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Posts by Dominika99  

Joined: 31 Oct 2012 / Female ♀ 		Last Post: 5 Nov 2012
Threads: 1
Posts: 93 		From: Warsaw
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: .

Displayed posts: 94 / page 1 of 4
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Dominika99   
5 Nov 2012
Australia / Meeting Poles in Adelaide [15]

I know some, but they're all in Sydney...

Good luck, though, and have fun exploring :)
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
Food / Anyone fancy Polish pieróg lubelski? [12]

Interesting, this is the first that I hear of this pierog.

I haven't seen much of eastern Poland, which sucks because I've been to Lublin briefly and liked it there.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Just because the two nations had a bloody history of wars and occupations doesn't mean they weren't influenced by each other. Your wikipedia-style rundown of Russian history did nothing to convince me, but thank you for the effort.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

I do not deny the influence of so-called "golden age" (XIX c.) of Russian literature on Polish culture.

Well then, we agree. I guess you're just arguing to argue?

But for God's sake, take back your naive "centuries of influence".

It didn't end in the 19th century.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Dominika, I advise you to read memories of Waclaw Lednicki.

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can order that online somewhere. I googled and he sounds fascinating.

Start from yourself and stop labelling and stereotyping your own compatriots, how about that?

This is a strange bit of advice coming from someone who's labeled *me provincial, arrogant and hateful of Poland. If you continue to make personal attacks and assumptions about my private life, then I will stop replying to you. It's getting tedious.

I'm not labeling anybody. Many Poles have a deep distrust of Russia that can't be compared to the British not liking Poles, because it's something that goes back for centuries. The fact that other countries have stereotypes too doesn't mean we should ignore our own problems or accept them as natural.

Nobody here has so far compared Poles to Croats or Serbs. All I've heard is how western European we are, and how we've been influenced by France, etc. Maybe so, but we're still not talking much about our common Slavic ties, whether it's because of insecurity or superiority, or ignorance, or any other reason.and we should because it's who we are.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

So much for the eternal friendship... :-)

I didn't say friendship. Dostoyevsky didn't like Poles, and the Pushkin-Mickiewicz relationship was a turbulent one. Other Russian writers admired him more. That doesn't mean Polish and Russian writers weren't influenced by each other. Considering they're next door, and have been neighbors for centuries, it would be impossible for no exchange to take place.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

"most of Europe" has NOT gone with their lives.

But they don't often throw bottles at them or make up murderous conspiracy theories. There are stereotypes everywhere, but the hatred that some Poles have towards Russians is more deep and intense. It's also more socially acceptable in Poland to stereotype other races, and I've noticed this repeatedly.

Stereotypes are the norm, but that's no excuse to sit back and do nothing? We got a person saying here that my Ukrainian friend was treated badly at work because she hasn't assimilated, and that there is no cultural exchange between Poland and Russia. It is a forum, so we're debating that, instead of sitting back and saying "that's life, it's the norm."

You don't know me personally, but if you enjoy playing pop psychologist online then go for it. I don't know what it has to do with anything - even if I'm arrogant and provincial, it still doesn't mean Russia hasn't influenced Polish culture and vice versa... I love Poland, and like all Poles I've got the right to love or leave Warsaw. Get over it already.

What I hate is when Poles deny their Slavic heritage to try and blend into the EU. Looking west is fine if you remember who you are, and as we see here some Poles don't really want to admit they have anything in common with the country they've lived next door to for centuries. Maybe it's a superiority complex. We think we're better than the Ukrainians and the undemocratic Kremlin.

I said I don't know much about what the Ukrainians did in Poland during WWII, and about the history of the Orthodox church. There is nothing wrong with not knowing everything.

You're twisting my words around just to get in another personal insult.

The only person who has to grow up is you, because I find many of your posts offensive and immature. If Poland is not "Europe" then what it is? Asia? Let me remind you that Ukraine is also in Europe so probably many Ukrainians would find your posts insulting as well. And most population of Russia lives in Europe too.

I've said previously that Poland is central Europe. It's not quite Europe when it comes to hatred against Russians and other stereotypes. Most of Europe is striving for better relations with Russia, and our inability to fully get there is also hurting us financially.

I find Russian culture distant and exotic. Ikons, Father Frost, Orthodox Church, cyrilics.

