USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]


So if you are serious, come to NJ. But good luck finding a job and better luck getting hooked up into the "clan". You and I are the wrong . . . let's say orientation at birth, so we are not privy to these types of arrangements. Besides, I woudn't work for anyone perpetrating theft. I have enough of that just wangling with tech contractors who are akin to overseers in this day and age.

these scenarios happen in connected areas of immigrants like NJ, Illinois, Brooklyn, New York, Buffalo, Michigan every day of the week especially during the building boom.

A guy who runs a construction proprietorship is probably happy to pay that rate if he gets a certain quota for completing the project early. He makes a bunch of money on materials (whatever is left over and whatever "goes missing"). He is not paying tax nor benefits, doesn't maintain insurance, doesn't pay employer taxes. Additionally there is goodwill factor that someone will refer him and his crew to do another project.

I know what those people spent and what they had -- and what they left with. I know the guy was making $1500 min a week before they went back. once in a while in winter, he would not be working but doing side jobs. They didn't even get issued a green card.

I am in the same situation as you. My first job was 35 years ago and I have always been in the workforce. I was offered $6-$700 a month temporary assistance when my back was out. I had to show every iota of my financial situation and pay for a copy of my birth certificate (even though I had a ss card) to present to the state benefit intake.

Food / What do people in Poland eat? [11]

nothing like some properly prepared swine if ya ask me : )

UK, Ireland / Where to request Polish Birth Certificate / change of name from the UK? [15]

I am curious to know if the writer who inquired was successful getting the bc. I for one can't locate my relatives' bc from 1928. The church records were destroyed in a lot of places so how does one go about finding family records? Have they all been re-written or something? Just curious.

Thanks

USA, Canada / Do many Polish people in America hate Americans? [592]


It is true. I know had I chosen tactics over principles, I'd probably be able to vacation more : ) There's no rest for the weary . .. .

News / Poland's Economy Is Booming! The EU's Success Story? [711]


does anyone remember the tunnel that was built on outskirts of warsaw somewhere and reportedly when they measured the opening they realized it was too narrow to get any train through there? I remember something about it being reported on news radio here a few years back. Just curious if anyone knew the outcome.

Language / Is it possible to learn Polish while not living in Poland? If yes, how? [37]

My worst problem with trying to develop Polish is the word endings. If I listen to Polish by native speakers such as news, etc., wow! They seem to speak so fast. Someone posted a video last night of a guy speaking during government council or chambers or something. I was really amazed! I didn't understand a thing he said -- it was like Polish rap on steroids (except everyone was in a suit and tie).

Life / Why Do You Love Poland? [907]


I hope you really enjoy it. What area are you looking to settle in once you get there? I envy you!

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]


Oh wow that brought me a minute of deja vu. When my unc was here from the old country he would have a glass jug fermenting in the corner of the pantry. It eventually got run through the still (that was actually a metal gallon can like the kind you get olive oil by the gallon. that stuff was nasty! tasted like clear tequila. after a few particularly notorious batches, he started adding prunes to the mash. (tasting note: the prunes did not help) lol

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]


well the original mash wasn't grain -- they fermented rice. i guess technically it was like sake except higher alcohol.
but anyway, the only reason he put prunes in the mash was to hope that it tempered some of the taste from the rice.
If you don't use grain or something in your mash that will make it taste good (usually wheat, barley, rye), trust me, rice does not make a good one - lol

anyway they used to take some then chase it with beer (had to have a chaser).
once i ran the still (of course I had to get it to drip slow so it came out crystal clear) whew! it was a lot stronger than their batches.

they ran it fast and kept the heads and tails so it wasn't so potent. that's why it was nasty tasting.
they never liked to cut the stuff with water . they just ran it so they got less concentration (more volume) and just aged it with more prunes (absorbs aftertaste a bit)

To be honest what they were doing was unnecessarily risky -- not just the stilling but who knows what the heck was in the heads and tails (not pure)

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]


Our still was the modern version
a gallon metal can
the can looked like a gallon can you get olive oil in sometimes
but actually it was a brand new 1 gallon metal gas can (the kind they sold years ago)
have to make sure the seams are crimped, not leaded
my unc measured some copper tubing and fitted some aquarium hose on it (that was where the alc leached into your collector)
it was really a very efficient setup - the copper tubing was long enough to run from the opening in the top of the can to the faucet

you just turned on the cold water to a slow stream and once the mash boiled, you were collecting your spirits

about the mash, it had to ferment like 3 weeks or something
they used to sit around scheming stuff like this, dad and his cousin (my unc)
how they came up with the proportion for the sugar, yeast, all that, I have no idea but it worked the first time (potent stuff!)

those were the days - all in the name of saving a buck
so that's the tale of the family recipe

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]


haha - does no good deed go unpunished?

