Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


There's a trick to it - it only works with British-style chips, not on anything else. But still, perfectly fine to use ketchup instead - as long as the place isn't cheating by using cheap ketchup or watering it down somehow.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


Urrgh no, Lenka, what are you doing?!

Having said that, on second thoughts... if that bread was toasted, and you used some good hot mustard, I reckon that would be quite tasty.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]

I don't think I've ever tried them, but a quick look on Google and I'll throw them into tomorrow's dinner that hasn't been bought yet.

I'm holding you responsible Lenka if they're disgusting!

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]


It seems to have been a very common story. I had a Spanish teacher here who told me about her horror when going to the UK in 2006 and realising that many of the worst people had emigrated to the UK. She always pointed out that it was like a two tier society - you had one group that didn't integrate and were a disgrace to Poland, while the other group integrated quickly and quietly, and they were an absolute credit to Poland.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


...what on earth are they, and should I try them?


Can't disagree with that choice. I'd still rather have the gravy, but it's not a bad substitute.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]


That's what I don't understand. They wouldn't do it here, why do it there?

(having said that, I saw some local drinkers buy vodka to take to a funeral recently, but I like to think that they were honouring their friend...)

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]

If that had some gravy on it, it would be very nice!

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Merged:

Polish man uses microwave to attack friend

This must go down in the books as "just what were they drinking?".


bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-49675563

The story is beyond ridiculous - not only were they drinking vodka in a cemetery, but to use a microwave to try and murder someone? I don't think I've ever heard of a microwave being used in a fight before!

Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


Snacking, but also the fact that many parents simply don't let kids out anymore. A lot of kids in my area weren't even playing in the snow a few days ago, which is unreal. A neighbour is a nurse, and she asked me the same question - where were the kids?

Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


I'm still surprised that burek isn't a thing here. You'd think that a meat or cheese filled pastry would be a massive hit with Poles. There's those Georgian bakeries that do a roaring trade with khachapuri, so you'd think burek would be a logical extension of that.

Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


They will, but only in a very specific context: when on holiday by the Baltic. And even then, 'decent' and 'Baltic coast' hardly goes together when talking about food.

News / New "Polish memorial" in Berlin [316]


Really? Kohl seemed to have an abundance of charisma, as did Brandt. The only genuinely uncharismatic leader I can think of was Honecker, who by all accounts (even the accounts of his former comrades) was an incredibly boring person.

Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


Except that some products are quite popular, particularly tea and sweets. I know that you don't know what Dealz is and you've never been to Poland, but I assure you that the crisps, drinks and sweets from Dealz are very popular among Polish children.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [849]


If only we were. This is the frustrating thing: the windows could be kept open without any harm to anyone, but because of the Polish hysteria and fear of the open window, most of my colleagues are terrified of sitting there with air circulating around the room. My answer is simple: my classroom, my rules, and if you don't like it, put on your jackets and hats. I actually checked the temperature this afternoon after finishing, and it was 17c after the window had been open all day.

I'll give it until the end of the week before someone makes a formal complaint.


I don't disagree with you there. A friend recorded one "lesson" to show me, and it was diabolical. The teacher was hassling kids over cameras every minute, the quality of the connection was poor, and the way that the work was organised meant that kids were spending an absurd amount of time just trying to figure out what to do. Not cool.

Another friend had a situation where the teacher (of kl. 2 kids in primary school) was sending large e-mails once a week with precise instructions to be followed. She appeared to not understand that the average 8 year old isn't capable of reading her message...

Food / British food products in Poland? [334]


Made in Poland, too. The same factory that produces Pudliszki, incidentally.

I suspect that most of the stuff didn't sell very well with Poles in rural areas, who are incredibly conservative in their tastes.

Study / Various education and school issues in Poland. Opinions, stories, controversies. [849]

Second day back at school, and I can safely say that the rules are a mess. We're supposed to keep kids separated throughout the day, but as it stands, at 12:30, several classes will finish and the ones who aren't picked up will all go together to the common room where they'll mix together until 17:00. My colleagues are treating ventilation as a joke (my own classroom has the windows open), and parents are already demanding that the windows should be shut.

The kids themselves are struggling with the rules, and I'm giving it two weeks before I end up getting quarantined.

I have a 'window' now, and after taking a stroll around the school, none of the windows are open in the classrooms.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


It can be really, really bad. There are plenty of examples where they've done nothing but serve up some pieces of bread with some nasty 'spread' to seriously ill people, for instance.

I read a report last year that said that around 1 in 3 hospital patients require specialised nutrition, yet only a handful of them actually receive it.

