Genealogy / Being ashamed of Polish ancestry? [156]

Ancestry isn't something that anyone can choose and certainly nothing that anyone should either be ashamed or proud of.

Food / Pierogi recipe and filling from my grandmother [179]

Presumably they can be made by machine. Frozen pierogi plus the tens of thousands of fresh ones in Tesco, Carrefour etc round Christmas time certainly can't all be made by hand. Not at that price and quantity.

History / Poland did reasonably well in land terms out of the postwar settlement [270]

If people had to vote on swapping Szczecin, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw for Vilnius, Lvov and Grodno it would be a waste of ballot paper.


Yes. They got a terrible deal.


I'm not sure that's any sort of plus.

History / A little reminder for those Brits that ***** about Poles [143]


It's the hand-kissing.


All at the same time would have been a record.


There's something in that, but most bashing of things is generally in a different direction.

News / EU Predicts Poland's Economy Will Expand at Bloc's Fastest Pace This Year [37]


This seems to make a lot of sense. Fits with intuition too.

News / EU Predicts Poland's Economy Will Expand at Bloc's Fastest Pace This Year [37]


Yes - I remember that. Unfortunately I was on a different continent so couldn't nip into the kantor. My feeling is that 5 zl to the quid is about what it should be, but it could go to 4.5 sometime this year.

There's also the side issue that if uncertainly continues (or worsens) regarding the Euro at the same time as growth in the Polish economy, will the zloty benefit out of proportion to sterling or CHF?

News / EU Predicts Poland's Economy Will Expand at Bloc's Fastest Pace This Year [37]

And is the zloty therefore undervalued and likely to increase, or is the economy here doing so well in part because exports to the UK and Eurozone are affordable?

An important question - I'm wondering whether to change a certain (not small) amount of money from GBP to PLN or not.

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS IT ABOUT POLISH PEOPLE THAT MAKES THEM THINK THAT UK WANTS THEM? [309]



There's a strong case for allowing guest to start threads only in the dating and the genealogy sections. After all, registration takes 30 seconds only and most of the guest who start genuine, non-trolling, threads register soon enough anyway.

History / A little reminder for those Brits that ***** about Poles [143]


There are certainly trolling threads, usually started by racists (and some of the OPs comments in other threads are pretty hair-raising) but those are usually demolished. Most of the posters here are very pro-Poland. From time to time there'll be a post from a foreign person who isn't having a great time here, but it's important to distinguish between something anti-Polish and something about how bad, say, the tax office is here.

Travel / Why does everyone seem to hate LOT Polish Airlines? [380]

Not everyone is bothered for watching TV on a flight and the flight attendants on international flights speak good English.

A bigger issue with flights to and from Poland (not just LOT) is the bizarre behaviour of passengers at the gate. That I suppose is an issue for the airports.

History / A little reminder for those Brits that ***** about Poles [143]

That old chestnut has been on here, despite the war memorial in Warsaw.

USA, Canada / Polonia who needs help with Polish Documentary [27]


It's an issue now. Both hooliganism in general (and after all there are some pretty big matches happening this year in PL) and hooliganism in Poland in particular (which is never out of the press and about which at least one other documentary has been made).


Not suspicious at all - the media write about controversial things - it's for the tourist board to only write the nice and sweet stuff.

Perhaps you'd prefer the OP avoided controversial current affairs and instead produced a documentary about how pretty Kazimierz Dolny is?

Life / Letter-mail international Forwarding and redirection with Poczta Polska in Poland? [17]


So how should I describe her? Plenty of adjectives and nouns come to mind, none of them complimentary - however the two I used were the two I remember. And if she'd said to a Pole in the UK what she said to me, she'd no longer be working at the Post Office.

I might also mention another woman at Poczta Polska (I'll call her a cantankerous old bag, why not) who wouldn't hand over my tax rebate because she claimed she couldn't read the way my name was written on the chit the tax office had sent her.

History / A little reminder for those Brits that ***** about Poles [143]


You're reading all the wrong threads.

Plenty of people here live in Poland and are entitled to express an opinion about it without constantly and uncritically praising everything they see around them. Foreign people of Polish extraction who have a romantic opinion of a country they have nothing to do with may not like that, but so what.


Plenty of threads on that and gigabytes of discussion on the Polish contribution to the war effort.

UK, Ireland / WHAT IS IT ABOUT POLISH PEOPLE THAT MAKES THEM THINK THAT UK WANTS THEM? [309]


No thanks. The fact that they badly lost every seat they stood in at the last election shows that perhaps people prefer the Poles upstairs to numpty nazis.

Life / Letter-mail international Forwarding and redirection with Poczta Polska in Poland? [17]

Not only Poles. One fat b1tch from Poczta Polska told me I spell my name wrongly. First Class service.

Language / IS "MURZYN" word RACIST? [686]

Exactly. I've only heard it used pejoratively. Murzyn like it's English equivalent 'moor' just sounds old-fashioned.

Life / Anyone know of an English-language translation of "Kapuściński Non-Fiction", yet? [18]

Was. Like Kapuscinski, a travel writer. Also very good.

Love / 'Seks po polsku' - the sex lives of Poles: [45]


In that case you probably met your 'dates' in a convent. Poles in my experience are very open about intimate matters.

Life / Anyone know of an English-language translation of "Kapuściński Non-Fiction", yet? [18]


Read him and see - he's a travel writer on a par with James Morris or Norman Douglas - truly one of the greats.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


One pretty obvious offer. 2 September 1939 - undertake by 11 o'clock to cease hostilities.

You might also want to check out the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.


Obviously. One wonders if some people have nothing better going on in their lives.


Unfortunately that is precisely what he is getting. Though naturally very negatively. A kind of masochism really.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]

Evidently a nut. Just posting such rubbish is trolling.

News / Becoming non-EUnuch -> giving up your share of handouts. [36]

Me neither, but the healthy state of the stock exchange and bond market here suggest that there's no shortage of investment.


Poland has a population 50 times that of Iceland and an economy as different as it can be.

History / Poland and Britain started WW2 [307]


These are not 'facts', just trolling. None are true.

USA, Canada / Polonia who needs help with Polish Documentary [27]


Hello! Here's a link to a BBC documentary, one of a series on gangs around the world. This episode was on Polish football hooligan gangs. It's from 2006 but worth watching:


And here's a link to all his media writings, not just on Poland.

Good Luck!

Language / Need some Polish language help.....with a twist! [39]


This is the only way. A little every day. Absolutely the best way is to be in Poland where you have to use the language to get by.


It doesn't mean 'a lush' ;-)

Life / Anyone know of an English-language translation of "Kapuściński Non-Fiction", yet? [18]


Great news!

Life / Living Costs and life in Poznan? [70]


Just about, with very careful shopping. Plenty have to, including pensioners on 800zl a month.


That's more realistic.

History / Romantic Aristocrat Stories from Poland's Past [16]



Here's another of her.


Avira said it was OK but perhaps better to be safe rather than sorry. There are some good pictures which as a government site should be kosher.

History / Romantic Aristocrat Stories from Poland's Past [16]


This might be just what you're looking for ;-)