History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1080]

You can **** off noimmigration, we're a Central European people, not East European; stop believing what you read in The Sun.

Travel / Cheapest eating places in Warsaw? [27]

Much better than that American rubbish, certainly :) Whenever I'm in Shepherd's Bush I just have to go to Cooke's :)

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]


I'm not going to judge your English, but...


If your English is really so minimal, how do you know what an "uneducated English accent" is?

If you've lived in Poland all your life, and your English is (as you admit yourself) "minimal", there's no way that you could tell the difference between an "underclass/council estate" accent, and a standard "local accent". Having a local accent doesn't make you uneducated; it's more to do with the amount and type of slang/dialect used, and how poor the grammar is.

Or do you really mean that the teacher dressed like a "wieśniak" or "dresiarstwo", and that makes him "sound uneducated"?

Travel / Cheapest eating places in Warsaw? [27]

We have "pie & mash" shops in London, which are similar in many ways, but with a somewhat limited menu (pie, mash, eels, and not a lot else really lol), but they serve their purpose. Cheaper than McDonald's or KFC and a lot more filling.

UK, Ireland / We live in the UK; my husband is not legal in England [47]


My dad "invaded" this country long before that, and he was always legal, frajerze.

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]


Does "without painkillers" mean "without anaesthesia"? My mum says that used to be an option back in the day, to save money, but these days??


Surely you must have read the lame "Polish women are <fill in stereotype here> " threads? At least you can learn something new on this one ;)

UK, Ireland / We live in the UK; my husband is not legal in England [47]

I'm no Russell Grant, but I can confidently predict that you're not exactly going to have a long and popular stay on PF. I must be psychic... :p

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]


It's not necessarily better here. I've never had any problem finding a good doctor, but dentists??? OMG, thay are like gold dust, and paying privately doesn't even guarantee better treatment.

I used to have the same dentist (NHS) for 15 years, but then I moved, and my most recent dentist was doing more harm than good - constant excuses about why they can only put temporary fillings in, saying there's "nothing wrong" when I've been in pain for months, instead of doing the job right. I think the problem is that they have too few paying patients, as most of the people attending the practice seem to be on benefits, so it costs them too much to do the job right. I've found another practice (recommended by someone), but I suspect that it will cost me a lot to put the damage right. I'm considering legal action if my new dentist finds evidence of negligence. I've had my teeth damaged by a poor dentist in the past, and it took the good dentist mentioned above nearly 10 years to fix the problems - I'm not going through that again, this time I'm doing something about it if I'm advised to do so. Working NHS patients pay 80% of the actual cost, and many things have to be done privately, so I'm entitled to expect value for money, especially as most of the people who go there seem to get the same treatment for free.


Wrong. Bad dentists can do a lot of damage to otherwise reasonable healthy teeth and gums. See my post above. The initial problem (20 years ago) was caused by a dentist who refused to treat an infection - I had to go to hospital to get the infection treated, and suffered years of problems as a result.

Work / How is the living standard in Poznan? Does 5200 PLN enough for a decent living? [32]


I'm not an English teacher, or any kind of teacher for that matter. But I was always near the top of the class in English, and I'm from a multilingual, non-British family. I wouldn't claim to have perfect English, though.

You clearly haven't been in Warsaw for very long if you don't realise that Poles are notorious for correcting even the slightest grammatical mistakes!

Some of us were educated before the "liberal" dumbing-down of UK education took place, so it's hardly surprising that we pick up on these errors. I left school at 16, went to college not university (well, not until much later anyway) yet a *graduate* has poorer English than I have - especially as the media keeps telling us that people like me (from families where English is not the first language) are held back in education, and particularly in English!

It's not "internet talk" - many of the posters here use internet language, yet their posts still make sense. If it was someone who admitted that they came from an Asian village I wouldn't have commented on their English (mistakes would be expected), but someone who claims to have graduated from a UK university??


