Life / New Polish generation prefers black culture? [145]


Well, there's a gospel choir based at the evangelical church in Olsztyn, it has Black guests from USA to run workshops. I hear they even go in for the old holy-roly blessings.

The local philharmonia has also hosted some splendid Black American classical singers/musicians and the Olsztyn Blues Night has featured Black US Blues artists.

Life / Polish ghost stories [38]


Indeed, I even stayed are a rather delightful hotel near Bydgoszcz based on that theme. karczmarzym.com.pl/index.php?page=restauracja

Life / Polish ghost stories [38]

Merged thread:
Polish ghost stories

Anyone know any good, scary Polish ghost stories?

Traditional, personal or literary will do.

Ever noticed the search function at the top of the page?


yes, but I also recall this thread. I was hoping for some new ones.

UK, Ireland / Are you Poles proud of your country? Then why do you keep coming to Britain? [100]


So are brits proud of their own country? Is that why they go to other countries to get drunk and behave like pr1cks, thus disgracing their country's name?

Life / Mental health problem or one of the grieving stages? Death and denial in Poland. [93]


Quite possibly but it can be a bit like sticking the tiger in a box and sitting on it. The longer you sit there the more frightening it can be to face the idea of getting off and having to face the tiger when it gets out.

Life / Mental health problem or one of the grieving stages? Death and denial in Poland. [93]


of course, I don't know but there are different ideas of what constitutes self harm If, as he says, she is losing weight, it may be that she is starving herself or has a serious loss of appetite.


But it can also affect others, especially mental health. having been on the receiving end of a few cases of people suffering from mental disorders I know from painful experience. Likewise, i have known of people who both needed and wanted help but had the religious views of others forced onto them (them not being in a state to protest) and rob them of a chance of recovery.

Is telling someone to pray to a god any different from advising them to go to a doctor?


because some people don't realise they need help and others don't know how to ask for it.

OK, there is a point here that too much insistence could be making her keep her guard up. The further someone gets into a fantsy the harder it can be to get out (and it can be a very scary thing to have to admit it isn't real).

True, some people do recover because of religious faith, but for you to say it is the best option "to believe in it too" is not necessarily the best idea based on what we have been told.

Language / CELTA assignment question - the form of "It suits you" and "It fits you" [23]


Agreed. This is the "student centred' learning. Try not to lecture them... ask them a lot more and try to get them to realise the answer themselves as much as possible. CELTA loves this. One little trick is after each exercise, ask them to compare with a partner (in English of course).


Yeah. I'm teaching Arabs at the moment and some of them simply have no concept about certain aspects of writing and useage of grammar. I have to bluntly tell them and lecture them about it because this is how they've been taught. They aren't taught to think in the same way many European students are.

Life / Mental health problem or one of the grieving stages? Death and denial in Poland. [93]

Having some experience of people with psychiatric problems, and others who work in the field, I find this a rather naive statement. I have known of people who claim all is ok, say they don't need help and then do rather unhealthy things to themselves. Likewise, there are a number of situations where people receiving treatment decide to stop their treatment because they feel they are healthy... however they are only 'healthy' because the treatment they are taking keeps them so. The results are often less than pretty. I've also encountered people who are told "pray to Jesus and everything will be OK" and it isn't. I've also known of people who self-harm (or harm the sufferer) in the belief that it's the will of some god.

Perhaps you feel such self-harm is simply a 'lifestyle choice'.

History / Poland's biggest historical blunder? [341]


Accepting 'Idol', 'X-Factor' and Big Brother onto Polish TV. Look what it spawned...
...

Life / Hey, I speak English and can say F**K! Poles use the F-word to impress native speakers. [23]


Not since i met those guys!


Not necessarily to complete strangers.


true, I've choked on my cornflakes before now hearing it on morning TV (usually as they show the rape and murder scenes). I also recall a sweet little, innocent eye'd primary student of mine ask, in all curious innocence, "Trev, what does 'love dem 'Ho's mean?'"

Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]


The pay may not be earth shattering but the holiday pay is useful. I think more and more places are running courses in English these days (I'm teaching Saudis English so they can study medicine in English in Poland).

Life / Is Lady Gaga popular in Poland? [47]


I heard a few gaga songs and thought for ages they were madonna

Life / Observation of Polish drivers, by and English anthropologist. [94]

Of course, it also assumes there is room on either the left or right for a car to pull over. I've had times when Mr Motorman just HAS to overtake in the face of an uncoming russian truck and even if I did move to the side he wouldn't safely get back in without making Ivan-the-man slam his anchors on or swerve.

How about the audi drivers who decide to overtake 4 cars at a time on a blind bend or when you are trying to overtake the car infront of you? Or the ones who just drive down the middle of the country road.


I'm assuming you're British or Irish... It's because we were never conquered by Napoleon. Before him, allegedly, all Europe used to drive on the left. Poland. Funny how so many Poles supported Napoleon but now many of them seem determined to revert to driving on the left again... while there is on-coming.


But have you ever noticed that some Euro models (like MZ) have the kickstart on the left side whereas Japanese (who drive on the left) have theirs on the right?

Yeah, best to pull over when the oncoming is a tank. mind you, if half the audi drivers I meet had been on the road in 1939, the wehrmacht would have all swerved into the ditches and a huge Polish votory would have ensued.

