Love / Any particular Polish customs or traditions that I should know about in my relationship? [45]

A general rule (not written in stone though) is that people celebrate the name day that is the first in the calendar after the person's birthday.

Language / The usage and future of the special Polish letters: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ż, ź (Polish language) [203]

I wish you wrote a similar text a few pages before when I was being patronized about my Polish skills.

History / What was it like in 1989+ in Poland when the Soviet house of cards fell? [237]

I went to Poland 1990. My mom sent me to the grocery store to get a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. She gave me a 500,000zl note. I came back with with just over $100,000zl.

History / What was it like in 1989+ in Poland when the Soviet house of cards fell? [237]


oops, I guess this became second nature :)
It was a few cents, I believe.


It's been a long while since then, so I may be wrong by a million or two.

History / What was it like in 1989+ in Poland when the Soviet house of cards fell? [237]


Your statement needs clarification.

As I admitted above, I may have been wrong. There were lots of zeros on those sheets of paper called money. Of course your concept of admission of error is something out of your personal experience so I'm not surprised you're trying to get to a pissing match. Just, please, don't bring in Poland's 1938 "invasion" of Czechoslovakia into this.

I did business in Poland at the time and inflation was so huge and fast paced that all accounting was done in dollars. And the business was wonderful! Average cost to profit on my end was between 1/10 to 1/20.

History / What was it like in 1989+ in Poland when the Soviet house of cards fell? [237]


I guess I'm not the only one whose memory is blurry.

Without googling, I honestly cant remember what things cost. I lost track about the time when "Copernicus shook hands with Washington" (1988?). It went down fast since then and the issue resurfaced in my mind around 1990/92 (not sure) when they caught a couple in FLA. The produced counterfeit Polish 200,000zl notes, which at the time was roughly equivalent to $20 USD


Not at all. My profit margin was actually lower than it is in many cases for goods you buy daily (do you own any Nike garments of shoes). The prices the goods I sent were sold in Poland were about 25% to 50% below market at the time, so I helped a lot of Poles get the goods they needed at prices lower than offered by others. Quantity, Harry. Quantity is the key. But you may be unfamiliar with the concept due to the nature of your per hour business model.

Love / Arabs: "Polish women are easy and stupid" [132]


First, we don't know if this describes a Pole or not. The man used English. Could have been Bratwurstboy or Crow.

Second, compared to Saudi Arabia, Poland is a paradise of freedom. Try to tour Saudi Arabia with your a girl friend, or just another female who is not your sister or wife. Nothing kinky, just a short tour to see what's baking in the oil country. Wear shorts and a t-shirt. Ask her to wear that too. Then report here how you guys did. We'll wait for the entire length of the prison terms you get.

Good luck.

Work / Moving Back to Poland after living in Canada for 24 years. IT jobs market? [26]

Key account manager - starts at around $50K plus, but $60K-$70K is the middle of the road.
Accountants make good money too if they have local experience. $60K and up average, $80 to $$120K in well established businesses or senior government positions. With an accounting experience from outside of Canada don't expect your wife to get any better than $40K while she pursues local certifications. If the gets CGA and such then it's a decent dollar.

Life in GTA (greater toronto area) ain't cheap, or pleasant for that matter. It's a big garbage bin.

My house (just over 100km from Toronto) would cost 2 to 5 times more in TO than what I paid. In fact people routinely pay more than the asking price!!! Rental vacancy rate is very low (bounces around 1%) which puts a lot of pressure on renters. You can find a 2BR apt. for under $1000/mo but that would be in an area where you'd be best advised to hire a body guard.

Language / How to understand and remember the Polish nominative plural form? [9]


plural is te rozpacze

Language / The usage and future of the special Polish letters: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ż, ź (Polish language) [203]


Not familiar with the book, just with the process of compensatory lengthening. It happened on other languages too and traces can be seen even in English. From what I remember, the process consisted of lengthening (sometimes refereed to as heightening of vowels due to the change of articulation). Polish "ó", phonetically /u/ is its consequence and it occurred before voiced consonants as yer in Polish vanished. Some modern examples, with "traces" of yer (therms used loosely here) are various noun forms such as róg - rogu, mróz - mrozu.

Compensatory lengthening took place only before voiced and nasal sounds, hence there is no "nós" but "nos" (nose).

Sorry I can't be of more help.
The yers in Slavonic, and especially its evolution in languages such as Polish still bring back some memories of horror. That, and the development of tooth in grade 9 biology :)

Love / Polish dating tips [40]


I never tipped or was tipped for dating ;)

Travel / Most beautiful small towns / villages of Poland [49]

not mentioned yet, but very pretty:

Klodzko
Biecz
Gniew
Nowy Sacz
Zielona Gora (not really that small but not a big one either)
Chelmno aka Little Torun
Cieszyn

Life / Who is poor in Poland? [720]


See? Case in point.
Only 4 PC machines in a family is not that many, is it?

Love / My Polish girlfriend's mother called her a prostitute because we live together [113]


So you know most Polish mothers?


That example says nothing about Polish mothers.

Love / In Polish relationships who is the boss? [46]


Hence a Polish poet wrote:

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Oh wait!
He wasn't Polish at all!

History / What was it like in 1989+ in Poland when the Soviet house of cards fell? [237]


Czeresnie (sweet cherries) and Wisnie (sour cherries)


Always plenty of superb quality cherries in Poland during commie times. But only in the growing season.


Cherries grow great in Poland. Many varieties. And Polish climate is not cold but moderate.

