Life / Things that annoy you in Poland. [133]


it has been advised on this forum many times before to drink only water bought in plastic bottles in supermarkets - it is not expensive - 5 litre bottle costs about 1.6 zl - it is no mineral water but water pumped from clean areas

another thing: the smaller the town and the further from major river the better the tap water

where I live now (small place) tap water is perfectly drinkable but used to live in places where tap water was terrible (Wrocław and Brzeg)

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1410]


half the world should belong to Turks heheh - oh Lord :)

and behold now, the Turks live in Anatolia for a couple of millenia - well they always lived there ;) - now this is the largest scale state-run brainwashing in the world I guess - poor little Turkish souls who are faced with the 'lies' about there country and nation on a daily basis :P

btw it must be very interesting what they think about the Alexander bloke - was he Greek who conquered Turks or was he a Turk who conquered half of the world :)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]

ok - I got it from the top of my head ;) you are perhaps right I haven't checked it before writing - just remembered 124 thing ;)

Genealogy / Mongolian the Golden Horde - do Poles have Mongolian ancestry? [256]


wrong

first of all Mongol (sensu-stricte) raids on Poland (or say a Mongol raid on Poland) happened in 1249 (siege of Kraków, battle of Legnica)

then elements of Mongol tribes (not only mongol but also Turkic) settled in Crimea (other post Mongol statehoods were for example Golden Horde in the lower run of Volga)

there were multiple raids by Crimean Tatars (of at least partial Mongol origin) on the lands of Polish Kingdom and Grand Duchy of Lithuania the last significant during the Cossack wars (1640's 50's) or maybe the Transsylvanian invasion of Rakocsy

Tatar raids were mainly to plunder and take slaves which were later sold into Ottoman Empire

even before the Mongols sensu stricte arrived in Europe there were peoples of mongoloid features who definitely had some contact (invaded, lived among) Slavic peoples - these were first Huns then the Avars - it is even thought that Avars promoted settlement of Slavic people further and further south (colonization of the Balkans) - Poland and Czechoslovak lands and perhaps Pannonia were already colonized by Slavic people by the time Avars arrived there. Avars settled mostly on Pannonian plains and they somehow created a mixed Avaro-Slavic statehood but it is quite easily imagined that they performed raids to the lands north of the Carpathians were the ancestors of Polish tribes lived

so there were multiple instances some genetic mongoloid features could enter into Polish society

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]


no way a dung beetle - must a member of Cerambycidae or Carabidae

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]


weasels are very slim and significantly smaller than stoats and minks

Life / Cannabis / Weed in Poland... How much does marijuana cost per gram and how easy is to get it? [355]


very good point - but I wouldn't expect anything better from the government which is corrupt to the bone - to the extent what was their version when they lied anything but recently

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]

weasels are cute - a friend of mine once found a little weasel and took it home - his mom would feed it with milk - I think they have released it afterwards but I can't really remember - and yes they are very slim - guess they can dig into mouse holes with little trouble

History / Communism fell 20 years ago, Poland led the fight since WW2 [341]


I can't remember any bank savings devaluation you mention (imposed by government regulations) but there was a time that there was hyperinflation (government went on printing money) and that thing caused bank savings to turn into peanuts - the only exception were so called lodging booklets 'książeczki mieszkaniowe' that were later (in the 90's and maybe even up to now) recounted - but that money could have only be used to buy flats (maybe also houses)

those who received credit before the hyperinflation suddenly were paying back peanuts on the other hand
so some people would lose savings of their lifes and some would receive free state support at the same time (I guess those who knew about what was going to happen were surely taking credits then) others were just lucky

in 1995 we had denomination - 1 polski nowy złoty replaced 10000 previous złotych
and I was still not able to count in PLN as recently as 2000 instead counting in millions ;)
but it was by no means another reaping of the nation's savings

however sometime in the 50's the commies made an assault on nation's savings performing money replacement - they printed new notes (don't know about coins) and single person or family could only receive a limited amount of new currency for the old currency - it was an attempt to destroy private sector - I think the very moment most deals in private sector started to be performed in dollars (illegally)

USA, Canada / Where can I find Polish Festivals in Southern New England, USA? [22]

hi mate

top of the page you got MyThreads - you can follow the threads you were posting in

also Private messages are there to check - you should have received one from the Moderators already

Of course you can also send private messages - click the envelope next to a poster's nickname on the right side of his/her post

welcome to the forums and enjoy

Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]



the conditions were pretty bad 2 years ago in Gdynia Tesco - the till operators used to earn less than a minimum wage (because they were hired part time 7/8th of the normal working time - you see how part time it is) and there were too few of them - so they were constantly busy - still they were not actually rude when I shopped there (but of course they weren't all in smiles and hellos)

Language / Polish slang phrases - most popular. [606]


this is gonna be perfect, short and easy and not quite offensive


pronounced stool joob (or refer to iwona.com / ivona.com - I personally haven't used it)

Language / Interesting Polish tongue twister. [69]


this one is to teach children the R sound - many Polish children have trouble with it - I had - my 'rower' was 'lovel' ;) - my brother had - his 'rower' was jowej (yovey) and I used to make him shout hurra :) (hurray) heheh (he was so young and naive heheh ) :)

anyway it is fun to pronounce it when you finally grasp the rolling R thing :)

sooo sooo much fun :)

