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Posts by Misia  

Joined: 30 Mar 2011 / Female ♀
Last Post: 12 May 2011
Threads: -
Posts: 31
From: Originally from PL, lives in BC, Canada
Speaks Polish?: Tak
Interests: Photography

Displayed posts: 31 / page 1 of 2
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Misia   
12 May 2011
Language / What I learned so far about the Polish language. [30]

I think that's totally awesome that you are learning Polski, Naomi!

And, I missed the bad comments, but props for standing to anyone who posed a bad comment.
Misia   
6 Apr 2011
Life / Polish home remedies for cold, stomach ache, migraine? [49]

I know of one "nalweka" for colds. It's made with garlic, honey, lemons and water.

Lemon juice from 1/2 kg of lemons
30 finely chopped cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of honey
1L water

Add the finely chopped garlic to lemon juice, mix in water and honey. Leave it overnight to infuse. Drink one shot glass x3/day for colds and flu, or once a day as a preventative. Store in a dark cool place.

I bottle it in a dark bottle and leave it in the refrigerator, usually lasts for quite some time.

You have to be very careful with the "doses", as too much garlic can make you feel sick. I'd start of with one shot glass with some food in the early evening - definitely a couple of hours before you go to sleep. Then move the 'dose' up a couple days later, monitor your body's reactions.
Misia   
4 Apr 2011
Language / Useful tips on learning Polish? [25]

Any good (free) websites, anyone?

I can't suggest any illegal ways of obtaining this but ...

I only had a chance to look through the lessons once while passing a Rosetta Stone stand at an airport and it seemed pretty fantastic.

rosettastone.com/learn-polish
Misia   
4 Apr 2011
Life / Polish patriotism, what does it mean to you? [46]

I'm not surprised that Poles despise Polish-Americans of the 3rd/4th/5th generation

I'm not surprised. Other than certain groups of people no one likes that kind of attitude, especially if they're a pseudo-patriotic, in this case Polish, descendant.
Misia   
3 Apr 2011
Life / Polish patriotism, what does it mean to you? [46]

Maybe you just don't know how to express critisism in a way which won't be received as if you were looking down on Poland?

That's a valid point, and there's no way of disproving it.

There's a fine line between valid criticism and a sour grapes mentality like the one exhibited here all the time, especially by the visitors from North America.

I agree, seeing how certain individuals communicate their thoughts here, stronger responses from the Polish community are understandable.
Misia   
3 Apr 2011
Life / Polish patriotism, what does it mean to you? [46]

Maybe it instead means to clarify on false criticism? To be able to reply on allegations? To tell you the truth ... the real picture. To bring forward another perspective ... in a warm and friendly manner ofcourse.

I'm sure that in some cases that may be true, but that wasn't the case here, and the reciprocation was rarely warm or friendly.
Misia   
1 Apr 2011
News / Polish journalist charged with insulting Belarusian President [16]

What the hell has the EU got to do with a Stalinist dictatorship aligned to Russia?

Sorry, but I think you've taken this out of context, I was only replying to Convex's comment:

Guessing this is what delph was waiting for, I'll get it in before he does. Poland has the same laws.

Misia   
1 Apr 2011
News / Polish journalist charged with insulting Belarusian President [16]

Guessing this is what delph was waiting for, I'll get it in before he does. Poland has the same laws.

Seriously? Interesting, and E.U. allows this?

I guess, when you look at it, everything goes down to who has control over the media. In North America private companies own and control the media, and control what information is released to the public. No one has a lot of freedom anywhere (unless you're an extremely wealthy and powerful individual) . :-) As much as many ordinary people want to believe that we do, we really don't.

That's why we need sites like wikileaks or zerohedge - to make people aware of what's really going on. One has to look for that information, it doesn't come in your daily paper.
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
Life / Is there something like a "Polish culture" or Polish national identity? [49]

I was in PL a few years ago and it did seem like the church had a lot of influence on people, minus the crazy people you read about in the newspapers, it wasn't bad though. I don't think many people wanted to mix church and politics. That's area dependent of course.

I do admit, we have a mix of some really great and some really bad stuff in Poland. I can be very overwhelming.

When I wanted to get in touch with my Polish roots a while back I joined a Polish club and got to meet some Polish people my age. They're a great bunch and present very good "Polish" qualities that sometimes get lost between all the crazy stuff you hear about, like here on the forum.