: )

Life / All Saints' Day in Poland - Commemoration or Carnival? [44]

We weren't really very encouraged to do the american halloween candy thing much when i was a kid. i guess that's the thing about my folks, that they sort of drove the message home that it was somewhat a solemn time. it wasn't a time for frolick and greed with your friends, seeing who could collect the most candy. I didn't "get it" when I was a kid. i don't want to go into it but some of my folks family members don't have graves. even so, we are far from them. but even though my fams don't visit, there is still some reflection rather than merriment. I wish it were different but it is the quiet solemn reflection time for us in my family.

the custom around my area in nj is that a lof of folks put up solar lamps on the graves now. do you see those in poland?

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]


guard your -- alleys, sidelines, sides, like cover your bases
probably not the answer

never mind i thought that was krywac

boki zrywac means torn up (like tearing up your sides/split your sides from laughter)

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]

someone in my family (I think my sister) used to say "ze az boki mi sie zrywaly"

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]


Isn't that the beauty, though? It's just the idea or tradition that gives it the meaning.

Like this is an old one "jak tobie powiem co sie stalo, to chyba okocis sie"
or how about:
"czym sie nie naje, tym sie nie nalize"
"to nudne jak flaki z olejem"

There are some funny phrases and they don't even have to be risque or adult to be entertaining : D

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]


In summer when the berries are in, and you make a big ole batch of pierogi dough and then put that filling in there (blueberries with vanilla sugar) or whatever berries you have, and they are hot off the pan with nice cold sour cream on top, o m g to die for!

Life / All Saints' Day in Poland - Commemoration or Carnival? [44]


I think I would be traumatized . . . lol

Language / What does it mean? - A Polish language game for foreigners [59]


It's not nice to fight with a golonka. Pork is our friend : )

Hey, I thought pocalowac klamke is like the last goodbye. Like a kiss-off. Like the day you move out of your house forever, never to return. Or graduation day. You kiss the doorknob of the classroom goodbye. No?

Travel / Is it safe to travel to Poland? [194]

I think a concierge service for travelers to Poland would be great. I would love to go there myself and be shown around the city by someone who's familiar with the area and not necessarily the standard tour/tourist traps. Or know I can call someone if I need to figure out an address, good place to go, where the train is, etc. Or be able to call someone and ask if they could make a few inquiries for me (for apartment or whatever, just phone calls). Or tell me how to get to consular office or wherever.

If you enjoy what someone does for you in a restaurant, waiter, bartender or whomever, you tip them (some even still tip the gas station attendant when he fills the tank). It doesn't need to be made into a business. Sometimes the best places grow from word of mouth.

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]


I totally agree. I hear lots of people say this. I can see why as I have tried to have a few dealings over there about business matters. It's like trying to saddle a cow.

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]


I don't believe that to be a totally accurate consideration of what's really going on. The way Obama is headed is to keep good paying jobs not so good paying, by allowing artificial deflation of the labor market in general. this happened by overlooking the enforcement of things put in place to look out for the american worker. Also, just because an office does not actually physically move overseas means nothing. The majority of IT contract positions that are non-permanent workers are subcontracted out to offshore agencies working with US agents as a corp-to-corp relationship. And these agents routinely hire non-permanent workers on that basis who then infiltrate this country after their visas were falsely sponsored. And they are from all over the mid- and far-east. They go in trainloads up to NYC every day and probably elsewhere (except I can't confirm that as I live outside NY within commutable distance).