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]


hornets are not aggressive unless you mess around their nest or try to catch one

they are less of a threat than common wasps in August when they are attracted in masses to human food: fruit and sweets

even a couple of stingings by hornets won't do you much harm unless you are alergized against their venom, are an infant or the bites are somewhere within your air passages

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]

never heard of it

I haven't pursued the guy (or lass) that I have seen - s/he has noticed me and shyed away into ferns - so I presume they are not an aggressive lot ;)

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]

And I have seen a badger today :) (borsuk in Polish)

znaczy się widziałem borsuka - for those who want to practice their Polish ;)

Study / Rumor about racism - will I be fine in Poland as a black International student from Africa? [245]

I never met anybody of whom I knew he specifically was Nigerian - but years ago I (we) played football against black people who were living where I was (they were surely students as I was - the place was not a regular university dormitory it was a place on the outskirts of Wroclaw (Psie Pole) there was a youth hostel there and porbably still is)

the black guys played barefoot on tarmac :) but they were fast man ;)

appart from that I haven't really had much contact with these black guys, but there was no animosity there as far as I can tell and eventually I have no idea what part of Africa they came from

I know it is slightly off-topic ;)

Language / Terms of endearment in Polish [222]


must be something dialectical - I am not that strong in Polish dialects being a Pole myself

in standard Polish a doll is lalka

Life / Cannabis / Weed in Poland... How much does marijuana cost per gram and how easy is to get it? [355]

there is plenty of unclaimed or uncultivated land in Poland (quite ubiquitously)
(e.g. many abandoned gardening alotments in cities)

go find such a plot and grow your own weed (not a plantation) say one plant per plot

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

the topic is a pleaure to stray away from ;)

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

they scratch much more than proper wooden floor - the thing is laminate is much cheaper (also easier to make)

btw you can have wooden floors in many variants - in our home we have an old style wooden floor (boards on beams(?) it is covered with large old style panels for convenience

(it is called płyta wiórowa don't know the English name) - you can have modern style panels on top of such board floor

there's also parquet floor - the one made with plenty of tiny but soundly thick wooden parts (always real wood) - this one is glued to a solid floor preferably concrete.

Food / Name of this particular Polish sausage [32]

Bratwuerste I know are quite pale (they are not smoked) and the only Polish kielbasa I know to look similar is 'biala kielbasa' "white sausage" - but as far as I can tell they don't add garlic to white sausage (at least where I live)

what you got here on picture is to my guess a batch of fried smoked sausage - there are numerous types - but most do contain and taste strongly of garlic

Po polsku / Nazywam się Jade i mieszkam w Anglii. [37]


Jade is jadeit in Polish but it does not have any nice connotations in our language.
You can go as Jadźka though ;) (Jadźka is short for (and sort of diminutive but not really affectionate) Jadwiga. An affectionate form is Jadzia (Jadziunia even more affectionate)

if you look for a nickname not a name in Polish you can go for Klejnot/Klejnocik which is a gem or Kryształ(ek) which is cristall.

Genealogy / Polish looks? [1410]

my guess is you have some Greek blood :)

Travel / Poland wildlife and similar wild life where you live. [246]


what you saw was gil (in Polish) Pyrrhula pyrrhula (bullfinch)
the ones met in Poland are mostly migrating here for winter from Scandinavia or northern Russia, they migrate back north in quite big swarms (this year this was a sign of the spring approaching some time in the middle of March) - the ones brightly coloured are males

the interesting thing about bullfinches is they can often be watched from quite near in winter (1 meter) - this is what i read but also have seen this winter (i was not as close as 1m probably 2m but most birds would fly away if I were several meters further already)

as for other birds that come here mainly for winter rooks are a good example - some of them nest while in winter in Poland - some do remain in Poland for summer but not that many

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

and I can understand a lot of Slovak partly because I understand quite a lot of Czech as I have the benefit of Czech TV availability. And very often Slovak sounds as Czech with Polish accents/pronounciation (to Polish ears)

Language / Polish was chosen the HARDEST LANGUAGE in the world to learn... :D [1558]

maybe a blessing in disguise ;)

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

is this your theory or is it based on some studies Polonius - i guess it did happen from time to time but I don't think it was any significant thing - but still I have never studied the issue

so you may actually be right
yes there can be a lot of confusion - many Jews adopted the surnames of nobility they worked for (as tenants etc) - this is just one example - I'm sure it was quite complex

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Polonius maybe I am mistaken but I think only nobility or perhaps city dwellers were called any surnames before say 18th century and only zaścianek szlachta - nobility who had no serfs and worked their own fields would be called a surname after their zaścianek name not being 'lords of the place' just inhabitants (in my family there where Wszeborowscy from Wszebory north of £omża) - these people couldn't be told appart from peasantry already in the second part of 19th century (after the January uprising when the peasants became free and acquired land they were working on for themselves - the big land owners (mostly rich nobles) kept their land until 1921 or even 1944/45)

there were areas in Poland where zaścianki (villages of nobles) were numerous sometimes even occupied most of the land

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Latuszewski (btw it would often be pronounced as Latuszeski in colloquial speech - i don't know what this phonetic phenomenon is called but it does have some seriously looking scientific name to it ) :)