I found one quote detailing the menu in a large Silesian hospital:


Apparently the situation is so bad that 4 in 5 people are worse off nutritionally than they were when they entered the hospital. It seems that there's also widespread issues with catering companies simply lying about what's actually served - for instance, they claim that fresh fish was served, but in reality, they're using canned fish. Patients end up suffering serious nutritional deficiencies as a result.

There's a report by the Supreme Audit Office here on the topic - nik.gov.pl/plik/id,16458,vp,18988.pdf

I'll dig up some pictures to illustrate this tomorrow - I wouldn't feed half of this stuff to a dog.

News / New "Polish memorial" in Berlin [316]


Poles, free market, less socialism? As if. Even the alleged hard right-wing party in Poland has an element which believes in economic policy being dictated by the government and not by the free market.

Study / English/Bilingual Speaking School options in Krakow and fees [13]


Very much so. I probably shouldn't say the place, but I know of one school where there's tremendous conflict between Polish and international parents over education. It's not just the obvious things (non-stop testing, grading and giving homework), but also over the curriculum - the Polish parents want more and more theoretical knowledge and less time spent on practical activities, while international parents want more practical and useful activities and less emphasis on dry knowledge.

The school is a mess as a result.

Another problem is when one or two nationalities dominate - so you end up with a school that might be theoretically English speaking, but in reality, the school reflects the home culture of the dominant nationality. There's one Turkish school like that - I'll see if I can dig up the rulebook for teachers for you, as it contained quite a few nutjob things that you'd never see in a Polish school.

The only genuinely good international schools in Poland are the ones run according to the philosophy of the country that they claim to represent. I can think of three, maybe four in the whole of Poland that work that way and are successful.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 2 [1680]

Nope and nope, although your second guess was close :)

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 2 [1680]


Yup! But which one? ;)


Nope.

Travel / Poland in photo riddles - part 2 [1680]

Here's an interesting one.

I'll give a clue: it's not just an ordinary peak, but rather it was quite an active place in the past. It's also in Lower Silesia.

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Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


There used to be an excellent Facebook group dedicated to Polish hospital food. Some of the stuff served up was an absolute disgrace.

This group is still active - facebook.com/groups/428926863955329 - some of the stuff posted there is just diabolical. How can people expect to recover if they're fed utter garbage on a daily basis?

News / New "Polish memorial" in Berlin [316]


I'm astounded by how poor your historical knowledge is. Have you already forgotten (or more likely, never knew) that the Polish government escaped to Romania along with over 100,000 soldiers during WW2? Have you forgotten that the Romanian government provided considerable assistance to the government then?

Any look at a history book would tell you that Poland was responsible for antagonising several neighbours that could have been valuable allies, particularly Czechoslovakia but not only.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


I'm definitely a fan of cooking them until they rather resemble an omelette that's been broken into small chunks. My go-to recipe:

- chop half an onion and throw it in a bowl with cherry tomatoes, olives, red pepper paste and whatever else you want.
- Fry it in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked inside but firm on the outside

Meanwhile, mix:

- One entire egg, plus a second egg with only the whites.
- turmeric, garam masala and something to give heat (sweet paprika works well here).
- some fish sauce

Throw the egg mix into the hot pan with the onion/tomato/olive mix and scramble until the eggs are of the consistency of an omelette. They should be in big chunks.

Put onto a plate with a healthy amount of lettuce, spinach or whatever else you want. Add some sweet chili sauce for dipping the eggs into, or use a hot sauce for additional heat.

Works incredibly well - the eggs are more filling than traditional scrambled eggs, the tomatoes are heavenly, the onions provide some sweetness and the olives provide salt.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


I shall try this and report back! They definitely need some heat though.

Lenka - either, but I prefer using the tinned/jarred ones as you can just throw the whole lot in and avoid using oil, or you can use a rubber cake mixer thing to very lightly coat the pan in oil.

It also works incredibly well with couscous.

Food / What do non-Poles think about eating the following Polish foods? [1303]


Fry them with tumeric and some other spices of your choosing, along with rice, kasza or similar and you've got an excellent meal.

Chickpeas are way superior to meat if you ask me.

News / New "Polish memorial" in Berlin [316]


It's an issue that Poland most definitely doesn't want to get involved in. If Poland was to seriously pursue repatriations, then it immediately opens the door to a monumental claim against Poland. The only thing preventing Germany from doing that is the fact that the German Reich was extinguished, therefore the Federal Republic never had any claim to those territories.