UK, Ireland / What can I say/do about my Polish neighbours in the UK? [65]

An update, decided to let it slide even though of course it flared up at Easter weekend, then clamed down, but past week again has gone to extreme noise, I can hear the children in every room in the flat, and the parents loud voices on top, its not thin walls so they must just be making huge amounts of noise.

I have recovered a little bit from my health issues (the medication made me feel drunk all the time so the noise didn't help) and the nice weather has relaxed me a little so will go up tomorrow, im thinking now I said that its the nice weather that is making the kids noisy, and it sounds like the parents are having friends round due to nice weather bringing their own kids.

I still think its very rude as they can't be ignorant enough to not realise if the noise is high in their flat then people below will get it too.

I have started making random noises back at them though as that annoyed it must be having an effect as each time I do I hear male adult voice sounding irritated.

UK, Ireland / What can I say/do about my Polish neighbours in the UK? [65]

That is the point, the child I do hear screaming sometimes and slamming sounds often, and the ones last week weren't normal ones it sounded like they were knocking over large items of furniture.

Its hard to tell if they are anti social, don't know(though that is unlikely) or think that having a special child means they have a free pass to make noise.

And they slam doors here, and despire thick fire doors in every room I can hear them shouting across same room to each other (not in anger but everyday noise) why shout that loud!

Yes its social housing, I am on ground floor, normally I tolerate music as they play it at back of flat in the small bedroom and I sleep in big bedroom but it is there as well from like 6am so no matter what room I sleep in I will have some extreme noise.

I am a tolerant person, thats why I get agitated when its all take take take and lack of care for surroundings.

I would make a diary but kept forgetting at last place mostly as if it happened during night was half asleep, and during day as its random can't check but will attempt.

Its hard to write about their actions without seeming to be racist which is why I am trying to be careful, I have tried saying hello and try and start a conversation when seeing them in hallway but they never smile and say nothing back just stare so I am unsure if its them being tired, rude, or language barrier.

UK, Ireland / What can I say/do about my Polish neighbours in the UK? [65]

Jon that last part of response seems a little rude., at my last property I had a "neighbour" who didn't even live in same building but was related to family below bring his dog round before shift work. one fortnight I was woken between 1-6am every night sometimes 2 or 3 times, OTHER tenants in building complained but when confronted he got agressive and claimed racism and then he said he had a right to use our garden as he cut a corner (which he put his bbq on and rubbish) so he could use whole garden then went on about "lazy Brittish", 2 tenants in my building moved out due to HIS noise another drove lorries so away long periods and when he was home he complained about the neighbours noise so no its not me that has a problem.

Then a new family moved in and they complained about him, in fact I now moved in and friends moved into my old property and they complain about his noise, in the end when I was there I gave up and we just said hello to each other when saw us, apart from one time when it was 1-3am dog barking every night and got council involved and it stopped, he told council he was bringing dog round before work and he had a right to which is specifically why I want to be careful now even more so as currently have a broken hand so in a lot of pain so if it gets heated will be bad for me.

And I don't expect people to be silent, its a common misconception I instead want to avoid extreme noise right now I was kept awake to 3am then 7am onwards I heard kids, its not fair for that to happen as common sense should mean they realise they have neighbours, I can tolerate things like kids laughing, kids playing but only to a point, especially when they have a 2 bedroom flat and choose to have kids in one room letting off steam, I have in the past had double noise parents in living room sounding drunk or at least merry, and kids in both bedrooms creating noise so no peace, I literally mean hours upon end of noise not a single noise, silence for up to hour, another noise as the kid I think is different seems to smash toys into wall one time for 2 hours straight then cried a lot.

So 2 hours straight of slamming toys into wall!

Thats not same as kids getting excited.

Roz I was worried going to council will anger them more as they would feel I am petty by not speaking to them first and feels like a last resort.

But I still don't know what to say when contronting them, I will be of course angry but don't want to be walked over I want to say "hello how are you? I live downstairs and don't want to be rude but thought I would mention I hear a lot of noise from here, I was kept awake to 3am last night by loud tv, and woken most mornings at 6am by kids playing for hours"

But then im prepared for them to say "that never happens" or "you are exaggerating"

UK, Ireland / What can I say/do about my Polish neighbours in the UK? [65]

Nationality has to do with for one language barrier, and two as I have said twice I was asking if in Poland people had guests round for Easter I hope its clear now.

That and I didn't want to do anything that may be insulting to someone from Poland to them which may be ok in UK especially with the said language barrier.

UK, Ireland / What can I say/do about my Polish neighbours in the UK? [65]

To the person above I started one thread two years ago and I have only lived here a few months ago so how can I get advice from that when this is a different situation?

to the others yes I know they are Polish, I am worried about speaking to them being a single person who is vulnerable.

