Life / Small change in shops in Poland!? [95]


But you made the fatal mistake of trying to explain and/or reason with her. Don't do that, it just encourages them. You have to learn the flat, indifferent I-don't-care stare and wait her out. Look at it as a war of nerves. You might find it hard, culturally, in the beginning, but it gets easier.

You can also try the nuclear option: say 'trudno' and give up the entire purchase (without offering to put anything back where it goes). That usually works wonders in producing hitherto missing change.

Life / Small change in shops in Poland!? [95]

This is slightly annoying at times, but as cultural scripts go, it's very easy to manage. Watch what Polish shoppers do and do something similar.

1. When you hear the amount, first look for small change at the end and give any you can. Don't be afraid to offer a few grosze less than the bill (especially in smaller shops). If i'ts 16.28 and you offer to give them 23 grosze they'l usually jump at it.

2. If they ask and you don't have it, all you have to do is make a show of looking in your wallet and say one magic word: Niestety. (literally: "Unfortunately", here it means "Nope, no small change. Your problem."

3. Here's the tricky part for obliging English speakers. Don't do anything else (esp try to explain in English, that's just dumb). Just stare straight ahead and let time pass.

4. The person behind the counter will figure something out. They may go elsewhere to find change (like the store next door) or they may ring up a few customers in back of you who do have small change. Maybe something else. Don't worry about it. Eventually you will get your change.

Interestingly, in Hungary it works in the opposite direction. If you try to give anything like exact change they glare at you and/or throw it back at you.

UK, Ireland / Do Polish People Litter their own country (just like they do in the UK)? [84]

IMO Polish people don't think about litter. If you point it out they say they don't like it, but mostly they can just not see it and many who say they don't like litter will casually litter themselves.

At home, most Polish people are very clean and organized but they don't much care if parks and forests and streets are littered (certainly not enough to do anything about it).


And we call those people 'filthy pigs'. Really, that's just so disgusting.

Law / HELP IN IMMIGRATION SOUGHT " PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN POLSKA" [20]

By 'original' I meant 'notarized copy' of course. The distinction I intended was that I showed them that (with a xerox of the notarized copy) and they kept the xerox not the notarized copy. I thought that 'original' would same some space, in vain.

Law / HELP IN IMMIGRATION SOUGHT " PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN POLSKA" [20]


That's backwards, AFAIK they're within their rights to want to see the original and a copy together. Then they keep the copy and return the orirignal (at least that's what happened in my case, but the local office liked me, even suggesting I apply for stały pobyt when I didn't realize I qualified....

News / ANTI-POLONISM IN EUROPE [39]


Huh? 'refused' presupposes that they could speak English. Was this in Italy? Britain?

(I've never been, but from what I hear English doesn't get you very far in most of Italy, French goes a lot further).

As for most Anti-Polish country in Europe, I would nominate Belarus.

Life / Polish movies with English subtitles [87]


Nigdy w życiu starring Danuta Stenka, for my money, one of the most sensual of Polish actresses.

imdb.com/title/tt0400688

Not great but pleasant enough
(the Polish imdb reviewers are entirely too harsh, typical of Poles who love to criticize their country to foreigners and somehow don't realize this shapes Poland's international reputation).

There was a sequel or two as well but I haven't seen those.

Real Estate / Rights To Partners Flat In Poland - Cohabiting Agreement [21]


She may not have any intentions on scamming you at all. But, be aware, when Polish women break up with non-Polish men, very many of them (not all, maybe not most, but many) acquire a 'take no prisoners and give no quarter' attitude.

If you break up (esp if break up is less than cordial) chances are she will not pay you back any money you feel she owes you and will not live up to any verbal agreement she made previously. She will regard the apartment as hers and hers alone no matter how much money you paid into it (and she will not regard any money you paid into it as anything that she needs to worry about).

Also, in cases of mixed Polish/non-Polish break ups, Polish law used to overtly favor the Polish partner (and that's when they had the benefit of a marriage contract). Even if the regulations have been changed, I doubt if the enforcement has.

Long time residents of Poland who've seen acrimonious break ups (or experienced them) will back up what I've written.

Your girlfriend might be a wonderful person who'd never do anything like that, but enough Polish women (and men) will do things like that that you need to be aware and protect yourself.

My advice: Don't do this unless you get married and both your names are on everything (or you don't mind losing any money you put into it if you break up).

Don't say you haven't been warned.

Life / Driving test, English speaking driving school in Warsaw? [95]


If the motionless person who is obeying the law is not Polish and the driver that ran into them is, then the police will find in favor of the Polish driver. One of the many, many reasons I don't want to drive in Poland.

