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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 5 of 19
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JonnyM   
30 Jan 2012
Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

a life-long non-smoker who lived on the Commercial Road in east London, and one from a country-dwelling moderate smoker. The former was in a much worse state than the latter.

I can believe that. There used to be an air pollution monitor, showing the levels of all sorts of nasty things, on the wall of DH Smyk in Warsaw. They took it down about 7 or 8 years ago because the readings for most pollutants were usually off the top of the scale.

But still, not smoking after years of it does feel great. If it wasn't for the effect on the waistline, that is.
JonnyM   
30 Jan 2012
Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

inhale cancer triggering smoke into their lungs

And this is what happens to those very lungs. After only a few years.


  • Left: healthy lung, Right: smoker's lung
JonnyM   
30 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

eastern European is a term based on former political reality.

Not only.

Whereas mentality is something more specific - there is no eastern European mentality !

So you're saying that a Spaniard has the same attitude to life as a Russian?
JonnyM   
30 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

Warsaw: 21° 0′ 39″ E
Athens: 23° 43′ 0″ E
Roughly 3° East. And that doesn't include the vast territory at the east end of the Aegean

It isn't so much the latitude as the mentality, cuisine, traditions.

One only needs to look toward history,

And historically Poland has geographically always been much further east than it is now.

Google has a floor of offices

They aren't a Western European company, they're American. And the have offices in Tokyo - perhaps you're suggesting that Tokyo is Westen European too, Celestyna/Slavia.

Krakow which is quickly becoming the Paris of Poland

Hardly. Either you've never lived in Paris or you've never lived in Poland. Or both.
JonnyM   
30 Jan 2012
Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

Easier said then done, unfortunately. They are a curse.

Try Champix (chantix in the US). They worked for me.
JonnyM   
27 Jan 2012
News / Communist era 'newspeak' appeals the most to Poland PiS supporters (what a surprise) [89]

80% Poles DOES NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND TV NEWS. This is 'functional illiteracy' at massive level. Poles have great opinion about themselves, but facts are, we - as society - are very very poorly educated, easy to manipulate.

Absolutely - and these are the people from whom PiS drew their support, who were the most vulnerable to their totalitarian rhetoric. The educated elite didn't touch them with a bargepole.
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

I notice a real change the further away from Warsaw and the nearer to Krakow. When you're up by hajnowka with all the wooden houses and conifer forests it could be Siberia and the people are so different from the south.

When we are talking about East and West, we are talking about communism/capitalism.

There's a lot of truth in that. East Poland since 1989 has tended to be more politically extreme than West Poland.
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

Only because it origininated in Poland and went east!

Some people say that, though millions of Russians disagree. I suspect we will never really know, however the first documented production comes from there.

Poland is as Central as it gets, and other than beer, vodka it is!

And remember that Poland has moved somewhat over the years!
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

The mentality here

Out of interest, where's here? It's hard to talk about one single set of characteristics for Poles and Poland when there's still such a marked difference in mentality between the former Russian, AustroHungarian and German zabory.
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

central

In Central Europe, the taste is more towards flavoured spirits - the blandest being schnapps, with vodka very secondary. The 'vodka belt' goes from Poland right through to Vladivostok. Very Eastern.

central. Just like Poland.

Have a look at post #14
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

sausages, cutlets and gingerbread to be eastern

Sausages are both eastern and western - kielbasa (kolbasa in Russian) is however eastern, cutlets are not a big part of Polish cuisine (kotlety are not cutlets) nor is gingerbread (piernik is neither gingerbread nor western). Barszcz, ogórki, the prdeominence of pork over other meats, gołabki, kasza, sledz, ser biały, kapusta kiszona, rosól z kury etc all point eastwards. Polish cuisine is essentially a variant of Russian cuisine with a few Central European influences..

And the national drink, vodka, is eastern too.
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

Norman Davies correctly decreed Poland the most Central European country for a reason.

This is very true - the crossroads of Europe, like Janus with an eye in each direction. Look at the architecture in Poland's main cities - definitely western and look at the food - definitely eastern.
JonnyM   
26 Jan 2012
Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

Does anyone know if they sell pall mall in poland

In every cig shop.

how much they cost roughly?

About 2.50 EUR
JonnyM   
24 Jan 2012
History / Cult Poland PRL TV Ads and Cars [12]

The old adverts painted on the side of apartment buildings in Warsaw are now protected, and rightly so but I remember someone once saying that there were no TV adverts during the PRL. So it wasa surprise when someone sent me this:

..
Does anyone know of any more?
JonnyM   
24 Jan 2012
Law / The famous Polish brands for 'Lingeries' and 'Bags'? [11]

Much of this either poor quality mass market stuff or truly tasteless. A saunter up Nowy Swiat takes you past some good accessory and knicker retailers. If the OP specifically wants Polish-made handbags, Pantera, next to Amatorska have an interesting range however the prices don't really match the stock.
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
Law / Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun? [918]

Not that there's any need to carry a gun in Poland, nor would anybody but an nutter do so. Imagine if you were a guest somewhere and your host (or their kids) found it in your coat pocket. It just isn't European and certainly not Polish.
JonnyM   
22 Jan 2012
Life / Poland - abandon all logic [25]

This quote looked familiar.

I thought so too and was scratching my head as to why. How would you re-write it for today?
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Life / Poland - abandon all logic [25]

A bit outdated as a quote about Poland of 21 century.

There's still the shadow of truth there. How would you re-write it for 2012?
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Life / Poland - abandon all logic [25]

That's pretty well what I feel - somebody Polish had written it as a joke and it shouldn't be taken too seriously - but somehow there's a lot of truth there.
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Life / Poland - abandon all logic [25]

This was found on facebook and translated into English by the New Warsaw Express. One of the best descriptions of modern Poland I've read for years - do you agree?

“Here we are in an absurd world. A country which has twice as many students as France, and where a qualified engineer earns less than an average worker. Where people spend twice what they earn, and average earnings are less than the price of three pairs of good shoes. A country where a car costs three years’ wages, but despite that, you can’t find anywhere to park. A foreigner needs to abandon all logic if he doesn’t want to be overwhelmed. It’s a strange country where you can talk to the waiter in English, the cook in French, the shop assistant in German but government ministers or state officials only through an interpreter.”

JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
Real Estate / Residential real estate values go down in Poland [455]

Isnt that a nice feel good thought manifested by the coal and oil profiteers,

More by reactionaries. Even the oil industry admits that climate change is man-made.
JonnyM   
21 Jan 2012
History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1090]

Calling Poland "Eastern Europe country" originates from 50' mostly when Russians established their power over this part of Europe for years and World understood it. East-West division brought beautiful simplicity - thinking was not necessary.

Your post makes a lot of sense, and Krakow (and perhaps Wroclaw are certainly Mitteleuropa. But, from a British point of view, most of the Poles who stayed on after the war came from the Eastern Territories, Grodno etc. which are certainly Eastern. Even Warsaw is in many ways more Eastern then Central.

There was also the tendency which you mention to identify Poland through Geopolitics, and it was easy to see anything east of Friedrichstrasse as Eastern Europe.

Nevertheless, as more and more people from 'the West' discover Poland, they will see that it has a distinct culture and the definition of Central Europe will subtly change.