I get on with other tenants of building that are Polish so was hoping to speak to one of them as they would know the tenants better.

The other part was about tolerance, I was also worried if the child does have something like a disability they will accuse me of being cruel and hateful when I have my own disabilities.

But I also asked this to see if in Poland people had family over for Easter.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Ghetto in the UK is normally used as a insult to the people on benefits or the poor to imply a crime filled area, another word used is slums.

Yes the majority of tenants on this estate are Polish, it used to be a council/local government area but due to the reputation people moved away which is why the rent is so cheap, a ghetto stereotype is my flat used to have about 8 men in 2 bedrooms, and another flat across the road is the same and its a common theme which I have noticed.

There is so many Polish here a hairdressers opened up last month handing out leaflets in Polish(and English) where you get a free can of lager with every haircut(so follows the stereotype that Polish drink) I have seen teenagers wearing tracksuits shouting as well as drinking alcohol in the streets in Polish, I have seen teenagers use dirt bikes and quad bikes, and many of the houses and gardens around here look like slums like windows broken and/or covered up, gardens that have not been tidied so the grass is knee high, lager cans on the street

There is a few British people like myself on the estate but gradually moving away as they feel like they are the outcasts as their neighbours are Polish plus they also complain about the noise and drinking. There is 11 Romanian family on the estate and a single Hungarian male I know of that are violent

There is so many Polish people here that advertismenets for empty apartments are in English and Polish, and even jobs are now advertised in English and Polish in fact I have seen jobs ONLY advertise in Polish.

They even just opened a Polish restuarant near me that I want to visit..

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

I reported the noise and the fly tipping/rubbish to the authorities and since the then noise has gotten worse and its affecting other neighbours as they are being woken by the dog around 5am every morning, and he always slams the doors to wake everyone up.

And he is intentionally unlocking the door so local schoolkids and drunks walk in and harass the tenants, it was not even me that complained another neighbour said politely to lock the door when he comes round as drunks are coming round and waking people up, he either misunderstood due to language barrier and thought it was a attack on him or is just a nasty piece of work.

And the actual rubbish is getting worse, currently a bed next to bins, loads of smashed glass, a tv, a table etc all he dropped there for weeks.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Well he does live in a seperate building that is part of the issue since he should not possess a key to my garden, and apart from those 2 or 3 (rarely 4) times a day where the dog is loud I have no issues with him personally except when he does come round he unlocks the door meaning schoolchildren enter and use it as their private area. But I do know he breaks the law

I keep the mindset if someone does not bother me then do what they want within reason, I have lived with people who for example smoked cannabis and they were polite clean flatmates and only smoked outdoors, I lived with alcoholics who were friendly and a little noise now and again is accetpable.

So if I move to a different home I may get a neighbour without a dog but then they could have loud music and multple noisy guests I dont want to risk it plus I like my home.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

@Ironside Actually no, when I get tax letters delivered here as mentioned earlier which state he isnt paying taxes, when I get letters for his friend from new employers and police were looking for him and checked my house as thought he still lived here, oh and a few days ago I saw a local advert for a stolen motorbike that matched one that he had outside his house for 4 days before vanishing for 2 weeks which was the same time one of his friends was assaulted and a letter from the Police arrived stating he owed thousands for unpaid criminal charges.

When I see them illegally dumping waste

I have only ever reported him ONCE which was 8 months ago for noise and dog waste, and even though I dislike him I try and smile and talk to him whenever I see him but he ignores me that is a sign of me being a good neighbour of making an effort to be nice to him, I dont want to be his enemy if he was polite to me and apologised and said he didnt realise there was a problem I would of told him I dont mind him bringing the dog over and I was just annoyed at being woken up, id rather be someones friends rather than an enemy.

And bear in mind I have no issues with other neighbours.

Do you think its acceptable that someone wakes an entire building up around 5am every morning? And yes this dog barks very loudly that when I have been out of the home about 2 minutes walk away I have heard it, I have had guests visit that get woken up and say its loud its only worse because he does not stay in the building

I am acually UNDERsensitive, I put up with a lot, I have lived with alcoholics before and had no issues with them and above the bar where they had loud music I didn't mind and actually enjoyed, I lived in student accomodation which i didn't mind even though they did not clean up.