They do, but she must want to live in Poland for some bizarre reason. Each to their own though! lol

Work / How is the living standard in Poznan? Does 5200 PLN enough for a decent living? [32]



It doesn't bother us. It's more that we find it rather worrying that someone can graduate from an English university, yet make more than ten mistakes in a post as short as your first one.

In response to your question: it's more than the UK minimum wage, yet many people in Poland earn half of that. You'll be better off than you would have been while working in a shop in the UK.

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]


Spot on. It's the same over here, to a degree - walk around somewhere like Richmond or Chelsea and you won't see many people with bad teeth, then go to some chavvy former mill town and it's full of people with no/bad teeth. Less money, plain and simple. Even NHS dental work costs a fortune these days. I would prefer to have decent teeth than a crateful of beer and a pocketful of soapbar, but each to their own ;)

Though the point about Poland does ring true to some extent. It reminds me of something my (Polish) mum once said - "the reason Polish women never smile is because they're hiding their bad teeth" lol. Cruel, but to some extent, fair. However, my former Polish-born partner had perfect teeth, so it's definitely not everyone. :)

Food / POLISH RECIPES! [287]


It's not a coleslaw thread though, lol.


It's the Jewish version of a Polish soup, zupa szczawiowa.

I live within a few minutes walk of half a dozen Polish businesses, and twice as many Jewish stores. For some reason, certain Polish foods aren't that easily available in the Polish shops (I'm sure that some of them are just a front for some "other" kind of business hehe, since when did Poles just live on packet soups and cakes anyway? lol) so I get the rest of my "Polish" food from the Jewish stores. It's not as good as my mum used to make, but it will do; it's not something I eat every week anyway.

I make most of my own food, but a few Polish dishes aren't worth the effort, as the ready-made or packet version can be as good, and sometimes just as cheap. This is one of them ;)


Indeed. I use a packet version for my placki/latkes; as you say, it's less work. The best brands also have a flavour which is very close to the real thing. I would never buy "instant" English food, but for some reason, Polish/Jewish packet foods have really nice flavours. Telma Krupnik is better than my mum's! lol

News / 4th Polish Republic may re-emerge [244]

Poland no-respect: No respect Poland

Life / Poland: worst teeth in the world? [98]

If you believed the cr*p you read on here, you would think Britain has the worst teeth - well, that's what they keep telling us on here, anyway!

Work / Most Attractive Maid? Is a picture required with some job applications in Poland? [8]

I bet that Asik's well fit but she's not a mod haha

Travel / Any Hooters in Poland? [28]

Polish music means one thing: Decapitated FTW!

Food / POLISH RECIPES! [287]


My point exactly, lol.

Polish shops near me never seem to have this soup; fortunately, there are plenty of shops locally which do :)

Love / Help - evil Polish girl after my partner. [39]


^^^^
This.

OP: There are legal issues here, yet you're posting details (and your location/occupation) on a public forum?? Either get real, or stop trolling.

UK, Ireland / Any Polish looking for work in Birmingham UK? [17]

Ouch :)

Cruel, but fair. ;)

Another job which Birmingham (and Bradford) Asians won't do: Motor Insurance Enforcement Officer. lol

Food / POLISH RECIPES! [287]


Whenever I see this, I think it looks like a Polish name, lol

UK, Ireland / Any Polish looking for work in Birmingham UK? [17]

This thread is nearly a year old, guys... lol.

However, considering what Birmingham is like, I wonder if this was an advert for "jobs which blacks and Asians won't do"? lol

History / How do Poles feel about 10th anniversary of 9/11 [40]


This ^^^

There are probably fewer than 600 people in the world with my surname, yet someone with that surname died in the Twin Towers. It's unlikely, but it's certainly possible (due to the rarity of our name) that we could even have been distant relatives. That really brought it home to us, and made it even more personal than hearing that (tq Wroclaw) six Polish nationals died in the disaster.

