Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

I would like to commend you for not being such a patriotic jaggoff that you came in here cheering "Poland is the best country in the UNIVERSE".

My solution for you is simple. Stop worrying about pointless ego stroking things and live. The more "proud" someone is the less I generally like them. Humble people are best. Live well...be good to other good people...and you will be much more content than worrying about national pride.

Life / 3 reasons why winter is the best time of the year in Poland [58]

I lived in a building with mostly old folks. In the beginning when I didn't really speak any Polish I was always getting stuck in the lift with a few of them chattering away. I just smiled and shook my head "yes" a lot and it seemed to work because they smiled back and just kept talking. They either thought I was the nicest yank in the world or the dumbest.

Life / You are Polish if... [433]

If you can't name a country or city without saying "the" in from it.

"I am from the Warsaw"

What do you say for Holland? The The Netherlands?

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

Then you have some common sense. Only idiots are that blindly patriotic. The massive Polish inferiority complex makes them annoyingly "proud".

UK, Ireland / Bank transfer from Poland to UK - do I need only IBAN number or SWIFT one as well? [8]

Account number
Full name and address of recipient
Swift Code

All I have ever needed however who knows with the way things are done in Polish banks.

Best to take all you can get info wise and then you won't be missing something when you go fill out the form.

UK, Ireland / Bank transfer from Poland to UK - do I need only IBAN number or SWIFT one as well? [8]

The Polish bank should be able to get it but if they WILL is another story. They don't like to go out of their way to help.

Try here:

bankers-telenet.com/?gclid=CKqT2v6M9p8CFQsMDQodsCWwYA

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

Oh give me a break. What have you done that honors them so much Timbo? The current generation would be an embarrassment to the WWII era Poles. Also...they didn't do what they did so YOU could do anything. They did it to survive. They are not different than anyone else who survived horrors...the nationality doesn't matter.

Why do you let your egos rule you so much? The more someone talks about how PROUD they are to be some nationality the more useless they are to that society as a rule.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

I know loads of American and Brit expats from Warsaw. Maybe 40 or 50? Of all of those ONE speaks fluent Polish. And most of them have been in the city for 5 or more years and are married to locals. You just don't need to speak Polish and that takes away the motivation. Couple that with the ridiculous grammar and structure (like everything Polish it is WAY harder than it needs to be) and we usually don't bother. I get by with shopping and normal life but I don't care to bother beyond that.

Life / Do expats living in Poland speak Polish? [233]

Question away....everyone he speaks to says so and that's good enough for me. Took him 5 years of serious study.

Most of the others have been there nearly 10 years and can barely manage the shopping terminology ;) We just don't care.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

I don't care enough to go quote for quote with you and frankly I find people who pick apart posts like that annoying. But I did notice your last comment...people who encourage others to commit suicide are a special kind of disgusting. Good job showing the world your true character ;)

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

Yep Bank Millennium will take your money as long as you have a passport.

millenet.pl

They are the only ones I found who would do it without Polish papers. They are probably making a killing off of expats.

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

They are making a killing off of fees and the investment interest they make off of your money. Banks love every zl you give them as that's more interest they earn.

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

Well I guess you have it all figured out then. I guess this IS a Polish forum so what would it be if people didn't want to argue about everything. After all complaining/arguing is the national sport.

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

When you get that accomplished report back. We are on the edge of our seats.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

Editing your post then spewing another lame insult? There really is nothing new on the internet is there?

UK, Ireland / Warning to British people visiting Poland!! Don't get drunk and smash the place up! [447]

You can't have the advantages of being a cheap labor and cheap party country (money) without the troubles that come with it. I am sure that if foreigners stopped visiting and paying into Poland's economy there would be a major campaign to get them back.

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

I would say you were much too hard on yourself with the first one but a little too complimentary with the second.

UK, Ireland / Warning to British people visiting Poland!! Don't get drunk and smash the place up! [447]

Polish Police enforcing the law?? Hahahahahaha....oh my....hehehe....hhahahaha.

I mean if you ever need someone to check a homeless person's ID and write in a little book for 30min then the Polish Police are your best choice...but for anything else I'd not look to them.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


It is good to see you are self aware and not embarrassed to deconstruct yourself. Maybe there is hope for you to shake the Polish pride complex yet.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

Krystal you said live in the US and seeing as your ancestors went to the US a long time ago I gather you have your whole life? I am asking because your English sounds like it's not your native language. Did you not grow up in the US?

Travel / Looking for a good map of Poland on the Net [19]

use google maps...works great

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]

The people who go on and on about "Polish Pride" are the same ones who get drunk and sing those stupid football songs while waking everyone up and bothering people on the trams and buses shouting out how Poland is the "greatest nation on Earth!!!". Pride is an ugly and dangerous thing.

