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Posts by Dominika99  

Joined: 31 Oct 2012 / Female ♀
Last Post: 4 Nov 2012
Threads: 1
Posts: Total: 93 / Live: 32 / Archived: 61
From: Warsaw
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: .

Displayed posts: 33 / page 1 of 2
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Dominika99   
31 Oct 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

I've lived in this city for nearly six years... I had enough money to go out and enjoy nice places, and friends to have fun with. I've made an honest effort to get to know the different neighborhoods of the city. I took walks in elegant parks, went to the ballet, saw amazing concerts, dined at great restaurants.

I can't say I didn't enjoy myself. But I never really got to love this city, and it's not because I didn't try.

It's grey, ugly and cold most of the year. It calls itself "Europe," but everyday on my street I have to dodge drunks in gateways and dog **** on the sidewalk because people don't clean up after their pets.

The worst part about living here is the people. I can't say anything about native Varsovians, because they are a rare breed and I liked most of the natives I've met.

What I can't stand are the people who move here from small towns, villages and cities, and they start making 3,000 zloty a month and think they're the kings of the universe. The arrogance is sickening, and no it's not like other big cities in the world. I've been to New York and London, and nowhere did I see the sickening stuck-up attitude that I do around here. What exactly is there to be so proud of?

I also don't understand why people stare and size each other up so much. In most cities I've been to, it's considered rude to stare at someone on the street, but people in Warsaw stare at each other and make no efforts to hide it. And if you look even slightly different than the norm, then people turn their heads and make wide eyes. I once walked behind a group of foreigners who were not dressed like Europeans, and people's reactions were either sad or hilarious to watch. I guess they don't have foreign people in the small towns where these people in Warsaw come from, but isn't it a bit rude to stare?

Whenever I travel to other cities like Poznan or Wroclaw, the atmosphere is so different and relaxed that it's a relief to be there. And I don't mean Warsaw is fast-paced, because it's a ghost town compared to Cairo or Los Angeles. Maybe i don't know quite how to phrase it, but there's something so awkward about Warsaw. Like it's trying to be something big, and failing miserably.

It's such a good feeling to know that I'm finally leaving this place.
Dominika99   
31 Oct 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

speaking English to a native,

The thing is, I'm Polish... my Polish kind of sucked in the beginning, but it's a little better now. I was nervous about talking to people in Polish at first, though I quickly stopped caring.

Plus I don't only mean they're uptight when they're talking to you. It's just a vibe I get, I guess. I can't really explain it. But it's like people are always working on keeping up appearances, and posing. They don't often lean back, sit on the steps and eat a lunch, or lay around in teh grass at the park. Well the last could be because of the aforementioned dog **** problem, but you get the idea.

I have also visited Krackov, Lodz, Zakapana & Wroclaw where I felt most welcome and found Warsaw to be the exception.

That's great, that's how you should remember Poland :) I'm going to Lodz for a couple days to visit before I leave Poland for good. I've never been there, but I want my last impressions and images of my country to be positive.

I agree that Warsaw seems like it's trying to be a big city, but somehow it doesn't feel like it. The service in shops and restaurants is getting better, but I really wish people would learn how to fake a smile even if they're not in the mood. They get paid to service customers, after all.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

Well, at least you felt safe here, which is a plus for a woman, wouldn't you agree?

I didn't say I feel safe, or that I didn't feel safe.

Maybe I'm mean, but there is a good chance you will have one last bad experience...at the airport or on the way to it.

Doubt it... it's always an easy and quick trip there in a taxi, and the lines aren't very long. Sorry to disappoint you.

Also, we do stare at people here when they have that look on their face as if something smelled.

You stare regardless of facial expressions.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

You've only "been" to London, whereas I have lived there for a third of my life

I lived in London for a year and a half... maybe things have changed now, but I was there a decade ago and sure there were arrogant people but I didn't get the bad vibes that I do in Warsaw.

Sometimes we just like certain places, and dislike others. It's personal taste and not much to argue about. I Thought that it was just me at first who didn't like Warsaw, but it seems to rub a lot of my foreigner friends (and Poles) the wrong way.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

another Pole ashamed of her heritage i think. Lived in the UK for a few years and thinks shes arrived. Thats what im seeing anyway.

You don't know anything about me, so I don't really care what you see.

ook if you don't want answers or discussions get off the internet forums and go and shave your *****

I don't shave, I wax.