Study / Swedish folks in Poland! (I want to apply for university and live in Poland) [21]

In many ways, things aren't that great in the UK these days, either. We simply have too many universities these days, churning out people with useless degrees, or degrees which will be laughed at by future employers. This is mostly happening for political reasons, beyond the scope of this reply, lol. I studied law at a fairly well-known university; we were told early into the course to "...count yourselves lucky that you didn't get in at ********* University, because you would have NO chance of getting into the law if you did your degree there - you would be laughed at". Sadly, the lecturer also added "...fortunately we have a better reputation here. But if you think that you will be able to compete with graduates from the top universities, especially those who 'know the right people', then forget it".

Re: the "cheating" described above. This is something which has been mentioned by many Polish-educated people I have spoken to over the years. Additionally, I used to date someone for quite some time, who allegedly "graduated" in Poland and worked in the same profession as I do. Due to the utterly ridiculous questions she once asked me, I was convinced that (a) she cheated in her exams or (b) she had paid someone for a false registration document. There's no way that someone with her supposed education/experience would have asked those questions.

Anyone considering cheating in UK universities these days needs their head seeing to, especially as electronic anti-plagiarism methods are being used. The consequences just aren't worth the risk of being caught (not that I could ever consider cheating even if they still checked assignments by hand lol, but you know what I mean ;) ).

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


hahahahaha!!!!!!!!! Oh, that would be great - I know just the person to run it as well! lol

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]

LOL, it's true - they even make conversation sometimes these days - they used to be like Chinese robots before haha.

It was mostly "DOWNSTAIRS!!" when I was still married, though; we mostly ended up in the basement with the waterfall lol, now I get stuck with all the sad single people ordering single-plate meals on the ground floor... haha.

Food / Classic Polish Cooking (book) [9]

If it's a Pol-Am cook book, it's probably full of recipes like "how to make a 'Polish Dog' ", lol

Law / Why is US $ getting so high or Polish zloty falling? [60]


It was 4,78 PLN only a few days ago! :0

It might actually be worth visiting Poland again soon, if this carries on. :)

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]

:)

It's smartened up a bit (note: only a bit ;) ) and the service isn't anywhere near as rude as it was in the 90s, but you will still see people (mostly fat Americans) walk out when the waiter walks up to the table 5 seconds after they've sat down and they shout "yes, order!" lol.

Food hasn't changed, it's still cheaper than a lot of takeaways, and having spent a fair bit of time in HK, it's pretty authentic as well. Love the place, but I don't go into the West End that much these days. But when I do, I would never go anywhere else.

Though it's nothing compared to a Lebanese place in Paddington I once took an ex to - OK so they did warn us that we would only have a limited time, or we may need to move. But right on the dot, when that time was reached, the waiters came out of nowhere and picked up ALL our food, drinks, candles, and tablecloths (everything! even our phones! lol) and moved us to another table, just to make room for a larger group who had booked a table by the wall! I do LMAO when I look back at that now :)

edit: just to stop some faceless you-know-who coming along with the patronising red font message :p most of the Polish restaurants in London aren't much better when it comes to service (except that place in Goldhawk Road, forget what it's called, but it was nice back in the day, i.e. late 90s (too hot inside though).

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]

I've been going to the Wong Kei for 21 years but I wouldn't take a date there, lol :)

My mum won't go anywhere else when she's in town; I've tried taking her to "better" places, but she always says "take me to that place where they shout at you" LOL :)

USA, Canada / Why are Polish restaurants not successful in the USA? [698]


Hehe, not offended; I once made some for Polish food for English friends and they said "why do you lot like eating stock?" LMAO. They had a point! :)


Likewise, I agree - but bland isn't always bad. Sometimes I want something a little plainer. I cook a variety of food, with ingredients from Polish, Italian, Caribbean, Chinese, English and Indian cuisines. But sometimes just a few plain unspiced papads, or a few cheese and potato pierogi, are all that's needed ;)


Not aimed at me I know, but tbh the food in Hong Kong is similar-tasting to what we would find in "Cantonese" restaurants here - don't expect Szechuan spiciness unless you look for it - the difference is, you wouldn't be able to ask for "chicken and intestine combination rice" over here, like I once had in a backstreet restaurant in Wan Chai LOL.