I dislike this as its intimidating behaviour from a bully

@Inpolska Well I did report the tax matter but worried if I report the noise and waste part he will know its me and get violent as he seems the type especially when in the past I have seen around 40 or more vodka bottles in his bin for a single weekend

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Another update, noise is still only a few times a day and for short time but is getting louder so I am woken around 5am every morning (and as mentioned before what angers me even more is he doesnt even live in my building)

He is dumping more rubbish at bins such as electricals which can be dangerous, every time I see him standing outside his home he looks at me angrily, or if theres 2 of them there they talk and both stare at me, he has even spit a few times.

I am fed up with this, and the noise gets louder and louder, I feel maybe another neighbour who moved out 2 months ago who had a baby who was woken up by the noise every morning may have complained to the authorities and he may be blaming me for this.

I feel now like I want to approach him and hit him with a weapon he is angering me so much.

Love / Just started dating Polish guy - what is typical of a man from Poland? Cultural differences. [78]

Where are you from? I knew a Polish guy where I used to live that was divorced (ex wife still in Poland with his young son) he used to have multiple sex partners a day even when he settled with a Scottish woman and even had a child with her but shortly after the childs birth she found out he was having sex with multiple women a day so left him.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Not at all, I would say the same no matter where someone was from it just happens percentage wise the bad problems I have had have been larger with Polish neighbours just like I have yet to meet a bad Polish female but multiple bad Polish males.

Just like I have had arguments with Polish people I know before who claim all British people are lazy and all Polish are hard workers, just as I have known multiple Polish men to do fraud, drink and be abusive, speed in cars or whatever, And I know multiple British people who are bad people who like to drink or harass people too and I have met people from multiple countries like that, Polish are just the main modern immigrant here so not been here long enough to integrate as well as they could, there may be more Asains but they are 2nd or 3rd generation.

That doesnt mean that most Polish people are bad it means the ones that live in certain fields of life are bad, that just so happen to be the one who live in areas I have lived (and the ones applying for certain types of jobs therefore too) Just like you get bad people of every culture.

Also to mention is that its like lets say 99 out of 100 people I like, you wont hear about the 99 people I like only the 1 I dislike, so if you only ever hear the bad you assume just the bad.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Strange, did you read the entire opening post or just the final one since it states there I had problems in multiple areas unless you are just reading the recent post and since I am talking about current neighbour you just assume thats all I meant.

Hard to tell really.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

I was a bit worried to outright complain so just contacted council about the waste.

Since then its got worse, I saw a razor blade next to the bins and a smashed mirrow, and the dog barking has gotten to stupid levels.

Right now its been barking for 15 minutes, and since the dog only takes 5 minutes or so normally to run around and do its business then the thug is doing this on purpose and the previous few days the dog barks far more, and as I say if the female brings out the dog or his male housemate the dog never barks, if he brings it out it barks constantly.

I was woken yesterday at 5.30am by the dog barking loudly too

The fool seems to always act as if he is the victim and if you complain he gets agressive so I cannot win,

I am still even angrier because he thinks he has a right o use other peoples property as his own, he harassed a neighbour last year when the locks were changed saying "this is how we do it in Poland, we share" yet all he has done for my building is cut a small patch of grass about once a month and outright says that gives him the right to use my garden,

If I walked into a strangers garden with a mower and cut a small area then said to the owner that I have a right to use the whole garden as my own now, I would not get away with it.

He did try and claim racism before when I complained to council about noise.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

In the UK its a little unclear on what is allowed, they say opening letters is an offense, but they also mention things like if its for the purpose of forwarding letters and similar it seems to be ok.

We do have a system which makes the person use their signature of proof of delivery but it costs extra and so unless its for certain legal things its not used or when sending parcels.

Genealogy / Do I look Polish? (my picture) [375]

I seem to have a mixed face, my father had blonde hair and blue eyes, my mother black hair and brown eyes so I have brown hair and hazel eyes.

When I speak to Polish people I meet they are surprised I am not Polish, my grandfather was Polish though.

My mother has been assumed to be Greek or Italian multiple times due to her skin type and hair style and body frame.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Yeah I opened some letters by accident, as I get letters from the jobcentre about my disability sometimes I am tired and dont look at the name on the letter just notice its from the jobcentre, and when I first moved here I opened a bank letter as they are with same bank, have had bank cards sent here too even recently.

The job one was because it was a handwritten envelope so couldnt see the name and only found out when I opened it as it was a printed letter, and the court/police one was because the name was covered on the envelope so couldnt tell without opening it.

I wasnt sure about reporting since if I do they will assume even correct it was me, I think other neighbours complained about noise and he just blamed me as he knew I made a complaint to council months ago.

Not sure about local Polish community place to check, there is a residents council but for everyone and I know he is one of the leaders of it which is why I think he gets away with things and why he had a few garden parties (in MY garden) last year whilst only inviting local Polish so hes friends with everyone, because of that I am sure thats why since I complained I get people park their vans outside me and shout swear words in Polish or chuck rubbish at me and many I recognise as his friends.