also, FYI at one time work visa programs in general were enforced to their original meaning: in order to bring exceptional talent and innovative methodology to the labor force to promote domestic business prosperity. Now, any company who won't find a worker to work for $10 an hour for a job that private industry pays $80K a year (and that's a starting salary for a tech junior position), the agency petitions for H1B and brings in a foreign worker. So let's see, how is that looking out for Americans? It merely compounds the fact that labor agencies make out, the benefits of job growth are not passed on to the worker, the agents are like pimps and make out, while they inflate write-offs against profit. The "worker" gets the crumbs. And it happens day in and day out . . . and no place to enforce it and no way to report it and have the companies who are breaking the laws fined. I can name on the fingers of both hands now, companies I know personally who have broken the contingent worker laws to start. So it benefits no worker and only the fat cat corporate principals.

With that said, how is it that Obama is looking out for the country and its workforce, again? then the POTUS made the statement a short while ago that the tax benefit for taking a company overseas will no longer be tolerated. In fact there is no U.S. tax benefit nor write-off for taking a company overseas. So therefore he revoked a tax benefit that wasn't even in force. And only one media outlet that I can think of actually represented it accurately. This guy is truthfully not qualified to make economic decisions for a hot dog stand let alone a country. Just sayin'. . .


Oh and also, Obama was asked by gov C. Christie to come to NJ to witness the devastation first-hand. And now that people are going to judge his actions before election on how he handles disasters and areas in need, he came to showboat around the state, to show his concern. Guess what: Obama probably wins NJ so he didn't need to come here. NJ is in the bag for him; and it is good he is wasting his time here instead of on the campaign trail. Also Obama team was critial when Romney went to states that were clearly blue, without a chance of being swing states. So if one would ask me, it was a brilliant calculation on the part of Christie, who has been all-out for Romney. why didn't obama go to the flooding in Tennessee or when Texas was burning? Because it wasn't polling week?

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]


I am going to pray extra fervently for the next 6 days to be delivered from evil on Nov. 6 : )

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]

I even have white candles. Or is that sacrilege?

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]

whether obama got to NJ today or not is meaningless to nj. he can't rebuild anyone's house or even get you fema money if he comes here. it's ridiculous that we had a mayor of a city tell people they can stay in the city shelter that got flooded, instead of doing what the "fatyy" governor ordered them to do: evacuate. After all, Obama was supposed to lower the sea level or was that just an empty campaign promise? it's all showmanship from an empty suit.

when the weather predictions were just as bad the end of last week, prez went off to florida. then only did someone on his staff tell him if he wants to look good before election, he better get back to OA in time for when hurricane doodoo hits the fan up here. aside from that, if you are better off now than you were 4 years ago, i don't blame you for voting for the incumbent. but if you have had enough of sophomoric nonsense and want someone in there who is an achiever (not the type that has been going on over the last 4 years of thuggery) then it's time to send the mobsters back to chicago. oh, and then fumigate once they leave. : )

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]



Yeah -- that would be me, being harsh (just in case that is what is being suggested).

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]


This is more fun than watching Chris Matthews with a thrill up his leg.

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]

It will be nice when MR wins . . . he won't even have to recruit large busloads of ghetto people from the inner cities (or the swamps of NJ where unscrupulous people also live) to go campaigning for him so they get a $40 cash debit card : )

USA, Canada / Emigrate from the USA - the sequence of events [207]


and also the bernanke stench is leaving the post next year. funny, once when i was working for a tech group on budget administration, one of the project managers called me "the ben bernanke of the technology budget". really, i didn't know if I should thank him or pour my coffee on his shirt : )

Life / I hate Warsaw. The worst part about living here is the people who move here from small towns, villages.. [124]

It's funny how even though someone doesn't say anything, people generally can size them up by their expression or the way they carry themselves. That is, if one would carry themself in a haughty manner at a subway in downtown NY somewhere, they're liable to wind up knocked off the platform right onto the third rail : ) If one is not in their native country, it would probably be best to be benevolent toward certain local customs and conduct oneself as a grateful guest. Not like some of the people who come to my area and act as if everyone owes them. Of course, some of the demeanor thingy is lost in translation among "chołota".

Language / How to address a postcard to a family in Poland? [7]

I remember my folks addressing letters with W. P. (Wielmozna/y Pani/ie) -- is it still used?