News / Conservative-liberalism (Laissez-faire liberalism), another utopia for Poland? [99]


Looks awesome. On paper.
What you described is wishful thinking while the true nature of business is totally different. Given full deregulation of business the supply and demand scheme just doesn't work.

This is how the real, deregulated world works:

A business buys another business. Makes more money, so it buys yet another business so it can make even more money so it can buy yet another business and so on until one company owns it all. And then the demand and supply is immaterial The business charges whatever it wants.

Haven't you heard about Standard Oil (now Esso)? American Telephone & Telegraph?
Neither was good for the US and neither operated on your supply/demand principle. Hence, government regulation is not necessarily a bad thing.

Further to your roads proposition - are you drunk?

Life / The Polish Way to Ask Questions [41]


I don't think there is a problem with the way Poles ask questions. Some nations have certain peculiarities in the way they speak. For instance the English pretend to be interested in knowing how you are doing. That's alright, even if it is very wasteful - one person lies about wanting to know something and the respondent often lies about how she or he is in fact doing. Simple "hi" or "hello" would be sufficient. But oh well, that's how they talk. I'm not infuriated by that, I just find it hilarious.

I think the problem is with the listener who get infuriated because of a simple act of being asked a not impolite question in a country with a different culture. Not better, not worse - just different.

News / How long will it take for the first 9/11 to occur in Poland? [55]


Poland had 9/11 almost every day between 1939 and 1945, and plenty of it before that too.
The 9/11 in the US, while it certainly had a global impact, left a lot of Europeans "unimpressed".
American actions in Middle East resulted from at least 150 times more casualties than 9/11.

News / How long will it take for the first 9/11 to occur in Poland? [55]


It's impossible to say what I did without referring to the past. You asked How long will it take for the first 9/11 to occur in Poland? and I'm saying this is a silly question because things like that took place in Poland in the past. They didn't take place in the future.

Life / Help with US appliances in Poland - Power converters? [3]

Make sure the power converter is suitable for the actual device you are going to use in Poland. Some will be fine with motors but not with electronics. There is a bit more to electricity than just Volts.

News / Over 2 million Poles drowning in debt [19]


The whole planet is in debt.
Global debt is $39,650,464,730,351 as of a few minutes ago. That makes it 5,852 per person worldwide. Those 2.1 million Poles owe less than the global average - $5,348 per person.

History / Symbols & Signs in Polish History, Culture & Life [89]


Some of the best sources are movies. One example is "Rejs"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cruise_(film)

The entire movie is available online (in parts) and it's in Polish. I'm unaware of English subtitles.

One of the items used in Poland that I never saw elsewhere were trojaki or dwojaki (triplets or twins/doublets?), sometimes known as menażka. It was use to transport meal mostly by those who worked in larger organozations (such as bog factories" where they had canteens/diners. Dinner would be very inexpensive. There uninsulated so in Winter the dinner had to be reheated.

There was also a version with 4 compartments. The bottom one was usually used for soups, the other ones for the more solid types of food (meat, potatoes, veggies etc):

• 
  
  

History / Symbols & Signs in Polish History, Culture & Life [89]


This superstition originates from England and is based on adventures of one churchman by he name of Dunstan.

History / Symbols & Signs in Polish History, Culture & Life [89]


If you're somewhat easy on the eye then it's not unthinkable that someone would consider it an awesome deal. You never know what that might lead to ;)

A lot of men like playing with buttons.

History / Symbols & Signs in Polish History, Culture & Life [89]


It is now illegal in Ontario (for new chimneys and chimney repairs) to use material other than stainless steel to line the inside of the chimney. The lining helps prevent fires and explosions.

History / So called "inconvenient parts" of Polish history - what do you think? [156]



so where are the remaining 100,000+ minus one photographs of Polish SS voluntieers?

History / Symbols & Signs in Polish History, Culture & Life [89]

- spilled salt - quarrel will ensue
- spilled sugar - accord is certain
- fork falls on the floor - someone will visit.
- soap falls on the floor - expect the unexpected
- shattered mirror - 7 years of misery
- itchy nose - someone is gossiping about you or there will be some serious drinking
- bridegroom must not see the wedding dress before the wedding ceremony
on a wedding day in church, all candles have to be of equal length, otherwise the marriage won't be a happy one
- don't lend (or vie as a present) sharp objects, such as knives, needles etc, otherwise there will be quarrel
- bread must always be with the flat side down, or quarrel will ensue
- one does not give away recipes unless they are subsequently passed on to yet another person, otherwise the recipes stop working for those who gave them away

- black cat crossing your path brings bad luck, which can be remedied by spitting over the left shoulder

News / For all Americans worried about Schengen in Poland, dont worry about it. [142]


Polish emigrants send money to Poland. For 2010 it was $9.1B. Not a trivial amount.
Poland's entire expenditures on education in 2009 were 35.6B PLN, or $12.46. I think Poland is getting a good bang for the buck on their people it educates and who later return the favor with a significant tip.

On the other side, SOME Poles living in Poland use Polish taxpayer's money to spend it in the US. An example is Polish Ministry of Health that finances various gigs in the US to cover their de facto shopping trips.

News / For all Americans worried about Schengen in Poland, dont worry about it. [142]


That figure is according to World Bank data, so yes, I imagine in reality it's much more. Those "fistfuls of dollars" a lot of Polonia visiting Poland hand into the hands of their siblings, nephews etc are definitely not accounted for. Neither are the material goods or the funds they spend on every day activities such as travel, food and so on. This is all pur profit for Poland, not just internal shuffling of money from one pocket to another in the same pair of pants.

In the US and Canada, parcel services to Poland are still a good business.