Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

I'd probably choose Poland, even
if I spoke better Russian!

Duda simply doesn't frighten me
as much as Putin. Putin isn't even
known as an anti-Semite, he is
though a cruel throwback to Czarist times.

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

@Milo,
I'd be a hypocrite if I denied the fact that a great many Jews refused to assimilate. The reality is that those same Jews were almost deathly afraid of losing their birth identity and for good reason were often loathe to trust local authorities whom they knew scarcely had their best interests at heart!

Originally, the Jews entered what was then the European continent sometime following the Destruction of the Second Temple, at which time the they were literally, and not figuratively, scattered to the four winds, most of whom ended up among peoples who despised them as outsiders.

How ironic, that a tribe which has known only hardship, contributing to some of that very hardship, should have become a nation unto themselves, defined by their infighting instead of by their unity.

Travel / Is Poland a popular tourist destination for Swedes? [20]

Another unfair charactarization, Alien!
Indeed Poles, Aussies, Germans, above all, Dutch and Brits abroad, have an even greater reputation for inebriated behavior than the Swedes, or at least equal.

Travel / Is Poland a popular tourist destination for Swedes? [20]

Thanks, jon. I'd suspected for some time that Poles were more than slightly interested in Sweden, but wasn't sure regarding vice-versa:-)
Any Swedes out there in Cyberland who wish to weigh in?

News / Polish Miracle-Die Welt [12]

"CUD NAD WISLA" I'd always thought was referring to Poland's meteoric rise during the High Tech bubble way back in the late '90's.

Love / Do women like strong men in Poland ? [39]

Check out "Crossroads", a Polish flick from the last ten years if that, and just watch the young guys in their '20's, fairly common-looking types at best, when one of them introduces them to his girl friend aka fiance. Second nature to him, the first bloke raises her hand to near his lips in the traditional hand kiss. This film isn't from the 1940's, Joker.

LOVVVEEE ITTTTT!!!

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

@Rich,
Of course Poland, along with numerous other nations, among them England (courtesy of Cromwell, but don't tell Catholic Ireland!), France, Spain, and Italy for example, did for sure invite Jews in as political footballs. However, once their usefulness as tradespeople had been served, what's more, they refused to convert, they became Public Enemy No.1 across the board.

Sadly, they've turned over the past hundred and ten years or so, from those who DEFIED the pack, to the pack themselves.
I'm referring though to the Orthodox sects in areas such as Williamsburg, Bklyn, not fellow Jews of whom I am in the least proud.

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Simple, yet not always transparent to most. The Church perpetuated the age-old lie that the Jews, rather than the Romans, murdered Christ by crucifying him.

Jews had always been individualists, Johnny, not content to merely follow the pack! This made them a threat to the existing power that be at the time and on into the future.

The Church further demonized the Jews by forcing them into thankless work vs. honored vocations or trades. As money lending was off limits to Christians, this then fell to the Jews to serve as pawnbrokers and/or tax collectors. The latter then turned them into the hated enemy of the poor farmers who often had little choice but to "go the Jew" whenever money was scarce.

Moreover, with the advent of the Plague, gentiles were usually off at some war or other and as Jews were forbidden from joining guilds or the military, they were able to stay home with their possessions while the Christians returned home to nothing, mostly having been ravaged by famine, death, and poverty, whilst though the Jews appeared to be living in relative comfort.

This further exacerbated hatred of Jews as shiftless pariah, determined to destroy the Christians.

Off-Topic / What is your comfort food??? [39]

What's the going price on moonshine (bimber) nowadays, just curious? LOL

Love / Do women like strong men in Poland ? [39]

@Alien, are you trying to stereotype Polish men as somehow cavemen with limited intelligence but less limited biceps??

Seems you've been living in Germany too long, pal!

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

Ukraine though never thought herself isolated from Mother Russia, merely analogous to almost tenant farmers or vassals simply living on their lord's fiefdom.

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

The only Jewish "myth", Kaszub, was the delusion that Jewish Poles as Jews could peacefully co-exist with gentile Poles! Clearly , this didn't entirely work out in the German-speaking world either, only in countries such as Germany and Austria, the Jews were usually innumerable times more culturally assimilated than in Poland:-)

Polish Jews, by in large observant and living in shtettl communities, never for a minute deluded themselves into thinking they were considered as "Polish as the Poles". However, the German Jews lulled themselves into a pipe dream of complete symbiosis with their gentile neighbors, believing the Enlightenment ideal of co-existing as fellow citizens. The latter was the real tragedy of the ensuing Holocaust.

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

It depends here on what you term "old approach", pawian. If what you mean is that Ukraine should continue to remain the dumping ground, that is, whipping boy for Kremlin bullying, obviously the answer is no.

