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Posts by JonnyM  

Joined: 9 Mar 2011 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 15 Mar 2012
Threads: Total: 11 / Live: 2 / Archived: 9
Posts: Total: 2607 / Live: 553 / Archived: 2054 		From: Warszawa!
Speaks Polish?: tak

Displayed posts: 555 / page 13 of 19
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JonnyM   
24 Jul 2011
Food / What's your favorite Polish coffee? [75]

In Poland the black is quite rare - it tends to be the expensive gold, with big supermarkets (that I don't go to generally) selling the red as well. By preference I'd buy the red over the gold. I always make it po Turecku with the grounds in the cup.

The nicest coffee I've ever seen was on Bradford market near my home in northern England, a downscale place if ever there was one. An old gentleman had a stall selling coffee for years - one of them was a blend of Blue Mountain and cheaper but complimentary coffees. It was wonderful and I always used to buy it, but he retired and nobody wanted to take the stall on.

This month I'm in doing some work in Africa in a country without supermarkets etc, but with plenty of ladies who sit by the side of the street in the shade serving blisteringly strong coffee (probably Ethiopian) with ginger, cinnamon and lots of sugar added. People sit around on very low stools and it's amazing to watch the ladies adding the spices and making the coffee in cans over charcoal. It costs about 2 PLN a cup. There are a few indoor cafes here, but they tend to serve Nescafe instant.

In fact since it's 5pm here and a bit cooler, I think I'll pop out for some!
JonnyM   
24 Jul 2011
Food / What's your favorite Polish coffee? [75]

Yes - and if one is (like me) a genuine coffee lover, who detests instant, it is worth paying a bit extra for something to cherish. After all, I don't own a television, a car, any gadgets and always buy cheap arabian cologne instead of expensive aftershave. Plus I use Ludwik as shower gel. When I buy Lavazza coffee it is a personal preference, and I always keep it in a sealed tin in the fridge anyway so guests don't see the label.

Polonius3: MK premium is an upper-shelf brand in Poland (along with Tchibo Exquisite and Jacob's Kronung

I avoid MK and buy Tchibo exclusive if I run out and have to get some from a sklep spozywczy that doesn't have anything better.
JonnyM   
22 Jul 2011
Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

As for the bottom 50 %- how can they pay if they don't have it. And of course the wealthy don't pay enough, so the tax burden is on middle America. Too rich and too poor all at the same time.
And then there are people like you who spout the dribble of the right wing.

Exactly. Somebody has to pay for society - and the poor don't have any spare cash.
JonnyM   
22 Jul 2011
History / What are Poland's pagan roots? [62]

I was wondering lately if some Poles remained Pagan afterwards

Some traditions remained, especially in the Kurpie region and parts of Podlasie. But very discreetly. Some customs like casting wreaths into water on the solstice and throwing water at young women on Easter Monday to make them fertile are common throughout Poland today.

If you want to know about the neo-pagan scene, you could check out taraka.pl - it's largely about shamanic paths, but with some useful contacts for neo-paganism. Most of the users of that site speak some (or even a lot of) English.

The word "pagan" comes to us from the word "paganos" which meant "countryside" and this is because when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity it took much longer for the people in its rural areas to abandon practicing the rites of the old faith

Yeah, we know. So does the dictionary.
JonnyM   
20 Jul 2011
Life / Stereotypes about Polish people being stupid? [281]

Common sense is mostly elusive with the Lefties and Enemy Within of Poland

So who are 'the enemy within' and is lining your baseball cap with alumunium foil really effective against them?
JonnyM   
16 Jul 2011
UK, Ireland / Polish and Irish people are related? [137]

Poland: The heaven of the nobility; paradise of the Jews, purgatory of the common man, and hell of the peasant; the gold-mine of foreigners, and the source of feminine luxury. Rich in wool, it is yet without cloth, grows flax in overabundance, and yet imports linen from abroad, favours all foreign goods and belittles its domestic products, boasts of its costly purchases and despises everything that is cheap.

Italian saying
JonnyM   
14 Jul 2011
Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]

ven though Im only half Polish and i wasnt born In Poland, I still Love it because It feels like home to me.

that might change when u have to earn a living here.

Hopefully not teaching English.

Znasz j. polski? No
Occupation, website Student
Interests Race

Oh dear.
JonnyM   
11 Jul 2011
Travel / Why so many Indian Restaurants in Poland? Which one is the best? [42]

Actually they were quite determined to do that themselves. Not that Bangladesh existed as an entity until many years later.

Do you really believe that their cuisine was somehow partitioned too and made non-Indian? If you do then you are foolish.

Evidently not as foolish as you. Sub-continental cuisine is very regionalised - the food in most Indian restaurants is closest to Pakistani cuisine with a few Bangla and Kashmiri dishes. In Europe there are relatively few south Indian restaurants.
JonnyM   
9 Jul 2011
Food / Polish bacon doesn't fry up? [70]

Well, there is something better fasolka a la Brittany :)

Different. Served in a different way. And much better if you add fried bacon.

BTW, Piotr i Pawel at Blue City in Warsaw sometimes have bacon cut the British way.
JonnyM   
8 Jul 2011
Language / Why is the Polish language so difficult? [309]

I teach english to Polish people and they find it a very hard language to learn

I did that for ten years and have taught English in various countries for most of my career - I don't rcall any of my students finding it a 'very hard language'.

They cannot understand why the word "is" isn't pronounced "eez".

I never had a problem with them learning that. Letters represent different sounds in different languages - not much to learn there.

It depends on the person, some learn faster than others. I learned Polish very quickly and thought it was very easy and simple.

Same here, though the grammar is much more complicated than English.
JonnyM   
8 Jul 2011
Language / Why is the Polish language so difficult? [309]

Actually polish is easier than English

Most people would disagree. And do. Much of the richness and subtlety of English comes from its huge vocabulary. Much of the complexity and subtlety of Polish comes from its grammatical structure. Yet it is possible to speak English well with only a small fraction of the words. It is not Possible to speak Polish well without some grammatical accuracy.
JonnyM   
8 Jul 2011
Food / Kaszanka and haggis? [34]

Any coastal area is like that. They get the munchies and pig out on that garbage passed off as food.

Bloody hell, you've just defined Scarborough Woof. Whitby Woof is much the same.
JonnyM   
8 Jul 2011
UK, Ireland / Bilingual Polish Primary School in London [18]

Hi, I am considering setting up a bilingual Polish Primary School for children aged 3-13.

Given the two-way traffic between the two countries, it could be a great idea. Your first stop should be the Department of Education who can advise on the liabilities and requirements for setting up a private school.
JonnyM   
8 Jul 2011
Food / Kaszanka and haggis? [34]

cost, ingredients, preparation

Kaszanka is cheaper and contains fewer ingredients. People tend to buy haggis rather than make it. Kaszanka the same - it's cheap to buy and shop bought is no different to home made.

appetising appearance, aroma, flavourfulness

Both look good, but haggis has the offal and spices which make it a richer food. Black Pudding is much closer to kaszanka. There is a sausage-shaped haggis, but this tends to be sold in fish and chip shops in some parts of Scotland. I sometimes serve haggis for dinner - Polish guests usually love it.