I have noticed in my years around the world that the smaller or less powerful the country the more often their people say things like "Yeah Armenia is the greatest nation in the world and our Army could kick your arse!!!". Give me a break.

I can't stand empty blustering and quite frankly wouldn't mind Poles so much if it weren't for the constant whining, arguing and blustering. I don't think a day went by when upon being known as a Yank I wasn't engaged in some "verbal challenge" or bragging about how great Poland is compared to the US. You are your own worst enemies.

Life / Why do you choose to stay in Poland, why not other country? [152]


These two leave me wondering if people say this as a joke or they have not actually been in Poland.

Sure there are some nice people but overall people are rude, dour and suspicious.

The food? Are you kidding? There is no variety at all and everything is based on survival foods from the poor times like cabbage and flour dough stuff. Vegeta is used to add flavor to everything because nothing has it naturally and the bread is the worst in the world. Even slums in India make better bread.

Travel / Credit / Debit Cards to use in Poland [37]

mBank and WBK have refused people that I know of. Thus far Bank Millenium is the only one I know that will. I personally tried several including citibank, ING and BPH back when I was first looking for an account and didn't have a karta pobytu and they all refused.

However knowing how things are done in Poland you might get a different answer if you step to the next window and ask again.

I have not done anything but pay bills and use the bankomat with Millenium but I haven't had any trouble. I don't know how they are when it comes to loans or anything more complicated.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


Well that's where you are mistaken. This builds up a reputation for you as a people and frankly it's not the greatest. If you want a better international reputation then stop with the bragging and nonsense. The "stupid" reputation of Poles comes from the stubborn unwillingness to do more than the bare minimum or admit fault. If Poles don't know something they will lie or blow it off rather than admit it and find out or fix it....people don't like this.

I can go on for hours with fellow expats about the "Polish way" and we often have each other in stitches because there is so much that is "different" in Poland and it's rarely "better".

If you want to be respected start acting in a way that deserves it.

News / What the Polish government do to bring back home Polish immigrants? [116]

Torq I have noticed that Polish or those with Polish blood who live abroad are normally the ones who are going on the most on about "Polish pride". It must be some sort of compensation or homesickness.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


Have you lived in the USA Orzel? I have lived in both nations for a long time so before I bother replying to you in detail I want to know if you even have the actual perspective. I am doubting you do based on your above comments.

And Torq...you are the kind of person that keeps me from being able to say in all honesty that all Poles suck. Just like in any place there are good and bad people and reasonable and unreasonable people. You are fairly reasonable not because you claimed to agree with me but rather because you are willing to consider the view.

Sadly for Poland the national reputation is not a great one...some of hat is undeserved and rooted in the past and some is well deserved and current. Nobody is criticizing the Poles who fought and survived the occupations...nobody is saying Polish genes are defective...what we ARE saying is that modern Polish culture has some huge changes it will have to undertake if it want's respect.

Life / Feeling ashamed of my Polish heritage. [237]


Way to illustrate the Polish trait of taking credit for something they didn't have anything to do with. It was a matter of coincidence that this all occurred while Poland was in this particular stage of it's economy. With the massive amounts of credit Poles live on (more than the Yanks on a per unit income basis) there is a BIG mess coming. Nobody can afford a 500,000pln flat on 2500pln a month yet there are plenty of those around.

BTW Swede you quoted someone else but put my name on it....I didn't say that.

Genealogy / If your ancestors were in the "Wehrmacht"... [217]

It's funny how there were tons of collaborators yet nobody has a relative who was one. Everyone's relatives were HEROES. It's probably like most things the ones who go on the most about patriotism are the ones who's family sold others out. I bet you come from a long line of self preservationists Hitman.

News / What the Polish government do to bring back home Polish immigrants? [116]

Orzel expat Poles can't teach the locals anything about what is really going on because they are not living it. I am pretty sure a full time Pole has a much better understanding about life there than you do.

I love these threads about someone being so pumped to go back to Poland because life in the US or Canada or whatever sucks. You never hear from them again. You know why? Because if they do go they quickly realize it's not the paradise they imagined. Bluster and drinking songs can only take you so far before the reality of a lower first world/second world lifestyle sets in and you realize how good you had it before.

And Seanus...there are over a million documented Poles in Chicago alone. Double (or more) that to account for all the illegals and that's 2 million in just ONE US city. You probably have millions more in Candada and other US Polish hubs like New York. I don't see it as a stretch to reach your numbers.