Life / Is Lady Gaga popular in Poland? [47]

Well, some of my teeny studes have been to see her in concert, so i guess so.

Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]


Are you on about state schools/daytime schools? I've taught mixed year/grade classes before and I've known kids go from primary to gymnazium a year early.

Private language schools put whoever they can in a class to make up the numbers.

Language / CELTA assignment question - the form of "It suits you" and "It fits you" [23]

One means it is the right size, the other means it looks good one you. Since when did anyone need to know grammar to get on a CELTA?

Work / Some cold, hard facts about teaching in Poland for newbies [101]


I'd agree. This isn't the best time to start a school. Numbers of enrolments are falling across the board and prices are rising.

Another point which we haven't really considered here (for employers and employees) is the quiet period during holidays. The school where I work offers summer courses but the price is cut... as are the teacher's wages. Even those are not always enough to manage on when you still have to pay ZUS and tax.

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]


That's probably because the state of a lot of Polish cars after travelling on Polish roads, means the thief would have a lot of repair bills.

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]


A friend of mine had her car broken into a number of times, smashing the window each time. It cost her to get it replaced, only to have it broken again. She just left the car open and with a miniscule amount of petrol (she only put enough for the day in)

Life / How Safe Are the Polish Cities? [179]


In UK some people leave their cars unlocked because then the criminals don't have to smash a window or punch a hole in the door to get in.

Life / An idea about Polish Literature [32]


Try Simon Schama "Landscape and Memory". The first section is about the role of Polish literature in the patriotic dream, and the use of nature as an imagery connected with independence.

Life / An idea about Polish Literature [32]

I'd suggest Wesele, (Wyspianksi) because it looks at a lot of the ideas prevalent in Young Poland, such as the idea of "blending' the "pure peasant" and the intellectual.

UK, Ireland / A South African moving to Poland with Polish wife- we live in London. Excited and scared. [27]


Not in Krakow, but I have an Afrikaans friend up here in Olsztyn.

Work / Salary, holidays - questions to employer during a job interview in Poland [47]


does that include them paying your ZUS etc? Holiday pay?

Life / New Polish generation prefers black culture? [145]

I don't think it's that. It is probably more that Black culture is connected with world culture and makes them feel part of the outside world. I mean, how many Polish bands are influential worldwide in the way that hip-hop, soul etc is? Many bands just play a Polish approximation of Black American music and don't necessarily provide a fashion outlet etc.

But is this anything new/ My wife was into Bob Marley decades ago. Blues has been big for a long time, as has jazz and gospel.


They have that in Mrągowo every year.

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]

Duh! yes, Des, you're right. I think "Holocaust" was used as a translation for "Shoah". However, some scholars claim that it is only to be used for the "Jewish experience" because theirs was (in their mind) the only one where a whole genocide was planned (a very debatable point in my book!)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust#Use_of_the_term_Holocaust_for_Jewish_and_non-Jewish_victims


I haven't seen that film, so I don't know if it covers the same ground, but I did see one documentary about a Jewish man going back to the town where he was born before the war. I think it was called "Shtetl". One of the guys he encounters was a Polish librarian in the village who was trying to promote the Jewish history of the village and to find old Jewish gravestones so he could restore the Jewish cemetery.

During the film the librarian is taken to Israel to meet a high-ranking rabbi, who praises his work. Then the poor guy meets a load of Israeli high school students who just attack him verbally for being Polish, demanding that Poles admit and acknowledge their blame.

The film was also interesting because one man returned to the village to reward someone who'd helped him. The old Pole is puzzled as to why this gentleman is giving him a present. When he finds out who it is, he starts shaking... he starts telling tem man that he was one of the people who'd helped him but other villagers had said he had actually sold the family to the nazis, because he had turned up wearing the Jewish guy's coat. The old Jew comments that he'd given him the coat as a thank-you at the time. of course he remembered the help he'd been given and this was why he had returned to reward him.

I found it interesting, especially when we consider how much stock is put on the memories of "witnesses".

ah, found it:
logtv.com/films/shtetl/default.html

Work / Holocaust and gender studies in Poland? [33]


While I get your point, some Jewish academics might say that "Holocaust" is a Jewish word and therefore refers only to the "Jewish experience". With regards to the Rom, there is a phrase known as "The Devouring", which has become widespread. The disabled is known as T4 (its official title under the nazis) or, in Germany, as the "euthenasia programme", I believe (I could be wrong).

Talking of which, I find it pretty offensive that you use the word 'retard'.

History / Unusual soldier (The bear - named Voytek) [71]

He used to carry shells in his arms. The regimental cap badge shows this.

History / Unusual soldier (The bear - named Voytek) [71]

Merged thread:
Wojtek the Soldier Bear

Here's an interesting article about Wojtek on the BBC:
bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/wojtek_the_polish_soldier_bear_who_lived_at_edinburgh_zoo.shtml

I recently found a children's book about him in Polish too.

History / Scottish graves in Gdansk [4]


One would think so, but apparently there is very little physical evidence, such as graves etc. Alexander Chalmers, who was mayor of Warsaw, was buried in Warsaw cathedral but his grave was destroyed during the war. Many of the churches in Gdansk have been so badly damaged that it's hard to read graves inside.


You're welcome.