Real Estate / Renting in Krakow, Poland - the safest district? fairly close to the city centre... [25]


Avoid it at night but you really should make the effort to see it while you are in Krakow. If you have even the slightest interest in history, politics, architecture, or Poland/Krakow in general you should go there just to see a legacy of communism. It certainly isn't pretty when you compare it to Krakow itself but there is something strangely fascinating about it. I went with my Polish g/f by tram on a cold wet winter's day so there weren't many people around but those that were didn't cause us any problems. I understand that there are also organised trips to Nowa Huta including at least one I have seen in Krakow which uses old Eastern bloc cars including a Trabant. Don't be put off by what people say; just don't dress like a flash tourist and if possible go with someone Polish if your language skills are limited. I've been to Krakow loads of times and to be honest it's the drunken Brits in the pubs and on easyJet that are the biggest danger.

Life / If I say POLAND, you say...? [100]

Magdalena

Thanks for the response Magdalena. You could well be correct about me interpreting seriousness as unhappiness. Is seriousness a national trait? I work with a young Polish man whom I am always telling to 'cheer up' and to not be so miserable; perhaps he is just serious though he also seems to be pessimistic and negative. I have a female Polish friend whom I've known for a few years and she seems to have an identical personality. I am willing to accept that maybe I'm looking at things from the wrong perspective.

I go to Poland very frequently, often to Krakow, so tend to use the same shop regularly so if the assistants in that shop are seemingly miserable then my general opinion of Kefirek assistants is perhaps unfairly based on this experience. I will take your advice and try smiling a bit more myself and see if things change.

I'm sure that they are no different to 'friends of any nationality', but perhaps because they were people in a new country they were always asking for help in everything, which is understandable, and so I always did what I could and I thought we had a friendship; but then as soon as they had established themselves the only time they're interested is when they want something. It's quite possible that people of other countries would have behaved the same so again you may well be right Magdalena.

I too have no great liking for London; and to be fair there is beauty to be found in Warsaw: we spent a lovely and memorable Sunday afternoon in £azienki Park listening to a Chopin recital. However, I suppose my negative impression of Warsaw comes from being stuck in rush-hour traffic which seems to extend well past what should be the rush-hour, the beaurocracy involving my g/f obtaining some necessary documents from a government department and the long tram-ride back to the apartment in the suburbs every evening past endless same-looking apartment blocks. Perhaps if I'd been in a different location in the city under different circumstances I would feel a bit more positive about the city.

So, I take your points in the friendly spirit you have offered them Magdalena and I will try harder to see things from a different perspective in future! As I said, the positives of Poland far outweigh the negatives by a large margin and I never tire of visiting your

country. To be honest, I could probably think of an similar number of positive and negative things about my own country, it's people and my city; in fact I'd probably be a lot harder on them than I have been on Poland!

Thank you and have a good day Magdalena :-)

Life / If I say POLAND, you say...? [100]

If I say POLAND, you say...?

....thirty unhappy faces staring from a tram; miserable assistants in Kefirek; Polish 'friends' who are only friends when they need something; Warsaw....

....the country which has given me a wonderful, beautiful, happy, positive, funny partner; walks through the Krakow planty at any time of the year; Wedel chocolate; Polish beer; trams (I like trams); Polish people who think smiles and politeness are not negative personality traits; Polish food; and lots more to outweigh the negatives....

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


Accommodation, finding work, transport, a little financial help....purely platonic. But she just doesn't seem to see anything wrong with putting friends, workmates etc. down and spreading gossip. Now I just accept that's how she and her friends are and don't tell her anything personal. Her boyfriend's English and it drives him nuts that she can't keep her mouth shut! She creates problems with her 'honesty' then says: 'But I only tell the truth....Polish people always tell the truth to their friends even if it is painful for them.' After the first time of meeting my girlfriend she told everyone that she was 'ordinary' and 'couldn't be trusted'! I'm still with my woman and still friends with this girl....just, and on a much lower level than I thought we could be on. Ah well, live and learn.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


I used to take it personally when a Polish female friend slagged me off behind my back despite the things I'd done for her but then I realised she and her friends do this to everyone....and each other. Now I find it funny.


Not here in the Uk when I've been to my g/f's Polish church. Jeans, t-shirts, denim skirts etc. are more common than smart clothes. Is this because they're away from Poland and feel under less scrutiny and because they have a much younger age profile in the church here than in Poland?

Polonia / Poland and France cultures are similar [112]

I know many Polish people, none of whom speak French; I know many French people, none of whom speak Polish. So how do they communicate? By speaking English of course. So that's one thing the two cultures have in common! (But of course the French pretend to the English that they cannot speak English even though they all can!)

I've been to Poland and France many times but I find it hard to find any real cultural similarities, apart from the bureaucracy; and although I try to avoid the lazy habit of stereotyping people by supposed national character traits, if I do try to make such a comparison between the French and the Poles I can find no real common ground. There is a common love of food and dining but I find some French a bit anal about it whereas the Polish enjoy food for the opportunity of socialising and simply enjoying a good meal.

I think countries which have had empires (in relatively recent history) have a completely different mentality to countries which have not, and of course a lasting legacy of immigration from the countries which were previously under their control which tends to make such countries very multicultural. I think that it is easier to find cultural differences between Poland and France than cultural similarities and I think the biggest difference is in the area of multiculturalism. Although the French and English 'hate' each other (sorry for the stereotyping there) the fact is that they have a great deal in common, including much shared history, and it is interesting that each country accuses the other of the same negative characteristics such as arrogance.

Even though France is essentially a Catholic country, it has managed to pretty much separate the state from the church; what the Revolution started, multiculturalism is rapidly completing. Poles, though strongly Catholic, are gradually adopting a more relaxed (or is it resistant?) attitude to the influence the individual allows the Church to wield as in the case, for example, of divorce, but the culture of the Church is still far more overt in Poland and is still a very strong cultural influence there.

There is also the legacy of communism which I believe still influences how many people in Poland act and think, a political ideology which France has never lived under; ironic given that France gave the world the Communards!

This is of course only a personal view, but I find it hard to think of two more culturally dissimilar countries than Poland and France.....but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise!

Love / Polish Girls negative or positive personality trait? [267]

Jeez JC, every country has it's cesspools...is there a country that doesn't? I think you'll find that often the countries that try and hold themselves up to be somehow better than the rest are simply in denial or utterly hypocritical. And maybe I'm nitpicking a little, but isn't that profile image of yours a little offensive if it is, as it seems to be, 'the finger'?... aren't you worried that some people of the 'Polish and Catholic Culture' might feel that you are making life a little less pleasant by posting this image?....

Love / Berlin vs Poznan - fashion of Polish women [36]


Are you sure they were women? Erections mights suggest they were men. What sort of clubs do you go to?


Are these negative traits to have as a man? Should they preclude a man from attracting a beautiful woman?

Love / Polish Pet Names For Girls. [156]

Hi, can anyone tell me how to say 'Little Elephant' in Polish? It's my pet name for my gf and sounds like it is insulting...but it isn't, she likes it! Maybe you could also write it phonetically so I know how it sounds? Many thanks!