Have you ever been to Moscow? I don't think you'd find it as exotic as you think.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

legend:
Okay Shakespeare, substantiate your argument. I posted my links now you post yours.

Start by reading up on Mickiewicz, how he was received in St. Petersburg's literary saloons, his Crimean Sonnets, and how Russian writers were in turn influenced by him, and his views of Pushkin, who greatly admired him.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Poles have stereotypes, and that only makes us look backward.

Most of Europe has gone on with their lives. How often do you see other European nations shouting "Nazi Nazi" when the German football team comes to town?

But yet here we are, throwing bottles and shouting "kurwy" at the Russians, and imagining Putin with a smoke machine in Smolensk. And you think we're European? We got a lot of growing up to do, and a lot of insecurities to get over.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

My guess is your friend will not be accepted in poland until she assimilates into Polish culture and society.

She doesn't need to assimilate. What do you think she does at work exactly? Does she swing around incense and chant Russian Orthodox prayers?

In short Poles don't like Ukrainians, the cultural divide is too deep.

Oh ok, so it's fine to treat others badly if you don't like where they come from. Brilliant point.
Dominika99   
4 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Poles are b-tchy to my friend because they're "Western" and she's not? You're not making sense here...

Let's just say for the sake of argument that Russians are complete foreigners that we have nothing in common with. That gives us the right to treat them like cr-p and disrespect them?
Dominika99   
3 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Poland hasn't had a relationship with Russia because until Catherine the Great, Russia was a cultural backwater.

Every nation on this earth has had a relationship with Russian culture, to a greater or lesser extent.

Russian literature, for example, is genius and incomparable to any other literary tradition this earth has seen. I'm reading a collection of essays now by a Turkish writer in which he talks about growing up in Istanbul and reading Dostoyevsky and Gogol, and how those writers changed his life. It is impossible for a great writer NOT to be influenced by Russian writers, period.

How you can say there was no cultural exchange between Poland and Russia... is beyond me.

Imagine a beautiful woman wearing perfume walking through a room full of men. Not all the men will approach her, or even talk to her - maybe some will be afraid, because she's broken some hearts. But they will all smell her scent and the fragrance will linger in the room long after she's gone. The woman in this metaphor is Russia... ;)

So Poland has more in common with (I'll say France) than with Russia. Poland is a Western Country, it's the West.

Poland is actually central Europe, which doesn't include France but includes Slovakia and Slovenia. And if you want to talk geography, then you could also consider Turkey as an EU candidate. Does that mean Poland has more in common with Istanbul than St. Petersburg?

France? I've been to Paris and I've been to Moscow. In one of those cities, I could understand much of what was being said if the person spoke slowly. I could also eat potatoes with dill and pickles, and drink vodka if I wanted, and be with the people who (according to science) are the same as me down to genetics. I'll give you a clue, that city wasn't Paris.
Dominika99   
3 Nov 2012
History / Polish relation about Russians, Ukrainians? [281]

Actually are you Pole as you claimed before? I need to inform you that overheming majority of Poles are Catholics, not Protestants...

I was alluding to Germany with the Protestant comment.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Language / What has been the hardest language for you to learn? [81]

It's an incredibly sexy language, too, and sounds comforting like a bed time story. all those soft ts sounds just melt in your mouth.

There's something sexy about Scottish accents, too, but for entirely different reasons.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Language / What has been the hardest language for you to learn? [81]

Now my next challenge is going to be ... Russian. That DOES sound tricksy. Is it?

If you found Polish easy, Russian shouldn't be too hard - they're pretty similar. The Russian alphabet is daunting at first, but not that difficult when you get into it.

Russian to me is so soft, melodious and beautiful that speaking it is a pleasure. that was a good motivation to keep on studying it, at least for me.
Dominika99   
2 Nov 2012
Language / What has been the hardest language for you to learn? [81]

Then I guess your work here is done.

Speaking of Chinese, the writing is foreboding indeed, but speaking basic household Chinese (Mandarin) is easy enough to pick up. Once you get past the four intonations that vowels have.

I hope to learn some basic Japanese someday and maybe some calligraphy. It's beautiful, and a dream of mine is to visit Tokyo someday. I have a friend with Japanese heritage, and his photos from that city were pretty amazing.