Why Polish people should be proud of being Polish?

Yeah, there are... not delicious, though.

And thanks for the jazz.


Oj, bo się pogniewamy...

Polish chocolate is just perfect, cadburys and German or Belgian chocolate seem to be too 'rich' and sickening.


yeah just orange, boring! isn't it weird how in Poland everything comes in many flavours? stuff like chocolate (UK don't really make chocolate with fillings, in Poland you can get virtually any flavour you want), crisps, chewing gum, yoghurt...

I said it's ok but I had better. What can I tell you: I love Ferrero Rocher. It's bit like Polish kasztanki.


I read a book about her life but I don't think this was mentioned anywhere.


I had no idea that she started sculpting. I saw the exposition of her tapestries (so called Abakany) back in Poland. Thanks for the correction.

Oh dear. Oh no. Many admirable Polish achievements but chocolate is definitely not one of them. Aside from American & German, the worst I've tasted I'm sorry to say. Tastes like cooking chocolate.

She was always a sculptor. Those abakany are also kind of scuptures (just made of textiles).


No problem. :)


It depends what book have you read as she was very mistrieus person (and telling made up stories about her own life) and she often has been hiding the fact that her father was Russian as she hated him very much.


The best chocolate I've ever eaten is chocolate favoured ginger. It was special edition by Wedel, not to buy in shops (haha, mam wtyki).

Wedel is not anymore Polish. It was one of Cadbury brand, but recently was sold to Japanese.

Doesn't matter really. Wedel is is a traditional maker, they kept the recipes and people even during the commie regime, so we can rightly think of it as a Polish producer.


Now there's one thing important in the topic - you have to stick to Wedel, this is the Polish chocolate. Other makers are sorry amateurs, even if they happen to make this and that palatable.

Unless you have warped taste, that is :)

I had big hopes about Cadbury, disappointed. Belgian chocolate the same, although my experience is not too big.

Edit: In the sweets topic: pierniki. From Toruń, traditionally. Especially those, possibly less traditional, chocolate coated.

OK, so Wedel is the one then - can't honestly say if I've had it or not. Maybe I just had the sh1te stuff.


What do you mean - that you can get lots of different flavours of the above in Poland?
Nothing unusual in that.


Well, not really. There are limited edition variations (e.g. blackcurrant, lemon, strawberry) and if you exclude actual McVitie's Jaffa Cakes, other manufacturers do all sorts of flavours regularly: cherry, raspberry, lime etc etc.

not really, they lost the traditional recipes when they sold it, some old employee walked with it.


Not really - if you looking polish chocolate:

look for the logo

Now I'm going to be mad at you, you blasphemous you: Wawel chocolate factory, producing kasztanki and mieszanka krakowska (cukierki/galaretki w czekoladzie or Krakow Chocolate Covered Jellies Mix) is doing great job. Ha.

Yeah and that one as well:

Taking under consideration the history of Poland - it is a quite hard task to find anything to be proud of. All our national heroes are loosers. They lost. Take under consideration the battle of Grunwald (or Tannenberg as Germans call it). We win, but the outcome of this battle was disastrous.

Or Kosciuszko - he lost. Even king Sobieski died as a bitter man, cursing Poland an Poles. The same as Piłsudski. Our national heroes are not winners and victorious leaders. They are people who bravely fight the lost battles, and dies in a highly heroic, poetic and totally unneccesarey way. Kapitan Raginis is a kind of symbol.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Raginis

But there is something I am proud of. And ashamed at the same time. It's the love towards (as they called it in the old times) golden freedom. This was (and is) what define "Polishness". In XV and later century whole Europe was ruled by the absolutist monarchy. Except Poland. Our king was elected. This democracy was something unusual. There was a saying that "Szlachcic na zagrodzie równy wojewodzie". (Man on his own grounds is equal to the governor) It was a strong "get off my lawn" culture.

During the Swedish invasion they destroy us quite fast. And they tried to put some orders in place. Only to find out that the Poles are totally "unmanageable" .

successful nation doesn't need heroes, not for everyday though !
Poland was a great state for about 300 years, its more than entire history of US!

I’m proud that Poland raised many times form ashes on her own, like Fenix. I'm proud of our rich culture, natural beauty, our traditions and customs, our religious heritage, our own language, our ancestors, the way I was raised, tight family ties. I'm proud of what Poland stands for and what it's all about. I'm happy when Poland and Polish people are doing well, I'm sad when some disaster strikes.