Cars and anything related to them are the festering black heart of corruption in Poland. Another reason to not like them or their influence on society.

Latest proof of my thesis that Polish people loose almost all sanity when it comes to cars: the increasing existence of semi-suv type vehicles which do not fit into Polish infrastructure in any possible way.

News / RUSSIA TO MAKE PUBLIC THE KATYN FILES... [274]


I'm not an apologist for Russian strong-arm tactics and paranoia (both of which exist) but in the Georgian case, it's pretty well established that Georgia was the agressor.

Yes, a rational person can argue that the Russian response was too extreme (and I certainly would) but Georgia did initiate force in that particular case and Kaczynski's support of Saakashvili did him no creidt.

News / Polish, non-speakers told to bring interpreters to municpal buildings [7]

I can't get too upset about this. This is an office for dealing with foreigners who plan on being in Poland for awhile.

If such a person can't

- speak Polish

- find a friend to translate,

- afford an interpreter

There's probably no reason for them to be here because that means they have neither the personal or financial resources needed to justify a long term stay.

If you're talking about an office that has frequent contacts with foreigners who are here very short term, then yeah you need some foreign language back up (not just English, but French, German and Russian too).

But I see nothing wrong in not facilitating longterm stays by people who can't (or won't) learn Polish.

News / Crash of Tu-154 at Smolensk-North--could it have been a bomb in the Polish plane? [233]

Olga, if you want to be taken seriously you need to

1. source your allegations (provide links or give info on how the interested can find the hard copy) when you don't do that it creates the impression that you're making things up in your search for answers

2. think things through, a bomb on board means it was planted in Poland, do you really want to go down that particular road?

3. provide a narrative, who (singular or plural) was the target? and how were things planned on such short notice? who benefits? who loses? In those terms you could almost construct a narrative that PiS was responsible as they stand to gain the most in the short term (their poll numbers have increased recently and they have a better chance of getting Jarosław into office via sympathy vote than they did of getting Lech re-elected.

I've been pretty unimpressed with the evidence so far put forth. So far there seems to be exactly the kind of confusion and different stories one would expect at this stage (everybody involved and all witnesses saying the same thing would be far more suspicious).

I do think you're sincere in your desire for answers, but on the other hand, it seems you've already made up your mind (damned russkies!) and are just looking for confirmation rather than trying to understand the event on its own terms.

I'm open minded about the idea that foul play was involved (given compelling evidence) but I'm also open minded about it being a simple tragic accident. I think you're in denial that the latter possibility is a possibility.

News / Do Poles in Poland really feel betrayed because there won't be any US Shield? [288]

Haven't read the whole thread or anything, but my anegdotal evidence:

I haven't spoken with that many Polish people about this topic (and when I have it's been a transitory kind of topic) but not a single person I've spoken wanted the US shield.

My sample leans _heavily_ toward the urban and well-educated.

My first, best guess is this is a policy question that Pollish people who live elsewhere feel most strongly in favor of.

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


Yeah, i think gier is ugly, but it's completely regular

gra + genetive plural = subtract the -a

- this leaves you with the unpronounceable gr so you insert an -e- between them,

- the sequence ge- istn't allowed in Polish roots (only in some borrowings) so it becomes -ie-

which leaves gier, completely regular

News / Is it possible that Polish president was assasinated? If so then, by whom? [921]


He's the last of the European Soviets, a committed totalitarian thug.

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

pieć gier???


Well on purely _linguistic_ grounds, there's nothing wrong with 'se' 'poszłem' 'jest do góry' etc etc etc

If a significant number of native speakers say something, then by definition it's correct grammatically. That's a fundamental tenent of linguistics, without which the science of language could not exist.

On the other hand, they might not be socially approved of anymore than spitting on the sidewalk or eating bigos with your fingers are, and that's fine, but at the same time that's a very different set of criteria.

By all means correct a teenager who says 'poszłem' if they want a good job, but don't use linguistics or grammar as your excuse (anymore than you would use physics to discourage people from scratching themselves in public).

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

'w cudzysłowie' is 'correct' in the prescriptive sense, though you can hear both in use.

News / Is it possible that Polish president was assasinated? If so then, by whom? [921]


It was? Can you give the 100 word version here? (or pm me if you don't want it in this thread).

I don't believe the official story, but I've never sifted through everything enough to decide for myself what did happen.

UK, Ireland / Polish opinion of England as a country and the English nation [64]


Oh lord, no.