Not sure what there is to discuss with you? You seem more interested in showing off how clever you are than in making a point.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

Dom99

I only lived in London for about a year and a half, and I'm not really comparing it to Warsaw... I was mostly writing about my impressions of Warsaw compared to other big cities I've lived in or seen, in Poland and abroad.

I gave Warsaw an honest chance. I've lived here for almost six years. I don't walk around in a cloud of hatred all day, and I've enjoyed my time here. It's just that I never really got to love the city. A lot of people didn't. We're entitled to that opinion?

I'm not bashing Poland, either. I loved Poznan (probably my favourite city here,) and Gdansk and Sopot were great, and Wroclaw was nice too.

I just never felt comfortable in Warsaw, and it's not the size or fast-paced life because I've lived in bigger cities and felt at ease.

Anyways people seem to be getting too emotional about this. Let's just say I'm happy that I'm leaving here, but I'll also have some good memories to take away.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / Wszystkich Świętych (All Saints Day) // Dzien Zaduszny (All Souls day) [93]

Today was nice... the city was nearly empty, and it wasn't too cold.

In a rare outburst of patriotism, I lit a candle and put it on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Powazki is probably lovely tonight, but I chickened out and went home when the rain came.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

I'm into nature as a get-away vacation, but I get bored quickly if I have to be around it for too long.

I love big cities and crowds that I can get lost in, full of unfamiliar cultures; cities with a past that continue to surprise, that are always a struggle and challenge to understand. I love the feeling of not quite fitting in but still feeling at home, cities by oceans or waters, where there's movement of people and ideas.

I love cities like Cairo, London, Dubai and Los Angeles... all massive metropolis monsters, where the food is spicy and the cultures clash :)

It might be unfair to judge Warsaw in the light of such gems, but to be fair I didn't really like New York either.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

I also like Paris

Oh yeah, probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen, from an architecture and aesthetic standpoint.

some guy chased me down and swore at me because I didn't turn fast enough for him

Well, I was taking photos inside of a milk bar (bar mleczny,) and some guy thought I was photographing him and threatened to literally cut my neck with my dull butter knife. He had a lot of bags with him, so I assumed he was a crazy homeless man, but I never did go back to that bar again.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

I'd love to go back, someday I hope. I lived in Islington when I was there, earlier I was in Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. Would be interesting to see if those places were as nice as I remembered.

To be fair, it's never a good idea to take photos of other people without permission, any seasoned traveller/expat would (or should) know this.

I wasn't taking his photo... why would I want a souvenir of some guy eating? There was a cool-looking menu hanging above him on the wall, and I had my cam held up at that, not at his face. he reacted like the crazy homeless guy he probably was.
Dominika99   
1 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

I love Warsaw for so many reasons, that it would be hard for me to enumerate them or in what order.

Still, a list like that would be interesting to see.

The only thing that comes to my mind now are Sundays (or were they Saturdays) in the summer in Ogrod Saski, when this band came to play old Polish songs and a stand by the fountain sold gofry and tea. That was nice. And the sun was out.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

So, you don't like being stared at and you dine at Bar Mleczny and snap photos.

Nobody in the place I'm from cares what or where I eat, but thanks for the heads up.

Funny that you don't want to admit this was the only city you really felt safe in, unless you did feel safe in Cairo, London, and LA at night.

I didn't want to say it's the only city I felt safe in because that wouldn't be true.

Here's what I don't like.

I thought it was cool. But then again, I'm not some uptight Polish homophobic b-tch.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Love / Should I forgive my cheating Polish girlfriend? [73]

Should I consider forgiving her and try again? Or am an idiot for even considering it?

You should leave her immediately. I know it's not easy, but look at it this way: leave her and suffer a bit now, or stay with her and suffer way more later.

Don't blame yourself, or think you didn't make enough of an effort. She sounds like a b-tch, not only with the cheating, but also with the drinking and picking fights. That part of her personality will be nearly impossible to change.

Also, if you take her back, she'll see that you forgave her and that she's got all the power. That power will make it much easier for her to cheat again.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Love / Should I forgive my cheating Polish girlfriend? [73]

SMP, was separated from her at the time she played away.

He just seems to be ******, he told her to go and she spread them for someone else.

He said that they agreed for her to move out and for them to keep dating. Hence she cheated on him.