I'm Polish and I like it.

And I looove fast tram in Kraków :)

What does Poland stand for???

“The soul of Poland is indestructible... she will rise again like a rock, which may for a spell be submerged by a tidal wave, but which remains a rock.” Sir Winston Churchill, Speech to the House of Commons, 1939

As from my personal experience warm, hospitable and friendly slavic people.

Yeah, and that one, too :)

Erm...a nice quote and I'm sure you can find nice quotes about ANY country..so really...what does Poland stand for that is especially polish?

freedom and tolerance !

That is uniquely polish???
Poland the "Land of the Free"??? ;)

Nah...don't think so....gimme something else..

Look I don't want to rouse a stink (honestly) but it's a question Germans ask themselves too and most other people do so too...

I for one find most stereotypes about Germans more or less fitting...and when they picture Germans as beer drinking, Bratwurst/Sauerkraut eating, meticulous, diligent, determined, philosophical mechanics I like that...that is something especially german I think (even as we have also a world to offer regarding music, art and literature).

(Not to forget that Nazi thing)
These stereotype is used the world over when people speak about Germans...so I think it could be seen as especially german.

So...what is this especially polish thing?

Why it has to be uniquely Polish? Universal isn't good enough?


don't forget leader-hose and yodeling ;)

But we are not talking about national stereotypes here, BB.

Was that a joke? I thought the lack of tolerance was more like it...

*ignores that*


I know...I just wanted to make it more clear what my question was about.

Why would you think like that ?


Why?

Honestly...most people have no idea about the grande time of the Polish/Lithuanian empire and the Szlachta and all that.

Modern people remember Poland as either partitioned (if they are interested in central european history that is) or occupied or commie...nothing of which speaks especially of freedom.

That many international Jews still hold a grudge against Poland beaten only by their grudge against Germany doesn't help either...nor does the millions of Poles EMMIGRATING from Poland away into the land of the free (the US and others) strengthen the impression that Poland is a country of freedom and tolerance itself.

Just my two pfennigs..

Well apart from the reputation of Poland, almost every student I had would say they wished that Poland would be a more tolerant country. Krakow was not too bad, but when i moved to the countryside people weren't that tolerant of the new Scottish guy (the rumours that went around were fantastic though:D ).

To sum up Poland very succinctly and to paint a picture that many others will understand and relate to it is necessary to resort to stereotypes - as BB has done.

I don't think it's very easy to do otherwise. Some of the stereotypes may have truth to them but they are ususally inaccurate on a few levels. To be pithy, you must overgeneralise - unless someone wants to submit a thesis entitled "The Magnificence of Poland" ??

But knowing this site, someone probably already has ; )

BB, we are not talking about Poland's image in the world today. It's simply about Polish people's pride of their own country.

I for one find most stereotypes about Poles completely unfitting... and when they picture
Poles as backwards, xenophobic car thieves, I don't like that.

*believe it or not - I've never stolen a car in my life! :)*

Unfortunately, there will always be negative stereotypes about Poland, as we can't compete
with centuries of anti-Polish German propaganda: untermenschen, Polnische Wirtschaft,
Pole-Kathole (whatever that is supposed to mean) etc. etc. and anti-Polish Russian propaganda:
stupid Poles (Soviet Union started hysterical anti-Polish propaganda, after we kicked their red
empire's ass in 1920 - stupid Polaks were not able to appreciate "the progress" that communism
was bringing them), traitors of Slavic cause, Latin thorn in a healthy Slavic body etc. etc.

Simply, German and Russian propagandas put together had much more money and possibilities
to spread lies about Poles than we could ever do to counter those lies.

Besides - we are, on average, more intelligent, more honest, more handsome and spritually
and morally superior to any other nation in the world (and that of course doesn't arouse
warm feelings towards us in all those lesser nations).


Decency, humbleness and modesty, I'd say.

Aha...you are the one!


Yeah...wishful thinking and all that but seriously now...

PS: And we are so much more handsome!!!! But believe it or not Germans suffer some bad stereotypes too...fat, hairy (the women), dour, humourless, arrogant...I wonder where they got that from..must be that mean polish propaganda! :(