News / Is it possible that Polish president was assasinated? If so then, by whom? [921]

In any situation like this, there will be initial contradictory information (often speculation or rumors passed off as 'information') for lots of reasons:
each media outlet wants to be first to make information public (so they publicise things in the rumor stage which later turn out not to be true);

officials feel pressured to say something, anything before they have the facts themselves; confused witnesses;
people making stuff up to be on tv etc.

A lack of initial contradictory or later refuted data is in fact more suspicious than the presence of some amount of same.

The passengers were a mixed enough group that it's hard to figure out who the targets were (there are problems with Kaczynski as main target - related to the mostly ceremonial role of president) or what the motives might be or why such an awkward, unsure method would be chosen or set up under such short notice.

I'm open to something that passes the smell test as evidence something fishy's going on, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

News / Who will be the next President of Poland? [51]


Of course! How could I forget the Jews?! Next thing, I'll forget the Masons and the Knights of Malta...

News / Is it possible that Polish president was assasinated? If so then, by whom? [921]


Of course, trusting Putin is something most sensible people have on their list of things to never do.

On the other hand, a majority of Polish people also realize that in the absence of credible evidence (which has certainly not yet surfaced) there's no reason to assume this is anything but a tragic accident.

News / Who will be the next President of Poland? [51]


Now just wait a minute, I thought Tusk was a crypto-German whose daddy was Hitler's shoe shine boy. Now you're saying he's a Kremlin stooge? Is there any end to his traitorous ways? Next you'll be saying he's an American puppet.....

History / Kaczynski's Legacy [88]

I won't pretend that I was ever a Kaczynski supporter or that I would have voted for him (had I been able). And I disagreed with his policies more often than not.

On the other hand, I do think his primary motivations were always to do what he thought best for the country. There are many politicians (including some whose policies I generally agree with) that I wouldn't say the same about.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [682]

My gut instinct (in the absence of other compelling information) is that this was, in fact, an accident, a combination of bad equipment and forced pilot error (even if the president wasn't pressuring him to land, the memory of the azerbaijan incident had to be on his mind).

I'm as interested in conspiracy theories as the next guy, but I do realize that accidents happen too (for hardcore conspiracies nothing is ever accidental).

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [682]


Your good will might be more believable if you respected the dead enough to spell their names correctly. Polish is not Russian written in English letters, it has its own alphabet that you're disrespecting by misspelling the name of Kaczyński. Not having the ń letter is excusable but ch for cz and y for i are not.

News / Polish President Lech Kaczynski and gov officials die in a plane crash in Russia [682]


Probably elections soon. And Poles don't fall into chaos easily, they're experts at carrying on in unsure situations.

Technically, the president isn't that powerful a position and most on board were not in active governing positions since this was a PiS mission and PiS is in the opposition at present. It's a horrible tragedy, but not any kind of 'decapitation'.....

My main concern was : why so many military leaders on one plane?

Life / Wearing "strange" things for poles and consequences, is it true? [44]

What beet truck have most of the commenters here fallen off of?

Earrrings on guys are no big deal anymore in Poland (at least among late-teens, young adults and in big cities). They're not as common as in some western countries, but they're common enough among university students (judging by where I work).

Things would be different in the countryside in villages, but no matter what they think the likelihood of them giving you any trouble is very, very small.

In cities, even if people think you're gay (doubtful in the cities) the chances of getting attacked are probably no higher than in Italy.

The thing to remember is that every country (sometimes city) has its own dangers, Poland is basically very safe (almost certainly safer than Italy) but the warning signs of things to stay away from aren't necessarily the same as in Italy.

in Poland:

- stay away from soccer fans, especially on game days

- keep a respectfu distance between you and guys wearing track suits with shaved heads, don't show fear, just .... don't get any closer than you have to

- don't go wandering around by yourself after 11 at night in neighborhoods you don't know well

- don't interact with groups of young drunk guys

that's about it.

what to say in Polish:

when you're upset:

kurwa mać!

(curva macci - stress the final word, pronounce ć like Italian -ci but without the -i warning, very, very bad. don't use when older Polish people are around.)

when you're kind of impressed by something:

ale jaja! (pronounce this as if it were Italian with the j like i )

when you like something or want to agree:

zajebiście! (z like in English, everything else like in Italian except ś = English sh)

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

And it just eats you alive, doesn't it?

Life / Your favourite Polish female-singer [name and YT link] [17]

I'll be a little different:

First Polish popular diva?

youtu.be/JYD4tTfXb-Q

Great classical artist!

youtu.be/FpESkAS3_fo

More conventionally, a favorite pop song:

Biggest selling female vocalist for a lot of the 90's
(with their typical hatred of Polish financial success, cirtics haaaated her)