I'm from China and I would like to ask about the real experience of life in Poland

I have been living in this country for over 40 years, yet the air pollution by power generation hasn't killed me - so it's not that bad

What if you die of cancer caused by air pollution within 1, 2 years from now??? It would be quite too early, wouldn`t it???

Air pollution is the reason why I don't come to Poland in winter.

Oh, come on. Cut down on that hystery. You don`t need to visit Zakopane in winter. You can go to primordial forests in Białowieża region. You will see aurochs and breathe fresh air. Ha!

Yet.

Poland doesn't have a high life expectancy and people there tend to look older than, say, Brits, Irish or French of the same age


For me, it's the crowds there. I'd rather go for a winter break in Podlasie or around Płock.

@jon357
Average life expectancy in USA is only 6 months longer than Poland. While I would agree that many do not age well here, that is really more indicative of the generation that experienced the Soviet lifestyle. People really do take care of themselves in the cities more so than in the country. I believe it is an environmental thing and being exposed to different ways of life in metropolitan area's. The pollution this year is worse than in the last few years, people are burning more due to fuel prices, but still in Krakow it is not so bad. In the mountains though, its crazy how much people are burning.

That's still low; the US doesn't do well on life expectancy either.


To a point yes, however the diet is still heavy on carbohydrates and processed meat products.

It was a horrific sight to see all the black coal smoke billowing out of the chimneys. Poles burn their garbage as well, plastic bottles etc.... Instead of paying a few zoltys for proper pick up. I understand some ppl aren't as fortunate and everyone needs heat. Cough,cough!

Another thing you wont see a lot of in Poland are elevators in apartment buildings. They have to walk up and down 10 flights of stairs each trip. I think they were built by the Commies.

If you need to lose some weight...There you go!

When I moved to Poznań, there was something I couldn't put my finger on, something strangely nostalgic that I hadn't felt for many years. Eventually I figured it out. It was the taste of coal smoke that I remember from childhood in a coal mining community.

Except it was worse; Poland (being a continental country rather than an island) has quite high air pressure and that keeps all the pollution from the coal boilers close to the ground for everyone to breathe.

I never though of that but makes perfect sense. Ive heard they were retrofitting for gaz in Krakow, that's good. It might be hard now with Putans war.

Its better to pay the extra air fare to visit during the summer.

Really? Where? If you know please report the relevant services / police! There wuould be a terrible smell and the neighbours wouldn't be happy.
We have appropriate waste segregation containers and plastics always go to the yellow ones.

There often is.


You assume people in Poland always follow the rules...

But the more, the merrier.

Thank you friends for sharing, please forgive me for not thanking them one by one. Thanks again