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Posts by rybnik  

Joined: 16 Jan 2011 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 2 Nov 2013
Threads: Total: 18 / Live: 4 / Archived: 14
Posts: Total: 1444 / Live: 297 / Archived: 1147 		From: new jersey
Speaks Polish?: yes

Displayed posts: 301 / page 1 of 11
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rybnik   
17 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

it's been over 25 years since I was in contact with my 2 cousins from Rybnik. They left Poland in the late 1980's and changed their last names. Does anybody have any ideas on how to find them?

I forgot to add that they emigrated to Germany
rybnik   
17 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

they changed their names out of fear of anti-polish discrimination.....unfortunately, they left without word and haven't communicated with any family members.
rybnik   
17 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

no question is dumb. They left a message with my mom back in 1989, that they are now living in "West Germany" and had changed their names. I, dealing with my own problems at the time, never got back to them....on a lark, I checked the german phone books using the old surname with no luck.
rybnik   
19 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

i don't have any of that information unfortunately. The cousins I am in contact with were not close to them either....I'm thinking I have to start looking in Germany. The question is how/where do you change your name in that country?
rybnik   
20 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

What would be a reason of changing their names? What is exactly the year of their emigration??

seeing as they emigrated to Germany, I'm thinking they did it to appear less-polish...we got a call from them in 1988 or 89.
rybnik   
20 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

Byc moze. But I seriously doubt it! I've been to Germany many,many times while studying in Wroclaw in the 80's. I can attest to the fact that during my time there was a very palpable anti-polish sentiment among the older Germans. Please remember, many of them were kicked out of their homes(polish) at the end of the war.
rybnik   
21 Jan 2011
Genealogy / Help me find my cousins from Rybnik [25]

ok
let's agree that they did change their surnames. The question remains how and where do you do this in Germany? The german consulate has yet to reply to my query.

OR
they changed it in Poland. Is that possible??
rybnik   
29 Jan 2011
Travel / Visiting Poland - A bit worried about social attitudes and racist inclinations.. [80]

1) poland has just recently (approx 20 years) been exposed to the people of the world
2) Poles by nature are xenophobic
3) in spite of the above, the vast majority will accept all kinds of color combinations.

I, for one, am very proud of my people and I feel this discrimination moniker is unfair.
rybnik   
13 Feb 2011
Life / Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish? [370]

Could be amusing to attend such a festival and find out just how many of them know how to pronounce their last name properly. Anyone "proud" of being Polish should be able to pronounce their name properly!

You'd be surprised! Most of them know(babcia told them).
rybnik   
19 Feb 2011
Life / Price of cigarettes in Poland? [192]

Good business if anyone wants to get into it, although the 24 hr bus journey is a nightmare

How many cartons(sleeves) could you fit in your suitcase?
rybnik   
24 Feb 2011
Food / Eat goulash from a cat and a steak from a dog in Poland! [114]

I would not be against eating any dead animal per se but I would be more concerned about the animal's life than when it's dead.
Have you seen how factory hens live? now that is cruel.

Exactly!
rybnik   
25 Feb 2011
News / Polish PM Tusk- dictator or not? What Poles think? [429]

I just finished watching Tusk with the Israelis on TVP. I've been following him on TVP since his election to PM. I have yet to see/hear him disagree with any world leader. Is his strategy to "just get along" with everybody?...............(NB I'm on the outside looking in)
rybnik   
26 Feb 2011
News / Polish PM Tusk- dictator or not? What Poles think? [429]

and, how should Poles understand all that? What is the message to Poles?! i can only say- its good that Tusk isn`t Polish. If he could be Polish he would for sure darken my picture about Poles.

All the Tusk-detractors need to decide whether you want Poland to "play nice, build relationships and prosper" or "play hard-ball, obstruct and remain isolated". So what if Tusk wore a yarmulke?
rybnik   
28 Feb 2011
Life / My experience in Poland 15 years ago as an American trying to live and work there. [167]

waiting to be knighted or beheaded, feeling ridiculous,

I appreciate the feeling you were trying to evoke but this phrase should be deleted-knighted or beheaded not good words for a seduction scene....just sayin

Marynka!
I share your feeling sto procent re: Americans,their "put on a happy face" demeanor and the games we all play here in the States. I also agree with your take on Poles and their "take my mood cause that's the way I'm feeling today". To the newcomer it may be off-putting but it's direct honesty can be reassuring and refreshing. I hope somehow you make your way back home.
rybnik   
16 Mar 2011
History / Polish pirates [58]

My niece attends a rather hippy-ish private primary school here in California and it bans pirate costumes from its Halloween celebrations because pirates still exist, especially in South-East Asian waters, and they are brutal murderers.

Really? But it's Jack Sparrow! How sad :(
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Genealogy / Why are some Polish people dark complected, and others very light [511]

Slavic people ahve same geneology as the people that live in Central Asia, i.e. From Kashmir to Karachi, from Afghanistan, Tajikistan etc..

I'm brown-eyed and dark complected. My mom's people had a strong Armenian branch.
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

I'm watching TVP "wiadomosci"(news) and the reporter is doing an expose' on pathetic state of the roads. I can't beleive it. During my PRL-time, the roads were narrow and you had to share with TIRy, tractors and horse-drawn wagons BUT they were well-paved and maintained(at least in my part of the country). The roads are full of potholes. Is this accurate? If so, wtf happened? How can Poland do business this way? Maybe I'm being naive but I would've thought the transportation network would be a priority for the government.
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

So, why is that? Is it due to lack of funds? lack of resolve? lack of insight? typical Polish inability to unify?
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

in this day of drone missles it's truly a moot point. I'm talking about economic development ala USA(interstate highway system) and Germany(autobahns). Getting goods in and out quickly/safely is what all highly developed countries have in common.
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Polish home remedies for cold, stomach ache, migraine? [49]

I've been using synthetic melatonin for 7 years now on a nightly basis. I'm happy to report I'm doing just fine. Remember, that it has a very short half-life: it's metabolized very quickly. Why do you think you "wake up" quickly upon exposure to sunlight ie when drawing the shades/curtains in the morning?
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Do you think that Polish people are rude? [951]

Of course living under communism would make me grummpy too.

Pahleeze! While I was "in-country" during communism I thought the Poles were all taking politeness pills! Prosze this, prosze that. Pan/panie this. These folks were insane with politeness!
rybnik   
8 Apr 2011
Life / Are Polish roads really this bad? [237]

As for the reasons? As you noticed, during commie times the roads were in decent repair. Could it be that during communism the degree and scale of fraud and corruption was smaller than afforded by corporatism?

BAM! (the light bulb goes on over his head) Very interesting comment z... hmmm...