The other things he does are more annoying than bad, he uses all of the parking spaces for my flat for himself and his friends meaning people in my building are forced to park on the street, he has even intimidated people before for parking in "his" space

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Actually I am classified as a vulnerable person, and the few times I tried speaking to him he claimed not to speak English, only when I complained to the council he then spoke to me in English and was very agressive leaning over me and shouting.

Each time since then I have tried speaking to him and he just gives me a bad look and speaks quietly and walks off in other direction.

They have the same landlord and back when I originally had problems when I moved in they just laughed and ignored the landlords comments, I am not sure about utilities but I think they are doing tax fraud, they previously lived in my apartment and there was 8 people in a 2 bedroom apartment, 16 months after moving in I still get letters from the taxman saying they owe money for at least the last 3 tax years, I get pension letters, bank statments, bank cards and last week got a letter saying the guy owed a £2000 fine from the criminal court and at same time a letter telling him he got a new job and where to go.

Since they havent informed the government or taxman or employers they have moved house its suspicious.

And also they are not paying business tax, they use the public bins for their work waste they work as house furniture removers where they get the old furniture for free, varnish and clean what they can sell on and dump what they cant in the bins or next to them outside their flat, this means I have seen beds, sofas, carpets, even tyres and about 6 weeks ago they dumped GLASS doors next to the bins that smashed and they havent cleaned up and they never recycle meaning that every Friday when bins are emptied by council that evening the public bins are full of their waste.

I have been out there before and seen him and friends put dozens of vodka bottles and beer cans in bin, I am talking about 40 or more vodka bottles over a weekend and over a hundred beer cans.

He did kick my door many times a few weeks ago when I locked it because each time he comes round he unlocks it but we live near a school so if we dont they use it or the homeless people come in.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

I know but in terms of average number of people here, I have had far less problems with locals than Polish which seem to be almost constant, my downstairs neighbours daugher has a Hungarian neighbour who is very violent and police are often called.

Yet 2 Polish men attacked each other outside my flat a few weeks ago.

Back to the neighbour I am having issues with, he has just bought a motorbike and likes to loudly start the engine and let it run and if he sees me at the window he laughs, I have tried to be nice to him and smile at him each time I see him but he gives me angry looks and when he walks past me says something in Polish that sounds like a swearword I saw on Google yet he does this after having the cheek to walk into my garden where he has no right to enter and letting his dog bark.

And I am sure he is commiting tax frauds as I get letters in his name to my property as he lived here before I did but moved out 2 years ago but runs his own business, other reason for thinking this is he uses the public bins to fill them up with furniture as he runs a business where he gets free furniture and cleans and fixes it and sells it for profit and puts broken furniture in the bins meaning no one else can use them and business pays higher taxes to council and have their own private bins.

My neighbour went away for about 3 weeks and have come back and intentionally intimidating me, when the girlfriend is around and taking the dog out its quiet and you dont even know its there, when he does it the dog barks a lot and I see him laughing, and if you happen to look out the window when hes there he automatically assumes you are looking at him and you see him say something and wave his fists.

He starts his motorbike multiple times and looks at my window with a nasty smile on his face.

A few days ago the front door to my building closed despite being unlocked and I went across to politely ask him to borrow his key and he stood at his window giving me the finger and shouting then standing at his window watching me, when I finally got in 10 minutes later he came round with his dog and made it bark louder than usual and slammed the door and started yelling in the garden.

He still thinks he is the victim despite my upstairs neighbour moving out due to the noise and attitude he has, I have another neighbour who is deaf in one ear who gets woken up around 5am every day from his noise as he slams his vans doors multiple times as he loads his van or his friends arrive and he laughs at my elderly neighbour or claims he speaks no English, yet when I complained to local authorities about him he suddenly spoke perfect English.

Life / What is Poland's view on obesity? How healthy, fit are Poles? [166]

Most Polish males I have met have been very muscular and go to the gym often, and also quite loud like their alcohol and the "lad" lifestyle such as playing loud music and thinking they are the best looking person around.

I have met a few overweight women, one seemed to be flirting with me before, she was a very attractive woman, she seemed to think I was Polish (maybe due to my Polish blood as I notice facial features on Polish and I have similar ones which are different than British people and many Polish people I meet automatically assume I am Polish too)

Was quite funny how the men would drink huge amounts of vodka then assume as they were thin they were healthy and anyone overweight was unhealthy.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Well to be fair, I think its more of the fact the neighbours I have had get offended easily rather than just being bad people. Even the ones I have had problems with were friendly before they just seem naive to how they affect other people.