Love / Do women like strong men in Poland ? [39]

I'd have to agree.
Having observed social behavior, to this day, a woman is still usually greeted by a man with a hand kiss (not really a kiss) whereas a man to another man, with a bone-cracking grip!

News / Ruling PiS party tried to cover up eco disaster in Odra River [88]

Going back even further to Communist times, most of Eastern Europe was ruled by leaders who couldn't have given a rat's ass about the environment!

Former East Germany was a huge offender in this respect. The town of Bitterfeld was in fact a sort of poster child for the damage done to its surroundings during the old era.

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

The point is that both countries have pursued a degree of so-called "neutrality" bordering on isolationism! Nice to see a sea change in the government of at least one of them, finally a sense of teamwork, being members of the club, not merely of some abstraction known as "Europe".

News / NATO expansion in northern Europe - great news for Poland [137]

Swedes have mixed reactions though. Haven't had contact with Finns of late, but I think historically the Swedes rather enjoyed their reputation for neutrality, much like the Swiss (with whom they're sometimes confused here in the States) and are not big joiners.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Quite so.

Food / Polish Christmas Eve Dinner recipes [84]

A Polish friend told me that "kluski z makiem" or "Noodles with poppy seeds" is an exclusively Christmas dish. Is this correct?

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Yes, as well as at border crossing areas! Frequently,
the very young would translate for their parents into English for the customs officials,
rather than into Polish and German.

In Germany, I read that the recent arrivals would simply use
the app for daily transactions:-)

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Precisely, Cojestdocholery!
However then, it was indeed considered a border area as ruling countries often changed hands so frequently, often one might not have known literally day to day to which country they belonged.

Quit being such a contrarian.

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Nor can I.
I understand though that Ukraine is currently
looking for English teachers.
Now I understand how Ukrainians seemed
to have no language barriers when crossing
over into Poland or Germany. They used the
"Speak & Translate" app almost exclusively:-)

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

Thanks, Lenka! Yes, of course. I ought to have remembered if for none other than
sheer mnemonic reasons cf. "Krystyna"/"JustYna", whereby a "y" always succeeds
a "t" in native Polish names, never an "i" as in Italian or Spanish.

True. Maf knows very good Polish and his English
explanations of orthographic as well as grammar stuff
aren't too shabby either:-)

Please stick to the topic

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

@Maf,
In my opinion, Szczecin DID have a pleasant looking Old Town. The point again though,
is that her reactions were clearly marred by cross-cultural interference!

Had she actually understood what I was saying, she might have answered with
"You think so, Mark? I guess I'm so used to it." or "Well, it's not my favorite spot.."
and the like.

@Lenka,
It may be hard for you to actually conceive of a young American who spoke on various
levels of Polish, but by the same token why should I believe you or any other poster
here on PF? Certain facts we merely take on faith. Furthermore, I'd already mentioned
in prior posts that my Polish was nowhere nearly as practiced as it is now. On the other hand, her
English was basically limited to American-style vulgarity and riddled with errors.....which I politely overlooked,
I might add.

K-R-Y-S-Z-T-I-N-A. Merely a typo the other day.

@Bobko, I fail to grasp what you find so "stupid" in my post, but I'm sure I will LOL

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [397]

Quite, Milo!
Kedem Sweet is one of the bettter ones, at least here in the US.
Dry kosher Reds are also known, though far less popular in my experience.

Life / Poland's concord of cultures [86]

There I couldn't agree more.
Most food on the Continent is simply made with superior ingredients, rather than mass-produced.

Until perhaps only the past thirty years or so, the English, like the Americans, were never known for their cuisine.

All the wealthy landed gentry used to brag that they employed French cooks:-)

Life / Wish to settle down, which country to choose - Poland or Russia? [126]

The obvious point is that I was attempting to make normal small talk with a Polish woman whom I'd first met in the States and with whom I later met up in Szczecin!

She was practicing her English with me, yet refused to confess the fact that she was missing what I was saying, that's all. Polish was naturally the language we both had in common, but Krzysztina was simply being obtuse.

Are you by any chance trying to play the Devil's Advocate here?

Love / I am a black girl in a relationship with a Polish man but I have many questions. [21]

@Blackgirl212
Firstly, I must commend your daring and dedication to make the relationship work! As far as learning about Polish culture first hand, learning the basics of the language is always key, whether it's Polish, French, German or what have you.

Obviously, it's doable. However, don't be fooled by your soon-to-be significant other's ministrations regarding his abilities in English. Often, it's merely impressive PR and little else.

You be the final judge as to how seriously you wish to pursue your relationship. Cross-cultural differences will indeed come up, don't let anyone here tell you they won't. Finally though, you have to decide whether they remain merely differences or instead become barriers:-)

Life / Poland's concord of cultures [86]

When I finally made it over to Poland in the mid-'90's, the food was obviously much more familiar to me than the language!