Life as a African American man in Poland

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The time is nearing for my first visit to Poland. As I stated in my initial post on the forum, I am an African American man planning on starting a new life in Warsaw after I graduate from my university in a year. In May of 2013, I will take my first trip there as something of a "preview of things to come," if you will. I will be flying out alone and finding housing on my own. I do, however, have a few Polish penpals who have said they want to hangout as soon as I arrive. After discussing this with a few of close friends from my childhood, they seemed to be a bit worried. There was the outlandish, stereotypical "What if those people are really psycho neo nazis who want to kill you" theory and quite a few others that I simply wrote off. I am not ignorant to the fact that everyone on the internet is not who they say they are but I doubt people I've had hour-long Skype cam conversations with for months are murderers. My uncle, who is an African American and Turkish man, said that he did not like the area of Poland he visited a year ago (Katowice) but assured me Warsaw would be fine. He said and I quote, "Katowice has a lot of racists but Warsaw shouldn't be too bad, it is the capital after all." I am not exactly sold on that being an acceptable example of how tolerable it is.

If there are any other African Americans who have can shed light on this, please chime in. I'd also be interested in hearing comments from Polish men and women on the matter. I am typically quiet and well-mannered so I doubt that I'd even be noticed but, on the other hand it would be hard not to notice a black man in a European country that receives so few immigrants. When I mentioned my meek demeanor to a friend, she claimed I was "too handsome not to notice."

This might give you a bit of an idea:

A black man in Poland blog.

abmip.blogspot.com.au

Incidentally why Poland?
Regarding work, what what are you going to look for?

Incidentally why Poland?
Regarding work, what what are you going to look for?[/quote]

Hey, man. Thank you for being the first person to reply. I'm actually hoping to get a job with the Warsaw Voice. I've prepared my portfolio over the years I've spent in university and I'm hoping they are impressed!

Good luck with that, are you going to apply for any position in particular?
And any reason that you chose Poland as your destination?

If you attempt to speak the language you will charm the pants of the ladies(or men if that is your thing). In Poland, like any other country, you will come across ignorant potatoes--just like you would in any other country.

My daughters best friend is a Polish born Vietnamese girl. I notice that people tend to stare at her when she is with us.--but that could me my issue and people look at her more out of curiosity rather than hatred. Her Polish is flawless.

If you make the effort people will appreciate it. I also think that Poles are quite accepting and open.

Just don't do the loud American thing. You will be fine.

Thank you for the well wishes. They are much appreciated!

I'd like to do what I do at my current job, which is being a staff writer. I'll be getting my degree in broadcast journalism in a year so being an anchorman is my dream position but, the fact is, no one gets to do that right off the bat. You have to work your way up the ladder. Progress is a slow process so I'm willing to take my time.

As for why Poland, I addressed that in my "New Member Introduction" post. Essentially, it is because I believe I could benefit from immersing myself within a culture completely different from my own. Poland's history has always intrigued me. I did a research project on the country my senior year of high school and learned quite a bit. Recently, I've joined the Polish Student Association at my university (its very small and open to anyone who is interested in Polish culture, not just people of Polish descent) and I learn something new every time I go to the meetings.

It's a great place to live. One word of caution - plenty of people have come to Poland planning just to pass through - then ending up liking it so much they stay for ever!

Good luck - I think you'll enjoy it. Especially Warsaw, fast becoming one of the great European cities but still on a human scale.

That's very interesting. It's quite brave to up sticks to live in another country.