History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1090]

Good morning Wulkan. I'm always up early being married to a Pole! He's gone to work now and I'm happily munching my cornflakes. I would agree that if you classify Czech Republic as Central Europe, then why not Poland, even though a large part of it is located further east than its neighbour. However there's no doubt that Poland is perceived/defined by many as Eastern Europe. Now here we go with sources: Bear in mind that geographical definitions are one thing and popular perception is another. But here are some samples, quotes in bold, not to be rude or shouty, just to highlight them for quick reference:

goeasteurope.about.com/od/easterneuropedestinations/ss/Countries-Of-Eastern-Europe.htm. From a travel site, quote: it's important to note that the countries broadly classified as being a part of Eastern Europe have one thing in common: they were all behind the Iron Curtain before its fall, and this political boundary of the last century helps us define a region whose development, especially until the 1990s, has been very different from that of Western Europe.

United Nations Statistics Division unstats.un.org/unsd/pocketbook/PDF/Poland.pdf

Quote: Region:Eastern Europe

The EU classifies Poland as both Eastern and Central Europe for different purposes. For example it defines the language as belonging to Eastern Europe which in my opinion is a fair definition. It's clearly a Slavic language. For God's sake my husband can understand Russian! He doesn't speak it now Wulkan but he always seems to know what they're talking about.

Obviously Poland is located more or less in the centre of Europe and its culture reflects this. Polish culture is a mix of east and west and to be honest I see a lot of similarities with Germany (another red rag to a bull I suppose!), but there's no getting away from the fact that being a former communist country places it firmly in the Eastern Bloc in the minds of many. This is a period of transition. Poland is quite unique because as I say it has both western and eastern influences in its culture and it will probably always be a contentious issue but as time goes by and the image of the old Iron Curtain thing recedes, people will simply see Poland as plain old European with no east or west tagged on to it.

History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1090]



Absolutely. Any former state from the Eastern Bloc as it was known, any former Iron Curtain territory is perceived, like it or not as Eastern Europe. I've mentioned this before to Wulkan but he simply cannot deal with it. And lo it doth offend him to his deepest core sayeth the Lord..........

History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1090]

Where did you get that definition from? There is no actually no consensus about the exact centre of Europe. Different experts, different opinions, but here's an interesting link to author Francis Tapon's discussion of this subject. It's a nice read, not too academic:

francistapon.com/Books/The-Hidden-Europe/Where-is-Eastern-Europe-and-what-countries-are-in-it

Life / Poor hygiene of people in public places in Poland [46]

Well said Johnny. In the words of Smokey Robinson 'I Second That Emotion'.

Life / Poor hygiene of people in public places in Poland [46]


Okey doke, in the absence of Delph, I'm happy to volunteer for that task. Remember you asked for this:


We don't 'do vacation'.


Present tense instead of past. Possible typo.


Incorrect use of the word 'superstitious'. Also incorrect spelling but we'll let that go.


We don't adapt manners. We adopt them.


Well as you've demonstrated, you are in that group of people. What is the offer exactly? I'm not clear on that.

By the way I very generously left out some of the common American usages which would be considered incorrect grammar such as 'acting defensive' instead of acting 'defensively'.

Life / Poor hygiene of people in public places in Poland [46]

@Wulkan. Ah thinks we got us a big ole troll here boy! She may be from 'down South' but she sure ain't no lady. A real Southern lady would be too well brought up and have too much class to express herself in those terms. Such preposterous nonsense - there are whiffy people the world over and in fact plenty of jokes have been made about the fragrance of the elderly on British tv over the years. Plenty of the whiffy ones are young as well. Wonder if our great lady has ever taught in a boys's school. Well I have and when the old gonads drop, let me tell you the perfume from the armpits is almighty.

By the way, the real troll giveaway in her post is the 'my daddy' reference. Some big old beardy bollocks as we'd say in Ireland doing his Scarlet O'Hara impression. I'm just waiting for Rhett Butler to step out of the shadows.

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

We're getting far too jolly British Bird. We'll be sent to the off-topic section shortly to think over our sins. Can't have irrelevant 'enjoying yourself' on Polish Forums.