If you do want to find some documents regarding laws in PL etc. I find that there are plenty written in English, and if not, Google does offer translation. If something really doesn't make sense, I'm sure some people here would help you decipher certain things too.
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
News / Poles -- Europe's very best? [21]

Whatever. Everyone's ugly, and if they're not ugly on the outside they're probably ugly on the inside. I don't think there's a reason to be proud of being a heavy drinker either.
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
Life / $3,000-$4,000 a month - would we have enough money to live in Poland? [273]

I just skimmed through this thread, sounds like a whole new chapter/adventure of your life just began. Good luck to you and your family. It's really wonderful that your wife can be there for her dad.

I visited Gdynia a few times, and I have to admit, if I were ever to move back to Poland I'd move there. :-)

There's always a culture shock, so just don't let it get to you.
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
UK, Ireland / A polite request for your help re: your personal experiences in the UK [8]

-> Did you feel welcome when you arrived in the UK?

I think anyone's experiences widely depend on their own character and attitude towards other people, and where they travel to. I try to keep a friendly attitude with everyone, occasionally I'll speak my mind, but I try to do it in a peaceful manner that would allow me to communicate my thoughts in a way that doesn't intentionally aggravate others. I try to be respectful towards everyone, and hope for the same in return.

So here is my personal account of living in London.

I moved to London, just before the whole "Polish people boom" happened, for school and work. It way before any high-street shop owners thought of selling Eastern-Europeans products.

I lived in North London for a few years, and while I was very welcome in the area I lived in, I felt that the people who were genuinely nice and welcoming were not of English descent (from London). (Sorry)

I generally don't have a problem making friends, but it was very difficult to befriend a "true Londoner". I met many very nice people form other parts of England, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Scotland and Ireland. Maybe I was just unlucky.

One big minus for guys from London.

Many English guys were quite disrespectful towards me if/when they knew that I was Polish. It was an assumption, I guess, that if a girl was from an eastern country she would be super glad to talk to them. Most of the Polish girls I was friends with had the same experience. Whenever I indicated that I am not interested I'd be told off for being a "Yankee". Yay for going from one bias to another. As for my Polish friends, they'd be told something rude as well when they didn't show any intrest.

I often like to experiment in my social reactions when I notice a pattern in people's behaviour, so I used a few different ways of declining a drink or a chat with someone. It really didn't matter if I was super pleasant, polite, or unpleasant and direct. The general response was, "How dare you decline my offer, you should feel lucky that an English guy wants to talk to you!". *Again, I'm not saying that's how all the men in England are, but it was disappointing*

I kind of gave up on "Londoners" in that area of the city after this guy followed me and a friend of mine to a bus stop, and demanded we tell him where we live. He pretty much indicated that we are obligated to answer him because he was superior to us as an English person. No comments.

As for girls, well, it was tricky... few were super nice but most were not really up for making friends with a foreigner.

This does not apply to everyone of course, I met many nice people, girls and guys, from Manchester, Newcastle, and Cornwall so overall I had a good experience.

When I travelled around England I noticed that people from very small towns were a little more cautious when warming up to 'strangers' - but it wasn't difficult to turn them around with a few pleasant words and a smile.

-> Do you still feel welcome now?

- Sure, though I don't think I'd count on the attitude of certain groups to change.

->How has the recession affected you?

- I left England before we fully went into recession in Europe and North America. Other than paying more for gas and groceries currently, no.

I never moved to England just to work and make money. Architecture and history were of much greater interest to me at the time. :-P

I would appreciate any personal experiences you have of living in the UK- good and bad.

I hope this is of any use. It's also quite late here, so I hope whatever I wrote makes sense. *crosses fingers* I'll check tomorrow morning. :-P
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
News / Anti semtism at Polish Congress [57]

Misia: Jan Kobylanski is as sane as all the people who listen to Radio Maryja (a radio station he sponsors) who want Jesus Christ for the king of Poland.
LOL and Homer Simpson for president, well not quite, it's a tie between HS and Harry Potter's youthful charisma oozing of that forbidden grand-child sex...

Hey, I'd totally vote for H.P. for president. At least he does magic tricks! ;-)
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
Life / As a black gay man (US) visiting Warsaw this summer, will I get beat up for nothing? [65]

I don't think you'd be attacked for being black or gay but don't flash expensive stuff since that might get you into a sticky situation. I had a Polish friend who was once attacked on the street, late at night, because he had a new phone... :-| a Motorola.

That happens everywhere though, I remember being told not to use my iPhone headphones when it first came out (as well as iPod headphones in the past) because many people were robbed in the US, UK, and Canada - at least those are the 3 countries I know it happened in.