Most of the ones that drank invited me to drink with them but I said no, its only after you complain they get agressive and offended, like the one with the dog who had a few parties in my garden last year so there was about 30-50 people in my garden from 7am to midnight and kids running and noisy and dogs barking, they did clean most of the trash but there was still some there and then the problem was all they did was fill up the bins for the building and not even bother putting them out for binmen, another time had like 10 of their friends come round with kids and sit in garden all day smoking whilst they kids ran about and they were listening to music.

I dont think that is bad people as much as they are treating my garden as a public park at the expense of people who live here so its more ignorance and if you speak to them they are friendly.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

I do not live in England I live in Scotland, and I personally do not drink alcohol(just makes me sleepy and depressed) I used to drink a little when younger but even then only to socialise in a bar mostly at a weekend rather than just for the sake of it.

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

I assume there is variation on colourings and such, I know im America sweets and drinks are flavoured with corn syrup rather than sugar, Americans think UK sweets are very sickly and sweet but I find American sweets very sickly and American chocolate is said to taste like sick, and I tasted some before and I thought the same and I have a sweet tooth.

I find Belgian chocolate quite nice but Swiss chocolate far too sweet and creamy

I prefer boiled sweets anyway.

I only eat ready meals as I am a single person so to spend as much a hour preparing food is quite time consuming and I dislike reheated food.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

I have a disability that makes me listen, its called autism I am quite obsessive over little things.

Thought I would update as I think my Polish neighbour is trying to harass me, I didnt mention a few months ago I reported him for noise and dog waste as he kept bringing it around my garden multiple times a day, his girlfriend is fine and when she walks the dog it never barks but it always barks with him, and after I complained the noise increased though its only 2 or 3 times a day for a few minutes.

Tonight it barked for 5 minutes which sounds like he was doing it on purpose, and in past for 14 days I was awoke around 2-5am every morning when he takes the dog for a walk in my garden before work.

I think its more ignorance than him being a bad person and I think he thinks he is the victim and got offended when I reported him despite him ignoring me before claiming he spoke no English then after I complained suddenly speaks English, don't think I mentioned yet that his friends on the estate now park their vans beside me on street and say swear words in Polish.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

To clarify what I originally meant was 2 seperate things, that I meant Eastern European languages sounded confusing if spoken too fast to process compared to Western Europe where in general its easier to notice differences between languages like French and German but its easy to assume if someone sounds French they are French(or Belgian) if they speak what seems to be German they will be German, but when I travelled to places like Hungary and Romania and the further I got towards the ex soviet countries I found the words stronger and similar but still able to tell them apart as I know a few random words of different languages such as greetings.

I did read in past about Romania and Moldavia having tension but every Romanian person I have ever spoken to has claimed there is none and they are the same people.

This thread is wandering badly - please stick to the topic

Love / Polish - Pakistani relationship. How it works in reality? Are Pakistanis a good men? [76]

Like anything you get good and bad people from any country or culture its due to a mix of religion and upbringing.

SOME men from certain Asian cultures see women as second class citizens, sometimes even see the women as property some will not drink alcohol, some will drink a lot of alcohol.

There was a Asian girl murdered by her parents around 2006 because she wanted a white boyfriend and she rejected a arranged marriage.

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

Actually your comment was more ignroant as I never said Hungary and Romania were ex soviet countries, I said I have travlled to places like Hungary and Romania not that they were ex soviet countries it was to imply I had been to different European countries.

Also I am disabled so my wording is not the best, I am a little offended you assumed something from me.

But for your information places like Romania and Moldavia are basically seen as the same by Romanian people I know(at least the young)

Food / What Polish foods and brands do you miss when you go to other countries? [216]

The food I am thinking of now I take another thought I think it was a long thick bar with orange cream rather than small pieces, rather like a Mars bar

UK, Ireland / My bad experiences with Polish neighbours in UK (not meant to offend) [173]

To be fair at most I notice a little similarities in words in the ex Soviet countries but I have travelled places like Hungary and Romania and had Ukrainian and Russian friends so unless someone is speaking fast and I get confused I can pick up individual words.

This is part of reason why I want to learn basic languages and I want to visit Poland because of my link to it

Not quite the same but when I was in Europe people quickly said I was English when I am Scottish, and even people like American tourists were assumed to be English due to their main language.

What was funny was a few months ago I was on holiday in a part of Scotland and noticed a shop worker called Agnes, I noticed she had a foreign accent so asked where she was from and she said she was Hungarian and its a common name there!(its was common in UK especially Scotland and Ireland till recent decades)