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

How nice that someone is feeling Christmassy. Far too much misery and malice on this forum. Out with the misery say I and on with the fairy lights!

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]


Just off the top of my head, is it possible that wine was a bit too expensive for the average Joe, so that's why it was mostly ale and mead that got 'mulled'. Perhaps the upper classes enjoyed mulled wine.

Did a quick google and found a very interesting link:
oakden.co.uk/potus-ypocras-hippocrass-medieval-mulled-wine/

An early English recipe for mulled wine. Looks do-able even nowadays. Spikenard root might be a bit hard to come by and 'guinea grains' but I'm sure a bit more googling would uncover a few acceptable substitutes! When the evenings get colder I'll by trying it anyway.

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

And long may it continue. Yum, yum! They sell bottles of pre-mulled wine in M&S and Tesco now. But it's much nicer to prepare your own with cloves and oranges etc. Smells just gorgeous.

Travel / I'm so bored in Poland! [129]

Mulled wine is a much older British tradition than that British Bird. It dates back to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the Wassail cup I think it was called then. It was more of a hot punch or ale than wine, but anyway alcohol based and spiced/sweetened. There's a carol called '|Here We Go A- Wassaling'! Then it seems to have fallen out of fashion.

Love / Just started dating Polish guy - what is typical of a man from Poland? Cultural differences. [78]


If you want to go to Poland for a holiday, do so by all means. I wouldn't stay with his family if I were you. December is a busy month with all the preparations for Christmas, most of the family won't speak any English, your sleeping arrangements won't be the most comfortable (sofa bed in living room if you're lucky), you will have no privacy among complete strangers and it might be a bit overwhelming and stressful for you. Depending on where in Poland he lives, it should be possible for you to get reasonably priced accommodation; there are lots of nice, clean hostels and budget hotels. If he's asking for pics then he clearly likes you but I would agree with Terri that he's probably just being hospitable by inviting you to stay. I don't think he's expecting to start a relationship with you, but he's a young guy so if you thinks you like him he'll be up for whatever you're offering - so don't offer anything, that's my advice as a 'mature' woman with a bit of life experience behind her!

News / Degenerate "rainbow" eyesore to disappear from Saviour Square (Plac Zbawiciela) in Warsaw [297]


This from the man who never stops complaining about the moral decline of the USA.


It's not a great piece of art. It's not there because of its artistic merit or its beauty. It's there to make a point and I think it was placed where it was in an historic setting, precisely for that reason. The coming together of the old world and the new world where homosexuals have their place along side everyone else. However, I agree that it didn't look good there and now that it's done what it set out to do, it should still be on view somewhere but would look nicer and more appropriate in a public park perhaps.

Life / Top 5 things I like about Poland [77]


There are some delicious Polish dishes but few are 'healthy' all that pork for example, not very good for the colon. Poles usually overcook their veggies too. Very high salt and fat content in many traditional Polish dishes, loads of additives and E numbers in the processed foods.


Depends on where in Poland you are. I lived in Warsaw and although I never had my pocket picked or anything of that kind, I did have my shopping stolen twice! Once from outside my front door, when I went inside with a couple of bags and left the other outside for literally half a minute! Also had my hat nicked by a secretary in a solictor's office, now that's amazing!

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


Yes indeed it does and together with the short-term strategies we use, the schools I taught in all had quite an extensive network of supports in place. It's too detailed to go into here but it includes a home/school liaison program involving home visits by teachers, an anti-drugs/alcohol program which starts when children are four years old and a program that identifies individual children at risk of dropping out of school. We try to get them as early as possible, even at pre-school level and start working with them and the parents at that stage. There's one pilot program in Dublin targeting young pregnant women and trying to start the process even before the children are born.