I always wondered this, does Poland have any gay bars? :-P
Misia   
31 Mar 2011
News / Anti semtism at Polish Congress [57]

wiesenthal.com/atf/cf/%7B54d385e6-f1b9-4e9f-8e94-890c3e6dd277%7D/TTASS.PDF

Jan Kobylanski is as sane as all the people who listen to Radio Maryja (a radio station he sponsors) who want Jesus Christ for the king of Poland.
Misia   
30 Mar 2011
Life / Is there something like a "Polish culture" or Polish national identity? [49]

Before I begin, I would like to say that no matter how general or non-general anyone's answer is, it is going to be solely based on their own experiences, and where they are from.

As a Polish-Canadian from BC, I know that the way we perceive and do things here (in BC) are very different from say, Alberta or Saskatchewan. Same goes for people from Northern England vs. Southern England, or people from Washington vs. South Dakota for example.


Please defy your idea of culture, what is culture to you?

As for Polish values, I can only say this based where I grew up in Poland, I think that Polish people value family more than anything.

Education and family prosperity were of high importance as well - which should not be interpret as teaching anyone to be a leach, or a gold-digger. People like that were and still are looked down upon; same goes to anyone with poor education. It would be embarrassing to be associated with someone like that.

This may only be my opinion but, I think that's fairly normal for any large city with good secondary, and post secondary schools. *I guess this would also be dictated by the status of the neighborhood you are in, like anywhere else*

When I went to elementary school back in PL, lazy kids who didn't apply themselves in class were often ridiculed, but that doesn't mean that kids with learning disabilities like dyslexia had the same treatment; some of our top students in class were considered to be "gifted with a learning disability" and received proper support in school to counter that."


What would be the "Polish" public opinion seen in the society today, on matters like abortion, same-sex marriage, etc.? What about gender-equality? Is there any laws in Poland to promote gender-equality?

As a girl, growing up in Poland I never felt like I was treated in any way that indicated that women were not equals by any polish man, and that's true to this day. If anything there were some small biases against boys - mainly due to a weaker performance in school.

un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/wom1591.doc.htm

Same sex unions.
There are few countries in the world that allow same-sex marriages, as for Poland, it does recognize same-sex relationships as common law,
One should also understand that for any other type of marriage recognition this would be dictated by any official religion/church laws of that country since it would influence the opinion of general public.

This should answer it better: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_Poland

Abortion.
While many of my friends from Poland would not chose to have an abortion they wish Poland allowed women to have the choice rather than not
.

Is the society more liberal and open on these matters, than the Polish government (or juridical) is? (when it comes to juridical law). Is there a contrast between the law and the public opinion? What do you think?

This would be heavily dictated by the overall prosperity of the area you were in, like in any country around the world. Poor area = poor education, less work, more biases/fears, etc. Rich area = higher education, better understanding and awareness of the world. You get the picture.

And what other question is discussed in the public and is of importance, when it comes to political matters that concerns the society and the individual? is these questions regulated in the Polish law (same-sex marriage, etc.)? How do people bring forth their opinions (ways of influencing the public opinion/or government)?

How are matters like this brought to public's attention in your country? I'm pretty sure it works the same way in most Western countries. We pick the political party that reflects our views. If there is an issue we want to raise we write to our politicians/governing bodies.

And last question, do you know any site or source where I can find more information about issues/questions that's is of imporance for the politicans today (how the legal law looks like in Poland, or what issues is brought by the Polish government :S).

Have you tried looking it up online?

So finally, is there a contrast (or contradiction) between Polish society/public opinion and what politicans bring forth?
Would you see that the opinions of politicans is more old-fashioned compared to the polish society today?

It depends which political party. I'm sure that it varies between conservative and liberal parties, as well as younger vs. older citizens. In general, younger people are more liberal than the senior citizens of Poland.

Not sure what country you want to compare this against
.

What about catholic values, can they be seen in the society today in the public opinion, or are they more "old-fashined", or do they influence the public sphere and the legal law today, in the legal context (public law)?

I'd say most of our religious traditions are widely practiced everywhere in Poland, like Easter or Christmas.
Misia   
30 Mar 2011
Love / Are Polish men sexist? [53]

That's probably the most disturbing scene anyone could read about in the am, before they've had their coffee. Thanks for destroying my morning.
Misia   
30 Mar 2011
Love / Are Polish men sexist? [53]

I think you read that wrong. The title says "sexist".

To OP,

There's not a single county in the world that doesn't have sexist men. Some countries seem to have more sexist people than others, but I don't think Poland has an unusually high number of sexist men compared to other countries. The only unfortunate thing here this is that people talk a lot more about bad experiences in life than good. Whoever told you that Polish men are sexist simply had a very bad experience.