian posted :)))


The taxation system doesn't stop it - you can buy Polish wine in some shops. What stops it is the fact that the industry just isn't developed, nor does it have much heritage to fall back on.

I've bought wine from here before - winnicapoznan.pl - all legal and taxed. Was rather odd to drink wine from Poznan - but still, perfectly acceptable.

Food / Are there any Polish wines worth purchasing? [65]

Isn't there a small, but expanding wine industry in Podkarpackie?

(there's also a small vineyard in Poznan, believe it or not)

News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]


Indeed, the Canadians are incredibly strict about this sort of thing. It also seems specifically targeted at Americans, too.

News / Does Polish hotel have right to turn down Americans and Israelis? [79]


You should get a new laywer - fast. If that's the kind of advice that he's dishing out, then who knows what else he's doing wrong?


Except when it breaches other laws, and especially the Constitution.

Work / Average earnings and cost of living in Warsaw? [42]


You'll be able to live, but it's not going to be a comfortable existence. The dollar went down as low as 2.2 in very recent times - and you wouldn't be able to live on that.

Life / Polish sentimental ballads [38]

One of my favourite songs. But this...is painful.



The pain, the pain!

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


Oh, zip it.


But they don't have a million zloty or the ability to employ 20 people. But they can clean arses.


I've got some media contacts, so they can even get some nice free publicity for themselves at the conclusion of the school year too. It would make such a nice story - Polish American comes to Poland to teach deprived children for a year. What about it, Dave?

Nah. He's too busy defending Poland on the internet to actually help deprived kids.

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


It's very strange, because I meet plenty of American volunteers here. But no Polonia - why?

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


They could do that too, but volunteer work is an easy place to start. Anyway, most of the trolls here are admittedly unemployed, so not much hope of them bringing jobs, investment and cash here.


Why can't we do unpaid work in Poland?

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


Agreed. I wonder when the last time that our North American Polonia friends on here did any real voluntary work for Poland?

Me, Harry and a few others have an open offer to our American friends - they come here to volunteer for a year, and we'll pay their airfares. Not one has taken us up on the offer yet, although at least two of them are long term unemployed.


Given that most of the US Polonia can't even speak the language nowadays, they're hardly helping. They're also trying to keep alive traditions that were never Polish traditions, such as the legendary Polka dances at "Polish" weddings in America.

It never ceases to amaze me that America produces so many fake patriots.

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


Not really. The North American Polonia on this forum are fundamentally cowards - most of them doing nothing but boasting about how much they're there to "help" Poland without actually doing anything.

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


You mean the version that's peer reviewed, checked and agreed upon by professionals - rather than what a journalist from Gazeta Polska writes?

History / Khazar migrations to Eastern Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine [106]


Americans will claim anything in sight!

Life / What's wrong with Poland? I don't see anything. [121]


What, exactly, has this got to do with Poland and the problems that she has?


And again, what has this got to do with Poland?

Actually, what's wrong with Poland is the presence of a large group of Americans that claim some affiliation to this fine country. The sooner that Poland disassociates herself with them, the better.