The moderators will no doubt think this is off-topic as I've mentioned Ireland! But such initiatives can be set up anywhere and Poland definitely needs something similar. Another thing that proved very helpful was getting the older women in the community to mentor the younger ones. We set up cookery lessons in the school for example where local women taught the younger ones basic cooking. Some of the young mothers have almost zero parenting/home-making skills. When you get to know them and they talk about their own childhoods, you find that many of them had alcoholic or violent parents, were placed in care or lost their mothers at an early age, so never had a stable home life themselves.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


This is absolutely true. Having taught in various inner city schools, with a high proportion of single mothers, alcoholic and substance abuser parents, our focus was always on how best to help the children. The only way we could do that was by befriending these women as much as we could. You don't get anywhere by shouting the odds at them or shunning them. Simple example. A four year old boy in my class was coming to school with no breakfast because mother couldn't get out of bed and a neighbour was bringing the child to school. So I simply chatted sympathetically to the young mother and then suggested that she leave a box of cereal on the kitchen table at night before she went to bed and keep some dishes in one of the low level cupboards, milk in the bottom of the fridge, so that the child could get something to eat. She actually managed to do that. A very small thing but a big difference for the child. If I'd simply lectured her about her shortcomings she would have avoided me from then on (that's what they always do) and the child would have continued to come to school on an empty stomach.

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


No but they definitely tend to be more sensitive and empathic as you've just demonstrated!

Life / Single mothers in Poland [175]


What about the time you referred to 'slutty unwed mothers' and called for them to be 'socially sigmatised and blackballed'?
Changed your tune haven't you? What a fibber you are, thoroughly unwholesome, one of the most smug, self-satisfied and dishonest people I have encountered.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]


Yes but so is Polonius.

Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]


Well you should be.


I'm interested to know do you have bars/shutter type things. Most people in Warsaw have something of the kind. Otherwise there's no way I'd leave my window open, it's really asking for trouble.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]


Heresy - all true Poles love paperwork.

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]


Not all single parents are unwed. My mother was married to my father for nine years before they separated. Of course as we were Catholics and there was no divorce in Ireland at that time, she remained married to him both in the eyes of the Church and the State.

Back on track people

News / There is no Poland without the Church! [178]


Agreed up to a point. Far better a happy, safe one parent family than a dysfunctional two parent family. I was raised in a one parent family and am eternally grateful that my mother gave my father his marching orders as I was terrified of him. However there is no doubt in my mind that a two parent family is the ideal. Life certainly was much harder for my mother in many respects than it would have been if she'd had a supportive, loving partner as she deserved.

News / Czechs most liked by Poles! [35]


Yes that's it absolutely. Husband says it sounds like baby talk and a bit comical to Polish ears.

News / Czechs most liked by Poles! [35]

My Polish husband says that in his experience Poles don't like Czechs. Czechs are seen as cold compared to Poles and a bit odd. Also he says that to him the Czech language sounds like a juvenile or less sophisticated form of Polish.

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]


Yes, if you're actually located in Poland and you need to continue to live and do business there then sadly, Harry is right. Certainly in terms of getting any justice you can forget it. Anyone who's lived in Poland knows that it can be a very nice place to live as long as everything is going well for you but when you come up against problems they are not only much harder to resolve but can have devastating consequences. I was never able to come to terms with that and make the adjustment from living in a very democratic country to a post-communist state.

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]

By upgrade do you mean relocate?

Life / Bribery and corruption 'fact of life' in Poland? [152]

Are you in America Polsyr? If you're in Europe and as EU funding is involved you could talk to your local MEP. They might be able to advise? As EU money is on the table you should definitely contact someone there.

News / URGENT: Chechens refugees found a Islamic State in Poland [37]


What a load of old cobblers. You can't possibly compare Poland to the countries you mention. And by the way in Ireland we've had a Muslim population since the 1980s. There is no civil unrest, they never make any demands or try to impose their views, most of them left places like Iraq because they wanted to get away from poverty,political unrest and extremist forms of Islam. I've taught many Muslim children who attend Catholic schools in Ireland. The only trouble I ever had with a Muslim parent was from an Irish woman who'd converted to Islam, some nonsense about disapproving of Hallowe'en and not wanting her child to be in the Christmas play. We just said 'well take her out of the school if you're not happy'. She backed down and we heard nothing more from her.

News / New European Council's report: "Poland oasis of racism, xenophobia and homophobia" ... [343]

I was also wondering whether Levi has ever been harrassed, threatened or assualted by Muslims. Also in the off-topic section he says he lives in Arabia. Why live amongst Muslims if you dislike them so much? At the same time I completely agree that Muslims who don't approve of alcohol etc should either put up and shut up or choose to live in an Islamic state instead.

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